Remote Rock Mixing

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

A: I once worked with a YouTuber named Dross. He has, perhaps the first YouTube channel that actually got me hooked up. I had the opportunity to work with his team to develop an audio narrative of different horror stories for an app he promotes on his channel. I worked as mix engineer and I'm proud of that project because it ended up sounding fantastic and I'm still a big fan of his channel, so it was a huge honor for me to work with him.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm working on a Bollywood film as a sound designer, foley designer, and post-producer.

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

A: Not really, I came here because it was the best option according to my research.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I use digital because of space and comfortability, but I'm more of a hybrid approach myself. I love analog gear because of the color and the uniqueness of their sound, but digital audio offers you all possibilities at once and sounds very modern and powerful to my ears. Both things are the perfect combo, in my opinion.

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

A: High-end radio-ready sound quality for their music.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Being able to create is certainly what I love the most about what I do. I love being creative, music, games and films, and my job has all of that and more.

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

A: Q: Can you pitch correct my vocals without it being obvious? What software do you use? A: Sure thing! I can edit your vocal on Melodyne, Autotune or Waves Tune, and I guarantee no one will be able to tell. Q: Can you mix a vocal recording with a beat and deliver a high quality? A: Yes, indeed! as a Matter of Fact, vocals are easier to mix into beats, because there's not much mixing going on and you can focus exclusively on the beat and vocal blend on the track. Q: Can you mix trap music? A: Yes I can! As a matter of fact, I'm a big consumer of some artists, such as Post Malone, Ghostmane, and XXX Tentacion.

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

A: As a post-producing engineer, it's very common to be confused with a music producer. However, the biggest misconceptions about what I do are mostly centered on specific things I do, like mastering, EQ, and so on.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: - Could you give me more details about your project? - What's the song tempo and key? - When are you expecting to receive this mix?

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

A: My advice would be to have a clear idea of what you're looking for before even thinking about investing you're money. I think that best results arrive when everyone's on the same page, so the clearer idea you have, the easiest it will be for a professional to get on the same page.

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 acoustic guitar, a lighter, a mirror, a knife and ropes.

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

A: I graduated back in 2018 but I began working on summer 2016 at a dubbing studio. There I worked as an audio editor/post-producer and sound designer. Then I left for a fairly similar job but mostly focused in audio post-production, which ended up being my specialty. I stopped with audio post-production for a while and began working at live shows as a live sound engineer in 2019. When 2020's lockdown started, I began working on Upwork and that's what I currently do. So, it's been around 4 years, of experience working with audio post-production and sound design.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I think my style is very versatile, but the best wat to englobe is by labeling it as "dark." I love creating dark vibes and ambiances on anything that's suitable for it. I believe that darker emotions keep your attention awaken, like in movies and videogames.

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

A: I'd love to work with Dave Grohl some day or Corey Taylor. They're both of my biggest influences in music and I love listening to their records ever since I was a child. So that'd be amazing.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't really have many, but I can tell you a mixing trick: when mixing vocals you need them to cut through the mix and come up front. A quick easy way to achieve that, is to see the context and cut off the frequency space that's most congested in the track. For example, if you're working on a rock mix, you'll have a lot of guitars and mid-range information going on, so you cut mids on your vocal signal and compensate boosting a similar gain amount to your vocals low and high frequencies.

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

A: I mostly work with hip hop, indie rock and metal artists.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill, without any doubt, is audio mixing, because is the area I'm the most experienced with. However, I'm highly skilled and qualified for sound design and music production.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I try to bring the feeling I had when taking my first listen. I like to emphasize the feels of the song and make it an audible experience.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: As soon as I receive files, I create a session, load the tracks, loop play and listen throughout the song while marking out each of its different parts. Check phase, correct time and anything that might be off and rest. Then, I mix the song according to its particular needs and send a limited first print to the client.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Classic home studio setup: My laptop, soundcard, monitors and headphones.

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

A: Andrew Scheps, Manny Mercado, Andrew Wallace

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

A: - Sound FX design - Audio Mixing/Mastering - Voice editing