recording,mixing,mastering

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: we like to take some time in the early ages, pre production if you will. be sure everything possible has been addressed. then at the start of tracking, making sure we get a great sound on tape. this ensures a great finished product. the preference is to record live, however a lot of times we will track drums with a scratch di from guitar to keep the drums on point. then go thru the rest of the band and on to mixing , etc.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: It is home based, dedicated area of roughly 600 square feet, large format allen heath console, pro tools 19, imac pro with os 10 Mojave, ua appollo x16 interface, approx 25 microphones, full pdp drum kit , Gibson, bogner, hartke amps, gibson. Bc rich, carvin, takamine, guitars, Yamaha monitors, full pa set up, vs2480 for remote site recording, and more software and hardware.and its all set up on some home made oak furniture. made by my father of course.

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

A: Warren Huart, Jaquire King, Brian Hood, Dave Gnozzi, Andrew Shepps, Tony Iommi, all local artists, and many others

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

A: We did a 6 song demo for a very young artist (17) a number of years ago. He was pretty green as far as writing /arranging and the studio process. His writing skill was pretty good for being green. We worked together on getting the songs to a level they were intended for. The cd came out really well , and he was very happy as were I. Very fun and in depth project in the development sense. Singer songwriter style , had some really good melody lines. kept us with our noses down and minds turning the whole time.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: We currently are working in an acoustic duo project. Fun project, they are well rehearsed and know their instruments and have a solid understanding of their goals for each song. They are a return client. We did a 10 song album for them roughly 2 years ago.

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

A: At this point I am unsure. Once I get in , I can see who I know and am familiar with.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I like both. The digital world has improved a ton over the last 5 years. Digital recording and plugins for mixing and mastering sound amazing today. Analog has been tried and true over the years and in some cases is warranted to get that "it"factor its known for. Quality in gets amazing out in either format.

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

A: The music comes first, we will put forth every effort to reach the artist vision. This is included with every project proposal.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love the creativity of all phases, writing, arranging, recording, mixing, and mastering.

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

A: How much do you charge? Can you get a clean mix with my tracks? How soon will the mix be ready? The rates are project needs dependent. Let's listen to what you have and we can decide the best approach to get a great finished product. Schedule dependent, if we scheduled a time for the project it will be ready on time, if nothing was scheduled we have to get it scheduled . Looking at time frame together and urgency of the project. We always try to accommodate all clients.

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

A: It's an easy wam bam $20 business. To get a great end result , it takes a little time ,effort, passion and commitment.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Where are you in the creative process? What are the goals for the project? What are your expectations of the studio/ how can we best help? Describe your vision of the song(s)? What is the schedule/deadline?

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

A: The best thing is communication. From the start there has to be a clear path of communication. In order for us to help , we need to fully understand the artist vision. This insures we are all on the same path for success.

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

A: My guitar first,.mac laptop with P. T. on it, a U A interface with unison pre's, and 2 sm 57 mics . This is assuming power of course.

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

A: I began playing guitar at an early age, played in some cover bands and original rock/metal bands. Learned drums and bass also.Started a family and realized the difficulty of keeping a great band together, and got into engineering in 1999. I have been doing it ever since. I have honed my skills and surrounded myself with like minded people to help me succeed.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I like to give more attention to the ear grabbing parts of a song. Try to situate the song so it can pull you in. Weather its straight ahead or cause for a few tricks.

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

A: I love working with up coming artists. The most satisfying thing for me is being a part of the development and growth of an artist. It's like watching your child grow. Greatest most fulfilling thing ever

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Plan ahead in detail and get it right at the tracking/recording phase. Very important.

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

A: Rock, hard rock, metal, pop rock, blues, acoustic, folk, country, I will do all types based on needs of artist to be sure we're a good fit

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Getting a great mix ! Also the ability to get the artist to dig deep and pull out the best ideas for their vision.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: The love of music and passion for success. Also I am an approved isrc manager thru RIAA. Also setting up to provide upc code as well.

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

A: Recording, mixing, and mastering