Mastering Engineer

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: So I just moved to Los Angeles, CA. I’m currently building my new room and doing a lot of work from all genres, even the LoFi community, just had a release with Beowulf & Henry AZ. There’s a lot of projects and events going on that I can’t discuss with everyone yet as well. Super excited for you all to hear!

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

A: Metaphorical inner-peace and consistency. There’s nothing like putting on a great record (especially your own) and as soon as you hear it, you begin to smile. You will feel your music.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both, to each their own. I think both sound great and its just a work flow preference at this point. You can get excellent results with both. I work in the digital realm only for the reason that I need absolute transparency, but if I do need more saturation, there’s saturation plug-ins for that. Don’t get it confused, there are some analog pieces I’m interested in, but I have other sonic things to invest in first.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What do you relate your sound to? How can I be of help? What shape would you like your master? Loud, soft, big, vintage, textured?

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

A: Kii audio threes, Elysia Alpha Compressor, Weiss Audio EQ, BetterMaker Limiter, GML 9500.

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

A: Coldplay or Circa Survive. Coldplay has HUGE production and sound. Every album is just a giant masterpiece. Not to mention I’ve always been a Coldplay fan. Circa Survive; The only way to explain why is, I have their logo tattooed on my arm.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Mastering. Working to find what is best for the projects interest. People think Mastering; making a song loud. Mastering is basically a final decision maker, whether it be picking a drum sound, masterbuss processing, choosing a guitar tone.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I examine the mix for any imperfections like hiss, pops, clicks, hums, etc. Then I will add width, depth, and clarity by making transparent tonal adjustments and compression if required. After a few device checks, It gets sent to the client.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Entirely ITB mastering studio. Plugins have gotten so good now, it’s almost like why bother. Right now I’m working in Pro Tools Ultimate with an Avid Dock as my “console” and controller. My interface is a UA Apollo Twin X Quad with some help from a UA Octo-Core Satellite. For sonic editing and clean up I use iZotope’s RX8 Advanced. DSP from UA, Plugin-Alliance, Softube, Brainworx, iZotope, Fabfilter, Sonnox, and a disgustingly longer list more. I’m monitoring through Yamaha HS8’s and Technical Pro MRS5’s (upgraded monitoring and DAC coming Q4 2022).

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

A: Brian Lucey, Bob Ludwig, Stuart Hawkes, Mark Needham, Michael Trepagnier, Chris Gehringer, Craig Bauer, Dave Collins.

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

A: Michael Trepagnier, he was my professor at ACM for a few years, he’s a certified genius no matter the task. (He does not do mastering)

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The fact that this is my job. Im extremely grateful I'm able to wake up and do what I love for a living. Helping clients bring their art to life, art that they can share to world.

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

A: "Do you know how long it'll take to get the project done?" Singles & EP’s 3-5 business days. Albums 7-14 days. “What is Apple Digital Masters?” ADM is Apple’s AAC audio format for playback. How do you offer surround and Dolby Atmos if your studio is in stereo? There are a couple of studios nearby that cater surround and Dolby Atmos monitoring. Which these are rooms that I’ve been familiar with for 5+ years.

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

A: So I started working with audio production in 2008. I was 10 years old and I plugged an Xbox 360 USB RockBand mic into my moms computer and opened the computer settings. It's been my only focus and interest for the past 12 years of my life. I've only ever done music. All through middle and high school I was in band, playing trombone, French horn and mellophone. I started playing guitar at a very young age then soon after, picked up piano. I attended ACM@UCO here in Oklahoma City, OK.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Could be warm and colorful, could be as transparent as glass. Regardless, I aim do what is best for the song. I do love tube saturation and harmonics though, even if in small amounts.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: “Don't be rude, you never know who you are going to meet.” - Michael Trepagnier

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Emotional presence, unique sonic color, and most importantly, quality.

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

A: Audio Mastering and Apple Digital Masters.

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

A: That the mastering guy can fix it. Make sure you, your band, your engineer/producer, your mom, girlfriend, her mom, and everyone else involved is 200% satisfied with the the mix. We can fix a whole lot, but not everything.

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

A: Rock, Alt. Rock, Indie Pop, Jazz, and theatrical.