Isaac Stewardson on SoundBetter

Honors List - College-Educated Mix Engineer Based Out Of Ottawa Canada. Taught by some of Ottawa's Best Engineers/Producers. Hundreds of hours of experience with Hip Hop/Electronic Music. Very good with mixing lots of layers and experimental music. Dedicated to helping you make your record sound perfect to your standards!

What I Do: I'm a Mix Engineer in the Canadian music industry, I'm an experienced and dedicated worker who has an in-depth understanding of what is needed to makes a mix sound excellent and professional. As an Honours List student at Ottawa's Algonquin College "Music Industry Arts" program. my training comes from some of the best engineers, mixers, producers, and industry workers in Canada's capital city. By making my own music which I fully mix/master, and mixing free for others to gain practice, Ive been able to become very comfortable with the ins and outs of mixing/mastering.
I would definitely describe myself as an extreme perfectionist when it comes to my music. I understand that in an artist's mix every little detail counts when it comes to the perfect sound. This is why I'm going to be an excellent option for your project because I'm dedicated to keeping that same perfectionism used in my own work and putting it towards your music!
I have lots of experience working with multiples layers, and experimental sounds in my Mixes.

About me: I'm a young mix engineer who spent most of my time in the past years working on my skills involving sound and music.
After graduating high school I moved myself to Canada's capital city of Ottawa to pursue a job in the music industry. Alongside making music and mixing I also work at Ottawa's top live sound company.

Tell me about your project and how I can help, through the 'Contact' button above.

Credits

7 Reviews - 1 Repeat Client

Endorse Isaac Stewardson

by Robert H.
Verified
Very patient and willing to work to the needs of your song
by Malcolm L.
Verified
Isaac is a talented sound engineer, who was very communicative and exhibited a high level of professionalism throughout the process of mixing and mastering several songs for me. Highly recommended!
by Shiloh Wind
i was vary happy with the mix i got from Isaac he listened and fulfilled all my requests, would defiantly recommend coming to him for all your mixing/mastering.
by Jay
Isaac was very determined to get my song mixed the way I wanted it, and was very persistent with me. I loved the final product of my mix. Definitely recommend!
by Sam Watson
I worked with Isaac for 3 years and in that time he grew into the most passionate producer I personally knew. He was constantly working on the next project and always passionate and positive about the work he was doing if he was working with artists who could be difficult. He has always sent me mixes promptly and effectively and recording with him has always been a blast. Highly recommended
by Huey
In my considerably brief time in knowing him, Issac has proven himself as the type to be creative and daring with his mixes, along with the music he creates, which can only be described as experimental. Issac also has a supremely strong work ethic, always presenting me with something new, something better. His overall mixing skills are very crisp, very clean, and left me satisfied with everything he's presented me.
by Nos
Isaac has been a great collaborator of mine over the years, has a good ear for fitting experimental sounds in the mix and has made all of our tracks something I look back on proud of. Clean mixing skills and not afraid to venture outside of the box for a unique result. Overall strong work ethic and very professional as i always get demos and masters back before i expect, always glad to recommend him for a project! - Nos

Interview with Isaac Stewardson

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Be honest with me on what you want your track to sound like. Also never be afraid to tell me if there's something in your mix you would like adjusted. I'm here to make your song sound exactly how you want!
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: My studio setup consists of a MacBook with a second monitor. I use Fl Studio and Pro Tools (all my mixing and mastering for clients is done in Pro Tools) I use both Izotope and Waves plugins. I have multiple listening devices to make sure mixes sound good in different situations.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I'm very inspired by musicians like Kanye and Flying Lotus because of both their music and their work effort. "lock yourself in a room doin' 5 beats a day for 3 summers" -Kanye West.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: I would say the most important tip is to not settle for less than you know you can do. If you know you can make it sound better then work towards that while also keeping in mind you shouldn't overthink a mix.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I bring an out of the box view to a song. If you ask anyone I've worked with I think they would tell you my style in music and mixing is very creative.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: When doing both a mix and a master of a song I like to start out by organizing my session so that I can have the most efficient and quick workflow. This ensures that my sessions stay clean and I'm able to easily find every track/plugin I might need to adjust. after that, I go through and EQ every track to get out all of the "ghost" frequencies that are taking up space in the mix. Then I take a concentrated listen through of the track so I can decide where I should go from there. After doing everything necessary in a mix and making it sound perfect, I move onto mastering. After mastering it to completion I would then send it to my client and make sure they are 100% happy with the results.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm currently working on producing rappers and making electronic music with my collective friends.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: I ask them - What they want their mix to sound like - What a good reference for their track is -(once done) If there's anything they would like adjusted
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: MacBook with Pro tools and FL, a mouse (Trying to use trackpads is a nightmare.), Monitors, Headphones, Midi Keyboard.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I would describe my style as colorful and exciting. I like my mixes to feel like their own "universe" using interesting panning and stereo techniques.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: My strongest skill when it comes to mixing is knowing how to work with strange sounds and tracks with a lot of layers of instruments. In my personal music, I like to make experimental hip hop instrumentals. I usually work with at least 4+ instruments on top of each other all at once. Because of this, I've picked up a good skill of working with layers and knowing how to keep everything sounding good and in phase.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: My work mostly revolves in the mix/master side, but I also like to work a lot on making my own music and producing for Rappers/Singers.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: I think a misconception would be people thinking because I'm younger I don't know what I'm doing. but I have worked very hard in my life to get good at what I love to do. I think that being young and eager to learn and improve makes me even more valuable to your project because I'll give it 110%!
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Brian Temme is how I learned about sound better! I found it through his youtube channel.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: A lot of the time they will ask about how long it will take me to finish their project, I always tell them how long I think it will take me to make the BEST product I can. But I'm always willing to try my best to work within their time limit if they have one.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: My dream artist to work with would have to be Flying Lotus or Kanye West, But I have a soft spot for Daniel Johnston and if he were alive I would love to work with him.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: For mixing wise, I like being able to work freelance. I think you need to be in a good mood/space to do a good mix and that's why working from home and choosing your own hours is great, you work happy and stay happy.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I usually work on Hip-Hop and Electronic/EDM but never turn down Pop/Rock/Folk.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: My proudest production was definitely The song "Wutsuh" I did with an artist by the name Nos. My role in this was to make an instrumental that compliments his style. This song went through 6 different versions with 6 different instrumentals until we came across a really great demo. I worked on this instrumental non-stop until I was perfectly happy with it. Then I went onto a mix stage where I concentrated on making each sound fit perfectly. Then I did the mastering. I'm most proud of this project because I feel like it was some of my best work melody wise but also mix wise.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: I think there are perks to both. I have experience using both and I found that it really depends on what sound you want.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: That I won't give up until they are perfectly happy. I've had clients where I've sent 10+ versions of a mix to, just changing very minor things.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been interested in the music world whether it was playing instruments, mixing, engineering, or producing for 5 years now. I've been recording my own music and mixing for 2 years now. Over those 2 years, I've put music above everything else in my life and have used all my free time working on getting as good as I can get. The past year I was in the Music Industry Arts program at Algonquin College where I was put on the Deans' Honors List and also secured a job at Ottawa's top live sound company. Currently, with all the time everyone has had off from work/school I've been putting in work every day on mixing and mastering for others and myself.