Mixing Engineer

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: When I mix a song, I really focus on emphasizing the feeling an artist intends to evoke with their music. While that is my top priority & goal in every mix, it is not my only priority. I will also ensure that the drums & low-end of your song are larger than life yet still clean & defined, the vocals are crisp and the stereo imaging takes you to a whole other world.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: When an artist first contacts me to mix their record, I will briefly get to know the artist and the record they would like me to mix. After taking a few listens myself, I will discuss how the record made me feel and will ask the artist what their intention with the record is. This helps me build context early on, so when I start to mix the song, I can ensure that both the artist and myself will be satisfied with the mix, ideally within the first 1-3 versions (hopefully the first). I typically mix in two stages. The first stage is focused on getting a very professional sounding mix, while the second stage is focused on taking that mix and showcasing the emotion(s) the artist intends to evoke. I typically start with the drums first. I put in a lot of time getting the levels right and treating the drums to make sure they hit the listener like no other. I then move on to the vocals; levelling, EQing & compressing them until they sound very clean and crisp. After I am content with the drums and vocals, I will bring in the bass. I keep my focus on clarity & eliminating muddiness in the low-end as well as making sure that the bass elements sit well with the kick(s). Lastly I will bring in all the other instruments, creating separation in the stereo field through the use of levelling, panning, EQ & compression. After completing this 1st stage, I will have a very professional sounding mix that I can use as my starting point for the 2nd stage. This stage is when I use creative EQing, saturation/distortion & other effects to emphasize a specific vibe in the record. This stage is also when I decide on creative reverbs & delays to really showcase the emotion(s) in the song and to create further separation within elements in the stereo field. All these different creative decisions elevate the mix to the level where I am satisfied with it. This is when I will send the mix back to the artist and wait for any feedback. I will explain the mix decisions I made to see if it evokes similar feelings for the artist. While waiting for feedback, I will test the mix on many different sound systems to make sure it translates well across everything. Once the artist provides their feedback, I will make any changes that they deem necessary to the mix until they are satisfied and then send over the final mix.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your intention with this record? What emotions are you aiming to evoke in your listener? Are there any other songs that you would like me to use as a reference when mixing? How many stems are in your song? What is your budget for this project?

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

A: As of now, most of my mixing and production work revolves around Hip-Hop, Moombahton, Dancehall & Pop. The list of genres is slowly expanding as I am very open to learning about different genres and how I can apply my own style in those genres to slightly differentiate the sound of your record.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill, as both a mix engineer and producer, is being able to adapt my own mixing/ producing style to the feeling an artist would like to evoke. I place emphasis on my mixes being done with intention and direction from the start. This way, the end product is satisfying for both the artist and myself.

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

A: As a mixing engineer I am very inspired by the sound and story of MixedByAli. The fact that he self-taught himself everything he needed to know about mixing and is now helping shape the sound of hip-hop is very inspiring. Other engineers I take inspiration from are Jaycen Joshua, Matthew Weiss and Noah "40" Shebib. As a producer, my own music takes inspiration from the bounce of Pharrell & Timbaland, the melodies of AR Rahman, and the "do what I want" attitude of Kanye.