Remote Recording & Mixing

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

A: Oh yes, Jerry Hamack for example, what an experienced engineer

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital because I have a mobile recording studio in a Van and use the rest space for living ;) Mixing in the box with digital controller to have the Analog feel. But I love to re-amp tracks and all kind of instruments, to bring a analog touch to your song Also I use sometimes plugins that simulate the Analog warmness but only the good quality ones

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

A: Satisfaction and a good time with a personal product that stay's longer than a life time - Your personal song - your personal touch in the best quality. I don't release or finish a song if you are not satisfied with it

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

A: Can you make it bigger, fatter, rounder ? and the answer: Yes, I can do what ever you imagine

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What's your musical experience, how long they are playing To send me a Demo and when the next live gig / rehearsal is To whom they want to reach out, what is the goal ? (More Fan's, Single for a Music video, hobby ..) If they have studio experience or not ! How tight is the budget ? If they can send me tracks from the past ! How THEY imagine the final Songs, Single or Album and the recording process ! What they expect from me and what they need: - Tracking/Mixing only or also tips and ideas for the song (Co-Production)

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

A: Check if you get along with this person and if the person add's value to your vision

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Dynamic and Punchy Quick, efficient and trouble free The quality is a enhancement of the artists vision

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

A: Dead or Alive ? ;) I would love to work with Phil Campbell because he's the guitar player from Motorhead - A Band that inspired me to move on my own way - and the guitar sound is just incredible, would love to put some mic's on that Marshall/Diezel/Uberschall !

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

A: I work on Rock Records and due to our travel, on world music: African Music, Sahara Blues, Gypsy, Latino-Pop played with traditional instruments, classical Singer-Songwriter and more interesting, unusual music Also I work on Punk Rock / Reggae records because I'm from this field - in General, I work on a lot of different music because I consume a lot of different music - it's the feeling !

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Clarity, emphasise on the emotion, your message and a sense of structure and journey for your listener

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Clarify the needs and talk with you, taking notes and giving advice about the multi tracks Clarify the status of the track: Do you need editing ? Do you need Comping ? Is every track as you want it, or do I have to chose from the best takes ? Importing the tracks in my template and sorting them Listening to the track and taking notes, what is the focus in the track ? Where is the drive ? Where is the rhythm ? Where are the extra goodies ? Where is space for Dynamics ? etc. Grouping elements together Making a raw mix, checking and optimising phase, start panning and volume decisions Listening and taking notes Start EQing, usually the Drums, then Bass, Vocals, Guitars - rest - always depended on the track Start Compressing Checking overall track, taking notes Getting inspired and creative as the technical part is done, this is a process that I can't explain in the moment Later on, if you have questions I can explain you the decisions When the full mix is ready, I will send it to you, you listen to it with your Band / Manager / Producer Then you send me an E-Mail with things you like and don't like and I will work on it

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Mobile Recording studio with carefully chosen mic's for (hopefully) every possible situation Tube mic's to SM57 and 2 x 8 Input Focusrite Interface

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

A: Evil "Joe" Barresi , Joe Strummer, Warren Huart, Cameron Webb, Jack Joseph Puig, Josh Homme, Lemmy, Sylvia Massy, Sir George Martin, Steve Morse, Frank Zappa, Dave Jerden, Joe Satriani, Andrew Scheps, Geoff Emmerich, Iggy Pop, Cameron Webb, Niles Rodgers, Ulrich Wild, Dimebag Darrel, Fela Kuti, Karim Ziad, Shelly Yakus, Brad Wood

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

A: Recording, Remote Mixing, Editing, Mastering, Planning Most of the time I'm booked for the full production, from day one to the final track. Starting with the planning phase where I check the Bands and Musicians that like to record, joining rehearsal/live gig's, going through the demos and asking for their vision so we work towards the same goal. Also I go through the whole recording/mixing process with my clients (if they want/when they are new) so they know what they can expect and how the process works After the artist is ready and informed, I start preparing the session: Which Instruments will be used/preferred, which songs (incl. Lyrics for vocal tracking), guest musicians, facilities, technical pre-checks and all that kind of stuff to make the session as smooth as possible We usually start then tracking and working out the songs in the studio if needed While tracking I start already to mix the element's together - like that the client have already an idea of the song and direction When I mix a track from scratch, I contact the Band and get the story of them as well as some tracks - checking with which mixes they are satisfied in the past and which ones not ;) Then it depends if the Band send the mixes to the mastering house or if they need a "Loud Mix / Quick Master" from me, therefore I keep the standards that the facilities need. If mixing for the mastering house, I leave around -6 dB headroom If I have to deliver the finished product I keep the standards and provide several Masters (if needed) for streaming standards, CD, Film (no vocals) etc. All files will be stored on 2 external Hard Drives for a (hopefully) life time so if you need the mix / master again

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

A: Our biggest hit Andalucious - Ya lyahoud ou muslemin - يا ليهود و مسلمين One of the first songs I ever Recorded, Mixed & Mastered became a hit on YouTube and Morocco with over 170,000 views. It was a 9 piece band with instruments I didn't even know - and I had 45 min. and only one take ! I got one month free and wanted to check if the concept of a traveling music studio works, so we traveled on low budget from Poland to Morocco and back in 1 month, 12.000 km in an Opel Astra packed with Mic's There was not much experience in recording and mixing but we took the chance to record the big stars from the "Andalusian Music Festival" in Morocco and it worked out, I gained a lot of knowledge with trial and error, remixed the track 4 times and listened to it 300 times for sure ;)

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: 4 Music Videos and 5 mixes

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The moment, when you say that the track is finished and I can give it to you ! B A M - Magic ! I can combine my passion to music and live my life again as it was during my time as a musician - talking about music, hanging out with musicians, having contact with musicians and now even supporting different styles of music - there is no limitation for music styles when mixing, that's the wonderful part

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

A: That mixing is easy and can be done by everyone: The thing is that we, as engineers, have the balance between two worlds - Logic for problem solving and Creativity for track enhancement - one can not live with the other and the logic part have to be ready in the right moment to solve problems quickly The thing is that frequencies work with each other, they have to dance with each other and don't step on each other's toes (no fun at all) By only making all the instruments as fat and clear as possible is not the way how mixing works as you face really quick the limitations and see, that it don't stick together We have to tackle every track from the beginning, that's why we are here ;) To MIX

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

A: My Custom Hoeffner Guitar My 60's Marshall Stack My ZE5600 Tube Mic My HardDrive with all Plugins and Licenses ;P

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

A: I play music since I'm 11 (Almost 20 years) and had alway's Bands & Jam Sessions and I'm grateful that this don't stop My career path was crazy and in all directions what made me the person that I'm now My first job was with 12 when I started to pack chains and I learned, what I don't want in life Further I made a 2 year school for pedagogic and psychology & worked 1 year with children that have autism Later I had a 3 years education in Electronics in the Bayer Company/Germany Then I moved to Berlin and earned a living as street musician until the winter came, so I started as a Stage Hand From here I moved quick to crew chef, worked for gigs with Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Status Quo, Kiss and more until I moved to German TV shows like "The Voice of Germany" I traveled also a lot and spent 6 months in Albania, working as Barkeeper in Hostels and tuned Pianos in a small shop After 1 year travel I moved to Poland in 2016 and to quickly pay the bills I landed in IT: First year Service Desk, had enough after 1 month and learned basic programming, became a specialist in 2 months, then 1 year as a Network Support Specialist, then 2 years in IT Security ... ... and it wasn't satisfying at all but good for computer skills So I started to buy mic's in 2017 and to take online courses and to record and mix my own songs 2018 I was ready and started "Hit The Road Music Studio" - traveling and recording Bands all around the world I kept the IT job to pay the microphones so I don't had to take a credit in 2019 I moved out from Poland, having the Studio now full time - traveling in a Camper and record artists on our way - transforming traditional Mud houses in Morocco into small Recording Studios with great results As Joe Strummer said: The Future is unwritten ;)

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't use the "Van Halen" Hi-Hat recording trick (Tape a Small Diaphragm Condenser with a SM57 and push to one channel) - why ? Because you Mute the Hi-Hat most of the time ;) Okay, something useful would be my favourite for Guitars to split two Amps, put them in 2 different rooms, with two different settings (if distortion, then one distorted one clean) this will give you a rich, controlled, unique and interesting guitar sound

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Mixing - I love to tidy and sort tracks and I'm great in making decisions as I don't get too emotional on all the recorded parts - so I can switch easily between creative, logical and to the view point of a typical, non-musician listener