Music producer, Audio Engineer

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: My answer has changed over the past few years, I've done work in and interned with larger analog (integrated with PT) studios but the emulations are excellent at this point and based on the way music is consumed now, the cost benefit of using high end emulations and saturation with the plugins far outweighs using analog. I am at a point where I even have a sequence in my monitoring chain that allows me to emulate control room and high end monitors on my headphones. The exception is the first couple of places in the vocal chain for recording, I did an experiment test verious modeling pre-amps and mic modelling vs the analog clones and it definitely makes a difference. I think other than the right great mic (the right one for you) and pre-amp I can do everything else digitally/

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

A: Assuming proper power and shielding from the sun, rain, cold, etc, I could take my laptop, Apollo twin, Slate VSX headphones, WA-8000 mic, and WA-73 and be able to do near 100% of what I can in my studio because of the digital based analog modelling setup I use including analog modelled monitoring environments through VSX and Sienna.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Building up my full service music company 24:16 Music catering to Christian artists, and also working on my solo projects as SO IAM.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Producing a song start to finish and helping creating the best sounding song possible

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

A: I have worked with Yukon from Blue Oak Mastering for a song I produced and mixed (Samjlowkey - "Lowkey Like Me") and we are very happy with the results.

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

A: I would say show mixes are the most common request and I can easily do that, for mastering only clients it would require the appropriate stems or mix versions to be sent in.

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

A: You! I do this to help people chase their dreams and pursue their God given purpose. I love it, and can't wait to work with you!

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Heavily digital based with customized analog modelling. Apollo Twin, Slate VSX headphones and Linear tuning combined with Acustica Sienna modelled studio rooms, Focal Alpha 65 Evo monitors w/ Presonus sub, Samplitude Pro X Suite 6, Acid Pro 11 Suite (beats/production), Wavelab, Sound Forge, Waves (Horizon, API, SSL, Restoration, Center, In-Phase, and more), UAD plugins, Plugin Alliance & Brainworx, FabFilter, Izotope Ozone Advanced + TonalBalance Control 2, SSL, Sonnox, Soundtoys, thousands of sounds

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

A: Taking their home recordings and completing the mixing and mastering to make their music sound complete and professional

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

A: Starting out in 2001 as an artist who loved creating but couldn't afford beats or studio time I took the long road to learning the ins and outs of making great sounding music so that I could not only produce myself, but also so I could help other artists fulfill their music vision as well, many of whom are in the same boat I was back in the day :). As a producer, engineer, and artist I have over 20 years of experience

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: 20 years of experience as an engineer and producer, an obsession with making great songs having studied them and those that make them, the lessons learned interning at a top studio and at their studio manager & engineer's studio. All of this applied to bringing the most of out of an artist and their song

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Leave space in the instrumental/beat mix for the artist to shine and build the track around them. Also mic selection is key.

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

A: That I am an all in and will do everything possible to help them make the best song possible each time

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Creating finished songs and helping bring out the best in artists

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: The goal of the project/session/song/etc - for fun, mixtape, album, video, etc? Performance tomorrow? Do you need stems (TV/Show, instrumental, etc)? MP3? Direction, time frame & schedule, desired services, favorite reference mix, etc.

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

A: Pay attention to the reviews, try to listen to a demo on a playback device that you know the sound pretty well on, look for transparency on the website or ad, know what you want to accomplish before going in and hearing the pitch, know your budget and the difference between high value low cost and low value low cost services/providers, consider your options to manage price - for example I recorded one of my tracks at my studio ("free") then took it to a well known studio in the area for analog mastering (expensive but paid off) - our services are an option from many viable ones in AZ and online - find what is best for your project and budget, experience matters look for some type of credits and time behind the boards...but also don't rule out a student at the conservatory or MCC. Also try to plan your session, know your lyrics/practice ahead of time if possible (or plan and prep for a write to the track then record type of session). If you're sending a mix to someone, make sure they can accept your format (ie Pro Tools session, OMF, Acid Zip, WAV, AIFF, etc), they probably can but make sure, having to send in a different format or tracking out can sometimes lead to unexpected surprises. Consider the studio/engineer's list of genres, many of us can mix cross genre, the greats are great across the genres, my experience in the valley with this has been a mixed bag. Try to make sure they actually mix your style well, and are not just capable of recording and mixing your genre. As an artist I have had some expensive and frustrating surprises not checking before hand. Having said that, the great engineers I know are great across genres, you just have to find them, listen to samples, read reviews, look at the credits. This also applies for engineers/producers specializing in a particular genre or smaller range of them, this is not a guarantee for quality either :) do some homework first.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Adaptive

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

A: Rap/Hip Hop, R&B, Gospel, Pop

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

A: Quincy Jones, Timbaland, Dr. Dre, The Neptunes, Just Blaze, Kanye West, Bradley Nowell, John Williams