Chris Lord-Alge, born on 12th November 1958, is a renowned American mixing engineer, best known for his work with prominent musicians and bands such as Green Day, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Bon Jovi, and many more. He is known for his signature sound, which is characterized by powerful, dynamic mixes that emphasize the impact of the drums and vocals.
Lord-Alge began his career in the music industry in the early 1980s, working as a recording engineer at a studio in New York City. In 1984, he moved to Los Angeles and started working as a freelance mixer, quickly establishing himself as one of the most talented and sought-after engineers in the industry.
One of Lord-Alge’s biggest breakthroughs came in 1986, when he mixed the hit single “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” by Wang Chung. The song’s success helped to establish Lord-Alge as a go-to mixer for major-label releases, and he soon began working with high-profile artists such as Tina Turner, Steve Winwood, and Meat Loaf.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Lord-Alge continued to work with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Green Day, who he has mixed numerous albums for, including “American Idiot” and “21st Century Breakdown.” His work on these albums helped to establish Green Day as one of the most successful and influential bands of their generation.
In addition to his work with Green Day, Lord-Alge has mixed albums for a wide range of other artists, including U2, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and Prince. His mixing style is characterized by his use of compression and other effects to create a powerful, driving sound that emphasizes the energy and emotion of the music.
Lord-Alge’s work has earned him numerous awards and accolades over the years, including several Grammy Awards and nominations. He is widely regarded as one of the most talented and influential mixing engineers of his generation, and his contributions to the music industry have helped to shape the sound of popular music over the past few decades.
In addition to his work as a mixer, Lord-Alge has also been involved in the development of several audio plugins and software tools for music production. These include the CLA-76 and CLA-2A compressor plugins, which are widely used by mixing engineers and producers around the world.
Lord-Alge continues to be an active and influential figure in the music industry, and his work continues to inspire and influence countless other mixing engineers and producers.
Until a few years ago Chris Lord Alge mixed in a rather unconventional way by refusing to move to either in the box mixing, or by mixing from Pro Tools. Instead, Chris Lord Alge would transfer every Pro Tools session that came into his studio, over to his Sony PCM-3348 DASH digital multitrack first, and then mix off the Sony through his 60-input 4056 E-series SSL console. There are many people who would argue the merits of such a setup, but the proof is in the pudding as they say, and he has mixed so many No.1 hits off that setup.
Several years ago, Chris Lord Alge retired the Sony DASH recorder through 60-input 4056 E-series SSL Console mixing method, in part due to lack of available tape, but more so because of his satisfaction with the sound from his new Focusrite RedNet system.
Chris Lord Alge is famous for his massive collection of outboard analog effects, in particular vintage compressors such as the Urie 1176LN of which he has many. He is almost just as famous for his choice of prime reverb, the Sony DRE-2000. Along with his brother, they are the only big name mix engineers still using the old Sony DRE-2000. Along with the Sony however are a few other choice digital effects.
“As far as outboard effects are concerned, the drums were mostly treated with a Urei 1178 at 4:1 and a Neve 33264 at 2:1, all slow attack and quick release stuff with 4-5dB movement. The reverb was the Sony DRE-2000, set to one second in length, just a short room. In terms of EQ, I tend to suck out the mid from kick drums, add top to snares, and make sure that the cymbals are not coming from everywhere.”
