Dead Wax Blake Mills on Production, Fretless Guitar, and Working with Pino Palladino
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Oct 6, 2025 
Blake Mills, a Grammy-nominated producer and guitarist, dives into his innovative work in sound production. He explores the nuances of fretless guitar, detailing the unique challenges of its design and sound. Collaboration with bassist Pino Palladino shines as he shares insights on crafting grooves and the intricacies of polyrhythms. Mills also discusses the balance between capturing raw performance and tonal precision, revealing how subtle elements like finger noise add intimacy to recordings. It's a fascinating blend of artistry and technical mastery!
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Custom Fretless Guitar Origin Story
- Blake Mills describes commissioning Duncan Price to build a fretless guitar with a sustainer after discovering similar experimental instruments.
- He used it on recordings with an EBow but found it limiting and became a beta tester for Duncan's evolving designs.
Polyphonic Sustainer Trade-Offs
- Duncan developed a polyphonic sustainer so each string can sustain independently, solving monophonic limitations.
- But increased efficiency can hurt musicality, so design trade-offs matter in instrument builds.
Use Song Fundamentals To Choose Ideas
- In the studio, choose ideas that serve the song's narrative or lyrics to avoid endless forks in the road.
- Use the song's fundamentals to decide between attractive but competing musical choices.