Stephen Paul on SoundBetter

Stephen Paul is an American Mixing and Recording Engineer and Producer. With millions of Streams in the last few years and many Chart-Topping releases on Billboard and the UK charts with major and independent labels prior to that, Stephen is all about helping artists achieve their vision.

My ears were shaped early-on while working at Electric Lady and diving deep into the Rock and R&B genres in the UK, New York and Philly. Focus Genres: World, New Age, Celtic, Americana, Orchestral, Pop, Rock, R&B. Can mix in Pro Tools personal studio with tuned room and affordable rates.

I'm always candid about if and how I can help to achieve the ultimate vision of a project. Contact me. Have access to the best musicians, orchestrators, writers, arrangers, vocalists and studios. Of note, I'm also part of a music marketing consortium that's focused on artists & labels; including, video production & viral video marketing (contact for info). In the '70s & '80s, built and operated Earmark Studios in Philadelphia. Earmark focused mostly on Soul, R&B, Early Hip-Hop & Disco. Some of the artists that have recorded and/or mixed there include: Trussel (Elektra, multiple Top 10 and Top 40 R&B & Dance); New England (Elektra); Sister Sledge; MFSB; William DeVaughn (multiple Top 20 and Top 40, R&B); Ira Tucker (Dixie Hummingbirds); and, 9 Gospel albums produced by Tucker for ABC Peacock (now UMG).

I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.

Contact me through the green button above and let's get to work.

Credits

8 Reviews

Endorse Stephen Paul

by Western Mastering
Verified (Client)
First payment and good communication. Recommended.
by Craig Akin
Verified (Client)
Another great song from Stephen. Excellent arrangement, performance, sounds, and backing track for upright bass. Two thumbs up!
by Craig Akin
Verified (Client)
Great songwriting, production, performance, sounds! Super happy to contribute fretless bass to Stephen's music. More of that please!
by Pete Clark
Verified (Client)
I couldn't have asked for a better first client on SoundBetter. Great song, great communication. Hope to work with him again.
by Alberto Rigoni Bassist
Verified (Client)
It was great to work with you! Moreover the song was great!
by fiona Joy Hawkins
Great Producer, quality sound / mix and also great to work with. Hope to do more in the future.
by Mike Waldron
Stephen is a talented producer/engineer. I have recorded several tracks for him and his projects are alway first-class!-Mike Waldron (Session Guitarist/Producer)
by NATHAN PACHECO (Singer, Composer)
We’ve worked on a few great recordings together. Really enjoyed it. He’s got a great feel for music production and orchestral mixing.

Interview with Stephen Paul

Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: Celtic World Orchestra, Frontier Poets, and an R&B influenced project.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Yes. However I won't recommend anyone blindly. I.E. without knowing more about the client's project. If I feel I'm not the right fit I might recommend someone else on SoundBetter.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Focusing on the emotion. In the end, a track must connect emotionally.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Making music with different artists. Love to hear tracks that I worked on -- on Spotify, Apple, and the Radio. All platforms really.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: On mixing assignments -- What are they hearing or not hearing on this song that could potentially make it better? The goal is to find a good place to start a mix at. Essentially the same applies to a project.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Ask a lot of questions! Spend the time talking about your music and how I connect to it. Both emotionally and technically.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Ha! My Pro Tools Laptop, HE400 Headphones, Small Neuman monitors, any Mic in my Mic Trunk, and a generator (solar powered of course)!
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: Several decades! Lots of Work in the U.K. Then NYC and internationally.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Emotion over perfection.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Pop, Celtic, Folk-Pop, Americana, and R&B including Blue eyed Soul. I've also done a lot of Rock, English Rock, Prog Rock, Gospel and Jazz.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: High-level discussion first. Then, listen to artists music and their favforite artists music next. Then go for a more in-depth discussion around their goals. All the while making notes. With mixing, Listen to rough mixes (if they exist) and see how compatible they are with the conversations so far. Come up with the closest reference mix that's most compatible with the artists vision and use that/those as the reference mix standard for what we're going to work on and perhaps go for. Take a deep dive into all of the elements of the work to be done (vocal sounds, drum sounds, special textures, etc.). One of my specialties is orchestration so spend some time on that. I'll usually reference Howard Shore's work but open to a quite a large palette of orchestration sounds and textures. Details are very important and start discussing those before diving in completely so that expectations are on track from the onset.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: Personal studio. 450 sf. Tuned for accurate mixing. Large Pro Tools system and plugin collection. Sizable mic collection. 8k high-end Video Editing system with 5.1 surround sound and massive video libraries.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: Especially proud of: Celtic World Orchestra Role: Mostly Producer & Mixer // Occasional Composer, Keyboards & Arranger Spotify Playlist Spotify Celtic Music Playlist - https://bit.ly/43YpMZV - includes some of my well-known and popular work on Game Of Thrones, Light Of The Seven, Downton Abbey, Kashmir, Now We Are Free, and many more. These are all on the Playlist with 2 of my original compositions, Lost Sky and Quiet Lake. Lost Sky having over 1M views on YouTube. And several others have over 1M plays on Spotify.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: It's not an "or" scenario. Both are great for certain things and have worked in both extensively.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: 100% satisfaction. I will work on your project relentlessly until you're happy.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: 25+ years of a high-level work ethic in music production and mixing.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Inspired by many in the production of music including: Ramin Djawadi, Philipp Nedel, George Massenburg, Geoff Emerick, George Martin, Alan Parsons, Nick Mason, Hugh Padgham, Andy Johns. Eddie Kramer.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Mixer. Producer. Engineer. But it's all the little things that make a great record happen. Like meticulous editing. And I do all of the above extensively.

Sizzle Reel edit

I was the Mix Engineer and Producer in this production

Mixing EngineerContact for pricing
ProducerContact for pricing
Recording StudioContact for pricing
Surround 5.1 MixingContact for pricing
EditingContact for pricing
Mastering EngineerAverage price - $100 per song

3 revisions on mixing. Turn around time can be from several days to several weeks depending on the project and other factors.

Celtic World Orchestra
Ramin Djawadi
John Lunn

All state-of-the-art
including ears. Massive Pro Tools system. Tuned mixing room. Sizable mic collection. 8k high-end Video Editing system with 5.1 surround sound and massive video libraries.