Serban Ghenea

HOPEWELL JUNCTION, NEW YORK: The proverb states that nothing succeeds like success, and prolific mix engineer Serban Ghenea is living proof of its truth. After some years sharpening his musical intuition as a player in the jazz, funk and R&B worlds, Ghenea discovered he had a natural aptitude for creating compelling mixes. Over fifteen years, he has developed that aptitude into a flawless genius that has the music industry’s A-list artists lined up at the door to work with him. In the last two years alone, Ghenea has mixed over twenty number one songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, and Kelly Clarkson. Metric Halo’s ChannelStrip plug-in is Ghenea’s go-to solution for all equalization and dynamics adjustments. And every mix that has left his studio in the last six years, chart-topping or otherwise, has benefitted from multiple instances of ChannelStrip.

ChannelStrip was created in the spirit of the large format consoles, such as SSL, Neve, and Euphonix, which provide integrated EQ and dynamics on each channel strip. Ghenea cut his teeth, so to speak, on an SSL, and ChannelStrip has helped him transition to making efficient and effective mixes in the box. “Almost without exception, ChannelStrip gets me where I need to go,” he said. “It’s easy to work with. I’d attempt to compare it to other similar plug-ins, but the truth is I only use ChannelStrip. To me, ChannelStrip together with Pro Tools is the console. Other plug-ins are like outboard gear.

The list of some of the recent tracks that have passed under Ghenea’s hands (and hence through ChannelStrip) and charted within the top ten of Billboard’s Hot 100 is amazing: Ke$ha “Tik Tok”; Jason Derulo “In My Head”; Iyaz “Replay”; Jay Sean “Down”; Britney Spears “3,” “Womanizer,” and “Circus”; Miley Cyrus “Party in the USA”; Flo Rida “Right Round”; The Fray “You Found Me”; Kelly Clarkson “My Life Would Suck Without You”; Katy Perry “I Kissed a Girl” and “Hot and Cold”; Kevin Rudolf “Let It Rock”; and Pink “So What.” A list of artists and songs that peaked within the top ten of any number of other charts is similarly long and impressive. Suffice it to say, thanks to Ghenea, and the hundreds of other high-profile mixers who make it a part of their routine workflow, you can be sure that the musical sound of ChannelStrip is pouring forth from thousands, or perhaps millions, of speakers around the world at any moment!