Angel Alanis is one of Chicago's busiest mastering engineers. Although he is known around town as a producer and DJ, the big guns in Angel's production arsenal belong to his mastering suite, In House Mastering Chicago.

I noticed that you are using Neve EQs and Compression with a Soundcraft Board. What else are you using?

I recently acquired an Avalon Vt747sp Opto Compressor EQ. I also use 2 Presonus Eureka channel strips in the mix for vocals and other applications. Along with that I have A Presonus adl 600, Apogee Ensemble, Drawmer DL 241 and Uad1 Card with all the toys you can get for it. My next 2 big purchases will be the Avalon Ad2077 EQ and 2 mono Empirical Labs Distressors (fet compressors).

What's your typical signal path for a mastering session?

Now that I have the Avalon, I simplified what I do by just going straight into it and back into the Apogee. That machine is a beast of a tool. If you can afford $2,500.00, it's worth every penny. Now, if I am doing full mix downs, I use virtually everything in my arsenal to get the sound that the client is looking for. I do everything from getting the Kick to sound Fat with the Avalon or the Eureka and using the Neve EQs to get the snare and hats to fit right into the mix where they are supposed to be.. Everyone has their own way of doing things and the only real way to get any of this gear to sound right is to have a great pair of ears. The musician's money makers!!

I know that most of what you do is dance music. How do you approach a dance track differently from something like a rock or hip-hop track?

Well it all depends on client. of course a rock song will probably be thinner and louder because of all the mid range elements in the mix (guitars, live drums and vocals). Hip hop will always have that heavy compressed sound and big bottom to it. You really have to use your best judgment upon hearing a client's song and try to evaluate what sound they are looking for. The story of what they are trying to achieve in the final end result is usually in their composition.

On your site, it says that many of the tracks you are sent do not require mastering. When you receive an mp3, what are some of the things you are listening for?

I started doing this service because many people are now only doing digital. That means that they are no longer mastering where they cut the lacquers before the manufacturing process of a 12". Most people used to depend on the cutting of their 12" to get their music sounding right. Nowadays everyone goes straight to a .wav file and they try their hardest to get that finished sound with their DAW. Almost 90% of the music sent to me is already being ran through some plug-in or some cheap compressor or EQ. This happens usually when the producer who made the song is trying to master the song before it gets mastered again. It's like cleaning the house right before the cleaning lady arrives so you don't look like a complete slob. The key to having a great master is to have a great mix and to leave a little headroom for the mastering guy to work with. THAT IS IT!!! How do I check the song before mastering? I try to check to see if its playable or DJ ready. I do this by mixing it with your favorite best sounding tracks without adding more EQ or volume and if it sounds good with other songs then its prob okay to sell. If you see yourself adding more highs, bass or volume is low its probably best you have it checked out. Worst thing to have in your crate of goodies is a crap sounding song.

What are some of the releases that In House Chicago has worked on?

Well right now it's crunch time right before WMC (Winter Music Conference) in Miami. I've done a whole mess of music and I have a stack of it waiting to be done. If I were to list a few they would be..Bad advice records (Monkey Beats EP by Cheap as Chimps), Bear Who (Ustep) with remix by Derrick Carter. Fluid Ablino (Durty records which is owned by Donald Glaude), A Greens Keepers remix and "Left Of Christ" a rock band from the west coast. www.leftofchrist.com. Whee!!