RSR535 - Ryan Nasci - Mixing Mastery [Harry Styles, Portugal The Man, Young the Giant]

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What does it take to go from Ohio to LA and start mixing records at the highest level?
In this episode, I sat down with mixer and engineer Ryan Nasci to trace his journey from the Midwest to Los Angeles, where he worked alongside the legendary Tony Maserati and began mixing artists like Kingfish, Celeste, and more. Ryan breaks down how he built a hybrid workflow that blends analog gear, plugins, and Atmos into mixes that stay musical, open, and emotionally focused.

We dig into Ryan’s approach to gain staging, managing headroom, using trim plugins, tightening low end, and shaping vocals for dynamic performers. He shares how he uses tape vs. plugins, when hardware matters, how to set compression strategies that preserve energy, and why understanding the why behind every move is the key to a competitive mix.
Ryan also talks about mixing in Atmos, building depth with headphones, creative mic choices in small studios, keeping mixes clean without over-stacking plugins, and how persistence, day-rate pricing, and good communication help engineers build sustainable careers in today’s industry.

Huge thanks to Michael Estok for connecting us!

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 – Intro: From Ohio to LA
03:10 – Early influences & Ohio’s music scene
07:42 – Working with Tony Maserati
11:25 – Hybrid mix workflow
14:50 – Tape vs. plugins
17:05 – Headroom, gain staging & clip gain
21:33 – Mixing vocals for dynamic artists
25:16 – Compression strategies & parallel tricks
28:40 – Trim plugin for balance
31:15 – Hardware vs. plugin stacking
34:30 – Vocal chains & mic choices
38:50 – Low-end control & Gold Clip
42:22 – Mixing Kingfish & Celeste
46:05 – Atmos vs. stereo
49:18 – Depth, references & headphones
53:11 – Creative mic placement in small rooms
56:39 – Day rate vs. hourly
59:04 – Persistence & career growth
1:02:12 – Music biz advice for engineers
1:06:00 – Staying creative

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