Mixing, Mastering, Producing

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

A: I am very proud of a song entitled "Why" by my own recording artist Traptize Ky. He is a 17 year old artist from Richmond, VA whom since teaming up with me has accumulated over 1Million indpenedent streams. The song Why is so special to me because not only did we make it from scratch but i mixed and mastered the whole thing over about a weeks time down to the very last detail. From there we went and hired a videographer, shot the official video in an ice rink downtown in our city in the middle of a snow storm and it came out absolutely breathtaking. The roles i played were everything from tracking engineer, mastering and mixing engineer to a visual producer.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I have multiple artists and multiple projects releasing this year, as well as my current work load from my day job at Goodpeeples Recording Studios .

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

A: I honestly do not know any engineers on SoundBetter other than myself, but I do encourage my clients to seek out the best possible help they can get for their audio no matter whom they chose to let work on it!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both! Why? Both can be used in such a way that brings life to a record that could not be done with the other.

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

A: My promise to my clients is to always accommodate every single request they have until their project is finished and ready for release!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love that I get to bring the visions that I have for these songs when I first hear them raw to life by adding in the effects myself, its the most fun job I've ever had.

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

A: How do I get my music to blow up? My answer: By being true to yourself and being consistent, work on music everyday even if you can't be in the studio every day.

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

A: That we just sit back and click a recording button, and not anything else!

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What do you hope to accomplish with this song?

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

A: Don't be scared of pricing, most engineers (if they are like me) love the work they do and are willing to work with a budget. Also, don't be afraid to ask for revisions or to ask for help, because of the same reason above, if they truly love the work they are doing then they will be there to help you with anything!

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

A: I would need a solar panel, an outlet, my mac mini fully equipped with tracks and logic pro x, my interface, and my Yamaha HS8's!

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

A: I have been around music production for over a decade, but I have been a professional audio engineer for going on 4 years now. My love for music began back in grade school, as my older brother was into Djing, engineering and beat producing from a young age. I got to witness for years first hands how sessions are conducted, how to connect with an artist not only on a professional but on a personal level, and how to really go about crafting a great quality song. I have been taking sessions in Richmond, Virginia for the past few years and since have accumulated over 3 Million streams across all platforms on my projects as well as held a solid client roster of over 200+ recording artists.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style is very unique, I would say sort of new age combined with old school. I love auto-tune work, I love melodic trap music, and I love old school Project Pat esque records as well. I am all over the board, I just love music and try to bring my own style to the table.

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

A: I would love to work with Young Dolph because of his style and energy, I know a collaboration from us would be crazy!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Be open and honest with your clients about their project, they will appreciate it down the road.

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

A: I typically work on Rap, Trap, Hip Hop & RNB but I am open to all genres!

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is connecting with an artist and bringing out their own unique sound. I feel like on some level I am able to see into the future of a mix, and see where I want to take it as soon as tracking is completed. For an artist that I meet online, or is sending me vocals via email, I take the time to listen time and time again to their piece before I begin to touch anything so I can build a feel for how I will bring out that artists own original sound.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring my ear, and my sauce. Plain and simple. I am very picky with my mix, and I love to add in effects that create what I call "WOW" moments in every song I touch!

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: My typical work process begins from scratch. I love to help artists piece their project together from the jump by helping them along with their song structure, and tracking their vocals to the best of my ability. From there, as the artist exists the booth, I am beginning my mixing process which involves Compression, Vocal Equalizing, Applying my reverb and then from there beginning to do all my tricks to the trade that make my mix stand out from anyone else's. I am not the typical audio engineer, because I do not just like to sit back and click the button. I am often mixing as soon as a vocal touches the grid. I am very hands on, very passionate, and love to see a project all the way until the end.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I am currently one of the two senior engineers at two recording studios in Richmond, VA. These two studios operate 24/7, and are booked up solid every day on average at least 12 hours out of the day, bare minimum! I run on Logic Pro X primarily, with experience in Pro Tools (because EVERYBODY loves pro tools...) however, I love Logic Pro X in comparison. My DT770 Headphones and my Yamaha Hs8's & Hs7's combined with my rokit 5's provide all the punch I need when mixing a record. I am a very software based engineer, with experience on boards, however, in this day and age I am finding more often that you can provide the same quality record without such fancy equipment! My favorite plugins to use are all found in the WAVES Gold Bundle, A solid mixture of C4 & C6 Compressors along with my SSL Channel & more are what you'll often find on my mixes.

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

A: One of my biggest music production professional inspiritations has to be Alexander Tumay. I structure a lot of my mixes based off his teachings, and I attack a mix in a very similar style. His attention to detail when working with his clients, such as Young Thug is truly inspiring, because they will go down to the tiniest detail! Also, he's one of the best engineers i've seen using the same DAW as me, and that would be Logic Pro X.

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

A: The most common type of work I do for my clients covers the full spectrum of producing a completed song. I am a very thorough and honest tracking engineer, as well as a very detailed mixing and mastering engineer. I love to give my own input towards the structure of any song with every artist I work with. I work so well with my clients because I try very hard to build a unique sound from scratch with every person who steps into my studio, or sends me their vocals to put my touch on!