Mixing, Engineering, Producer

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

A: I do this because I love it, and I want to, Not because I have to. I began playing Violin in 4th grade them traded that for a trombone in 6th. I played in School band through 12th grade. But I started learning Guitar in 8th grade. That's when it happened. I started recording when I was about 14. I save up my money from odd jobs and bought two 2-track reel to reel recorders. Those combined with a cassette recorder a bunch of home-made cables, some crap mics and a 4 channel ROSS mixer gave me the world of "multi-track". I loved it and I would record anything and everything I recorded myself, I recorded my grage band, I recorded other garage bands, I recorded and made sound FX for a friend who made movies with his Mom's Betamax Video camera. My philosophy was "If it makes a sound record it. I soon upgraded to an Tascam 8-track. Thats about the time started buying mics, building tube circuits, and guitar amps because I couldn't afford to buy them. At this time I began getting paid to record other people and people started coming from other nearby towns to have me record and mix their music. Then a few years latter a 16 track, then ADATs and Pro Tools D24, Then a Mix Cubed System, Which I used for many years and added many process cards to. I treated this as a self sustaining hobby until around 2001-2002. I happened to be hanging out with a friend in his studio (he had some big name clients). long story short: There was an emergency, I engineered a session, pushed the client to get better vocals, said client and other clients requested me to engineer, major label heard some of my mixes, paid me big bucks to mix a few tracks and engineer a few sessions, it became a job, more business than recording & creating. I lost the passion for it & got out of music all together for several years. Now I once again have a passion and a love for what I do and I do this because I want to, Not because I have to.

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

A: Know what type of product want to have when the project is complete. You get what you pay for. and.... Please understand that you may have to break some eggs to make a cake.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What do you wanting to have when the mix is complete? What is your budget? Is this a demo, a self produced record, an Independent Label production..... ect.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Know what NOT to put in the mixing bowl. Just because I recorded specific mics or tracks doesn't mean it has to be in the mix. It's just nice to have options when it comes to the mixing stage.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: When I listen to a song in its most basic form I tap into what I like to call Musical Schizophrenia. I hear parts and instrumentation that aren't there. I write these parts and/or discuss them and the instrumentation with the artist/client.

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

A: Producer/Engineer & Friend: Nate Pritchard (Dave Matthews, Allison Krauss, Neil Young Producer: Gary Katz (Steely Dan & Donald Fagen) Engineer: Roger Nichols (Steely Dan) Producer/Engineer: Sir George Henry Martin (Beatles)

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

A: Most Common is Start to finish: Consultation, Pre-Production, Arranging, Production, Engineering, Mixing, then helping the client find the best Mastering Engineer for their project.

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

A: does the desert island have electricity? If so: a 4 track reel to reel, a 2 track reel to reel, a 1073 style pre, a U87, and a Guitar. If not: Flare Gun, Tent, Rifle with Amo, Two way HAM Radio, and probably a Boat.

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

A: I'm really proud of the work Will Willis and I did together. The record was recorded in multiple locations with many different players and then mixed in one location. We had a lot of fun making that record.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am working on an Record for a Drummer who has written multiple scores covereing many different genres of music for a "Drum Record". I am also working with the band Rehab writing and producing some things for a future record.

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

A: Billy Hume

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both the both have their place, strengths and weakness.

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

A: I promise I will dedicate 100% of myself to their vision and project? Other than that, I try not to "Promise" anything.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I can use both sides of my brain, The technical and creative side together.

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

A: Customer: How much will this cost? ME: It depends on what you want. Let's talk about your project, what you want as a finished product, your time frame, your budget, and I'll get you a proposal.

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

A: One of the biggest misconceptions i have run into is in mixing. Some believe mix engineers have a Midas Touch. But the truth is we can only do so much. But we can't turn Crap into Gold. I can polish a turd but it will just be a shiny turd.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Laid back and driven.

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

A: Hmm, there are so many, for many different reasons.

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

A: I have such a wide range of things I enjoy in the studio it would be hard to pic a favorite.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Capturing the best performance from the artist and natural sound from the instrument. Finding the right tone for the parts of a song. If we can't find the right guitar amp for a song I'll build the right amp.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I like to start by interviewing the client to determine what type of record we are going to make. after that determination is made I move to capturing the songs in their most basic form. From there I work with the artist to Build their project much like building a building or painting a painting. Then knowing when it is finished

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I use ProTools HD with 48 in & 48 Out, A variety of Mic Pres and Mics, I keep everything in Mobile Racks which gives me the ability to travel and engineer at specific locations for tracking. I believe in catching the best performance possible. Getting the emotion of a song to the ears f the listener is one of the most important things to me.