Mixing and Mastering engineer

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is effective and timely communication. I work around the clock and will only ever begin work after I have read your message and replied.

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

A: I worked with YouTuber Shonie Boy on his track 'The Super Blue Battery Fish'. I was his mixing and mastering engineer. We continuously communicated and Shonie Boy gave me advice on how he wanted his track to sound and what type of character he was after. I am proud of this work because the track did well on YouTube and he was pleased with my work and gave me a good review.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: At the moment I am currently working on becoming 110 certified by Avid and certified on Soundgym. I'm also practising producing in my free time and will be continually uploading work to my Soundcloud.

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

A: Skrybe - he is a friend of mine and has received very positive reviews online about work he has completed. Klaas - I am a fan of his music and all his work is very powerful sounding.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital. I simply do not have the space and patience for analogue. Analogue can sound powerful but you can always find a somewhat cheaper and more environmentally friendly option with digital. Hence why nearly all of my gear is digital.

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

A: 100% commitment +1% until you are satisfied with my work and a small bonus. I am not interested in the money and instead am more interested to receive experience and achieve your track's full potential.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I like seeing the reception from the audience and making my clients happy.

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

A: How long will this take? Do you have any examples of your work? What is your schedule like? The mixing and mastering process will usually take anywhere between a week and a month depending on work and other commitments. You can listen to examples of my work on my Souncloud https://soundcloud.com/hessdawg111 and I work during the second half of the week and on weekends. However, I am quite flexible and will always get back to your messages within 24 hours if not less.

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

A: That I do audio work full time and that I have a huge list of people that I have worked with in the past. I haven't had many clients and I only started working at SoundBetter in 2021 and I've worked a whole range of other random jobs in the past.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Is there a style you are trying to emulate? What is the key? What is the tempo? Do you have a reference track? What genre is your work? Have you already tweaked your work and if so do you have a copy of the session file? What specifically would you like to hear stand out? What specifically would you like to hear more in the background? Which instrument(s) have the main melody?

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

A: Always provide me with a reference track so I know what style you are going for.

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

A: * MacBook Pro * Focusrite preamp * Power generator *XLR cable *U87 microphone

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

A: I became immersed in the audio/music world when I was 16 years old and have kept learning ever since. I have been producing since I was a teenager but only really started doing audio and film related work and receiving payment from it during 2018 whilst I was studying at university. During 1.5 years of studying at university and after studying I have worked on a set for a movie, music for a video game and music for an artist. I have been using audio software to mix, master and produce audio for more than 8 years.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Any style you like as long as you are willing to collaborate.

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

A: I would like to work with Mersiv. I really like his wobbly style and think that I would learn a lot from his knowledge of sound design.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Add fruit! Fruit is a term which we used in university meaning that you should add something unusual to enhance the overall texture and vibe of the track to make certain elements stand out. Why not add a short phaser to the hi hats to give it some variation?

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

A: Techno, Hip Hop, Dubstep and Electronic. However, I have completed many rough mixes for genres such as Metal, Pop and Reggae.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Honesty, communication, a free lesson on top of everything else and critical listening. I will also give the client some input when it comes to comparing different revisions in order to find the best one. I also ensure that the track will sound great in almost every setting or the setting the track is likely to be played in.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I will listen to your work before beginning work and take notes then I will begin mixing each instrument and compare it to the rest of the mix. I will send multiple revisions if you are not satisfied and I will always let you know what effects I use. After the mix has been approved of by my client I begin the mastering process and will send through multiple revision in order to determine which revision sounds best for a completed piece.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Originally, I did everything on headphones but now I own a pair of KRK Classic 5 gen3 monitors with isolation pads and a Focusrite preamp. I mix on the monitors and then I master with the headphones. I also own all the monotrons, a Trigger Finger drum pad and a Novation Launchpad as well as The Volca Keys desktop synthesiser. On top of all that I also own the Waves Gold bundle, Sausage Fattener and a myriad of other free plugins.

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

A: I don't really listen to a lot of mainstream music but some of the musicians and professionals that inspire me include Waterflame, Infected Mushroom, Mersiv, The Glitch Mob, Skrybe, The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, Wu Tang Clan as well as Rammstein and the band Hybrid.

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

A: I mainly do mixing and mastering to whoever needs it. As a bonus I also do lessons which range from Basic to intermediate skill levels. The work that I receive comes from someone that either isn't sure about mixing and mastering and would like to see their work perform at its best in certain settings or from someone who wants their work to sound more professional and has already tweaked their work slightly.