Nick Landis

Mastering Engineer

Nick Landis on SoundBetter

I make my living mastering records. I call it my 'day job' but its neither a job and frequently happens not during the day...

Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Credits

AllMusic verified credits for Nick Landis
  • Suzanne's Band
  • Eleven Hundred Springs
  • Ruthie Foster
  • J. Wagner
  • Willodean
  • Kristin Wolfe-Jensen
  • Rebecca Henderson
  • Michelle Schumann
  • The Gin Pennies
  • Jesse Dayton
  • Mr. Bus Driver Man Sir and Her
  • Eric Johnson
  • King Kohn
  • Ruthie Foster
  • King Kohn
  • The Beaumonts
  • Roy Heinrich
  • Troublemakers
  • Ricky Stein
  • Houston Marchman
  • Benaiah
  • Dead Earth Politics
  • Beautiful Supermachines
  • Quebec Antique
  • The Able Sea
  • Sunset
  • Adam Ahrens
  • Full Service
  • Sunset
  • The Shake 'Em Ups
  • Luke Balencia
  • Brian Milson
  • Brison Bursey
  • Scott Wiggins
  • David Dunn
  • Failing Anything
  • Bart Crow
  • Brennen Leigh
  • Jesse Dayton
  • Amplified Heat
  • Bill Rice
  • Johnny Bush
  • Nick Lawrence
  • Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5
  • Breed Society
  • Asleep at the Wheel
  • Meat Puppets
  • Mandy Mercier
  • Sparkle Motion
  • Pete Rodriguez
  • Preston McReynolds Worship Band
  • Charalambides
  • Tim Scott
  • Tim Scott
  • Kariann
  • Grant Olney
  • The Messies
  • Roy Bennett
  • The Lovely Sparrows
  • Jesse Dayton
  • Collage
  • Eric Hisaw
  • Michael Hall
  • Gorch Fock
  • Brandon Jenkins
  • Steve Power
  • The Synergy Quartet
  • Stephen Newberry
  • The Better Halves
  • Larry Morrow
  • Adrian and the Sickness
  • Hannah Williams
  • Coke Hendry
  • Rick Blincoe
  • Mary Cutrufello
  • Midway Fair
  • Ross Cooper
  • The Krayons
  • The Lennings
  • Marshall Ford Swing Band
  • Pauline Reese
  • Teri Joyce
  • I Am the Albatross
  • Julián Fernández
  • Texas Wranglers
  • Emily Kaitz
  • La Snacks
  • Theophany
  • Tablespoon
  • Built by Snow
  • Talmage D'amour
  • Jim Cullum Jazz Band
  • William Warfield
  • Jeff Whitehead
  • Cody Hughes Davidson
  • Devin Leigh
  • Carl Thiel
  • Robert Rodriguez
  • Robert Rodriguez
  • Carl Thiel
  • Todd Oxford
  • Black Bone Child
  • Zydeco Blanco
  • Ranzel X Kendrick
  • Jordan Price
  • Mike Runnels
  • The Able Sea
  • Jubal Clark
  • Melissa Sellers
  • Jeremy Miller
  • Texas Wranglers
  • Loves It!
  • Jessica Shepherd
Discogs verified credits for Nick Landis
  • Melody Mann
  • Jesse Dayton
  • Charalambides
  • Guymon Adams
  • Eric Hisaw
  • Daves Not Here
  • Twilight Broadcast
  • Velvet Brick
  • Sharon Bousquet
  • Gorch Fock
  • Brandon Jenkins
  • The Boxing Lesson
  • Sparkle Motion (3)
  • Hit Space
  • Phil & Debi Jones
  • The Way It Breaks
  • Top Flyte G'z
  • Sparkle Motion (3)
  • Bart Crow Band
  • Michael Hall
  • Jesse Dayton & Brennen Leigh
  • Amplified Heat
  • Breed Society
  • Whiskeyfish
  • Burn The Wagon
  • Mr. Lewis And The Funeral 5
  • Jake Andrews (2)
  • Various
  • Shawn Sanders (3)
  • The Soldier Thread
  • JR Ryan
  • Dead Earth Politics
  • Parhelion (5)
  • Subrosa Union
  • Meat Puppets
  • Will T. Massey
  • Lucid Dementia
  • {{{ SUNSET }}}*
  • Sunset (9)
  • Ghostwriter (3)
  • Larissa Ness
  • La Snacks
  • The Troublemakers (4)
  • Amber Digby
  • Eve And The Exiles*
  • Woozyhelmet
  • Sam Sliva
  • Still On The Hill
  • Ashley Hamner
  • Southpaw Jones (2)
  • The Beautiful Fools
  • Lechuza (3)
  • TripleWide
  • The Marshall Ford Swing Band
  • Ume
  • Full Service (4)
  • Amber Digby
  • The Kill Spectors
  • The Blood Royale
  • Blunt Force Trauma (3)
  • Dexter Freebish
  • Ricky Stein
  • Leo Rondeau
  • Houston Marchman
  • Matt Hubbard
  • The Eastern Sea
  • Ben Danaher
  • Zach Huckabee Band
  • Adrian And The Sickness
  • The Gary
  • Mother Falcon
  • Amber Digby & Justin Trevino
  • Stoney (5)
  • Eric Beverly And The Sunday Best
  • Clay McClinton
  • Brandon McDermott Band
  • The Ghost Wolves
  • Bennett Brier
  • Zydeco Blanco
  • No Dry County
  • The Dead Space
  • Velvet Brick
  • Lannie Flowers
  • Deadman (2)
  • Matt Johnson (3)
  • Aimless Gun
  • King Kohn
  • Price Hill
  • D.C. Bloom
  • Ariel Abshire
  • Ghosts Along The Brazos
  • Robynn Shayne
  • Hank Woodard Band
  • Loves It!*
  • The Coffee Sergeants*
  • Austin Troubadours
  • Blunt Force Trauma (3)
  • Lord Buffalo
  • Bus Stop Stallions
  • The South Austin Moonlighters
  • Hannah Williams (5)
  • Antiques (3)
  • Beth Lee & The Breakups
  • Ethereal Architect
  • Far From Since When
  • Deniz Tek & The Golden Breed*
  • Gary Ritchie
  • Vegatron
  • Georgette Jones
  • Amanda Mora
  • Emily Herring
  • Marina Rocks
  • Joel Laviolette And Rattletree
  • Earl Poole Ball*
  • East 35
  • Danny Cadra
  • The South Austin Moonlighters
  • Rosie And The Ramblers
  • Füneral Käb
  • Tyler Murphy
  • Red River Hymnal
  • I Am The Albatross
  • The Better Halves
  • Chris Saucedo Band
  • The Beaumonts
  • Sunsera
  • Another Texas Trilogy
  • Seraya Young
  • Jelly Ellington
  • Ricky Sprague
  • Muvva Erff
  • Randall King
  • Jesse Dayton
  • Joey McGee
  • The Tender Things
  • KOSL*
  • The Lonesome Heroes
  • JOÉL*
  • Jelly Ellington
  • The Venetian Sailors
  • Jelly Ellington
  • Johnny Nicholas & Friends*
  • Peachfuzz (3)
  • Larry Wilson Band
  • Steve Power (8)
  • Jelly Ellington
  • The Big Gun Show
  • Erik Hanchey & American Gypsy Band
  • Ralph White* And Steve Marsh (4)
  • Ghostwriter (3)
  • Danny Schmidt
  • The Dirty River Dixie Band
  • Jelly Ellington
  • Charlie Stout (2)
  • Ghostwriter (3)
  • Gary Ritchie
  • Casper McWade
  • Eleven Hundred Springs
  • Tayla Lynn
  • Beautiful Delilahs
  • The Butts
  • Beatnik Bandits
  • Gary Ritchie
  • The Western Civilization
  • Ben Cina Featuring Chesley Roberts
  • Santiago Jimenez, Jr.
  • Cerronato

Interview with Nick Landis

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

  2. A: Ruthie Foster "Live at Antone's" CD/DVD combo release. It was a pleasure working on that record and it won the Blues Music Awards - DVD of the Year that year. One of the reviews I read also mentioned the differences in the transitions from the DVD and CD version and how smooth the CD versions were. We spent a lot of time to keep those transitions smooth when there was no accompanying picture and move things along for the different experience of listening to a music-only format and it was great to hear someone noticed.

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

  4. A: Like right now?!? My SoundBetter profile...

  5. Q: Analog or digital and why?

  6. A: Both. Analog has strengths in places digital falls short and vice versa. Want an EQ change with a real tight q-factor? Digital filters can do that great! Want some great vibey glue across the mix? A tube compressor is a great choice for some analog color!

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

  8. A: I get to make my living working on great music!

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

  10. A: I can't do changes like mixing. No, I can't tune the vocals. No, I can't replace that guitar solo with another take.

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

  12. A: One of the first questions I ask, that isn't just contact info/business stuff, is 'How happy are you with the mixes?'. This gives me a quick read on what they expect from mastering their project and how much they want to be involved in the process.

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

  14. A: Well, I think it's great that you're looking for a mastering engineer and not using an automated service or having your mixing guy do it. Check out several mastering engineers and look at their experience and credits, then if you think we'd be a good fit shoot me an email or give me a call and we can talk about your project.

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

  16. A: GPS, SAT Phone, Food, Water, and a good knife.

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

  18. A: I've been a full-time mastering engineer since 2005. Before that, I started my career in jazz as the live sound engineer for the UNT One O'Clock Lab Band and toured with them for 2 years.

  19. Q: How would you describe your style?

  20. A: I try to be as transparent as possible. Your mixes should sound like your mixes when I'm done. I want you to think they sound better, but you can't quite pick out exactly what I did. My job is not to put a mark on your music, it is to take what you do and move it one step further along.

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

  22. A: Be sure to reference material that sounds great. Often, studios have less than perfect playback systems and that can really come back to bite you later in the post-production process.

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

  24. A: Recorded music.

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

  26. A: Experience and an objective opinion. With over 4,500 albums in my career so far, I can comfortably call myself an expert in the field of mastering. With that depth and breadth of work, I can bring experience in presenting your music in the best possible way. Also, mastering requires an objective opinion. Since I don't do much mixing, and I probably didn't mix your project, having a fresh set of ears on your recording is a great place to start.

  27. Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

  28. A: I work out of a private studio near Austin, TX. Most of my mastering work I use an analog setup with some choice digital components also. I have several analog tape machines and can accommodate mastering from mixes delivered on analog tape.

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

  30. A: Bob Ludwig is always a great place to start for mastering engineers. I like Bob Katz, Bernie Grundman, and Doug Sax. Those guys are really the guys I'd call the top of the top and I aspire to make great records like they do.

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

  32. A: Most of my work I am a mastering engineer. I help guide producers, artists, bands, and/or record labels in finishing the last step of creating a record for distribution for CD, digital, streaming, and/or vinyl.

Gear Highlights
  • Manley Vari-mu
  • Avalon 2055
  • GML 8200
  • Rupert Neve Designs P2MBP
  • Bryston 4BSST
  • Bryston BP-25
  • Lavry Blue
  • Benchmark DAC-1
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