Mix Engineer, Sound Designer

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: What I enjoy most about my job is time seems to go by quick when I'm mixing as I'm eager to take on the challenges faced with editing audio. Being personable and easy-going, I find it easy to communicate and follow-up promptly keeping my clients happy. I enjoy listening to past work I've done and how much better the projects had ended up sounding.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: When mixing, I strive for a sound that is, full, round, warm and at the same time natural. I do this by auditioning every single source audio track, making adjustments. Then while adding dimension and space to the audio, I can intuitively put together a mix that will meet my client's needs.

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

A: An artist I would very much like to work with would be Iggy Pop. This is because Iggy has always been sort of a visionary and experimental always pushing the envelope of originality as you can hear on all of his albums which are so very different from each other. Iggy never ceases to amaze me with his original content and personality that shines through every recording he has performed on.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Music or audio production has many parts to it whether it's for live or in-studio. One tip I can share is very important and sometimes overlooked which is having good sounds and tools. For example, the right tools are decent working equipment used to capture and help carve out some good tones. For sounds, I mean natural tones from the artist and his/her instrument; basically what you are recording should possess a unique, original and infectious sound to start off with.

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

A: There is not one specific style or type of music I usually work on. I've been involved with many different musicians and genres over a long period of time. I find taking on stylistically different objectives helps to keep the sessions fresh without preconceived formula-driven approaches resulting in a purely original and musical product.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is would be listening to my clients' goals, fully understanding their vision, then catering to it with the utmost professional follow-up resulting in customer satisfaction.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: My production methods help bring depth and mood to a song or sound. I end up coming up with original ideas when working on any song.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I use a hybrid studio set-up providing me with endless tone manipulation possibilities. This includes a mix of digital, analog, and computer-based signal processing in the form of hardware and software. Some other tools used are analog and digital synthesizers which I use to layer already tracked instruments or adding ambiance to the song. Using these tools, I am fully equipped to meet my client's demands.

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

A: A project I have worked on that I would be especially proud of is collaborating with an electronic experimental artist from Germany called Elisabeth Szwarc aka Black Ninfea or Von Elise. She had sent me her recorded sound files from her original track called 'Need' and I had arranged them into a new remix adding my guitar playing and synth compositions. I then after had mixed and mastered the final product, which you can listen to here: https://soundcloud.com/riteonsound/need-050317b-mastered2

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: In my current studio, I use a mix of both analog and digital equipment/tools. In the past, it was strictly analog until I started using an ATARI ST running Cubase. Since then technology had moved to this digital direction influencing some great equipment. Today I find when both mediums are used together they can produce some awesome great results.

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

A: Satisfaction guaranteed! I always make sure my clients are satisfied and will go above and beyond to ensure this.

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

A: The biggest misconception about my audio engineering is that most people think mixing on a big and expensive analog console is the only way to achieve a great sounding mix. This would be true in past years and now with advancements in plug-in technology, the same results can be achieved. This is the reason why I removed my older analog console and now prefer to mix and master digitally 'In-The-Box'. My new set-up helps me preserve the original signal and avoiding AD / DA conversions which I feel can audibly change the characteristics of the original source audio.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: There would be many questions I ask my prospective clients, some of which would be: Where/who did you have your last album produced (recorded, mixed, mastered) with? Were you happy with the way it turned out? Any reason why it had been successful/unsuccessful? What would you change if you had the ability to re-do the last production? Is there any specific traits you are looking for in an audio engineer (recording, mix, master)?

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

A: For a customer looking to hire a provider like myself, the advice I would give is to get a good vibe and feel from the provider and have him/her prove their commitment to providing great service. This includes thorough communicative follow-up.

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

A: Since I was a kid, I've appreciated great music which inspired me to become an audio engineer/producer. Unfortunately, my folks were unable to afford the high price of tuition for a recording arts program, so I decided to go out and purchase some equipment and got started recording and learning on my own. I have been recording and mixing music for 30 years now.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: My typical work process is listening to my clients and referencing sound perspectives which helps with my work process as I strive to meet their needs. Acting on what will improve the audio project, I provide a product that can stand a test of time and compliant in today's sound demands.

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

A: The most common type of work I do for clients is recording, mixing, mastering, sound design.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am working on a drum recording session and a multi-track mix for one of my repeat clients.

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

A: Although I don't personally know anybody here on SoundBetter who I can recommend to my clients, I do recognize a few names and faces who seem to be good candidates.

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

A: Customers most commonly ask me are: how much do you charge for a recording, or mix, or master? What audio application are you using? Do you record drums with a click track? What are your favorite microphones to use?

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

A: The 5 pieces of gear I would bring with me on a desert island would be: My Mac, FIREFACE800 interface, NS10's, TSR-8 tape machine and all my audio plug-ins

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

A: Many musicians, producers, and engineers of many genres/styles inspire me. Over the years I have appreciated so many different styles of music and went as far as learning how to play these specific genres on guitar and keyboards.