Mixing Engineer/Music Prod.

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

A: I produced an album for the band The Paint Sister and I produced it with John Carter Cash at the Cash cabin here in Hendersonville TN. The cabin was beautiful in the country making it a very relaxing experience. The mixing was simple. John Carter made great suggestions and the album came out great.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am finishing up a drum track for a songwriter here in Nashville. When that is done I start mixing the completed song.

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

A: Kris Bradley. She is really cool.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I like both. Analog give a warmer thicker sound and digital adds the most unique sounds and effects to your music.

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

A: The experience is eye opening and you will really learn a lot about recording and how it works. This will help you write better songs and plan well for your sessions.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Working with fantastic creative people. Creating something from nothing.

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

A: How much and how long. I tell them it will take longer than you thought. Let's work out a schedule for your session to save you money.

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

A: The biggest misconception is time. It take a lot of time to record a song just like you want it to be but it can be done.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Is this song for your album or for pitching to artists.

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

A: Have your idea recorded. It could be as simple as a phone. Figure out the best tempo for your song and write it down. Choose and artist that best sounds like how you want your song to sound. Write out a chord sheet of your song.

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

A: I would take a Djembe, Guitar, wooden flute, harmonica and a ukulele.

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

A: I am a songwriter back in the 80's and started with a Yamaha 4 track cassette player for recording my songs to a Tascam D88 8 track reel to real recording and using midi and a mac computer. Today 45 years later, I am still loving the recording experience. Now I just do it with great tools and plugins.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style calm and quiet. I keep the session going smoothly and I suggest ideas. I like to experiment with musical ideas to try to create something new.

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

A: Linda Perry because she knows how to get the current sound.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Make sure you play to a click track. It makes is easy on the production and keep everything lined up so when we add new tracks and players there is never a timing issue.

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

A: I usually work on Americana style. I specialize in acoustic music. I usually work with guitarists, singer songwriters.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Developing the correct groove for a song so it sells.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring the correct feel for the song and the correct mix. I enjoy listening the songwriter and with their vision, I add the correct sound for each instrument of the drumset. I choose the right bass drum sound and snare sound first. Then I choose the correct high hat and ride cymbal to complement the groove. We then choose the correct crash cymbals. I enjoy adding percussion loops to the song to blend in to the groove.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Songwriter arrives and works with me on song form and if needed we go through the song and correct lyrics and chord changes. We discuss the feel by talking about the kind of artist you see performing the song so I can get an idea of feel and style. I have the songwriter play the song as I use a drum machine to choose correct sound and try to get close to the feel. We choose the best tempo for the song. I then have the songwriter play their instrument while I play along on the electronic set and put down a track to see if we have the feel right. If we do we go into production and start with the guitar, scratch vocal track and drums and layer the bass, keys and other synth tracks that are needed. We listen each time to see what is working and what is not. We then talk about vocals and backup vocal ideas. We put down a lead vocal and start adding backups and mix as we go to see what works. When we are happy with the instrumentation and vocals we mix then master.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a music production studio and I am surrounded by many drumsets and percussion to develop ideas. I use a keyboard to play new ideas be it synth sounds or developing my own sounds.I sit facing 2 large monitors so I can see exactly what is going on in the tracks. I keep my electronic set close so I can access it quickly. I use UA plugins for smoothness in conjunction with unique sounding effects plugins to give a song the punch to stand out from the rest.

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

A: I like the production flow of Linda Perry. I was inspired by her work flow and fantastic ideas she brought to a session.

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

A: I create drum and percussion tracks for new songs from songwriters. I mix tracks and vocals. I correct timing issues and tuning issues. I use acoustic and electronic drums and percussion loops to create the correct groove for the song. I suggest the best instrumentation to make the song pop and sell. I mix and polish all tracks so they sound polished. I make sure the time is fixed on all tracks. I