Mixing and Mastering

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

A: I would say I am very proud of the album 'In Praise of Home' by Rura. I was the tape operator on this project and I feel that it is one of my favourite albums which just seemed to fall together effortlessly. The textures, arrangements and overall cohesion of sound are beautiful.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I generally start by preparing the session to accommodate my workflow whether that be importing mixing templates, preparing for edit workflow etc. I will then start with the 'glue' of the song (if mixing) generally I find this is the drums, followed by the vocals before bringing up the other various elements. I try to leave my signature sound on a track without being abrasive or taking away from the artist's vision. My goal is to further develop the artist's vision.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I would describe my sound as warm and and open with a very punchy bottom end.

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

A: I work with a variety of music mostly focusing on Hip-Hop as well as Folk music.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I love both it really depends on the project. Generally I work in a hybrid setup for mixing, recording and mastering. However more and more I am using a fully digital setup for the flexibility and ease of instantaneous recalls which make creating so much more spontaneous.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I can do what I love from anywhere in the world and to me that is pretty special.

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

A: I would take my MacBook Pro (loaded with protools), my set of in-ears, my Apollo, my trusty rainbow mug (very important) and a Telefunken 47 because nothing sounds better than a 47 in my opinion.

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

A: I would love to work with Flying Lotus for his masterful sound design and well-considered arrangments. I feel my style of mixing and production would gel very well.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a home-based studio based around a pair of PMC TwoTwo 6's, a pair of Dynaudio BM12 MKiii and Apollo 8 Quad and Protools with a wide range of plugins from the likes of UAD, FabFilter, Waves, Antares, Acoustica, and many more.

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

A: I always promise that I will make their project the best I possibly can with no exceptions.

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

A: How long will it take to mix or master a track. The answer can change depending on how busy I am. Realistically it will take around just 1 day to setup and mix the first track. If the track is part of an album then this will have sped up the rest of the process for the remaining track. The remainder of the time is used to make any remediates the client wants this entirely depends on 1) how fast the client gets back to me and 2) how big the remedations are.

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

A: Many people seem to think that often my work is a process in the sense that I do the exact same thing for each project where as every project is different and I treat every project as a new venture. I am always pushing the boundaries.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I like to understand the project as a whole from the tonal qualities they are after to the conceptual ideas.

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

A: Do it you won't regret it!

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

A: I started out interning at various post production houses and studio in and amongst Glasgow while studying a BSc (Hons) in Music Technology. At the start of the third year I began working at GloWorm recording and have been working out of GloWorm as a freelancer ever since.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Never stop learning.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I would say my strongest skill is the ability to be flexible with clients in terms of time scale and budget. I love what I do and I want to be able to let my passion pass on to other peoples projects!

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I feel that I bring a fresh ear and the bravery to break to norm.

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

A: I have always been inspired by Steve Albini for his raw and ready approach to production. I have also always admired Jimi Hendrix for his constant experimentation and ability to go against the dogma.

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

A: The most common work I do is remote mixing, however I also do a lot of mastering work and location recording.