Audeze catches up with producer and engineer Sacha Triujeque

Sacha Triujeque is an award winning music producer and mixing engineer who has worked on many iconic Latin music industry records.

"Fine tuning levels, eq, compression, saturation and panning becomes a very enjoyable experience with the MM-500’s. Every small tweak and nuance is audible and noticeable."  - Sacha Triujeque

Here's our talk with Sacha:

Can you pick out any highlights from your work that you're particularly proud of?

I’ve been honored to work with so many Latin artists in so many genres that I am grateful every day for it. Some of my favorite projects include:

Sergent Garcia “Mascaras” album
Programming, producing, recording and mixing.

Kinky “Kinky” album
Co producing, recording and mixing. (Grammy’s Best Latin Alternative nominee)

The Warning “Queen of the Murder Scene”
Producer, recording and mixing engineer.

Gustavo Cerati “Siempre es Hoy”
Producer, recording and mixing engineer. (Grammy’s Best Latin Alternative Nominee and Argentina’s Gardel Awards winner)

Control Machete “Uno, Dos: Bandera”
Producer, recording and mixing engineer. (Latin Grammy’s Best Urban Record Nominee)

Ely Guerra “Sweet Sour, Hot y Spicy”
Producer, recording and mixing engineer. (Latin Grammy’s Best Alternative Music and Record of the Year Nominee)

Pepe Aguilar “Cuestion de Esperar”
Mixing engineer (Latin Grammy’s Record of the year nominee)

How would you define your main role on most of the projects you work on these days?

I work in many projects both indie and mainstream. I’d say 30% of the projects I’m producing, recording and mixing. 70% of others I’m only mixing and co-producing.

How did you get started in music? What kind of music did you listen to while growing up and how has that progressed?

I got into playing guitar when I was about 13 years old. My father is a musician. I used to hear what he liked at first which was a lot of funk, soul and rock music like Tower of Power, Blood Sweat and Tears, Chicago, Joe Coker, Beatles, Hendrix, Zepelín, Queen, etc.
Then I developed my own taste for bands like AC/DC, Metallica, Judas Priest, and then evolved to The Cure, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, the whole Seattle movement, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers and I could go on all night. I guess those are my main influences although I love Jazz music and many genres now a days.

Can you name any factors that influenced the course of your musical life? Heroes, role models, moments, interactions, etc?

Many! To mention a few:
Going to Berklee College of Music in the early 90’s I attended many interesting clinics. One with Eddie Kramer. He inspired me to become a record producer and mixing engineer. I was doing a performance major and immediately changed to MP&E.

Got to meet Mick Guzauzki and spend a week in the studio with him in another clinic back in 2016. That was mind blowing. He is a very funny and generous guy.

Can you briefly describe a moment of frustration from your past work, and what you may have done to overcome the obstacles? Would you approach it differently now?

Good one, hmmm...
I guess that back in 2003 or 4, I was trying to go from analogue mixing to hybrid or fully in the box mixing, it frustrated me that Pro Tools didn’t have latency compensation and I was trying to do parallel processing and it was a nightmare. It drove me crazy haha.

Is there any gear you find yourself turning to most when working on a project? What are some of your favorite tools/instruments recently?

I love recording on the Neve 5058. If not available I love the SSL 4000+ or J 9000.
Now a days I mix mostly in the box. I still love the sound of the Portico II Master Bus Processor on my Drums Aux.
I still love mixing on my Yamaha NS-10’s combined with Dynaudio’s BM15A’s. I love the PSI speakers too. I’m always trying different  plugins. But I have some favorites of course. Like the Plugin Alliance SSL channel.

Do you have any words of wisdom for people who might aspire toward a similar path for their own careers?

Keep experimenting and driving gear to extremes. Hook up with crazy creative people. Learn the rules and then break them. Lol.

How long have you been working with headphones, and how do you typically use them in your workflow?

I always mix with speakers for an overall balance and then go to headphones for fine tuning eq, saturation, compression and then I keep going back and forth till I get my mix right. I love listening to music in headphones since I was a little kid. Now that I’m remixing records in Dolby Atmos I enjoy the spatial audio headphones experience very much too.

Do you have any additional comments or stories you want to share?

I mix best with my eyes closed. Sometimes I open them and see meters hitting the reds and think that if I had my eyes opened I would’ve had a different approach and probably got a duller mix. I like mixes with attitude. That’s why another hero of mine is Tchad Blake.

How have your Audeze headphones affected your work?

I’ve been using the headphones non stop since I got them... I find that they are very accurate and translate really well to consumer speakers. They are very comfortable and I can use them for hours without getting tired.
The mid-range is amazing, very detailed. I find myself making better decisions while mixing. Fine tuning levels, eq, compression, saturation and panning becomes a very enjoyable experience with the MM-500’s. Every small tweak and nuance is audible and noticeable.
I recommend these headphones completely. 5 stars out of 5!

Can you tell us what you've been working on with them recently?

Recently I’ve been mixing some heavy metal, from the Mexican band Resorte, tracks: Zombie, Matambre and Vienen por Ti. Just released.
Been mixing some indie Rock for the Chilean band Los Bunkers. Will come out soon. The latter are complex mixes with lots of elements and layers. The MM-500’s have helped me a lot making tough decisions I’m not sure to do only on speakers.

Been doing some Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio too for the Mexican band Zoé. They are great for the binaural final touches. Good stuff.

Vita Set and Sussie 4
Song: Bajo Cero
Hard hitting EDM track with lots of sub frequencies for the dance floor. I mixed this track with the MM500 mostly. Got a great low end. Amazing all the detail for balancing beats, bass and vocals. All the reverbs and delays for the lead vocals were detailed fully with the headphones. Everybody loved the mix!

Near future releases:

Ovrdoze with Randy Ebright (Molotov) and MrSunamy (Colombian producer)
Punk Rock/Urban. Loved how the punch of the drums and the presence of the guitars translated after mixing with the headphones.

Mia Rubin
Love the detail for mixing pop vocals. The MM500 deliver a clear and present representation of vocals like I haven’t heard in any other headphones. Detailing reverbs and delays is a breeze!