Session Violinist | Arranger

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital for the flexibility, but analog for the sound. It's a rare experience that I get to record analog, but a magical one!! You can't beat it!

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

A: That we just play things once through to record. It takes a lot of finesse and many takes and a little bit of editing to get things to sound just like we want it. String recording is definitely a bit of an art!

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

A: I started the violin when I was 4 years old and have now been playing for around 25 years. I'm classically trained, but grew up jamming with my singer-songwriter sister and my church band. I have a BM in violin performance from IU Jacobs School of Music and played in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, but I've also played with bands like Guster, Gungor, Kygo, and most recently DJ Seven Lions with my string quartet, ATLYS.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Currently trying to write some originals for ATLYS and also doing some tracking on various albums with my quartet! We just released OPUS with Seven Lions, and we're really excited about that collaboration.

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

A: All kinds really! I've done anything from rap to classical to folk to pop or even EDM. I love it all!

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

A: Providing detailed descriptions of exactly what you're looking for is really helpful. And never hesitate to ask if you want something done differently!

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

A: My first album with ATLYS is definitely something that I'm extremely proud of. We arranged almost all of the tunes on there ourselves, recorded them in my parent's basement with my dad engineering, then produced it ourselves. It's not perfect, but I'm so proud of us for making it happen!

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

A: My quartet mates! Sabrina Tabby, Genevieve Tabby, and Rita Andrade. We've played over 1000 concerts together around the world and have done a bunch of tracking together as well. We're all set up to record remotely as well!

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

A: I promise to always make sure my clients are happy. If that means I have to redo something or touch-up something, then I'm happy to do it!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: It's so amazing to be able to write something and hear it all shiny and nice and polished on a recording at the end of the project. Makes me so happy!

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: How many tracks? Can I hear some of your other stuff? What kind of a sound are you looking for?

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

A: My violin, my pedal board (with pickup included is that allowed? haha), an amp, my computer, and my interface

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I'm definitely a shredder, but also love a nice and beautiful melody!

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

A: I love Kishi Bashi. His string parts are so imaginative and always so well done. Would be awesome to play for him someday!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Live strings are always better than fake strings! Even if you don't have the budget for a whole section, the sound can be improved by having real string players in combination with midis. The breath and phrasing that you get with live studio musicians is always so worth it!

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My musicality and emotion has always been the thing that has set me apart. I also take pride in the fact that I can change my sound to fit the genre of music that I'm playing. I won't play the same way in a pop or rock song that I'll play in classical music. I'm not afraid to get gnarly when it calls for it! :)

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: There's nothing like live strings! I bring the technical quality that I've achieved from over 25 years of playing my instrument as well as my unique passion and musicality. I put my whole heart and soul into phrasing and singing the music to make it extra special!

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: For session work: I always take time to put bowings in, listen to the recordings provided, and figure out the best way to phrase each line before making my recording. For custom improvised arrangements: I listen to the song a bunch of times, map out a plan of action of generally where I hear string parts, improvise, record, layer harmonies, and tinker around till I get the sound to match what I have in my head. For custom string quartet arrangements: I listen to the song a bunch of times, then do a mix of arranging in my head and recording into a DAW and annotating it down into Sibelius. Then I go through the parts and make sure to put in as much detail as I can--dynamics, bowings, articulation.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I use a DPA 4099 mic into a apogee ONE or Quartet depending on how many instruments I'm tracking at once. My DAW of choice is Logic ProX

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

A: Paul Buckmaster (his Elton John arrangements!), Alt-J (just love their wacky and awesome sound!), Hannah Epperson, M83...just to name a few!

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

A: I do violin session work and also write custom string arrangements.