Pro Rock Mixing & Mastering

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I've just finished mastering EP (7 tracks) for Emmanuel Songsore. He is a multi-instrumentalist and composer from Canada. That what he wrote to me after receiving his masters: Beautiful work! This is not the first time I am paying for mastering. However, this is the first time that I can confidently say that the mastering process clearly elevated the quality of my songs. Thank you again for being efficient, patient and prompt with email responses and the delivery of files.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I am a fan of hybrid mastering. Hybrid Mastering utilises the benefits of both computer-aided software and most importantly; the warmth, depth and iconic sound of my high-end analogue equipment.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Here's a list of the most important gear in the Studio: ​WORK STATION - Sweetwater Custom Computing CS450 4U Professional Audio and Video Production Workstation DAW and AD/DA CONVERTERS - Crane Song HEDD Quantum AD/DA, Lynx Hilo AD/DA, WaveLab Pro 11, Studio One Pro 6 ANALOG AND DIGITAL PROCESSING - DuTCH.audio IM2.C mastering insert matrix, DW Fearn VT-5 Stereo Equalizer, DW Fearn VT-7 Stereo Compressor, Elysia Alpha Mastering Compressor, Roger Foote P4S ME - Mastering Compressor, Black Box Analog Design HG-2 Processor, Bettermaker Mastering Equalizer, On the Moon Spacecraft, Tegeler Audio Crème – Bus Compressor and Mastering Equalizer, Drawmer 1973, Bettermaker Mastering Limiter, A pair of Neve Shelford Channels, Manley Core, Bricasti Design M7, Cranborne Audio 500R8, 4 x Universal Audio UAD-2 OCTO Custom PCIe DSP Accelerators, Softube Console 1MKII + Console 1 Fader, Plugins: UAD Ultimate, MAAT digital, Acustica Audio, Softube, Slate Digital, Soundtoys Complete, Relab, Kush Audio, Waves, Plugin Alliance, Mastering The Mix, Fab Filter, Soundradix, Sonible, Soundtheory, Oeksound and more MONITORS AND HEADPHONES - Trinnov ST2 Pro, PSI Audio A23-M, Avantone MixCubes2, Sennheiser HD 650, TC Electronic Clarity M

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

A: I had an opportunity to mix and master Electricity by Motörhead under Produce Like a Pro Academy licence. I tried to keep it simple and the song sounded better than the original. I am very proud with the result.

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

A: Subtractive EQ, Additive EQ, Broadband Mastering Compressor, 2 Limiters

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: When mastering I am working on the vaneer not rebuilding the table. Though this varies from track to track or album to album. Some of my masters sound “warm“, some “bright”, some “aggressive”, some “punchy”, some “wide”, some “open”, some “balanced”. I always think about the music itself and how my mastering can bring out its full potential.

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

A: The Black Keys, Imagine Dragons, System of a Down, Radiohead, Green Day, Collective Soul, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Arctic Monkeys

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

A: ROCK, EDM, HIP HOP and POP

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Step 1 - critical listening. My role at this step in the process is to help my client achieve the best mix possible, before we proceed with mastering. Distortion and over-compression in a mix are the two things that are most challenging to deal with from a mastering perspective. Step 2-diagnosis. Diagnosis is probably the trickiest part of the song mastering process. I believe it is in our nature to want to apply as many processes and effects to our music as we can. It's so important to step back, listen and ask "what processing does this song need"? Step 3-processing. Based on my diagnosis, I apply the required processing to the song. Step 4-finishing. After all of the processing has been applied, I will apply fade-ins/fade outs as necessary, and will check the track's gain level. At the very end, I trim the heads and tails (start and end) of each track and add any requested metadata (including ISRCs) to the files.

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

A: I’ve been working as a professional mastering engineer for over 15 years. I provide on-line mastering service worldwide.

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

A: Yes, Murat Colak from New York, USA - best one for mixing and mastering classical music.

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

A: Friedemann Tischmeyer, Bob Ludwig, Ian Shepherd and Jordan Valeriote

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

A: Yesturday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I am happy when I take the hard work of artists and make them shine on all types of sound systems around the world.

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

A: What kind of improvements can be expected from mastering? Mastering can help to achieve the correct balance, volume, and depth for a style of music. It can add clarity and punch to music, giving it more vitality.

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

A: A very big part of my job as a mastering engineer is educating clients before, after, and during their project. Prior to mastering, this involves things such as explaining what kind of files I need from them in order to give them the best results, what can and can’t be achieved in mastering, and what formats they’ll need for production and distribution masters based on their release plans.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Please give all of your expectations for this song? When do you need your master done? If you have any questions please ask.

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

A: Mastering is the finish line. Not the start, don't fix it at mastering.

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

A: For more than 15 years.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Sort the low end out and the tops take care of themselves.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I care about my customers music as much as they do and always do everything in my power to make it sound at its best.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I strive to find an individual creative approach to musical material, achieving, first of all, a special sound for each artist, and not just a commercial level of loudness.