Mastering

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

A: Don't hesitate to contact me prior to ordering, I'm always happy to answer any question and provide feedback when requested.

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

A: 1- Soundproofed & Treated Room, 2- High quality, full range Monitors, 3- High quality ADDA (with all cables, duh!) 4- A great computer loaded with software, 5- A control n0b. Am I cheating here? :p

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

A: I made my first steps into the audio industry nearly 10 years ago with the wish to share and make discover to other people the music that I love so much. A few years as a Dj and discovering the world of music production led me to acquire more knowledge and experience via an Audio (Post)Production Techniques training program which I completed with excellence mention. I developed some competences in various audio related domains. However, among all these differents domains, my biggest interest was always the actual audio processing part, shaping the sound. During the following years, I specialized myself into Mixdown & Mastering for other artists (mostly Techno/House, but not only!). I’ve spent thousands of hours searching, reading, discussing with peers and toroughly testing various aspects implied in musical post-production – and I still do on a daily basis.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Fairly transparent unless you don't want me to be, refined, sharp, punchy, dynamic but still with some energy and pressure (especially on bass-heavy music). But most of all 100% customized processing (no presets/templates used) along with proper attention and care for your project, down to the smallest details.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: MS EQ! Mid/Sides EQ was a revelation for me and remain one of the most versatile tools that I use quite a lot, be it on a single element, bus or even at mastering stage. It's a great way to keep your low end mono compatible with full control over the curve shape and smoothness and open on the sides gradually along the frequencies. But I'll be able to provide more tips, in context of your project. Do not hesitate to send a link to your -rough-mix for some feedback! :)

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

A: I mostly work on electronic music (Techno, House) but not only. Other genres include: acoustic voice and guitar, folk pop, some nice hip-hop, synthwave, ambient, chill...

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Streamlined: I'll always start by a discussion with the artist to make sure to understand any eventual specific request, ask for eventual references. From there, I'll assess the provided file(s) and information to confirm if everything is good to go for processing, if requested or if I feel that the material might not be optimal for processing yet, I'll provide the artist with a critical and detailed feedback about the different things to eventually re-consider. Assuming everything is good, I'll usually do the processing session(s) in the morning with fresh and objective ears and mind. I'll update the artist at each major step (especially on bigger projects). Once delivered, the artist can confirm if everything is approved or let me know if they might want any adjustments on something. (this may happends on first collaboration and is usually related to minor tonality adjustements related to personal taste and artistic direction, which I can get to know better over time). I then plant a tree for each artist I processed some music of (usually to celebrate the release), as a proud Tree-Nation ambassor. :)

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work entirely "in the box" for many reasons, however, I invested quite a lot on my monitoring system from the room setup and acoustic treatment down to the cables linking my gear. Of course, including high quality, revealing monitors, properly calibrated and setup along a pristine converter etc... On the software and plugins side, I have spent countless hours on a quest for the best tools out there and still am. Throughout this journey, I've been able to compose my "arsenal" which only features the best-in-class audio algorithms, along getting to perfectly know and master them over time and experience. Finally, the one particular great think that I actually like from analog gear, is the absence of constant visual feedback, which tend to bias your decisions very easily. This is why, I also invested time and money in order to setup various ways of controlling very intuitively my tools without the need of looking the screen or anything at all. Here is a full list and more insights if you are curious :) https://elliottsebag.com/setup

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

A: Each artist has his/her own way of either carrying one or multiple messages, transporting people away or both. It's inspiring and I love to think that the energy of the performances and the emotions triggered can be subliming by fully customized, high quality, technical processing.

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

A: I mostly do mastering for various artists along providing them with free detailed and critical feedback and valuable tips and insights to eventually build upon. Additionally, I sometimes do audio restoration or mixdown work as well.