Mastering Engineer

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

A: I'm especially proud of the work I did on the EP "Letting and Forgetting" by Sleepaway Camp. The music has such a warm presence from a production standpoint and bringing out that quiet comfort with Mastering was such an honor. The song Coloring Book still stands out to me as one of my favorite songs I've ever Mastered.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: At the moment I'm working on a few albums to be released later that have so much talent involved I find myself revisiting some of the tracks just to listen to them over and over again.

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

A: My promise is to always be communicative and responsive. Above all, communication is most important to me. Lack of communication is the death of a project which is why I update my clients every step of the way so they're not wondering how long it will take for them to get their final Masters from me.

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

A: The most common question I get from clients is "How did you get the music to sound so clear and polished?". The answer is always "It was always like that, you just have to know how to bring it out."

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is the inspiration for your music? How did you get started in music? What is something you would still like to learn/improve about the process of music creation?

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

A: Always create something that you're excited about. If there is one thing that I've learned in my time with music, it's that people love art that is honest and loved by it's creator.

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

A: I would take an M1 Macbook, an ApolloX interface, the Sennheiser HD660S2s for Monitoring, the Aston Origin microphone for recording, and the SSL Fusion for functional and good sounding bus/master processing.

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

A: My life has revolved around music since I started playing trombone at the age of 8. In high school I discovered recording and mixing and slowly started to develop skills as an Audio Engineer until I eventually decided to pursue a degree in recording and music in college. After spending a semester in Nashville at Blackbird Studios, I discovered the responsibilities of a Mastering Engineer and realized that it was a perfect fit for my skill set and mentality while working on projects. I've been Mastering since then for almost 6 years now.

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

A: I would love to work with Brothertiger. I think the work they do is exceptionally unique and their music really resonates with the way I write my own music. That would be such a cool experience to have.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: One tip I would give is to occasionally listen to your Productions/Mixes at a very low volume for perspective. This will allow you to hear the loudest elements of your track and help determine if anything stands out too much/if something is present as much as it needs to be.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio is entirely focused on the listening environment and efficiency. As a Mastering Engineer, I need to hear everything I work on at the highest level of clarity and depth, which is why the features of my studio are the RME ADI-2 DAC FS for conversion, the KALI-IN8 V2's for Monitoring, Sennheiser HD660S2 with Cardas Cables for headphone reference and further Monitoring, and a suite of modern Mastering plug-ins to handle any genre/project that comes my way.

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

A: I draw inspiration from a lot of different areas within the industry, but the albums that consistently inspire me were created by bands like Taking Back Sunday, STRFKR and Gregory Alan Isakov. The other album I would add to this list is the FFXIII Soundtrack.

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

A: Mastering is the most common work that I do for my clients.

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

A: Ben Kling is a phenomenal Mixing Engineer I work with who is an incredible collaborative partner. He is very communicative and creative which is the perfect combination for someone in his field.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. Different projects need different things and different tools can be used for different situations.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love listening. Mastering provided me with an outlet to be what is essentially a professional listener. At the end of the day that's what Mastering is really all about!

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

A: The biggest misconception about what I do is that I'm doing some sort of witchcraft behind the scenes to get the results I do. The truth is that there is only a minor amount of wizardry involved which is not to be confused with dark magic in any sense.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I would describe my style as Flexible. I can adapt to any project providing it with the sound that it needs whether it be clean and transparent or saturated and colorful.

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

A: I work on all types of music and I enjoy doing it also! One of my favorite benefits of being a Mastering Engineer is being able to listen to all types of music while helping projects cross the finish line.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: At the end up the day you need to end up with something you're proud of and it all starts with a trustworthy team. That is why I believe communication is my strongest skill. I understand how important it is to have a Mastering Engineer you can trust, and with that comes the responsibility of communicating transparently and efficiently. I treat every project with the Artist's care in mind ensuring that nothing gets lost in translation along the way.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Mastering provides that extra special something for a project that really brings it to life. I view it as my responsibility to make sure that the nuances of every track get the spotlight and to help every track reach it's maximum potential sonically.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: When Mastering a project, the first listen is the most critical step. This is where I always start with Mastering since it's where I gather my initial thoughts and instincts. From there I apply any treatment necessary to reach where the project should exist sonically.