Mixing Sleeping With Sirens: Kris Crummett’s Analog Tape Bus Workflow

Ever chase that elusive “glue” on your master bus? That feeling of warmth, depth, and punch that makes a mix sound finished, cohesive, and powerful? For decades, the secret sauce for many a legendary producer was analog tape. And while we live in a digital world, the magic of tape is far from dead.

In a killer Nail The Mix session, producer Kris Crummett (Sleeping With Sirens, Dance Gavin Dance) pulled back the curtain on his exact process for using a real tape machine on the mix for the Sleeping With Sirens classic, “If You Can’t Hang.” This isn’t about slapping on a saturation plugin and calling it a day. This is about using hardware as an integral part of the mix, and the results speak for themselves. Let’s break down his technique.

The Setup: Placing Tape First in the Signal Chain

Before a single fader move, getting the signal chain right is crucial. Kris’s approach places the tape machine at the very beginning of his master bus processing, even before his main mix bus compressor.

The Gear: Ampex ATR-102

The star of the show is Kris’s Ampex ATR-102, a legendary two-track machine. If you’re a UAD user, you probably recognize it immediately—the plugin is a direct emulation of this hardware beast, though the sound is its own beast entirely.

Here’s the specific setup he used for the Sleeping With Sirens mix:

• Machine: Ampex ATR-102 (a half-inch, two-track version)
• Tape Formula: Recording the Masters SM 900
• Tape Speed: 15 IPS (inches per second)
• Heads: Aftermarket Flux Magnetics heads (more on this later!)

Why Tape Comes First

Kris routes his entire mix out of his DAW and into the tape machine first, and then the output of the tape machine feeds back into his master bus chain, starting with his Waves C1 compressor.

By processing with tape before compression, he is fundamentally changing the sound that his compressor reacts to. The saturation, subtle dynamic control, and EQ curve imparted by the tape become part of the source material being fed into the compressor. This approach to mix bus compression allows the compressor to work on an already glued and tonally shaped signal, often yielding a smoother and more musical result.

Using Tape Like a Plugin: The “Repro” Trick

Here’s where it gets really cool. You don’t have to record the whole song to tape, rewind it, and play it back. Kris uses his tape machine like a real-time outboard processor, which is made possible by the different heads on the machine.

Input vs. Repro Mode

On the Ampex ATR-102, you have two key modes:

• Input Mode: When set to Input, your audio is passing through the machine’s electronics—the preamps and amplifiers—but it’s not actually hitting the magnetic tape. This alone adds some color and gain, but it’s not the full tape experience.
• Repro Mode: This is where the magic happens. In Repro (short for “reproduce”), the machine simultaneously records the audio onto the tape with the record head and plays it back milliseconds later from the repro head. This allows you to hear the actual sound of your mix printed to tape in real-time.

When Kris switches from Input to Repro, you’ll hear a slight jump or skip in the audio. That’s the physical delay between the record head and the repro head—the signature of using a tape machine as a live insert.

Dialing in the Tone: Pushing the Tape for Saturation

Just running your mix through tape is one thing. Driving it a specific way is what creates the character. Kris’s method is all about finding that sweet spot by ear.

Gain Staging for Impact

The first step is gain staging. Simply engaging the tape machine adds a significant amount of gain from its electronics. Kris uses a simple Trim plugin after the tape machine in his DAW to turn the return signal back down, ensuring his mix bus compressor isn’t getting hit any harder than before.

Slamming the Tape for Glue and Vibe

With the output level matched, it’s time to add the vibe. Kris adds another Trim plugin, this time before the tape machine, to push the level going into the Ampex. This is the key.

By slamming the input of the tape, he creates gorgeous analog saturation and natural tape compression. The effect on the Sleeping With Sirens mix is instant:

• The low end glues together. The bass and kick drums feel more unified and punchy.
• The mix gets thicker and gains depth. It feels more three-dimensional and powerful.
• It adds energy. For a relatively sparse, open rock mix like this, the tape saturation fills in the gaps and adds a rocking energy that wasn’t there before.

Corrective EQ: Taming the “Head Bump”

Analog gear is rarely transparent, and tape is no exception. It adds its own distinct EQ curve, and pro mixers know how to manage it. This is where a little bit of smart EQ comes into play.

What is Head Bump?

Tape machines naturally create a low-frequency boost known as “head bump.” The specific frequency and intensity of this bump depend on the machine, the tape speed, and the heads themselves.

Kris’s machine is a bit of a Frankenstein, modified with Flux Magnetics heads that were popular in the ‘90s to add weight to early, thin-sounding digital recordings. As a result, his ATR-102 has a very pronounced head bump in the sub-frequency range (around 60Hz).

The Pre-Tape EQ Cut

To prevent this intense low end from making the mix sound muddy, Kris makes a simple, corrective EQ cut before the signal ever hits the tape. By dipping out a bit of that 60Hz area, he tames the overwhelming sub energy from the head bump, resulting in a cleaner, more controlled low-end from the tape. This is a pro move that allows him to get all the tape goodness without any of the mud.

See the Full Mix From Start to Finish

This peek into Kris Crummett’s tape workflow shows how much thought and intention goes into a world-class mix. It’s not about presets; it’s about understanding your tools and making deliberate choices to shape the sound. This is the kind of deep-dive education that Nail The Mix delivers every single month.

Learning the theory is one thing, but watching a master like Kris Crummett apply these techniques in real-time on a real song is what separates the pros from the hobbyists. If you’re ready to unlock your sound beyond presets, this is how it’s done.

To see every plugin, hear every fader move, and download the actual multi-tracks to try these techniques yourself, check out the full Sleeping With Sirens “If You Can’t Hang” mixing session with Kris Crummett, exclusively on Nail The Mix.