Craig Bauer

Craig Bauer is a GRAMMY Award-winning mixing engineer

In 2008 Craig won a GRAMMY for mixing The Clark Sisters album Live: One Last Time. He has also received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year twice.

Bauer began his mixing career in 1993 when he opened HINGE studios in Chicago, Illinois. In the early 90’s, Bauer’s clients included many of the top contemporary jazz artists, including; Brian Culbertson, and Dave Koz, and Steve Cole.

Bauer went on to mix Lupe Fiasco’s debut studio album Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, which received four GRAMMY Award nominations at the 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards, including a nomination for Best Rap Album. In 2007, Bauer mixed the majority of Fiasco’s second album, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, including the hit single “Superstar” which peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool was nominated in 4 categories at the 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards.

In addition to GRAMMY nominated works, Bauer also mixed the SNL Digital Short Motherlover featuring Justin Timberlake and Andy Samdberg. In 2012 The Live Room by Warren Music filmed Ed Sheeran performing 4 songs at HINGE studios, Chicago. Ed Sheeran specifically requested to film with Bauer at HINGE as he was a massive fan of the Late Registration album.

In 2014 Bauer relocated HINGE studios to Los Angeles, California where he continues to produce and mix major label and independent artist projects in nearly every genre of music.

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  Baby Audio Transit 2

  "THIS IS BANANAS. What I really love about Transit 2 is how it inspires creativity and yields unique sonic options that would be nearly impossible to produce otherwise. Any plugin that can provide this for me is essential. Within less than a minute I had an incredible 'effects' sounds on a synth that I would have never come to without it."

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  AMEK Mastering Compressor

  If I had no other compressor to use ever again... I'll be completely fine. 
  
  The AMC with its unique set of controls, I’m able to control the dynamics of any individual track, or the entire mix, in ways that no other compressor can achieve.

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  PA Subscription CORE Monthly, PA Subscription CORE Yearly, PA Monthly Subscription, PA MEGA XL monthly, PA MEGA XL yearly, PA Subscription PRO Monthly, PA Subscription PRO Yearly, PA Yearly Subscription

  I often consider what it would have meant to have had access to the full complement of PA's plugins when I was first starting out. When I came up as an engineer/mixer, it required racks upon racks of analog gear with a price tag many tens of thousands more than having access to the most complete set of recording and mixing tools available anywhere. There is not a piece of analog gear PA has not faithfully recreated in addition to new modern and inventive sounds.

  Regardless of where anyone is on their career path, there simply is no better choice than aligning with PA and the full complement of Plugins.

  I am proud to be one of, if not the first, Plugin Alliance artists.

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  Brainworx bx_console AMEK 200

  Every section within the Console AMEK 200 simply sounds brilliant. The AMBNC functionality of both the compressor and limiter gives incredible insight into the parameters behavior. But more than anything else, it's the THD and Vgain that gives the plugin it's analog feel....or if you prefer, a beautifully clean and transparent sound.

  It's actually difficult to find the right words to describe this BX_console AMEK 200. PA's ability to give a plugin such an incredible analog feel is unparalleled. If I owned no other plugins whatsoever, there still isn't a record I couldn't mix without total confidence in the results.

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  AMEK EQ 200

  I've been (not so) patiently waiting for years for a faithful recreation of my favorite hardware EQ. The wait is now finally over with the AMEK 200. I can finally get back to the exact sound on kicks, snares, and vocals that was always a staple in my "analog" days. With the addition of Brainworx's TMT and M/S processing, the AMEK 200 adds features never possible with that legendary EQ.

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  Black Box Analog Design HG-Q

  It's actually difficult to put into one sentence the brilliance of the Black Box HG-Q. It's not just another 3 band EQ and it's not just another saturation tool. It's the culmination of both of those things that allows for complex EQ curves with variable saturation on each band. It yields a sound like no other single plugin I've used. Ever.

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  Brainworx bx_aura

  Finally! Something new and inventive, and yet, highly usable in the reverb department. Every time a new verb plugin is released, I download it immediately and end up going back to the same old tired plugins just as fast.

  Within 10 minutes of experimenting with bx_aura I had three instances in a mix. Features such as tempo synced pre delay and decay, drive, and gate/duck mean I don't have to go outside of the plugin itself to create unique reverb effects.

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  NEOLD U17

  The NEOLD U17 compressor is unlike any other compressor in my vast vast arsenal of plugins. Its sound ranges from rather subtle and clean compression to coloration and tonality that's not easily described in "typical" terms. Having demoed it on a number of different sources, it was adding it to an acoustic guitar track that really stands out. It pushed that guitar forward in the mix while taming the transients and adding a coloration that was nothing short of brilliant. 

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  Brainworx bx_limiter True Peak

  Well... this just destroyed my go-to master fader limiter. Compared at equal level.

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  Maor Appelbaum Mastering & Hendyamps THE OVEN

  Although it's theoretically a mastering tool, I just placed it on a lead vocal that was having a tough time cutting through a dense EDM track. If you had asked me if I thought I needed yet another saturation plugin,I would have rolled my eyes.

  However, there's something quite different about THE OVEN. With a medium amount of "cook" and just a small amount of "top," I was able to take this slightly dark sounding vocal and make it fit correctly in this massive track.

  I love how it can be used in a subtle fashion with exactly the result I needed where EQ alone was just wasn't doing it. I can't wait to see what else it can do.

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  Knif Audio Soma

  Back in my analog outboard days, there was a well known and very high end analog parametric EQ that went on every kick, snare and lead vocal on every single mix for many years. I had yet to find it's equal in the digital domain....until now. The KNIF SOMA functions and sounds every bit as great as that analog staple. I can think of 8200 reasons why this just became my new "go to" EQ.

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  Vertigo VSM-3

  This new Vertigo Sound VSM-3 native plugin from Plugin Alliance will change your life.... I use the hardware version on my stereo bus on practically every mix.

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  SPL EQ Ranger Plus

  Developing the modules for EQ Ranger Plus was a fun and rewarding project. Whether a pro or a novice, having a variety of EQ setups to quickly pick from will give you a great starting point. For the novice, a graphic EQ like this is a great tool for honing your EQ skills.

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  Brainworx bx_console N

  How do you make one of my favorite and most used plugins absolutely perfect? The addition of THD and channel randomization answers the question. Now being able to dial in an appropriate amount of harmonic distortion, bx_console N has quickly become one of my most used tools in breathing analog life into a mix.

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  Brainworx bx_delay 2500

  I've been waiting patiently for someone to finally release a plugin that incorporates just the right compliment of functions. With the bx_delay 2500 I can dial in the exact sound I'm hearing in my head very quickly.

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  PA SPL Bundle monthly

  SPL hardware had always been a staple back in my analog mixing days. Now that I'm fully ITB, I still rely daily on Plugin Alliance's faithful software emulations of these essential tools.