njrous on SoundBetter

I'm a professional guitarist, composer, and mixing engineer currently based in Brooklyn, NY. My aim is to deliver what I call "Hyper-realism" mixes and guitar tracks, where they're heavily rooted in nature and acoustic elements and are enhanced with modern technologies.

I'm a Brooklyn based guitarist, composer, educator, and mixing engineer. Since I was a teenager, I've a passion for music and has since pursued multiple pathways and disciplines within the field.

As a guitarist and composer I try to bring thought provoking and emotionally compelling music with whomever I get the pleasure of sharing with. Influenced by musicians from Wayne Shorter to Shai Maestro, The Beatles to Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighters to Circa Survive, I attempt to utilize every part of my musical upbringing and style into my compositions and improvisations, attempting to fuse simple lyrical melodies above intricate harmonies with subtlety shifting rhythms. My ultimate goal is to make the intellectually sophisticated sound simple and accessible while still having an explorative, reaching nature. And most importantly, creating an emotional connection with the listener.

As a mixing engineer, I always try to bring the experience as a musician into every mix. I liken mixing music to the slowed down, and perfectionist version of finding a natural balance while playing with a band, and aim for what might be called hyper-realistic sound.

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Interview with njrous

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: I usually ask for a few reference songs, any sort of chart/chord sheets/lyric sheets, artists they like, or specific sounds/notes that they feel are super important for the production.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: My advice would be that it's better to give too much information than not enough information. If you give me a crystal clear picture of what you're looking for, I can achieve those results and potentially even give more than you asked for.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: A guitar (my D'angelico Excel SS), a UAD Apollo x4, Macbook Pro, Pro Tools, and Focal Headphones
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I began pursuing music as a career in 2013 as a jazz guitarist and teacher, however since then I've only expanded my scope. I shortly began learning how to produce on Logic, and eventually began mixing for various projects. I think the duality between a mixing engineer and professional musician isn't so common, but to me makes sense. The most important part of both of those professions is an impeccable ear and listening to specific things, and as I've gotten passed the technical barrier of both, I believe I bring a true and honest perspective to the mixing and performing realm.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: My guitar style is sensitive and light, with the ability to harness some aggression as needed. I started with a sort of garage rock background, but the learned classical guitar (I have nails grown on my right hand) and jazz guitar techniques and practices. I've studied years of music theory (maybe most notably studying George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept with Ben Schwendener [Russell's assistant for many decades] for a year) and a firm grasp on advanced concepts, while also being light, improvisatory, and emotionally aware. My style in mixing would be, again, "hyper-realism." I always try to bring out the authentic performance of a group, thinking "how would this sound if I had the best seat in the house, but I could also simultaneously sit (or stand) in all of the seats at once?" I look for the best qualities in a song and try to bring them out, and try to augment all of the interesting elements, even if it means to go through some unconventional methods.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: One artist I would love to work with is Donny McCaslin (Saxophonist on Davie Bowie's Blackstar). He seamlessly blurs the lines between contemporary jazz, electronic music, free jazz, and art rocks. His music is emotionally compelling, simple, but has enough complexity to engage my mind while simultaneously appealing to my heart.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Guitar pedals make for great outboard gear! One recent exploration was sending a sort of trashy drum it through some pedals (mild preamp overdrive, EQ, reverse delay, and a hall reverb) to my guitar amp with a Royer R10 and Shure SM57 on the amp. Using guitar pedals is a way to get some pretty distinct sounds that you may have not gotten if you were strictly in the box.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I mostly work with acoustic leaning music like contemporary jazz, indie rock, folk rock, or classic rock. However, I've worked with things that blur the lines between genres and dealt with a lot of synths and drum machines (see Sean Hannon - Four Scenes EP)
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I've studied improvised music for the last 8 years, and I feel as a result my strongest skill is flexibility. When I was 19, someone called me an hour before their recital because the musician they had could no longer make it, and I showed up and sight-read the whole thing. I've worked extensively dealing with different things in the moment and musically spontaneous composing, and that allows me the flexibility and sensibility to take a step back from any ego and serve the music in an emotionally compelling way.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I come from a diverse musical background. I listened to a lot of classic rock growing up, and eventually gravitated to progressive rock and eventually jazz, which let me to complete my Bachelors degree in Jazz Studies from FIU (Magna Cum Laude). I'm currently finishing up my last semester at NYU getting my Masters of Music Degree in Jazz Studies, while also teaching adjunct guitar lessons.That being said, my diverse musical background and my long experience in music academia helps me bring an interesting perspective to a song. As a mixing engineer, I bring with me the experience of a guitarist who has learned how to blend and balance with an acoustic band with no sound engineer. I try to think of the best moments on stage where everything was sonically perfect, and strive for a "hyper-realism sounds," getting the acoustic sounds in harmony and using modern production techniques to enhance it. As a guitarist, I bring the sensitivity, intellect, and emotional guitar playing. I always try to think about the best way to serve a song, not necessarily playing the most flashiest thing but to bring out the most interesting parts in the music. As a composer, arranger, and an improviser, I take all the lessons I learned through everything I do with me every time I pick up my guitar.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: If I'm mixing, I have a sort of go to template that I setup, but before that I listen to the song all the way through with all the faders at 0 to hear the raw sounds I've been given. Then I setup my template, do some editing work (if needed) and begin to adjust the faders and panning. Then, as I'm going through I use plugins to correct or enhance any elements that I find needs something. I then go through section by section and make sure that every instrument is heard well, and the things that are interesting are popping out without anything getting too muddy. As for guitar tracking, if I didn't receive some kind of chart I proceed to transcribe the part and create my own. I will then go through once or twice and rehearse the parts that are a little more difficult, or parts that I think I won't be able to sightread. Then I start recording.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: I usually ask for a few reference songs, any sort of chart/chord sheets/lyric sheets, artists they like, or specific sounds/notes that they feel are super important for the production.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: My advice would be that it's better to give too much information than not enough information. If you give me a crystal clear picture of what you're looking for, I can achieve those results and potentially even give more than you asked for.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: A guitar (my D'angelico Excel SS), a UAD Apollo x4, Macbook Pro, Pro Tools, and Focal Headphones
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I began pursuing music as a career in 2013 as a jazz guitarist and teacher, however since then I've only expanded my scope. I shortly began learning how to produce on Logic, and eventually began mixing for various projects. I think the duality between a mixing engineer and professional musician isn't so common, but to me makes sense. The most important part of both of those professions is an impeccable ear and listening to specific things, and as I've gotten passed the technical barrier of both, I believe I bring a true and honest perspective to the mixing and performing realm.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: My guitar style is sensitive and light, with the ability to harness some aggression as needed. I started with a sort of garage rock background, but the learned classical guitar (I have nails grown on my right hand) and jazz guitar techniques and practices. I've studied years of music theory (maybe most notably studying George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept with Ben Schwendener [Russell's assistant for many decades] for a year) and a firm grasp on advanced concepts, while also being light, improvisatory, and emotionally aware. My style in mixing would be, again, "hyper-realism." I always try to bring out the authentic performance of a group, thinking "how would this sound if I had the best seat in the house, but I could also simultaneously sit (or stand) in all of the seats at once?" I look for the best qualities in a song and try to bring them out, and try to augment all of the interesting elements, even if it means to go through some unconventional methods.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: One artist I would love to work with is Donny McCaslin (Saxophonist on Davie Bowie's Blackstar). He seamlessly blurs the lines between contemporary jazz, electronic music, free jazz, and art rocks. His music is emotionally compelling, simple, but has enough complexity to engage my mind while simultaneously appealing to my heart.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Guitar pedals make for great outboard gear! One recent exploration was sending a sort of trashy drum it through some pedals (mild preamp overdrive, EQ, reverse delay, and a hall reverb) to my guitar amp with a Royer R10 and Shure SM57 on the amp. Using guitar pedals is a way to get some pretty distinct sounds that you may have not gotten if you were strictly in the box.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I mostly work with acoustic leaning music like contemporary jazz, indie rock, folk rock, or classic rock. However, I've worked with things that blur the lines between genres and dealt with a lot of synths and drum machines (see Sean Hannon - Four Scenes EP)
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I've studied improvised music for the last 8 years, and I feel as a result my strongest skill is flexibility. When I was 19, someone called me an hour before their recital because the musician they had could no longer make it, and I showed up and sight-read the whole thing. I've worked extensively dealing with different things in the moment and musically spontaneous composing, and that allows me the flexibility and sensibility to take a step back from any ego and serve the music in an emotionally compelling way.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I come from a diverse musical background. I listened to a lot of classic rock growing up, and eventually gravitated to progressive rock and eventually jazz, which let me to complete my Bachelors degree in Jazz Studies from FIU (Magna Cum Laude). I'm currently finishing up my last semester at NYU getting my Masters of Music Degree in Jazz Studies, while also teaching adjunct guitar lessons.That being said, my diverse musical background and my long experience in music academia helps me bring an interesting perspective to a song. As a mixing engineer, I bring with me the experience of a guitarist who has learned how to blend and balance with an acoustic band with no sound engineer. I try to think of the best moments on stage where everything was sonically perfect, and strive for a "hyper-realism sounds," getting the acoustic sounds in harmony and using modern production techniques to enhance it. As a guitarist, I bring the sensitivity, intellect, and emotional guitar playing. I always try to think about the best way to serve a song, not necessarily playing the most flashiest thing but to bring out the most interesting parts in the music. As a composer, arranger, and an improviser, I take all the lessons I learned through everything I do with me every time I pick up my guitar.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: If I'm mixing, I have a sort of go to template that I setup, but before that I listen to the song all the way through with all the faders at 0 to hear the raw sounds I've been given. Then I setup my template, do some editing work (if needed) and begin to adjust the faders and panning. Then, as I'm going through I use plugins to correct or enhance any elements that I find needs something. I then go through section by section and make sure that every instrument is heard well, and the things that are interesting are popping out without anything getting too muddy. As for guitar tracking, if I didn't receive some kind of chart I proceed to transcribe the part and create my own. I will then go through once or twice and rehearse the parts that are a little more difficult, or parts that I think I won't be able to sightread. Then I start recording.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have many mics, many amps, many pedals, and 3 guitars (see gear page). In addition to that, I have a Macbook Pro 2016 (15") and an external computer monitor, as well as Yamaha HS7s, ATH-M50X and Beyerdynamic DT990 headphones, and a Universal Audio Satellite Quad.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I worked with Sean Hannon on his EP Four Scenes which were all produced from his bedroom during the Covid19 pandemic. It was a really interesting process because he used the instruments and materials he had available to him, mostly plugins in the DAW. Both of us come from an acoustic jazz background and usually have a few other humans playing with us in a group, and free improvisation being a necessity. Thus, he produced some pretty interesting results which were a combination of natural acoustic and synthetic electronic elements, and even recorded speech, and I had a blast navigating that field through the mixing process.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm currently finishing up some revisions on a set of 6 mixes for NYU's Wayne Shorter ensemble.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Eivind Opsvik is a great bass player and mixing engineer.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: I think a combination of both gets the best results. Analog bring this nice human and warm quality, but digital is literal perfection. The combination of digital and analog can bring music to new heights that we see being explored in the music of today!
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I promise to give truly authentic and honest products that represents your vision as an artist, while also being emotionally compelling and exciting to the listener.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love music, be it playing or listening to it. Music has been with me for years and I love being able to create and collaborate with other people. I love composing, performing, recording, and mixing my own music, but I equally love helping someone get the sounds out of their head.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: They mostly ask me about turnaround time, which is usually pretty quick!
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: There's a lot of misconceptions about the ability of a guitarist. I've spent years studying how to play piano-esque techniques on the guitar as well as sight reading and transcribing saxophone solos.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: I usually ask for a few reference songs, any sort of chart/chord sheets/lyric sheets, artists they like, or specific sounds/notes that they feel are super important for the production.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: My advice would be that it's better to give too much information than not enough information. If you give me a crystal clear picture of what you're looking for, I can achieve those results and potentially even give more than you asked for.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: A guitar (my D'angelico Excel SS), a UAD Apollo x4, Macbook Pro, Pro Tools, and Focal Headphones
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I began pursuing music as a career in 2013 as a jazz guitarist and teacher, however since then I've only expanded my scope. I shortly began learning how to produce on Logic, and eventually began mixing for various projects. I think the duality between a mixing engineer and professional musician isn't so common, but to me makes sense. The most important part of both of those professions is an impeccable ear and listening to specific things, and as I've gotten passed the technical barrier of both, I believe I bring a true and honest perspective to the mixing and performing realm.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: My guitar style is sensitive and light, with the ability to harness some aggression as needed. I started with a sort of garage rock background, but the learned classical guitar (I have nails grown on my right hand) and jazz guitar techniques and practices. I've studied years of music theory (maybe most notably studying George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept with Ben Schwendener [Russell's assistant for many decades] for a year) and a firm grasp on advanced concepts, while also being light, improvisatory, and emotionally aware. My style in mixing would be, again, "hyper-realism." I always try to bring out the authentic performance of a group, thinking "how would this sound if I had the best seat in the house, but I could also simultaneously sit (or stand) in all of the seats at once?" I look for the best qualities in a song and try to bring them out, and try to augment all of the interesting elements, even if it means to go through some unconventional methods.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: One artist I would love to work with is Donny McCaslin (Saxophonist on Davie Bowie's Blackstar). He seamlessly blurs the lines between contemporary jazz, electronic music, free jazz, and art rocks. His music is emotionally compelling, simple, but has enough complexity to engage my mind while simultaneously appealing to my heart.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Guitar pedals make for great outboard gear! One recent exploration was sending a sort of trashy drum it through some pedals (mild preamp overdrive, EQ, reverse delay, and a hall reverb) to my guitar amp with a Royer R10 and Shure SM57 on the amp. Using guitar pedals is a way to get some pretty distinct sounds that you may have not gotten if you were strictly in the box.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I mostly work with acoustic leaning music like contemporary jazz, indie rock, folk rock, or classic rock. However, I've worked with things that blur the lines between genres and dealt with a lot of synths and drum machines (see Sean Hannon - Four Scenes EP)
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I've studied improvised music for the last 8 years, and I feel as a result my strongest skill is flexibility. When I was 19, someone called me an hour before their recital because the musician they had could no longer make it, and I showed up and sight-read the whole thing. I've worked extensively dealing with different things in the moment and musically spontaneous composing, and that allows me the flexibility and sensibility to take a step back from any ego and serve the music in an emotionally compelling way.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I come from a diverse musical background. I listened to a lot of classic rock growing up, and eventually gravitated to progressive rock and eventually jazz, which let me to complete my Bachelors degree in Jazz Studies from FIU (Magna Cum Laude). I'm currently finishing up my last semester at NYU getting my Masters of Music Degree in Jazz Studies, while also teaching adjunct guitar lessons.That being said, my diverse musical background and my long experience in music academia helps me bring an interesting perspective to a song. As a mixing engineer, I bring with me the experience of a guitarist who has learned how to blend and balance with an acoustic band with no sound engineer. I try to think of the best moments on stage where everything was sonically perfect, and strive for a "hyper-realism sounds," getting the acoustic sounds in harmony and using modern production techniques to enhance it. As a guitarist, I bring the sensitivity, intellect, and emotional guitar playing. I always try to think about the best way to serve a song, not necessarily playing the most flashiest thing but to bring out the most interesting parts in the music. As a composer, arranger, and an improviser, I take all the lessons I learned through everything I do with me every time I pick up my guitar.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: If I'm mixing, I have a sort of go to template that I setup, but before that I listen to the song all the way through with all the faders at 0 to hear the raw sounds I've been given. Then I setup my template, do some editing work (if needed) and begin to adjust the faders and panning. Then, as I'm going through I use plugins to correct or enhance any elements that I find needs something. I then go through section by section and make sure that every instrument is heard well, and the things that are interesting are popping out without anything getting too muddy. As for guitar tracking, if I didn't receive some kind of chart I proceed to transcribe the part and create my own. I will then go through once or twice and rehearse the parts that are a little more difficult, or parts that I think I won't be able to sightread. Then I start recording.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have many mics, many amps, many pedals, and 3 guitars (see gear page). In addition to that, I have a Macbook Pro 2016 (15") and an external computer monitor, as well as Yamaha HS7s, ATH-M50X and Beyerdynamic DT990 headphones, and a Universal Audio Satellite Quad.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I really love musicians like Donny McCaslin, Foo Fighters, Aaron Parks, Wayne Shorter, Shai Maestro, Phoebe Bridgers, Anthony Green, Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles. As you can see I have a variety of influences! As far as mixing goes, ECM records is a sound that I've listened to very closely and try to replicate.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I mostly do mixing work for semi acoustic music, a lot of jazz or indie rock/folk music where it's mostly instruments but occasionally also deal with some electronic elements. I also do a lot of guitar tracking.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: I usually ask for a few reference songs, any sort of chart/chord sheets/lyric sheets, artists they like, or specific sounds/notes that they feel are super important for the production.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: My advice would be that it's better to give too much information than not enough information. If you give me a crystal clear picture of what you're looking for, I can achieve those results and potentially even give more than you asked for.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: A guitar (my D'angelico Excel SS), a UAD Apollo x4, Macbook Pro, Pro Tools, and Focal Headphones
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I began pursuing music as a career in 2013 as a jazz guitarist and teacher, however since then I've only expanded my scope. I shortly began learning how to produce on Logic, and eventually began mixing for various projects. I think the duality between a mixing engineer and professional musician isn't so common, but to me makes sense. The most important part of both of those professions is an impeccable ear and listening to specific things, and as I've gotten passed the technical barrier of both, I believe I bring a true and honest perspective to the mixing and performing realm.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: My guitar style is sensitive and light, with the ability to harness some aggression as needed. I started with a sort of garage rock background, but the learned classical guitar (I have nails grown on my right hand) and jazz guitar techniques and practices. I've studied years of music theory (maybe most notably studying George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept with Ben Schwendener [Russell's assistant for many decades] for a year) and a firm grasp on advanced concepts, while also being light, improvisatory, and emotionally aware. My style in mixing would be, again, "hyper-realism." I always try to bring out the authentic performance of a group, thinking "how would this sound if I had the best seat in the house, but I could also simultaneously sit (or stand) in all of the seats at once?" I look for the best qualities in a song and try to bring them out, and try to augment all of the interesting elements, even if it means to go through some unconventional methods.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: One artist I would love to work with is Donny McCaslin (Saxophonist on Davie Bowie's Blackstar). He seamlessly blurs the lines between contemporary jazz, electronic music, free jazz, and art rocks. His music is emotionally compelling, simple, but has enough complexity to engage my mind while simultaneously appealing to my heart.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Guitar pedals make for great outboard gear! One recent exploration was sending a sort of trashy drum it through some pedals (mild preamp overdrive, EQ, reverse delay, and a hall reverb) to my guitar amp with a Royer R10 and Shure SM57 on the amp. Using guitar pedals is a way to get some pretty distinct sounds that you may have not gotten if you were strictly in the box.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I mostly work with acoustic leaning music like contemporary jazz, indie rock, folk rock, or classic rock. However, I've worked with things that blur the lines between genres and dealt with a lot of synths and drum machines (see Sean Hannon - Four Scenes EP)
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I've studied improvised music for the last 8 years, and I feel as a result my strongest skill is flexibility. When I was 19, someone called me an hour before their recital because the musician they had could no longer make it, and I showed up and sight-read the whole thing. I've worked extensively dealing with different things in the moment and musically spontaneous composing, and that allows me the flexibility and sensibility to take a step back from any ego and serve the music in an emotionally compelling way.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I come from a diverse musical background. I listened to a lot of classic rock growing up, and eventually gravitated to progressive rock and eventually jazz, which let me to complete my Bachelors degree in Jazz Studies from FIU (Magna Cum Laude). I'm currently finishing up my last semester at NYU getting my Masters of Music Degree in Jazz Studies, while also teaching adjunct guitar lessons.That being said, my diverse musical background and my long experience in music academia helps me bring an interesting perspective to a song. As a mixing engineer, I bring with me the experience of a guitarist who has learned how to blend and balance with an acoustic band with no sound engineer. I try to think of the best moments on stage where everything was sonically perfect, and strive for a "hyper-realism sounds," getting the acoustic sounds in harmony and using modern production techniques to enhance it. As a guitarist, I bring the sensitivity, intellect, and emotional guitar playing. I always try to think about the best way to serve a song, not necessarily playing the most flashiest thing but to bring out the most interesting parts in the music. As a composer, arranger, and an improviser, I take all the lessons I learned through everything I do with me every time I pick up my guitar.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: If I'm mixing, I have a sort of go to template that I setup, but before that I listen to the song all the way through with all the faders at 0 to hear the raw sounds I've been given. Then I setup my template, do some editing work (if needed) and begin to adjust the faders and panning. Then, as I'm going through I use plugins to correct or enhance any elements that I find needs something. I then go through section by section and make sure that every instrument is heard well, and the things that are interesting are popping out without anything getting too muddy. As for guitar tracking, if I didn't receive some kind of chart I proceed to transcribe the part and create my own. I will then go through once or twice and rehearse the parts that are a little more difficult, or parts that I think I won't be able to sightread. Then I start recording.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have many mics, many amps, many pedals, and 3 guitars (see gear page). In addition to that, I have a Macbook Pro 2016 (15") and an external computer monitor, as well as Yamaha HS7s, ATH-M50X and Beyerdynamic DT990 headphones, and a Universal Audio Satellite Quad.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I really love musicians like Donny McCaslin, Foo Fighters, Aaron Parks, Wayne Shorter, Shai Maestro, Phoebe Bridgers, Anthony Green, Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles. As you can see I have a variety of influences! As far as mixing goes, ECM records is a sound that I've listened to very closely and try to replicate.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I mostly do mixing work for semi acoustic music, a lot of jazz or indie rock/folk music where it's mostly instruments but occasionally also deal with some electronic elements. I also do a lot of guitar tracking.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I worked with Sean Hannon on his EP Four Scenes which were all produced from his bedroom during the Covid19 pandemic. It was a really interesting process because he used the instruments and materials he had available to him, mostly plugins in the DAW. Both of us come from an acoustic jazz background and usually have a few other humans playing with us in a group, and free improvisation being a necessity. Thus, he produced some pretty interesting results which were a combination of natural acoustic and synthetic electronic elements, and even recorded speech, and I had a blast navigating that field through the mixing process.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm currently finishing up some revisions on a set of 6 mixes for NYU's Wayne Shorter ensemble.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Eivind Opsvik is a great bass player and mixing engineer.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: I think a combination of both gets the best results. Analog bring this nice human and warm quality, but digital is literal perfection. The combination of digital and analog can bring music to new heights that we see being explored in the music of today!
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I promise to give truly authentic and honest products that represents your vision as an artist, while also being emotionally compelling and exciting to the listener.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love music, be it playing or listening to it. Music has been with me for years and I love being able to create and collaborate with other people. I love composing, performing, recording, and mixing my own music, but I equally love helping someone get the sounds out of their head.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: They mostly ask me about turnaround time, which is usually pretty quick!
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: There's a lot of misconceptions about the ability of a guitarist. I've spent years studying how to play piano-esque techniques on the guitar as well as sight reading and transcribing saxophone solos.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I worked with Sean Hannon on his EP Four Scenes which were all produced from his bedroom during the Covid19 pandemic. It was a really interesting process because he used the instruments and materials he had available to him, mostly plugins in the DAW. Both of us come from an acoustic jazz background and usually have a few other humans playing with us in a group, and free improvisation being a necessity. Thus, he produced some pretty interesting results which were a combination of natural acoustic and synthetic electronic elements, and even recorded speech, and I had a blast navigating that field through the mixing process.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm currently finishing up some revisions on a set of 6 mixes for NYU's Wayne Shorter ensemble.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Eivind Opsvik is a great bass player and mixing engineer.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: I think a combination of both gets the best results. Analog bring this nice human and warm quality, but digital is literal perfection. The combination of digital and analog can bring music to new heights that we see being explored in the music of today!
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I promise to give truly authentic and honest products that represents your vision as an artist, while also being emotionally compelling and exciting to the listener.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love music, be it playing or listening to it. Music has been with me for years and I love being able to create and collaborate with other people. I love composing, performing, recording, and mixing my own music, but I equally love helping someone get the sounds out of their head.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: They mostly ask me about turnaround time, which is usually pretty quick!
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: There's a lot of misconceptions about the ability of a guitarist. I've spent years studying how to play piano-esque techniques on the guitar as well as sight reading and transcribing saxophone solos.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I really love musicians like Donny McCaslin, Foo Fighters, Aaron Parks, Wayne Shorter, Shai Maestro, Phoebe Bridgers, Anthony Green, Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles. As you can see I have a variety of influences! As far as mixing goes, ECM records is a sound that I've listened to very closely and try to replicate.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I mostly do mixing work for semi acoustic music, a lot of jazz or indie rock/folk music where it's mostly instruments but occasionally also deal with some electronic elements. I also do a lot of guitar tracking.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have many mics, many amps, many pedals, and 3 guitars (see gear page). In addition to that, I have a Macbook Pro 2016 (15") and an external computer monitor, as well as Yamaha HS7s, ATH-M50X and Beyerdynamic DT990 headphones, and a Universal Audio Satellite Quad.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I really love musicians like Donny McCaslin, Foo Fighters, Aaron Parks, Wayne Shorter, Shai Maestro, Phoebe Bridgers, Anthony Green, Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles. As you can see I have a variety of influences! As far as mixing goes, ECM records is a sound that I've listened to very closely and try to replicate.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I mostly do mixing work for semi acoustic music, a lot of jazz or indie rock/folk music where it's mostly instruments but occasionally also deal with some electronic elements. I also do a lot of guitar tracking.