Dan Walker on SoundBetter

Keys with Heart, Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Amy Ray, David Bromberg, John Fullbright, and many more across rock, pop, folk/Americana, country, R&B / soul, etc.

I have a fully equipped private studio for tracking real Hammond B3+Leslie, Wurlitzer and Rhodes electric piano, various acoustic pianos, a pump organ, accordions, Farfisa, and various synths, and plug-ins a plenty. Tracks from my studio have been used on major-label releases as well as various critically acclaimed indie releases.

For those who prefer to be involved in the tracking process in real-time, I use a combination of Audiomovers and Zoom for private real-time streaming, so you can listen in while I'm working, and provide real-time feedback and direction between takes.

Demo Reel:
1. Hammond - Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain (p. Mark Howard)
2. Piano, Hammond - Abraham Alexander - America (p. Will Hunt)
3. Farfisa, Wurlitzer - Bronwynne Brent - Bulletproof (p. Johnny Sangster)
4. Piano, Hammond - Chris Jones and the Fly Catchers - Covered in Red (p. Wes Sharon)
5. Piano - Chris Staples - Always on My Mind (p. Chris Staples)
6. Hammond - Denver Duncan - Message to the World (p. Jarod Evans / Chad Copelin)
7. Hammond, Wurlitzer - J.R. Rhodes - Your Pillow (p. Johnny Sangster)
8. Piano, Hammond, cowrite - K.C. Clifford - No More Living Small (p. Will Hunt)
9. Piano - Lincoln Barr - Desperate Tormentors (p. Johnny Sangster)
10. Accordion - David Bromberg - Roll on John (p. Larry Campbell)

Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Credits

6 Reviews

Endorse Dan Walker

by Eric N.
Verified
Dan is an excellent musician who knows how to add that extra something to a song. He is a true professional, a great player, easy to work with, and provides great-sounding tracks. Overall, he did an excellent job! I highly recommend him.
by Ken H.
Verified
Working with Dan was amazing. The first thing that impressed me was he wanted lyric sheets. And he came in prepped, with an understanding of the songs the emotions being conveyed that informed his choices... the way he colored the chord voicings and dynamics, the solos and fills, and what he did always served the song, and never got in the way of that. One of the best recording experiences I've ever had. Highly recommended.
by Tyler G.
Verified
Incredible caliber of talent. Amazing turnaround, tones, and most importantly nailed exactly what I was going for with passion and ease. Looking forward to working again in the future.
by Stel
Verified
Dan just went above and beyond and delivered exactly what I needed. Really easy to work with and he has a great feel for the mood and flavor of a song.
by Emily J.
Verified
Dan is extremely talented and devoted to delivering the best possible performance he can. Such a pleasure to work with, and I look forward to working with Dan again soon :)
by Steve W.
Verified
Dan was absolutely fantastic to work with, and I will definitely look forward to working with him again in the future. He sat with my song, and worked out exactly what it needed, and delivered multiple takes along with detailed notes for each. Extremely rapid turn around, and great communication along the way as well as excellent playing, and touch with the song.
An absolute pleasure, and very highly recommended.
Thanks again Dan!

Interview with Dan Walker

Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: My goal is always to play what is needed to serve the song and help create a vibe or an emotional response in the listener. For projects where I'm working remotely, I am most often brought in towards the end as "icing on the cake," so I will often lay low for much of a song and look for key lyrical moments to provide an emotional shift of some sort.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a lot of real instruments, and have laid out the studio to be as streamlined as possible when engineering myself so I can focus on the music and sonic creativity. My computer, audio and MIDI interfaces, mic preamps and direct boxes are all mounted in a rolling rack, which I simply roll next to whatever instrument I need to record on. The Leslie cabinet and the pianos are always mic'd up and ready to go.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I usually receive a stereo rough mix and track to that (with any pre-existing parts I'm replacing broken out as separate tracks). I do at least five takes, varying the approach so you'll have options. When working alone in my own studio, I often find that I do many more takes than I would in outside sessions where the clock is ticking; I can experiment with parts and sounds and really think about my role in the song. I make brief notes on each take to assist the engineer as they are importing my work, and always highlight which take I think they should start with, or provide a comp if necessary. Then I send the files along with an MP3 rough bounce so the artist and/or producer can quickly check out the direction I've gone without waiting to import files into a DAW, and provide feedback for a second round of takes if necessary!
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Hammond organ overdubs are the most common type of job I do, followed closely by acoustic piano. With piano parts it's about 50/50 whether I'm adding an additional texture, or replacing a scratch piano part that a song has been built around. I also do quite a lot of Wurlitzer electric piano, accordion, and other types of EP / synth tracks. String arrangements and synth textures/soundscapes are occasionally called for as well.

PianoAverage price - $200 per song
Keyboards - SynthAverage price - $200 per song
AccordionAverage price - $200 per song
String ArrangerAverage price - $350 per song

I am glad to do a round of revisions if necessary for no extra cost. Turnaround time depends heavily on schedule, reach out first! I charge $50 extra for additional instruments on the same track.