Zaq Sawyer Coffey

Hands On Production/Recording

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45 Reviews (42 Verified)
Zaq Sawyer Coffey on SoundBetter

Full time Pop producer, Studio engineer and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Alumni. For me, production is like a puzzle, how do I make YOU sound as good as possible? My guarantee: if you choose to work with me, I will spend as much time as we need to create a really unique and more importantly, authentic production.

I have just finished my degree in Music Technology at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Now, I am lucky enough to work my dream job full time and as such, I wear a few hats: studio engineer at Summerfield studios, Producer and project manager.

Primarily I offer music production, which I see as the art of making YOU sound like YOU. I focus predominantly on all kinds of Pop music and have a range of influences like: Dua Lipa, Billie Eillish and H.E.R.

I have an extremely hands-on approach, I work with unlimited revisions and love to send ideas over any time I am working. After all, I don't make instrumentals, I make records, and that collaboration is key.

I am an avid synth collector and believe that original sound design is essential to original production. I currently own a Prophet, a decent modular rig and am always expanding.

If you are local to me I can also offer in person production sessions.

As I mentioned above, I also work as a studio engineer in a world-class facility, Summerfield Studios, part of the Miloco Studio Group. Since I have access to the space I offer discounts on any recordings related to my productions. To find out more about the studio drop me a line and I will provide you with all our rates and information.

If you are interested in getting started hit 'Contact Me' and I will get back to you shortly.

Contact me through the green button above and let's get to work.

45 Reviews - 9 Repeat Clients

Endorse Zaq Sawyer Coffey
  1. Review by Dylan K.
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    Was great to work with Zac. He had great, professional service from start to finish, including a pre-mix call to make sure we were on the same page which I never had before and thought this was a great idea. He took on board every bit of my vision for my track and carried out any revisions that I had with no complaint! The production he added to the song is great and so is the mix, would highly recommend working with him.

  2. Review by Jirko
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    by Jirko
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    Zaq’s amazing and talented, a real pleasure to work with. He is all about your visions and ideas and making them work wonderfully. Until next time!

  3. Review by Kostas D.
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    A very very creative producer who can get your songs to the next level. If you are serious about your project, Zaq is the man!

  4. Review by Ronen Tagore
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    First time working with Zaq and will definitely be a returning customer. Great, honest efficient worker, talented producer who works to understand your vision and specific musical ideas you come up and integrates them how you want.

  5. Review by Vaughan T.
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    Phenomenal work as always. My go-to for all mixes. I would highly recommend working with Zaq.

  6. Review by Alexandre D.
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    Great working with Zaq. He is talented and professional. Easy to communicate. Look forward to work with him again.

  7. Review by Dave G.
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    Hardworking and fast. He ensures you are completely happy with the results. Looking forwards to the next song together

  8. Review by Vaughan T.
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    Outstanding service. Best mixing I've had by far. Highly recommend working with Zaq.

  9. Review by Vaughan T.
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    Exceptional as always. I highly recommend working with Zaq for all of your mixing/mastering needs.

  10. Review by Cade S.
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    Such a fantastic lad to work with, brilliant on the piano and brilliant on all aspects of music production. Kept me in the loop on all steps of production and was not afraid to teach when I was dumb about things.

  11. Review by Vaughan T.
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    Multiple time repeat customer. Outstanding experience as usual. I would highly recommend woking with Zaq.

  12. Review by Vaughan T.
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    Outstanding work as usual. I have collaborated with Zaq on several projects and plan to continue. I would highly recommend.

  13. Review by Cade S.
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    Flawless lad, super fun to work with and brilliantly talented on the synths. Communicated clearly and worked fast!

  14. Review by Vaughan T.
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    Phenomenal as always. I would highly recommend working with Zaq

  15. Review by Zyugglyaaommmm 🐉
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    Amazing professionalism & ease of communication

  16. Review by Jon G.
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    by Jon G.
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    First time working with Zaq and I will definitely be using his services again. Quick to respond to messages, and very quick turn around of the master file. He has a very professional attitude and an impressive portfolio of past work.

  17. Review by SAME
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    by SAME
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    Second Time with Zaq,
    Very happy about his work, very precise as usual very involved thank you Zaq ! :)

  18. Review by Vaughan T.
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    Zaq is without a doubt my favorite mixing/mastering engineer to work with. Exceptionally talented and professional. I highly recommend.

  19. Review by SAME
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    by SAME
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    Super Guy! i loved work with Zaq gentle quiclky professional with good music sensibility, he well understand music universes.
    I will defenettly work with Zaq again ! Thank you Zaq!

  20. Review by Sacha
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    by Sacha
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    amazing! really really great working with you Zaq

Interview with Zaq Sawyer Coffey

  1. Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

  2. A: I recently finished an experimental electronic EP which won me the Audient prize for 'Creativity in Music Technology.'

  3. Q: What are you working on at the moment?

  4. A: Currently working on improving as a producer and engineer, trying to get out of 'auto-pilot' production and really make music I believe is interesting and special in some way.

  5. Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

  6. A: As of yet, I have not been in contact with other professionals on Soundbetter. However, some of the local producers and engineers I work with are also on soundbetter.

  7. Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

  8. A: i promise to deliver the project at the highest level I can.

  9. Q: What do you like most about your job?

  10. A: For me, Soundbetter is a really great opportunity for me to work with talented musicians from around the world. It also feels great building genuine connections with people you respect and enjoy working with.

  11. Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

  12. A: Alot of clients ask about arrangement help, which is something I offer and am happy to help with.

  13. Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

  14. A: That mixing cant be a creative process.

  15. Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

  16. A: What influences you? What is the song about? What is the your favourite part of the song?

  17. Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

  18. A: Feel free to ask as many questions as you want. It's important you are confident in my ability before you hire me. I try and schedule a video call with every client to clarify as much of my process as possible.

  19. Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

  20. A: Laptop, Prophet Rev-2, Apollo X4, Sennheiser Headphones, Moog M32

  21. Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

  22. A: I have now been producing professionally for 4 years. I am currently finishing university after which I intend to work full-time as a producer or engineer in either music production or the media industry.

  23. Q: How would you describe your style?

  24. A: Dark but melodic, Bass driven Currently my music is sitting in the realm of electronic music using a lot of darker sounds. I especially saw and Reese basses as they bring so much character to pop music and contrast well with vocals.

  25. Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

  26. A: Flume, although he makes a different style of music to what I currently enjoy making, he is such a huge inspiration to me and I love how unique his approach to music.

  27. Q: Can you share one music production tip?

  28. A: Have a reason for your decisions. Do not layer if you just feel like it needs to be bigger, dont use three snares because you watched a youtube video. If you are going to make a production decision, be confident in why you are making that decision.

  29. Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

  30. A: Currently I am working mainly on hip-hop, alt pop and electronic pop. I am really enjoying the darker side of musical styles at the moment so working on alt pop music has been really enjoyable.

  31. Q: What do you bring to a song?

  32. A: I bring a a strong technical and creative understanding of sound design and production which translates into my production and engineering. I also enjoy to produce vocals in a unique way brining new timbres to production that may not be considered 'standard.'

  33. Q: What's your typical work process?

  34. A: Currently, I tend to start with a sound that inspires me (usually a synth patch) or a chord progression and go from there. I try to start with something special or unique to me which really helps with my creative process. That being said there are no rules so sometimes I start with ambience, or just layering random sounds.

  35. Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

  36. A: As I move around a lot I have a small portable set-up which consists of top of the line synths (Prophet Rev 2 and Modular), interface (apollo x4) and headphones (Sennheiser). However, I have access to professional studios which I use for mixing and mastering work.

  37. Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

  38. A: Artists that have unique sounds like Flume, EDEN and JOJI really inspire me. I am a huge synth nut and as such productions that use interesting sound design.

  39. Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

  40. A: Recently I completed a remix for a client on Soundbetter. Originally he sent me the vocals and he wanted me to make a dubstep remix. However, the original song was at 100bpm which made this pretty much impossible. I managed to create a fusion between house and dubstep which the client really ended up liking. I was also veryh happy with the final mix and master. Overall it was one of the most professionally produced tracks I have worked on.

  41. Q: What are you working on at the moment?

  42. A: Currently, I am working on my own debut ep consisting of electronic music. I am also foccusing on the rapper I produce and engineer for trying to grow his project. Finally, I will also be assisting in the mixing of a rock and electronic album.

  43. Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

  44. A: As of yet, I have not been much in contact with other professionals on Soundbetter.

  45. Q: Analog or digital and why?

  46. A: Analog synths have an amazing sound. However, in this day and age digital is where the industry is and it's important to be compatible with as many people and systems as possible. Digital workflow allows for more effective collaboration and workflow.

  47. Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

  48. A: I promise to take the clients vision and use it to create - using my own personal style - a great piece of work for the client

  49. Q: What do you like most about your job?

  50. A: For me, Soundbetter is a really great opportunity for me to work with talented musicians from around the world. It also allows me to practice all production skills I will need in the future and I can say with confidence that Soundbetter really has improved me as a musician and producer. I get great satisfaction from producing great music for other people that they are really happy with and Soundbetter really makes this easy.

  51. Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

  52. A: Questions vary from client to client. However, I often get asked if I offer packaged deals. The answer is yes, I offer discounts if more than one track is commisioned from me.

  53. Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

  54. A: That mixing is easy, most people I meet do not realise how much of a detail based, gruelling process mixing really is. However, it is also incredibly rewarding to get the mix just right.

  55. Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

  56. A: Usually questions about what mood and style they want to convey through their music and what their inspiration was. This helps me get in the right mindset to write a song that the client will love.

  57. Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

  58. A: Feel free to ask as many questions as you want. It's important you are confident in my ability before you hire me. I can provide short audio clips for all manner of things.

  59. Q: How would you describe your style?

  60. A: My style is quite versatile as I produce several different types of music. I have also studied several different kinds of music at school. This mix of influences creates for a commercial sound with a few twists here and there to give the tracks interest and a personal touch. I also enjoy combining both bass heavy and melodic music to get both the heavy hitting sound design and the singing top lines you get from each respective style.

  61. Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

  62. A: Most likely Skrillex. In every song he has written there is always something unique about the track which expands his own personal repertoire. Also, he has truly amazing production skills which I am sure I could learn something from.

  63. Q: Can you share one music production tip?

  64. A: LESS IS MORE. You do not need to put every channel through five mixing busses to get it perfectly compressed, when done tastefully the imperfections in music are what makes it interesting.

  65. Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

  66. A: On SoundBetter I am usually hired to write Trap, Dubstep or other Bass music. However, in my own time, I also enjoy producing future bass and electronic music (future chill, chill trap etc.).

  67. Q: What's your strongest skill?

  68. A: My focus during production is always the writing. Creating interesting themes and melodic motifs is the most important part of a song to me and as such, I spend a lot of time creating an effective theme which fits the mood of the piece.

  69. Q: What do you bring to a song?

  70. A: I believe I have quite a new and modern sound when it comes to production and that helps me produce commercial sounding music with a unique twist. I am also a classically trained pianist so creating great melody lines is something which I have always focused on.

  71. Q: What's your typical work process?

  72. A: When I write music I tend to start by creating a backbone for the whole song. I write out the chords/ideas for the chorus and verse and then build the track from there. After the ideas are laid down I will start to design sounds for the different sections and layer them with other sounds. I usually mix as I go and then do a final clean up when the whole track is finished.

  73. Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

  74. A: Currently, I work mostly in my room which, is soundproofed and is fitted with Yamaha HS8. I use a UAD satellite and a Softube console one for mixing. I record everything using a prophet rev-2 hardware synth which I either use as an instrument or as a MIDI Keyboard. However, next year I will be studying at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where I will have access to there professional mixing, mastering and recording studios.

  75. Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

  76. A: At the moment I mainly work on demos and take them through the full production timeline, from writing to mastering.

  77. Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

  78. A: Artists that have unique sounds like Flume or NGTHMRE inspire my work and my quest for my own personalised sound.

  79. Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

  80. A: The most common work I do for clients would have to be remixing. They send me vocals and stems, and I remix it with my own style.

  81. Q: Analog or digital and why?

  82. A: Analog synths have an amazing sound. However, in this day and age digital is where the industry is and it's important to be compatible with as many people and systems as possible. Digital workflow allows for more effective collaboration and workflow.

  83. Q: What's your strongest skill?

  84. A: My focus during production is always the writing. Creating interesting themes and melodic motifs is the most important part of a song to me and as such, I spend a lot of time creating an effective theme which fits the mood of the piece.

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Roll With Me

I was the Producer, Mixing Engineer in this production

Terms Of Service

Turn around time:
One to two weeks for production/remixes.

One to three days for mixing/mastering

Revisions:
Unlimited revisions

GenresSounds Like
  • Dua Lipa
  • Tyler
  • The Creator
  • Billie Eilish
  • H.E.R.
Gear Highlights
  • UAD Apollo
  • UAD Plug-ins
  • DSI Prophet Rev 2
  • MOOG DFAM
  • MOOG Mother-32
  • Doepfer A-100
More Photos
More Samples
SoundBetter Deal

Four or more projects/tracks = discount

  • Won Audient Prize for 'Creativity in Music Technology'Jun 15, 2021

    I recently won the Audient Prize for 'Creativity in Music Technology' with a track using quantisation and sampling theory as musical device.