Tom Elmhirst

In this YouTube video at 2:15, Tom can be seen using the Neve 1081. He was using this item to mix David Bowie’s song Lazarus, around December of 2015.

In this YouTube video at 2:20, Tom can be seen using the Urei Blackface. He was using this item to mix David Bowie’s song Lazarus, around December of 2015.

In this YouTube video at 2:22, Tom can be seen using the CL1B Opto Compressor. He was using this item to mix David Bowie’s song Lazarus, around December of 2015.

In this YouTube video at 2:54, the Urei 1176 can be seen in Tom's rack, but not using in this especifc mix.

In this YouTube video at 3:05, the Pultec EQP-1A3 Equalizer can be seen in Tom's rack, but not using in this especifc mix.

In this YouTube video at 0:09, Tom can be seen using the Pro Tools. He was using this item to mix David Bowie’s song Lazarus, around December of 2015, but also used in his entire career.

In this YouTube video at 0:21, Tom can be seen using the Neve VR-72. He was using this item to mix David Bowie’s song Lazarus, around December of 2015.

Listed on Elmhirst's official Soundtoys artist page.

“Since I first came across the Soundtoys plugins they have been used more and more within my mix sessions. I particularly find myself going to Soundblender* to fatten up keys and synth sounds, or Decapitator to give drums, bass or vocals a bit more presence and attitude within a mix, Filterfreak can do the most amazing things to make something simple sound interesting and EchoBoy is constantly getting used, it can be subtle and commanding. Once you start using all of these plug-ins you find it hard to stop, you become dependent on them because they give you what you want!”

*Soundblender is a discontinued product that was only available on TDM systems.

Listed on Elmhirst's official Soundtoys artist page.

“Since I first came across the Soundtoys plugins they have been used more and more within my mix sessions. I particularly find myself going to Soundblender* to fatten up keys and synth sounds, or Decapitator to give drums, bass or vocals a bit more presence and attitude within a mix, Filterfreak can do the most amazing things to make something simple sound interesting and EchoBoy is constantly getting used, it can be subtle and commanding. Once you start using all of these plug-ins you find it hard to stop, you become dependent on them because they give you what you want!”

*Soundblender is a discontinued product that was only available on TDM systems.

Listed on Elmhirst's official Soundtoys artist page.

“Since I first came across the Soundtoys plugins they have been used more and more within my mix sessions. I particularly find myself going to Soundblender* to fatten up keys and synth sounds, or Decapitator to give drums, bass or vocals a bit more presence and attitude within a mix, Filterfreak can do the most amazing things to make something simple sound interesting and EchoBoy is constantly getting used, it can be subtle and commanding. Once you start using all of these plug-ins you find it hard to stop, you become dependent on them because they give you what you want!”

*Soundblender is a discontinued product that was only available on TDM systems.

Listed on Elmhirst's official Soundtoys artist page.

“Since I first came across the Soundtoys plugins they have been used more and more within my mix sessions. I particularly find myself going to Soundblender* to fatten up keys and synth sounds, or Decapitator to give drums, bass or vocals a bit more presence and attitude within a mix, Filterfreak can do the most amazing things to make something simple sound interesting and EchoBoy is constantly getting used, it can be subtle and commanding. Once you start using all of these plug-ins you find it hard to stop, you become dependent on them because they give you what you want!”

*Soundblender is a discontinued product that was only available on TDM systems.

Used on Mark Ronson's Record Collection and on the outboard returns for Adele's "Rolling in the Deep", as stated respectively in a September 2010 Electronic Musician interview (the pertinent fragment of which is preserved online via Soundgas pages here and here) and in this September 2011 Sound on Sound interview.

Electronic Musician, September 2010

I used a lot of external reverbs: a Fairchild 670, old spring reverbs, and a couple 1970s Pioneer Reverberation Amplifier Model SR-202s. They’re old home hi-fi units; they’re not normal! I am not a fan of digital reverb, so I have a few springs I really like... Spring reverb was a big part of the Winehouse record, and it’s in Mark’s sound as well. I use two or three different springs on a track and even on the vocal.

Sound on Sound, September 2011, "Tom Elmhirst: Recording Adele 'Rolling In The Deep'"

"Outboard returns are at 46‑72, although there's a lot that I don't use for every mix — the Pioneer on 55‑56 is an old '70s‑'80s spring reverb that was made for the domestic market.

Featured in this August 23, 2023 video by Manley.

From Adele to David Bowie, Amy Winehouse to Beck, Tom Elmhirst's Stereo Variable Mu® has been his "right-hand thing" on his mix bus for two decades.

We got to spend some time in his room at Electric Lady Studios in NYC, learned how he uses it, and heard it in action on a mix – watch this video to hear it for yourself.

Used for Amy Winehouse's lead vocals on "Rehab" and for the "drum stem" on Beck's Morning Phase, as stated respectively in this August 2007 Sound on Sound interview and in this May 4, 2014 Audio Technology interview covering Beck's Morning Phase.

Sound on Sound, August 2007, "Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Tom Elmhirst" by Paul Tingen

"The vocals had a spring reverb which would have been tracked when they recorded Amy, at Chung King Studios in New York. I also recorded an EMT plate on the vocals at Metropolis. You can see both at the bottom of the Edit screen. I spent a lot of time on the vocal, and I would regularly come back to it. Late in the evening of the first day of mixing 'Rehab' I would have the vocal pretty much in the track all the time, and after that I'd constantly be tweaking it a little bit. I don't just do it and leave it. You're getting constantly closer to the final mix, but it's not immediate."

Audio Technology, "Mix Masters: Tom Elmhirst On Beck’s Morning Phase" (May 4, 2014)

Elmhirst later sent the drum stem through his hardware EMT140 plate reverb, “because it needed to be a bit more expansive in certain sections of the song. I used the 140 quite a lot in some places.”

While the EMT model goes unspecified in the Sound on Sound interview, Metropolis Studios' two EMTs are specified to be 140s in the product description of Wavefactory's Mercury Piano:

Recorded by Grammy Award-winning Paul B. Norris at Metropolis Studio's Studio A, using the finest microphones and preamps in a beautiful sounding live room that sounds rich and warm. [...] With effects specially designed for the piano. Including the fabulous Metropolis Plates, EMT 140s both solid state and valve versions with different decay times, along with a compressor, EQ and chorus.