Justin Heron on SoundBetter

Evolving your music to the next level.

Typically the way that I work is by setting up an interview with the artist, and discussing what kind of sounds they were looking for in the recording process, what may have fell short in the rough mixes, and what their influences were. After this, I typically prefer to be left to my own devices to create the best possible mix. This is typically around 3-4 days per song. After that I welcome feedback from the artist to make changes. I will typically go through a maximum of 3 rounds of changes; beyond that, and it becomes apparent that I may not be the best person for the job. Thankfully people that choose me for their projects typically are ok with the work I've done.

I work in a hybrid setup, using both digital processing, and analog compression. It is my opinion that though digital compression has come a long way since I started on Pro Tools 7, it still doesn't sound as rich and gorgeous as analog compression. I have hand made and custom spec'd compressors that I typically use for vocals, drums, and other key elements in a mix; the 1176 Rev D, the LA2A, and a Drawmer 1960. I also have a saturator, the SansAmp PSA-1 to saturate drums and other elements that have heavy transients - this gives me a similar effect to working on tape.

To date I have mixed 7 albums all together, two of which were EP's and the rest LP's.

Would love to hear from you. Click the contact button above to get in touch.