Matt Ball is a multi instrumentalist songwriter, record producer, mixer and engineer. Working in the recording industry for 17 years Matt has a wealth of experience and has worked with countless artists most notably Tony Kirkham from The Stereophonics & Chad Smith from The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and has recently worked at Abbey Road Studios.
Matt began his music career at the age of 20 building Modern Wave Studios, a large recording studio working with bands and artists from all over the U.K. where he remained for 10 years and signed his publishing with Bucks Music Group.
He later progressed to in-house producer and mixer at The Silk Mill Recording Studios where he spent 4 years working with top bands and artists.
More recently Matt has been busy writing, producing and mixing with credits such as:
Angie Brown, The Christians, Taylor West, James Passey, Sammie Hicks, Spilt Milk Society, Final Conflict, The Little Unsaid, Morpheus, Dan Whitehouse, High On Heels, Bamber and is currently working with top emerging artists from record label Uniq
He offers music production and sound mixing services to record and film companies, artists and any other music based audio media companies.
Matt’s production services cover a diverse range of genres including pop, rock, alternative, metal, country, r&b, electronic dance and his mixing style is musical, dynamic.
Away from music Matt is a private pilot and enjoys flying around the UK and Europe.
Tell me about your project and how I can help, through the 'Contact' button above.
Credits
15 Reviews
Endorse Matt Ball
Matt was the first mix engineer I’ve worked with and the experiences I had with him were so positive that mixing has become one of the things I not only love most about music, but in life. Matt always brings good energy to the session and has a great passion for music. Matt is always keen to learn new ways to make his mixes even better
Matt produced our first Album Pascal’s Wager (by The Sandalwoods) and he did an absolutely outstanding job. Really easy to work with, great guy and also contributed ideas and instrumentation that moved many of the songs to a different level. Best producer I’ve worked with and I couldn’t recommend him highly enough. Top Drawer
My daughter has recently worked with Matt and found the whole experience to be tremendously productive and enjoyable - what a cool studio too! Matt is extremely talented and hardworking and my daughter is thrilled with the results.
I have worked with Matt on my first single, I’ve had great reviews all round from the song we created.
Matt is very professional and I definitely got the sound I wanted from the track. Matt also helps direct where he thinks the song sounds best which is a great help, it’s always good to work together and Matt definitely had a lot of ideas and input!
We’ve done a fair few sessions with Matt and his patience, professionalism, attention to detail and knowledge is second to none. He is an evolving musical/production maestro which enhanced our sound immeasurably and was always on hand with the ginger and lemon tea!! Top job Matt, keep up the fab work. The Sandalwoods, Manchester.
Mat is a very talented producer.. not only is he a studio wizard he is also a lovely guy ! Very important when recording he creates an environment where an artist can relax and perform to their best ability ! He is also a multi instrumentalist... he can do it all !!
Matt is a true professional and puts a huge amount of commitment into a project. Matt has a fantastic ear for sound production and really can take a song to another level. I’ve worked with Matt on a variety of recordings and I’m always super happy with the results. He’s really easy to get along with and definitely able to get the best out of you!
Had a great time working with Matt. He is professional and very good at what he does, whilst also making the session feel comfortable and relaxed. Would thoroughly recommend!
I worked with Matt on a couple live sessions at Silk Mill and think he is an excellent person to record music with. As well as being a massively professional, skilled and sensitive recording engineer, he is also a genuinely lovely chap, making the often high pressured environment of a studio a total pleasure and maximising everyone’s creativity and enjoyment of the process. Legend!
John (The Little Unsaid)Matt was a real pleasure to work with. He's a great guy and really knows his stuff. He produced some amazing mixes for our last album. Whatever we asked for he delivered, seemingly effortlessly. I can't recommend him highly enough and we will certainly use him again.
Matt’s work is always fantastic for the Reveal Records artists he records for live sessions. He knows when to call a good take or offer the artist advice, he’s a great professional and a genuine person. Matt and his work are highly recommended. Tom Rose, Reveal Records & Management.
Worked with Matt on a promotion for my band and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. He was extremely efficient and knowledgeable but also very easy to get along with and made the whole process an absolute joy!
Matt has made a huge contribution to the latest FC album. His technical knowledge is phenomenal and he can immediately dial into a mix exactly what you are looking for. His use of analogue and digital gear combined with a producers insight is a pleasure to experience. Engineer, producer, songwriter, musician- he has it all. We are already planning to use him for our next album.
Oh, and he’s a nice guy as well!
Matt has ears like a bat, innate musicality, off the scale technical knowledge and a heart of gold. Absolute pleasure to work with, super efficient work flow and as a musician himself really is the complete package for solo singer songwriters or bands alike. Can't recommend highly enough
Matt is extremely responsive to your queries. He pays a lot of attention to the purchaser's request and definitely goes the extra mile in providing a world class service. I highly recommend Matt, drop him a message and let him help you with your project.
Interview with Matt Ball
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: SSL G series console, Protools rig, blue stripe 1176, UAD rig with all plugins, ATC monitors
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I have been doing this for 17 years
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Dynamic, musical, punchy
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Too many to list
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Use your ears
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Most types of music including pop, rock, indie, metal etc
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I would say it has to be a blend of writing, production and mixing but I have been commented a lot on the quality of my mixing.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Arrangement, dynamics, punch, melody, feel and years of crafting the art of music production and high fidelity mixing sonics.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: During production and recording I like to get the best out of the song. It depends on if it's a song I'm producing and playing myself for an artist or if I'm producing for a band or group, both scenarios are similar but getting involved in the song from the production stage is important to me. Following recording and production I edit from my own studio. This includes timing/pitch edits and includes the layout in Protools, labelling/colour arrangement so everything is ready for the mixing process. I then mix on an analog console, usually an SSL G or J series and depending on the size and arrangement of the song, I usually spread the tracks across the board of 48 channels but took advantage of the 96 channels at Abbey Road. I like to blend both analog and digital technology into my mixing, if the console and outboard can't get it then plugins do. After the mixing is complete, I print the mix and the stems back into Protools so any revisions can be completed from within the Protools session (ITB)
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I work in lots of studios and I have my own studio too. I mainly work in studios that have a lot of analog facilities as I like to work on a console. I have worked in the famous Abbey Road Studios in studio 3 where I produced and mixed for a new artist. I prefer to mix on SSL consoles, mainly working on G and J series and regarding outboard equipment I'm a big fan of API, NEVE, DBX, RETRO, GML, Tubetech, Teletronix, Avalon, ATC Monitoring but I also have my own studio which is a combination of analog and digital. This comprises of a 24 channel DAW controller, analog mic preamps, outboard equipment and Protools.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I'm such a big fan of music, I really like songwriters that tell a story like John Mayer but I also love producers like Forrester Savel, especially his work on Karnivool's album 'Sound Awake'. Mix engineers that inspire me are names like Andy Wallace, Michael Brauer and Greg Wells (to name a few)
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I work closely with independent record labels for writing, production and mixing services. This usually starts with a writing session with a new artist. I'm a multi instrumentalist, mainly playing drums, bass guitar, rhythm/lead guitar and piano/synths and from there I will produce a full track, this is dependant on the song but can be anything from a full pop production to a guitar based indie production. I then record lead and backing vocals and once I have the fully tracked song I then mix. I work in the analog and digital domain mainly mixing on SSL and NEVE consoles and work within Protools.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: Currently writing with Tony Kirkham from Stereophonics and writing, producing and mixing for a new artist called Taylor West (recent release called 'I Can' is the most up to date project)
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Blend of the two. Digital is starting to sound great at doing what analog does but the work flow of a console and outboard with Protools and plugins gets to the finish line for me.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Everything!
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What are you looking to achieve? What are your goals?
- Mixing EngineerAverage price - $300 per song
- ProducerAverage price - $300 per song
- EditingAverage price - $200 per track
- Songwriter - MusicContact for pricing
- Live drum trackAverage price - $200 per song
- Electric GuitarAverage price - $200 per song
- Vocal TuningAverage price - $200 per track
Typical turnaround time for mixing is one song per day. Writing and production is a hard one as it's done when it's done. Regarding mixing I allow 5 revisions.
- Morpheus
- Taylor West
- Spilt Milk Society
- NEVE
- SSL
- UAD
- API
- NEUMANN
- ATC
