Chris Sangster Turns Club Chaos Into Streaming Gold – A No-Nonsense Live Mix Breakdown

Chris Sangster wastes no time setting the scene: mixing a live album is a different beast compared to the studio. You’re not just dealing with raw tracks – you’re up against unpredictable room tone, crowd noise, and the kind of mic bleed that makes you question your life choices. The session kicks off with a pile of stems from a club gig, including a bonus audience mic that’s both a blessing and a curse. Organisation is the first line of defence, with colour-coded tracks and session markers to keep the chaos in check.

Unlike the usual studio grind, Sangster leans into a template-based workflow for this project. Once the first song is mixed and approved, he imports the settings back into the full session, creating a sonic blueprint for the rest of the album. But don’t get it twisted – this isn’t a lazy copy-paste job. Every song still needs its own tweaks, especially when you’re fighting the quirks of a live band in a small venue. The mindset shift is real: you’re not chasing perfection, you’re sculpting something listenable out of a one-take, no-safety-net performance.

Let’s talk tools. Sangster pulls out the big guns for this mix, starting with iZotope RX for noise repair. Static pops and ugly glitches get sliced out and zapped in RX, then seamlessly dropped back into Logic. It’s destructive editing, so he’s careful to save new files – one wrong move and your gig’s gone. This is the kind of audio surgery that separates the pros from the amateurs.

Then there’s the drum replacement game. Logic Pro’s Drum Replacement tool gets a workout, layering samples on top of the original kick and snare to beef up the sound without killing the live vibe. It’s not cheating if it slaps, right? Sangster even gets creative with hi-hat replacement, using a surgically EQ’d room mic to trigger clean samples when the overheads are too messy. The result: drums that punch through the mix, even when the original recordings are fighting back.

Phase issues and mic bleed – the twin demons of live mixing. Sangster doesn’t shy away. SoundRadix Auto-Align is his phase-fighting sidekick, slapped on every track to lock the kit together and bring back the punch. It’s a set-and-forget miracle that instantly tightens up the sound, especially when everything was recorded on a cramped stage.

Bleed, though? You can’t kill it, so you tame it. Strategic muting, region cuts, and a bit of gating keep things from turning into a sonic soup. EQ becomes your scalpel, carving out space so the instruments don’t trample each other. But here’s the kicker: some bleed is left in on purpose, because that’s what makes it feel live. If you want to hear just how much difference this makes, you’ll need to check out the video for the before-and-after punch.

Sangster’s philosophy is clear – don’t polish the life out of a live album. Automation is the unsung hero here, riding faders, tweaking effects, and making sure every moment lands just right. With players moving on stage and pedalboards getting stomped, static settings just won’t cut it. Region cuts and track stacks let him treat different sections with surgical precision, keeping transitions smooth and energy high.

The mastering process is all about flow. By layering crowd noise and applause between tracks, Sangster creates seamless transitions that make you feel like you’re in the room. It’s not just about loudness – it’s about preserving the concert experience from start to finish. If you’re after a sterile, lifeless mix, look elsewhere. This is about capturing the sweat, the cheers, and the chaos, then bottling it for Spotify.