Alex Cutler | Audio Engineer

Mixing Engineer & Audio Editor

I will always do my best to tell the story of the song, and bring the artist's vision to life. I will mix your tracks with a focus on clarity, depth, punch, and emotion. When recording bands, I am committed to capturing the vibe of the moment and pushing artists to get the best takes they can get, while feeling as comfortable as possible.

I am an Audio Engineer and Music Producer based out of Archive Recordings in Salt Lake City. I offer Production, Recording, and Mixing. I would love to help you turn a rough song idea into a full production song, ready to be released.

I mix music with the intent of telling the story of the song. If it is an emotional song, I will strive to make the audience weep while listening to it, if it's a heavy song full of riffs and blast beats, I will strive to make that mix punch you right in the throat. Every song is treated differently, and my decisions are always based off what I think that project in particular requires.

I mix using a Pro Tools HDX system and a hybrid of outboard analog gear, such as a Trident 80 B console, rack gear, and a huge suite of top industry plugins.

I can tune vocals using melodyne, as well as align doubles using vocalign project with melodyne and elastic audio - depending on the nature of the vocal and what it requires.

I use efficient methods to line up instruments, drums and vocals to the grid as close as possible while still maintaining a human element.

I can quickly edit your podcast to the standards that you require, and deliver you a broadcast ready mix to air to your followers.

I am also an accomplished guitarist who can write new parts and help you record guitars on your album. I can also do re-amping.

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

Interview with Alex Cutler | Audio Engineer

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

  2. A: My Life as an Audio Engineer I have been recording and mixing music for six years. I have been playing guitar since I was a kid, and got very serious about music right out of high school. After a few years of being a basement guitar hero, I started out trying to learn recording on my own. I bought a small usb interface and two microphones. I instantly became obsessed with the art and science of Audio Engineering. While recording my guitar and drums in my basement, through less than $300 in gear, I realized I wanted to learn more. I dropped out of an IT degree, with less than a semester away from finishing, to start the Recording Arts and Sciences program at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio. I completed the first year of the two year program before meeting Nathan Doutt, Owner and Chief Engineer at Central 8 Studios in Akron, Ohio. I was presented with the opportunity to become an Intern at Central 8 Studios and took my chance with it. I left school, realizing my learning style benefited greatly from being hands-on, watching the engineers at Central 8 work day in and out. I was full time as the studio intern and session assistant at Central 8 Studios in Akron, Ohio, for 8 months. I also was introduced into the live sound world during this time and helped Central 8's live production company with music festivals throughout the summer. During my time with Central 8, I am very happy to say that I learned a great deal about sound, and most importantly, the life of an audio engineer. Eventually, I parted ways with Central 8 having decided to leave my hometown of Akron, Ohio. I moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in March, 2018, to pursue a relationship, as well as get the change of scenery I yearned for. I took a job at Guitar Center and stayed part time while trying to find work in my field. I considered opening a home studio at this point, but knew I was many years away from being where I wanted to be in terms of gear. I also saw the value in working with other engineers due to my internship in Akron. I eventually met Wes Johnson, Chief Engineer and Owner at Archive Recordings, who was getting ready to open up his new location for Archive Recordings in September of 2018. I had the opportunity to help Wes out through the summer and was able to start running my own sessions as a professional Audio Engineer upon the opening of the new location. Since the opening of the new Archive Recordings, I have worked with many bands in the Salt Lake Valley who have blown me away. The amount of talent that Utah musicians have is incredible and I am so excited to have officially started my career here. In November of 2018, I left my job at Guitar Center to go full time as an Audio Engineer. I started getting work with Sartain and Saunders as the in house sound tech at Kilby Court, where I worked for 7 months. During this time, I worked over 100 shows around SLC at various venues including Kilby Court. In June, 2019, I was presented with the opportunity to do a three month work commitment at a Grammy Award winning studio, Prairie Sun Recordings, in Cotati, CA. I was there until August, 2019. I worked sessions as a freelance engineer and assisted on many sessions with very skilled engineers such as Nate Nauseda, Jason Reed, and Rick Vargas. I also had the opportunity to work with longtime producers such as Dave Schools on these albums who I learned a great deal from. I spent a great amount of time at Prairie Sun listening to the vintage equipment they have available which gave me a lot of perspective on my process as a whole. I learned a great deal from studio owner Mark “Mooka” Rennick on sound, life, and what it means to be an audio engineer for a lifetime. Coming back to SLC in September of 2019, I felt focused, confident, and ready to dive fully into the world of studio engineering. I currently work full time as a studio engineer, based out of Archive Recordings. I still do live sound as well, but am now available direct for hire, through my contact page! Hit me up for anything from corporate events to a big show you just can’t risk your band not having great sound for.

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

  4. A: Horrible Penny's debut EP - Shades of Green This record has been doing great for this brand new band out of SLC. The entire recording and mixing process for this EP was tons of fun, we incorporated a lot of fun elements into the production. The band has gotten great feedback on the release and is stoked on it! I was the producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, and mastering engineer for this project. I even made an intro track for the EP that was a soundscape I created from a few random sounds from the other songs on the EP which I messed up and duplicated to create what sounded like a complete nightmare to start the album.

  5. Q: What are you working on at the moment?

  6. A: My own music, as well as multiple full length albums with some great up and coming talents.

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

  8. A: Not at this time, I am new to the platform. I hope to make a few friends in the industry here.

  9. Q: Analog or digital and why?

  10. A: I have a deep passion for analog recording. My new band - Real Horror Show - is 100 percent analog through the tracking and mixing stage. There is a lot of inspiration that can be found when not being shown every mistake and detail of every waveform on the computer. Recording often takes less time because artists come more prepared to get that perfect take rather than expecting you to fix a lazy lifeless performance in Pro Tools.

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

  12. A: To do my absolute best, and to care as much about your art as you do.

  13. Q: What do you like most about your job?

  14. A: Watching that reaction when the artist hears the tracks back in the studio after a long day of tracking or mixing.

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

  16. A: "How much does it cost?" "There are a lot of factors that may impact the price of the project, let's talk about what you are looking to get out of this."

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

  18. A: I am not a DJ

  19. Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

  20. A: What are your plans for this upcoming year? What would you change about the last album you released?

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

  22. A: Take your time to record the best tracks possible if you want me to mix the album!

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

  24. A: 5 megaphone/bullhorns with batteries for yelling HELP to passing by ships every couple of months.

  25. Q: How would you describe your style?

  26. A: Encouraging, optimistic, and keeping vibes as good as possible in the studio. The signal flow starts from the heart of the artist and how they feel that day. If edits need to happen, then preserving the vibe as much as possible is key.

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

  28. A: The Frights, they seem like a really fun group of guys and their music slaps.

  29. Q: Can you share one music production tip?

  30. A: Dynamic range is extremely important to preserve in the mastering stage in todays streaming culture. Having an over compressed mix that is loud as hell in the studio may not mean anything once it is on spotify, itunes, etc. Often times, a song with more dynamic range will feel a lot punchier with much more clarity on these services than something that is much louder than what their algorithm will allow. Also, get rid of the mindset of fixing anything in the mix. Yes, I can probably fix any mistake you make, but wouldn't you rather just step back in the booth and get a better take from the start?

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

  32. A: Heavy music, but also a lot of punk rock, and songwriter type artists.

  33. Q: What's your strongest skill?

  34. A: Critical listening.

  35. Q: What do you bring to a song?

  36. A: I bring a trained ear from being in bands from many years and playing with a lot of different musicians. I often am told I am great at coaxing the best performance possible out of artists with them feeling comfortable. I deliver mixes that are clean of any obvious distractors from the song, as well as being dynamic, punchy, and full of clarity.

  37. Q: What's your typical work process?

  38. A: Pre Production - Looking at song arrangements, structure, and overall 'togetherness' of the instruments individual parts. Really making sure that the song is building, moving, and telling the story it is supposed to tell. Recording - I like to do live tracking to get my main take, and to capture as much of the natural vibe of the band that I can. I will then do additional tracks for doubled guitars, vocals, or whatever else the bands want to add. I like to utilize the Live Room at the studio to do fun tracks such as doubled vocals through a megaphone across the room, or whatever weird things we can think of to make the record sound as full and lively as possible.

  39. Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

  40. A: I have a home studio I use for music production, Midi Scoring, Editing, Vocal Comping and Tuning, and instrument alignment. It is a humble setup with an Apollo Twin MkIII Quad as my command center. I work out of Archive Recordings in SLC for Recording, Mixing, and Mastering sessions utilizing an amazing live room, and control room, as well as the Trident 80B console and a Pro Tools HDX rig with a huge suite of plugins to deliver my clients the best quality productions I can.

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

  42. A: Kurt Ballou, Deafheaven, Opeth, Steven Wilson, Steve Albini, Chris Lord-Alge

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

  44. A: I have put most of my focus into giving bands an entire production process. I work with them on pre - production, getting them ready for the studio then Recording, Editing, Mixing, and Mastering.

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'Guillotine' by my band, Real Horror Show

I was the Songwriter, Guitarist, Producer, Recording Engineer, Mixing Engineer, Mastering Engineer in this production

Terms Of Service

3 rounds of revisions per track mixed.

Gear Highlights
  • Peavey 5150
  • Sunn 1200S
  • Ampeg V3
  • Trident 80B Console
  • MCI JH24Tape Machine
  • Lynx Aurora AD/DA Converters
  • Pro Tools HDX
  • Melodyne
  • Auto-Tune
  • Slate Digital Suite
  • McDSP Suite
  • SoundToys Suite
  • FabFilter Suite
  • Waves Bundles
  • UAD Apollo Quad.
More Samples
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