Mixing Engineer

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My new studio is entirely In The Box and I'm really happy with the results and the fast workflow that an ITB studio has to offer. I'm running Cubase Pro (Latest version) and Pro Tools (Latest Version) but I also have other DAWs available if needed. I also use the best plugins to do my job (Slate, Waves, Soundtoys, SSL, Eventide, Slate Digital, FabFilter...)

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

A: Recently I mixed a lot of tracks for 2 major TV shows. It was an intense job because it was a lot of music to mix in a short period of time but it was a really rewarding experience!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: At the moment, i'm involved in mixing a singer songwriter album that has a really nice old school vibe.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I usually receive a Pro Tools (or cubase) session and start organizing the session to my liking. Some clients also send me just the RAW wave files. After opening the session (or importing the files), I start color coding the tracks the way I'm used to, load my template effects, route everything to it's correct bus/sends and then I start moving the faders to have a rough balance. I try to do this as fast as possible to keep the perspective of the song. After that I just start working on each channel individually to enhance/correct anything that is needed. And when I think the song is ready, I just send to the client and wait for feedback.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I usually don't debate about those things because the main "gear" for me is the audio engineer. At the end, it doesn't matter if that compressor in the vocal is a plugin or a hardware. One thing that I really like about digital is the flexibility.

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

A: A painless, fun and rewarding job!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Be involved with a lot of different music and work with different people all the time. It's huge learning experience working with those people.

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

A: A lot of people think that mixing is a magic wand that you can just fix everything that were bad in the previous steps.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I usually ask them reference tracks. It's very important for me to know what they are expecting to get out of my mix.

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

A: Make sure that your song is ready to be mixed. There are some things that I cannot fix in the mix.

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

A: A MacBook Pro, an Apollo Interface, 2 Mics, A nice pair of headphones and a pair of monitors and i'm all set to produce anyone in an island!

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

A: I've been working with audio since 1998 and since then I worked with a lot of bands from different genres of music. I'm also a teacher here in the Music Production course at a local college where a teach different disciplines like: "Recording Techniques" "Post Production I - Mixing" "Post Production II - Mastering" "Audio Design for Games". I also do a lot of workshops about audio/music production and audio design.

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

A: Paul McCartney just because I think he is a genius! I also really like Pharrell Williams because I think his is an amazing Hit maker and know this thing pretty damn good.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Spend the most time you can in each step of the music production process and do the best work possible at each step. Record like there is no mixing, mix like there is no master. This way, you can extract the best material possible from each step avoiding the famous "Fix it in the mix"

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

A: I usually work on Pop/Singer songwriter and Rocks songs. But i have a lot of experience on Jazz/Instrumental songs (which I love working on too)

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I have a very musical mindset when mixing. I'm not that guy that is only looking at numbers and meters. I try to give the music what it deserves. I also bring a creative approach to the music. I'm not afraid of processing the audio to bring an interesting element to the song.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I can bring a huge attention to details and some nice creative edits to make the song stand out

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

A: Paul McCartney, Chris Lord Alge, Bob Clearmountain, Andrew Scheps, Pharell Williams

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

A: The most common work I do is Mixing. But i'm often hired to tune vocals and/or edit