Recording and Mixing Engineer

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

A: I am proud of my first ever project with the Skelmersdale Prize Band. While I was young and inexperienced at the time, considering the absolutely rubbish equipment that was available to me, I was able to get a respectable sound for that album release, the first release with my name listed on it as a producer.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am currently working on two releases, one with a band called REYA from St Helens, and a follow-up EP from the Grace Church Music Group with whom I produced the "Forever We Will Sing" album.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I am an in-the-box, digital guy for the pure fact that digital is more affordable than analog. However, I am a big believer that a hybrid analog-digital setup is the best way to go.

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

A: My promise is that I won't take any project on half-heartedly. I will work my hardest to make every song that I record and/or mix sound their absolute best.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love the fact that from week-to-week I can be working on completely different genres of music. I also love the buzz of hearing a great new song develop into the finished product during the whole process of making music, from recording to mixing.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Were there any major issues when recording the tracks? Is all of the material there? Has there been any previous editing or mixing of the track?

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

A: Provide as much reference information as possible. What would you like the mix to sound like? Do you have any influences that you are attempting to emulate? Send a list of around 5 reference tracks so I can get a good idea of what sound and tone you are looking for.

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

A: 1. A generator that runs off water so I alway have a power source! 2. My Macbook (with my software, plugins and charger... I know that's cheating a little!) 3. A set of headphones (I use Sony MDR-7506's) 4. A Neumann u87 microphone, which just seems to work on everything! 5. An Apollo Twin interface, so I can use all of my equipment in a working chain.

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

A: I have been trying to go down the career path of a recording engineer since I started at College, where I was first properly introduced to the world of recording and Music Technology. I started off just doing the training material for the courses that I have taken, but have since started reaching out into the industry to get some proper experience. My time at Elusive Recordings was pretty much priceless, as I was given a great opportunity to network with new people and hone my recording and mixing skills that I was taught during my studies.

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

A: As mentioned above, I am a huge Muse fan. I just love the sound of all of their tracks and albums, and love the vocal range that Matt Bellamy has. I'd absolutely love to work with them one day.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: A few years ago, I was always really struggling to get any sort of weight when I was trying to mix kick drums. It took me a while, but after a bit of research I found a great tip. Send the output of the kick channel to the side-chain input of a "Gate" plugin on an auxiliary channel, and the put a "Signal Generator" plugin on the channel just before the "Gate". Tune the "Signal Generator" to a sine wave anywhere between 40 and 70Hz (attempt to tune this Sine Wave to the frequency of the track's root note of the key, e.g. G1=49Hz). Now, anytime the kick exceeds the threshold of the Gate plugin, a tuned Sine Wave will play at the same time to support and add weight to the Kick Drum.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I like the believe that my strongest skill is getting the most of a musician at the tracking stage of any project.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: My typical mixing process would be to start on the drums and bass first to achieve a solid foundation to a track. I then like to work on the guitars (electric and/or acoustic), and then any other instruments (such as keys, strings, brass etc.) afterwards. I then really like to focus on getting the right vocal tone. I will finally then make sure that the overall sound of the track is as polished as it can be.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I currently have a bit of a floating studio, whereby I use a set of M-Audio AV30 speakers and my Lexicon FW810s to do my initial mixing. I am a Pro Tools user on a Macbook Pro and like to work in the box using plugins. I own Slate Digital's "Everything" bundle, which provides some of the best analogue emulation plugins in the business. I still have good connections at Elusive Recording Studios in St Helens, and I like to finalise any mixes that I a make in their professional studios.

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

A: I am a huge fan of Muse, and I am a really big fan of their album "The Resistance" which just sounds huge - I try to emulate the sound that mix engineer Mark Stent produced for tracks of a similar genres. I am also a fan of Graham Cochrane over at therecordingrevolution.com! He makes some awesome videos about recording in a small studio.

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

A: The two most common pieces of work I do are mixing tracks that have been recorded elsewhere, and also to be the main recording engineer on projects.