Remote Mixing and Mastering

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Practice mixes for my portfolio. A local band wants me to mix their live demo in a couple of weeks but that is it right now.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital. An analogue setup wouldn't fit in my room, and my workflow exists purely in the box nowadays.

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

A: A decent mix, quickly and for a good price.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The satisfaction of hearing a track and thinking "this is good, but not there yet" and then going "wow, this is the same song" when it's finished.

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

A: We can polish a turd. Seriously, if you send a poorly recorded song that is completely out of tune and out of time, and just sounds bad in general, it will not come out sounding like the latest Top 40 hits.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Are you looking for a mix, master, or both? Do you have any reference tracks you want the record to sound like? Anything in particular that needs to stand out in the song(s)? What is my deadline?

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

A: Check out their portfolio, talk to them, find out what they can provide and how much, get to know them, compare with other producers.

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

A: A solar panel, computer with built-in satellite, guitar, audio interface and microphone

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

A: I studied Music Technology from the age of about 14 up to degree level and have started looking for mixes that need doing to build a portfolio and network of clients.

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

A: I completely self-produced, recorded, mixed and mastered an EP of my tracks under the name Through The Tides. The whole project was completed in my bedroom with cameos from a few friends on vocals. I'm most proud of the guitar and bass sounds, although I attempted vocals for the first time ever on the project and they turned out okay so there's that too. Also, I recorded a cover of Live Love Die by In Fear And Faith at home with a friend and got the overall mix to sound similar to the original, albeit clearer and more modern.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I'd like to say good but that's not really a style... Erm, I'll say balanced. A lot of producers will, for example, mix the bass guitar really low, especially in metal music but I believe that takes the power out of a song, so I like to balance the bass so it sits comfortably in with the guitars etc.

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

A: Justin Timberlake. His last two albums were so well produced and written and it'd be great to see how he managed all of that

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Do NOT think that you need an expensive set up to get good results. As long as you have a good knowledge of your DAW and plugins and good quality recordings to work with, you DO NOT need to have the latest Waves bundles or whatever to get a good sound.

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

A: My own stuff is metalcore but I want to branch out into more mainstream rock and other genres.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Hmm... Getting great sounding guitars and bass that complement each other well and sit in a mix.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Tightness and clarity. I also think outside the box to add little flourishes to an arrangement in order to give it an edge to draw listeners in.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Firstly import stems and label tracks. Next I will drop the levels and create a 10 minute mix where I get a basic balance of loudness and pan for each instrument. From there I will start tweaking with EQs and compression before adding effects like delay and reverb.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: A small home studio running Logic Pro 9 and X with a variety of third-party plugins including Melodyne and EZDrummer amongst others. Despite being small and basic compared to a professional recording facility, it's a setup I know inside and out, allowing me to create great mixes from little hardware and software.

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

A: Linkin Park, Eminem and Metallica got me into music. In the production world, Andy Sneap, Joey Sturgis and Rick Rubin have been people that have influenced me to pursue mixing and mastering - they produced some of my favourite bands. Finally Graham Cochrane has encouraged me to try out new mixing techniques from his YouTube tutorials and vlogs.

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

A: Mixing and mastering of any genre.