Mixing, Mastering & Editing

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

A: Do you only work on heavy music like punk and metal? Absolutely not. While the studio's background is in extreme music, I welcome the opportunity to work with musicians of all genres.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I strive for an organic and dynamic sounding mix.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't be afraid to be aggressive or objectively "wrong".

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

A: Progressive Metal is what I make as an artist so it is what I work on the most.

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

A: I'm a huge fan of Acle Kahney's (4D Sounds) and Forrester Savell's mixing styles.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I'm always learning!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: It depends what is available to me. There is good and bad in both. Digital is what I work with primarily but it can cause option paralysis, I love using analog equipment because it forces me to commit.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Besides the standard scheduling and business talk, I usually ask them about their prior experience working with engineers or in a studio and what they expect from those.

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

A: Look for someone who is dependable and personable. More often than not, engineers have to play psychologist and get inside the artist's head. The best engineers do what they say when they say it and know how to work with the artist.

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

A: My computer, a pair of Focal Alpha 65s, a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 interface, an Axe FX II and an Ibanez RGMS7.

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

A: I've been producing music for 5 years now but only professionally for the past 6 months.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Mixing is definitely my strong point. It is what I have the most experience in and why I got into music production in the first place. That being said, I'm a firm believer in the recordings make the mix so I like to think I'm more than competent in all areas of the music production process.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I hope to bring to a song what the artist wants. I'm not too ingrained in my style and I love experimenting. Music production, to me, is all about making the best a song could be and attempting to convey the energy you feel when hearing an artist live.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It varies from project to project. In most metal productions, I start with tracking drums. If editing is required I will edit them before repeating this process (in order) for: bass guitars, rhythm guitars, clean/lead guitars and vocals. Pitch correction for the vocals will take place after everything else in the production is finished (if required). After my session is setup and any potential phase issues and/or drum sampling is done, I move onto mixing and mastering. I use a halfway top-down mixing approach so even if you plan to outsource the mastering, I will use a "ghetto" mastering chain to give the artist an idea of how the final product will sound.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a fairly modest home studio with minimal treatment and room correction software. Gear List: Focal Alpha 65s Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 Axe FX II dbx 286s PAiA Quadrafuzz

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

A: I mostly follow the production of a song and/or album from it's conception. Helping with the writing process, pre-production and arranging until the time comes for the production. From there, most of my clients have me mix and master the music but I prefer to outsource mastering if it's within the artist's budget.