Greg Abate - Neon Audio - Illuminate Emotion in the Mix - New Zealand

I maximize the emotional impact of the song, whether that emotion is a sneering punk rock attitude, playing it cool with a funky jazz instrumental, or a heartfelt folk ballad. Whatever the emotion, I elevate it.

I am Greg Abate and Neon Audio is my studio. I have over a decade of experience as an audio engineer and love bringing songs to life through mixing and mastering. I typically work in rock, country, folk, and jazz music and I excel at bringing greater depth and realism to sounds, enhancing the emotion in the performance.

I use a powerful hybrid workstation of analog and digital processing to deliver analog depth and dimension while maintaining modern efficiency. Below you can see a list of the world class gear that I own and have used extensively.

The gear of course is secondary to my experience and ears. I've been recording, mixing, and mastering for over a decade, and the most important skill I've learned is how to listen, both to the music and my clients. One of my favorite parts of my job is collaborating with artists to reach their vision. I often bring a lot of ideas to the table, and the feedback and input of my clients spurs better ideas. Together we achieve something that we couldn't do alone.

Please get in touch, as I would love to chat about your music and any upcoming projects!

Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Credits

111 Reviews - 24 Repeat Clients

Endorse Greg Abate - Neon Audio

by Jakoby Walker
Verified
This guy has a great ear, he knows how to feel the music. I had a lot of ideas and changes I made to verses and the song’s arrangement. He adjusted with no complaints, he was as excited for the outcome as I was. I would recommend!
by Joshua S.
Verified
This was my 7th song that Greg helped me to polish. He did a great job mixing several versions of a piano ballad that all have a unique sound. I really appreciate his patience and perseverance in working with me as this project took a bit longer than I expected. I look forward to being able to work with him again on a future project.
by Kyle T.
Verified
Super fast, professional and receptive to feedback as usual! Greg crushed it
by Peter W.
Verified
Greg did a great job. He mixed an album's worth of songs for me and mix/mastered another. As someone wrote before he is excellent with vocals, but I'll add he is a wizard with guitars too. His prices are very good and he's generous with his time. He provided clear explanations when necessary and was patient when I had to make numerous adjustments. I highly recommend him.
by Joshua S.
Verified
Greg did another great job with some additional editing for a piano ballad I am working on. He has a very trained ear for determining natural sound and has really helped me make my song sound more authentic. I really like working with Greg and look forward to more work on this project and others to come.
by Jenysia M.
Verified
Greg was great to work with! I really appreciated his quick response time and his attention to detail in in listening and explaining. He was super helpful and the process was smooth and educational for me as well, thanks to him!
by Mark H.
Verified
Greg is awesome. He has a great ear and our songs come back sounding more clear, precise, and intentional. He's easy to work with, fast, and provides helpful feedback. We will definitely use him again.
by Kyle T.
Verified
Greg crushed it! He brought some fresh ideas to the table while still preserving the intention of the original mix and got everything done quick and easy
by Alex S.
Verified
Greg was brilliant. He was patient, gave great advice while we were sorting out the mixes and the final mastered tracks sounded great. Would recommend without hesitation!
by Nelson L.
Verified
Greg was a pleasure to work with. This was my first time ever getting a song mixed and I enjoyed Greg's attention to detail and cooperativeness extremely awesome!
by Joshua S.
Verified
Greg did some additional vocal track editing for me that was exactly perfect. Soon I look forward to sending him all of the finished tracks for mixing and mastering.
by David Y.
Verified
Our second time working with Greg - and if that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is. Greg has impeccable ears, taste, intuition, and such helpful, patient communication. We always learn when we work w him, and we always get a killer result! Three thumbs up.
by Joshua S.
Verified
I have worked with Greg previously to do mixing and mastering on some instrumental pieces. This time I employed him to do some editing to a vocal track. He did a superb job and was also very efficient. I am once again impressed by his skills as an audio engineer and will continue to seek his help on my future projects.
by David Y.
Verified
So glad I found Greg. He's true pro, a master at his craft, and so much more. He patiently entertained all of my questions, and I learned so much from him in this process of mastering our tune. Responsive and fast - I will definitely use Greg again!
by Dylan F.
Verified
Greg was quick and incredibly knowledgeable. One thing I really liked about working with him was that he actually had suggestions for the mix pre-mastering. That showed me that he really cared about the end product.

In addition, he had a very quick turnaround.
by Steve N.
Verified
This was my second time working with Greg. I picked him because I knew he would bring the best out of my emotional track. The final mix gave me goosebumps. Mission accomplished!
by Rachel F.
Verified
Greg produced and mastered two very personal tracks that meant a great deal to me. He treated the material carefully, worked quickly and communicated clearly and magically managed to turn my imperfect performances into nuanced songs full of feeling. I can't recommend him highly enough. A true and talented professional.
by Yes N.
Verified
Greg was amazing to work with. He understand exactly what we wanted and worked accordingly. He also brought his own ideas on the table and was able to blend it perfectly with our song. Looking forward to working with him again.
by Máximo V.
Verified
Greg is amazingly easy and talented to work with, has a great ear and helped me make my mix much better for mastering, I'll def work with him again!
by Ayden Graham
Verified
Top notch mix and master work! This was my first time working with Greg and I was very impressed by the subtlety and depth he brought to the mix. The song was a very special one that I was struggling to let go of the production fine-tuning, and Greg was exceptionally friendly, patient and also edifying on the subject of dithering and fidelity. I would not hesitate to call on Greg again for future projects!

Interview with Greg Abate - Neon Audio

Q: How would you describe your style?
A: My style tends to be an open and smooth sound that is natural, or perhaps a bit beyond natural (supernatural?). I love to get crazy with effects when it's called for and sometimes a song needs a more aggressive sound, but even in these cases, I always maintain dynamics so that the song can live and breath with the groove.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Here's a quick vocal recording tip that I often tell people: angle your mic slightly down so that it's pointing at the neck or chest. This helps to reduce "ess" sounds and plosives as the sound hits the capsule at an angle. It also catches some chest resonance and can deepen the tone of the vocal sound. If you're in a nice sounding room and want a more airy sound, you can also try tilting the mic upwards to point at the forehead.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Most typically I work in indie rock, folk, country, and jazz. But I've worked in every genre through my career.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: My promise is that I will do everything I can to make you fall in love with your music. The recording phase can be long and I'm familiar with the feeling of being tired of a song once you get to mixing. I love to inject surprises in my mixes, not just for the listeners, but for the artist themselves to remind them what they love about the song.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I've spent years developing my hearing, both in an analytical and emotional sense. I can pick out precisely what what frequencies need to be reined in and I can also evaluate vocal takes to find the one that will most connect with listeners.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I like to say that I "illuminate emotion" in the mix. What this means is that I enhance the performances that are in the recording and I do this in an organic and natural way. Vocalists and musicians can expect to hear the feeling and emotion in their performances heightened.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Wether mixing or mastering, I always try to put myself in the place of the audience and how they will hear the song. This sets my focus on what's best for the song. When my head is bobbing and I'm losing myself in the music, I know I'm on the right track.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I'm a lifelong musician. I taught myself guitar and piano and studied saxophone, drums, and music theory in formal settings. I've been in and around recording studios over 10 years, and have been working full time freelance in music production for over 6 years now.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Mixing is what I most commonly do, though I also do a lot of mastering work. I'm a post production expert and my studio is built for all the production after recording. Although I don't do much recording these days, I have a lot of recording experience in my career and frequently offer tips and advice for clients that want to improve their recordings.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both! Why not?
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I like to use a lot of analog gear because analog lends a depth and dimension you just can't get any other way. Plus I have more fun with analog, which keeps me inspired and creative.