Lionfox Mastering’s Mike Caplan has perfected the taste and technique required to make big time reggae hits

Photo courtesy of Lionfox Mastering.

Daily Reggae connected with Lionfox Mastering’s Mike Caplan to hear about the mastering specialist’s approach to working with many of the biggest names in reggae, how the genre’s sound keeps evolving, and even his work in professional baseball!

Lionfox Mastering has been one of reggae's premier mastering specialists for many years. You've worked with many incredible bands and artists, from Stick Figure, SOJA, Gregory Isaacs, Luciano, and Yellowman. How does Lionfox Mastering's approach stand out on the scene, and do you focus entirely on reggae?  

Thank you for having us. Our sound stands out due to our low-end sounds. It is very tight and subby. Very reggae. Our sound comes from an evolution of sound.  The first early digital master was transferred, with no heavy mastering reduction like today. Hi-end mastering compressors began coming out, and at some point, credit goes to Jim Fox for finding the Lionfox sound. He sat with the processor and came up with a brilliant starting point. I adapted to it and modified it to compete at the higher levels clients requested back then. That led us to the loudness wars when CDs started playing next to each other in disc changers, and everyone wanted LOUD. So you learn to adapt and get the levels up.

Today it's a mixed batch. Most release major releases are loud, so most clients want to stay competitive. Then you can catch a couple of projects that prefer a more mellow sound. Mastering is all about taste. After graduating from audio school, I started mastering for LION and FOX Recording studios in 1999. My first job was 40 hours a week, creating an analog cassette master. You are taking a recording and making the bin loop cassette master, so it shoots off 10,000 First generation cassettes: all the mastering basics, equalization, compression, and levels. Then as the digital gear started evolving, it was learn-as-you-go. We master all types of music. 

Do you encourage artists to enter your Lion and Fox Recording Studio in College Park, Maryland, for every project, or is some collaboration done remotely? How is mastering in reggae different than in other genres?  

LION FOX has excellent acoustics and microphones, preamp, and converters. That's the reason I encourage artists to come to use the studio. Unfortunately, one downfall of the ease of access to the recording has artists fooled into thinking the home vocal sound is good. Sure, it's a clean path, but it's usually acoustically challenged. 

 Most projects are remote and completed by sending references back and forth. It allowed the artist to listen in their environment and take a moment to make requests. We can stream live remotely now in a couple of ways. 

Tell us about a project you're excited about right now?  

Fear Nuttin Band just released a classic album called "Immigrant." Kava Jah and The Remedy released “Look How Long”, which is excellent roots music. Our friends Dropped Once have a new one coming. I'm excited and honored to be a part of anyone's project. 

How was mastering changed in reggae over the last ten years, and what trends do you see ahead? 

AI auto-mastering. 

These are attractive services for artists. Fast, cheap, and no grumpy mastering engineer (laughs). What this service can't do is duplicate and calculate small changes in results based on emotions (YET). However, the human artistic side is still in play, and the fun part of mastering is working with a client to achieve the best results. Things such as song spacing for albums and fades are trickier with auto-mastering. Nevertheless, it is part of the process we enjoy. 

It's also so cool that you've been part of the Washington Nationals organization for close to 15 years, and you have a World Series ring from 2019! What do you focus on as an audio engineer on the team? Are there any similarities to your work in reggae?

Thanks, and yes it’s been a great experience. I’ve been the live game audio mixer for 15 years now…World Series and All-Star Games included. It’s amazing how it relates to mastering. 

When you’re mixing a large stadium with 110 amps and many speakers, the system is looking for a specific level at all times in order to playback so you constantly are mixing material with different level and tone to achieve a target level and sound. Its just live and for 6 hours a day. It keeps me really fresh in the mix and mastering world. 

The other great aspect is that I’m playing back all the top hits and I can feel how they are mastered.  The fun part is playing reggae at the games! For example we use SOJA’s “Jump” when we get out of innings.

Are you open to working with new artists, and if so, how do those artists best connect with you? Do they need an EP or a single nearly complete before they approach, or do you sometimes collaborate during the early stages of a song, EP, or album? 

We're open for sure. Many reggae artists have completed their debut projects at LION and FOX. Regarding the mastering process, I invite artists to send in initial mixes so they can get a feel for the results. That way, they can get excited, and it also answers many questions they may have. It happens in various other ways too. Some come in to record, mix, and master. Some send files for mixing; and on that note, I encourage anyone to hire Jim Fox at mail@lionfox.com to mix your reggae project.

The LION and FOX slogan is "History In the Making" Quick history: Hal Lion pioneered LION Recording and did live recordings at the White House. Then, Jim Fox joined in and branched off into the music world. Jim linked up with Doctor Dread @ RAS Records (Real Authentic Sound) and produced some classics. 

Check out our website, and browse some extraordinary history. 

 Thanks for having us; we respect your work for reggae. Mike Caplan.