All-Inclusive Music Production

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

A: I worked with a gospel music artist called Steph Macleod - my role was producer, session musician and mixing engineer. This project was a joy because Steph is such a talented artist; I had the privilege of working on his initial project ideas and building them up to become big, full soundscapes.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am working with a French singer/songwriter who was a semi-finalist on The Voice France. He has an excellent vocal range and some great songwriting skills.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Primarily digital because it just saves so much space! Partly analogue though, as they each have their strengths.

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

A: If you are clear on your goals, I will make sure your music sounds amazing.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The creative process and hearing the final sound come together during the mixing/mastering session.

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

A: People often ask if I can add additional sounds/instrumentation and if everything is included such as editing/mixing/mastering. As this is all part of the experience that I provide, then the answer is yes.

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

A: Probably underestimating the amount of work that goes into producing a finished song.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your vision for the project? What sound are you aiming for? Do you have any reference tracks?

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

A: The clearer your vision is for the outcome, the better the results will be :-)

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

A: Gibson J45 acoustic guitar, Dictaphone, MacBook M3, SM7B, UA Apollo

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

A: I studied music production at college when I was 16. From that point I worked a few retail and customer service jobs, then was offered a position by a local Church as a music producer, producing some albums. After a number of years I went on to independently produce music for artists as well as write my own songs and compose music for media.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Big, clear-sounding and emotive.

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

A: I'd like to work with Jason Upton - he has the most wonderful voice and songwriting ability.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Sometimes less is more.

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

A: I tend to work on acoustic, pop, rock and indie.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I am able to add multiple additional layers of instrumentation and production to song, which make the song speak and become alive.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I help make the song reach its fullest potential. I help strengthen the overall song arrangement, dynamics and structure. This can involve aspects such as rearranging sections to make the song stronger and more confident, adding additional instrumentation, editing/re-recording parts that need to sound better.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Usually an artist will come to me and have a good idea of the sound they want in their head, but they can't quite get there with it themselves - I find out their vision, and see what they're trying to achieve through the music. What sound are they looking for? What's the feel? Are there any reference tracks they want to base their sound on? Then, if they already have a few basic ideas recorded, wether that be simply a vocal track recorded to a click, or perhaps a few instrument parts they've already recorded, I put these tracks into Logic and start to build a world of sound around them - experimenting with rhythms, chords and adding new soundscapes.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a simple and focused studio setup. I work in Logic Pro and use a combination of internal and outboard equipment to produce my sound. A lot of the sound I create is based around premium sample libraries and plug-ins such as Spitfire Audio, Orchestral Tools, Universal Audio, Native Instruments, Toontrack, Mixwave, GGD. My outboard gear includes; Mac Mini UA Apollo Twin X Quad Core Fender USA Jazz Bass Aria Pro Thorsound 1980's Japanese Electric Guitar (Amazing instrument!) Martin Acoustic Guitar DAV Electronics BG-1 Microphone pre-amp SE Electronics Gemini II Valve Microphone Shure SM7B Shure SM57 Steven Slate VSX Monitoring System KRK VXT6 Monitors

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

A: I like artists such as U2, John Mayer and Dream Theater. I also enjoy cinematic music by composers such as Hans Zimmer and James Horner.

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

A: I primarily work with singer-songwriters and solo artists in the indie pop/rock genre.