Jazz & Funk Mixer & Drummer

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: When mixing I aim to capture the artist's unique sound and faithfully recreate it over the speakers in the best way possible. That is my ultimate goal. When playing drums my main goal is to provide an undeniably strong groove and pulse that makes everyone in the band sound better. In both cases I want the music to sound good and any choices I make to serve the music.

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

A: I would recommend David Jones Drums. He's one of my past drum teachers and mentors and he's a legend in the Australian drumming community. David brings a fire and joy to anything that he plays and it always brings a smile to my face whenever I see him play. If you have the opportunity to see David play or work with him I would strongly recommend it, as he's a true master at what he does.

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

A: I'd take my NUDE stereo ribbon microphone, my matched pair of NUDE ribbons, my Fethead inline preamps (for the ribbons), a matched pair of small diaphragm condensers and my Audio Technica large diaphragm condenser. I love the sound of ribbons microphones and I try to use them whenever I can, but the highly detailed sound of some good condensers are also a must. I'm still searching a dynamic microphone that really works for me, so apart from the ribbons I wouldn't bring any.

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

A: In terms of mixing engineers Al Schmitt (R.I.P.) would be a big inspiration. He worked for such a long time and with so many different artist, including the greats! He truly was a master. For drummers it'd be Mark Guiliana and Jojo Mayer. They both have such creative voices on their instruments but can also mold themselves to fit within any musical context they find themselves in.

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

A: I previously live recorded 14 different jazz groups over the span of a couple weeks. The whole thing was very impromptu and there no time to check sound between different groups' sets (of which there 2 to 3 each night). It challenging but through trusting my experience and instincts I managed to get some decent recordings out of each performance with little prep time. Once I finished mixing all 76 tracks I was particularly proud of how I managed to get such quality recordings in such a high intensity and uncontrolled environment.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital. It's more affordable, more portable, less finicky and you can get results that are just as good as analog. With the majority of the music being released today being mixed digitally I see no reason to give up and convenience and ease that using it brings. Also not all of us are made of money.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: For drumming I'll first listen through the whole song a few times and take notes on what ideas come to me. During this stage I'll map out all the sections of the song and take note of particular musical moments that stand out to me. Then I'll get behind the drum kit and try out some of those ideas until I find the ones that fit. Once I have the part figured out I'll then record and then listen back as many time as needed until the part sound finished. For mixing I'll first listen through the song and make some notes. I'll then do some basic organisation tasks and audio clean up as is needed. I then mix and make revisions as many times as I need until I can't think of anything else that needs improving.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a modest home studio where I both track drums and mix. It's not the fanciest nor the most expensive setup but it gets results and that's all that matters. I run KRK Rokits for monitoring and KRK KNS 8400s for my headphones. I track and mix in REAPER on a Windows PC.

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

A: Most of my work is as a mix engineer and recording engineer for jazz. I do a lot of a live recordings of local gigs, so many that it's become my specialty. For most of the live gigs that I record I end up being the mix engineer as well.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: At the moment I'm working on mixing a live recording I made of a local jazz quintet. Most of the tracks are original compositions, so it's very exciting to be a part of the creative process in bringing this music to life.

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

A: That I can fix a bad performance. My job is to try present an artist's recorded performance in the best possible light. There's a lot that I can do to cover up mistakes, but ultimately if the performance doesn't sound good at the start of the mix, by the end it won't sound much better. You get out what you put in as they say.

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

A: Providing me with reference tracks to listen to as an example of the sound and vibe you're going for is invaluable. In these instances music is just so much more effective at communicating than words.

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

A: I've been playing drums for sixteen years and mixing for over seven. I've been interested in making music since I was a child and have been playing in bands and making my own home recordings since I was a teenager. After high school I spent four years studying drums, jazz performance and composition at the James Morrison Academy of Music. I've been doing freelance mixing and drums for the past three years.

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

A: The bass player Avishai Cohen, as either a mix engineer or a drummer. In both situations there's so much that I could and learn and gain from that experience. Musically he's a huge inspiration to me and any opportunity to collaborate with him would be a dream come true.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Staying true to the artist's intentions, vision and sound. Jazz musicians spend a lifetime crafting their unique sound so as mix engineer I need to try and put similar amount of care and attention in making sure that their sound is represented faithfully on the finished recording.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: If you want instant lo-fi hip hop vibes, just run your entire mix through tape emulation with a slow 'wow' or 'flutter' effect and slow-down the playrate with pitch compensation off (this will detune the whole track slightly). Instant vibes achieved.

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

A: For both drumming and mixing I mainly work on the jazz and funk genres. I do a lot of live recording jazz gigs and that recording mentality and approach is the same in the studio. Whenever possible I prefer to record bands playing together in the same room. This approach is ideal for jazz where the musicians are constantly improvising interacting with one another.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Being able to contribute to someone else's musical endeavour is such a satisfying thing. Particularly when you finish your contribution and listen back to the completed project. It's exciting every time.

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

A: To be honest and to try and give all that I can give to their project. They've decided to spend money on my services so I want them to able leave them smiling and full of excitement when they hear back the finished track. When I take on a project that I know I'm not the best fit for, I'll tell them straight up. Because ultimately we both want to create the best music we can, and if that means I need tell them I'm not the best choice, then that's exactly what I'll do.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: For mixing main style could be described as 'naturalistic'. For acoustic instruments I want them to sound both musical and real to life. I want the track to sound almost as if the listener is sitting in front of the musicians in the same room. For drums my style focuses around the groove. I aim to play as simply as possible while keeping it undeniably groovy. By doing this I'm focusing on trying to support all the other instruments and make the entire track sound as good as possible.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: For both drumming and mixing I'd ask them about the style and of the track and the general musical direction. I might ask for some reference tracks in terms of how they want either the drum part or the mix to sound. The most important thing for me would be to try and understand what a client wants to achieve musically and where they are coming from. If I can learn this early on in the process, it makes actually doing the work much smoother as I know what I'm trying to do and what limitations I have.