Mixing, Editing, Recording

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

A: How much will it cost to record X songs? The answer: It depends....

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

A: Be honest with yourself about the expectations.

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

A: A great ribbon mic like the Coles 4038. A great cable. A tape machine. A songwriter and an acoustic guitar.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Detailed but organic. There is no one right way to do any of this. Analog or digital. All live or individual performances. It all depends on the people involved, the results wanted and time/budget. It's a new puzzle every time and my job is to have to tools to solves that puzzle regardless of the pieces involved while not getting in the way.

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

A: Chris Thile. He can do it perfectly in a live setting. He and the musicians he brings to the table are capable of bringing the good stuff without all the complications of overdubs, phones and edits.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Multi-tasking. When tape is rolling I hear everything. Turn off the screen (or switch to the mix view) and don't get caught up in those damn waveforms. Just listen.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I'm a huge fan of pre-production. Sooooooo many problems can be avoided with even a little preparation ahead of time. When it comes to tracking I like to get everyone comfortable in the environment, get sounds, set headphones and stay organized. A cluttered session can lead to problems, accidents and slow downs. While tracking I like to hit each song a few times but don't dwell too long. The 1st has great energy but some errors. The 2nd still has great energy but more precise. The 3rd is typically a golden blend of energy and accuracy. After that you get diminishing returns and it's time to move on and perhaps come back to it later in the session.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio is located on an island near Portland, OR. It provides an escape from the typical distractions of the city and allows a focus on the performance and the creativity that is often missing. It is a no control room design that affords greater communication and involvement between the musicians and myself and between them during sessions. Too many isolation rooms can hurt communication and the final product suffers. The aesthetic is essentially recording in your friend's mountain cabin and it just happens to have top notch equipment. It is relaxing, creative, sounds great and feels good just to be in.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The creativity and the people.

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

A: Matty Charles and Katie Rose - Chasing Arrows. The acoustic guitar and both vocals are on one mic live to tape. No edits. No headphones. It's the shit. I recorded and mixed it.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I have a live to 2" 16-track analog tape session tomorrow. All up. Amps in the room and no headphones. Embrace the bleed!

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

A: Jeffrey Anthony on drums!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Easy. Digital for the editing and the full recall. Analog for the way it forces a band to work as a unit.

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

A: I promise I will do my best.

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

A: That it's just balancing loudness levels.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: For mixing a song I didn't record... can you provide some reference materials for sounds and direction? It's much easier to point to an example than describe a sound.

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

A: I started recording when I was in a band and we kept forgetting cool song ideas we'd come up with at rehearsal. "We'll never forget THAT!"... and we always did. I bought a Fostex MR8 (back in the day) and immediately became more interested in my recording than in the band. ;-)

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Prepare. Define the roles that everyone will play. Know who is calling the shots. Rehearse rehearse rehearse. Then rehearse some more. The studio is about execution and capturing the best, definitive version of the song. If you are not prepared or begin in-fighting a whole lot of nothing will get accomplished.

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

A: Americana, singer-songwriter, jazz, folk, bluegrass, pop rock.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I help people know when NOT to play. Stay the hell out of the way of the lyric and attempt to perform what you feel. Sometimes you can play an emotion. Other times you can answer or support a lyric musically.

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

A: Lately I've been more and more a fan of less is more. I love when a band records together and ideally in the same room. When a band moves as a unit, rather than splitting up every task, you get better results. And it's more fun! Obviously, I'm a big fan of The Beatles. Paul Simon also comes to mind. I really enjoy production that sounds deceptively simple. It's fun when is sounds basic but when you really listen you hear layer upon layer to achieve growth as the song plays out.

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

A: I run a full recording studio so it is often the entire project from pre-production, through recording, mixing and then it gets sent to mastering.