Mike Exeter is a highly decorated studio producer and mix engineer based in Warwick, UK. With a portfolio of work spanning such artists as Black Sabbath, Ronnie James Dio, Judas Priest and Cradle of Filth, Exeter has made a significant mark on our industry over recent decades, particularly in the genres of Metal and Progressive Rock. From his hard work alongside Rick Rubin on Black Sabbath’s recent studio album ’13’, Exeter even scored a Grammy for his awards shelf.
Throughout his career, ever-eager not to rest on his laurels, Mike Exeter has strived to seek out new and innovating recording projects wherever he can find them, and despite the recent changes for music recording practices (particularly with the rise of the home studio), he still believes that commercial studios, capable of producing properly ‘finished’ work, have a firm place within the industry:
"There are many people recording high quality demos these days. I still believe there is a difference between that kind of sound and getting a real ‘album’ sound that has a mood and a feel and a life of it’s own.”
Mike Exeter (www.mikeexeter.com)
The most recent addition to Mike’s carefully selected arsenal of studio equipment is a set of Focal Clear Pros, an open-back headphone well-suited for mixing and mastering applications due to their very revealing response and wide frequency range.
Keen eyes will spot the Focal Twin 6 Be monitors also set up behind Mike in the shot above (taken at Gospel Oak Studios, one of his favoured studio spaces), the reliability and performance of which played a key part in Mike’s decision to stick with Focal for his choice of headphones:
"The ability to make proper decisions in audio totally depends on a well designed and treated room, and monitors you can trust. I've been used to Focal Twin 6 Be monitors at Gospel Oak Studios for a while, but modern production and budgets means I cannot always work in such a great environment.
"I was astonished at how well the Clear headphones performed but I needed to I borrow a pair for a few days and do some actual mixes using them. I was blown away by how trustworthy they are. It was like having a set of Twins just by my ears.
"They are proper monitors which are incredibly detailed and full range - switching between those and the other monitors in the studios revealed everything I needed to know to do a great job.”
Mike’s Focal Clear headphones were sourced with the help of Nick Romluc of Giraffe Audio in Birmingham, one of several UK Pro Audio retail locations with the Focal Clear Pro headphones on permanent display.
This quarter Mike has been working with Welsh rock band Those Damn Crows. Keep all eyes peeled for upcoming material and the inevitable storming of festivals this summer!