Bringing out ear-catching details, while retaining clarity and balance is one of my primary goals as an engineer. With a focus on dance and club music, two of my top credits have been as a mixing and mastering engineer for pop duo PRXZM on "Where We Started" and "Release", which have garnered over 360,000 streams collectively.
As a musician and and engineer, I understand that a loud, punchy, and nuanced track catches many more ears than a flat, amateur-sounding mix. After studying audio engineering at the Jacobs School of Music and collecting over 100 credits as a mixing and mastering engineer over the last 3 years, I'm excited to play a part in taking your project to the finish line.
My specialty (in both personal projects and client work) has been dance music; my credits include mixing and mastering tracks for established artists like PRXZM, CLB, and John Larner & Slater Hogan, while also regularly handling projects from several local Midwest-based artists. I enjoy working closely with artists and producers to ensure that the final product is something we both are proud of, and holds up on any system.
Would love to hear from you. Click the contact button above to get in touch.
Interview with Michael McReynolds
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Seeing an artist realize the full potential of their song is the most rewarding part of the job! Hearing their first reactions to a master is always great, and I haven't had any clients come back dissatisfied with their finished project.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I have been working on music creatively for around 8 years, and professionally engineering for 4 years. I graduated with a degree in audio engineering from the Jacobs School of Music in 2018, and currently live on the North side of Indianapolis. When I'm not freelancing from my home studio, I teach music production and work as a monitor engineer at Old National Centre.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Some of my favorite records are "Leave a Light On" by TEED and "Eating Hooks" by Moderat, two artists that inspire me creatively and in their engineering. These are both hybird electronic/pop tracks that do everything right; natural and present vocals, clean high end sparkle, textural low-end punch, and midrange clarity.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Dance and club music, usually more bass-heavy material, and occasionally vocal electronic pop.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Several artists have said that I bring out the best in their tracks, which is what any mixing or mastering engineer should aim to do. I have a bit of practice working on tracks that come in with weaker mixes, and as a result have learned how to utilize saturation and dynamics techniques to polish an initially amateur-sounding mix into a solid finished product. When tracks come in with strong mixes and ideas, I focus more on perfecting the balance and dynamics to retain transient detail and punch before hitting the limiters.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: My studio setup is fairly simple, with a pair of Yamaha HS5 monitors, Focusrite 2i2 interface, and ATH-M50 headphones (I've used these for years and like to use them for a quick reference). I run Ableton 10 and Pro Tools, with Softube, Izotope, Sonnox, and Voxengo plugins, while running Sonarworks Reference 4 for room correction EQ.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: My usual project consists of mastering 1-2 tracks for music producers, with multiple projects for clients usually running simultaneously. Mixing work is also becoming more common, especially in the case of tracks with transient issues that make mastering more difficult or more dramatic balance problems.
- Mastering EngineerAverage price - $50 per song
- Mixing EngineerAverage price - $100 per song
- EditingAverage price - $75 per track
Typical turn-around:
Mastering - 1 week for singles / 3-4 weeks for EP/LP
Mixing - 2 weeks for singles / ~2 months for EP/LP
Editing - 1 week for singles (depends on work load)
- PRXZM
- RYNS
- Lunamatic
For any first-time clients, I'm offering a first track master for $25 (50% off), or a first track mix and master for $75
