Mixing Engineer, Producer

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A few Pop R&B and Hip hop artists songs for sync licensing

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I like both! Plug ins have gotten so good and the things you can do with them are amazing. I could and do all ITB mixing often. However there's a few hardware pieces I love that I put on the end of my mix and master. It just smooths and glues everything together how I like it.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What are some of their influences creatively. What similar artist do they like or listen to. What is their vision for this project.

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 computer with Protools, my SSL Fusion, mini keyboard, interface and converter. and is there anyone to record on this island lol? If so I'd take a sony c800g and neve channel strip

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

A: In highschool I was introduced to music production and studio work. I decided to go to Fullsail to expand my knowledge and network. After school I interned, ran sessions at different studio and became a main engineer at Big 3 studios. Shortly after that I started my own company and studio. It's all been about 15 years.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Here's a sImple one, record multiple vocal takes for the lead vocal and pick all the best pieces of the performance, turning them into one finished vocal. (Also known as comping.) If that's not your workflow, make sure the vocal performance and delivering is on point. It's very easy to punch in a line or certain section if you feel it needs improvement!

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

A: I usually work on pop and sub genres of Hip hop, R&B, EDM mostly but I have worked on every genre.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My ability to mix and master songs while working closely with artist and making sure there vision is met.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: My ear, sonic imprint, creativity and understanding what an artist wants.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I'll import all the track/stems sent to me into Protools. If there's a reference track I will listen to that first. From there I will start balancing different elements. Usually starting with the drums and instruments. Then start balancing the vocals to sit nicely just with volume and panning. From there I will start to add signal processing subtractive and adding, clean any unwanted space, breaths and so on. Also adding automation, reverbs, and delays and other efx where I feel fit. From there on just keep tweaking till I really feel the mix is complete.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I'm using Protools as my DAW and have a hybrid mix workflow. Using plugins and hardware combined. For the production side of things, I have a Korg Triton, Mpc Live, Lots of virtual instruments and Reason.

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

A: Timbaland, Max Martin, Dave Pensado, Quincy Jones, Manny Marroquin and many more.

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

A: I've worked on just about every genre! The music I work on the most is Rap, R&B and Edm.