Mix engineer

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am currently working on an orchestra recording I recently made in a church. The first mix is on my website at www.jasonyean.com

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

A: I just joined so cant say there is anyone.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Thats is a very expansive question. It depends on the artist, the vision, the song and the destination. Analog is amazing for giving that human element to songs. Letting things breathe and opening up dynamic range and textures with imperfect circuitry. Digital is good for presence and clarity with a very in your face crunch. Both have their places in the mix but they must be used wisely. You wouldn't warm up a kick drum on a hip hop beat with tape just as you wouldn't mix completely in the box for something that wants a warm sound. Having said that, it all depends on the situation. Creativity knows no limits.

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

A: To keep them informed and to provide some great customer service by working with them in a positive and conducive manner.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I have a deep longing passion for music so being able to be in such a creative and inspiring role is a dream of mine. I love the intricacies of what a great song and how the tools and decisions I have can create something very beautiful and expressive.

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

A: How long will it take? It usually take a day per song if all the editing is done properly. Is there any chance of a discount? If you bring in enough work for me we can surely work something out. Can you work on a payment plan? No sorry I am not a credit agency unfortunately. I will do my best to work within your budget but at the end of the day, I am an employed professional.

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

A: That what we do is purely a technical endeavour. Its more about realising what not to do sometimes that makes the end product really great. We balance the flavours and textures in a very artistic way where every engineer has their own flavour.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What are your references when you wrote this song? What is your vision for the mix? Where did you record the song? What equipment was used? Are you able to re record parts easily? Do you have a mastering engineer you use regularly?

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

A: Look for someone who you can work with and does not have a big ego. Your are the client and you should be able to get what you are looking for out of the experience. Having saying that, you should also be clear about what you want.

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

A: SSL Mix Buss Compressor, LA2A, Focusrite Liquid Channel, A lunch box full of API EQs, Lunchbox full of Neve Mic Pres

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

A: My career path is to have my own production house with a mixing and mastering suite with graphic design as part of the company. Design is transferable in that sense and mixing visuals with auditory pleasure is only inspiring. I have been professionally doing this for 1 year.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I don't have a particular style. I am a mix engineer I conform to the style of the artist and hopefully make it better.

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

A: I would like to work with the Arctic Monkeys and Reso. The Arctic Monkeys have the most interesting and intricate rock music I have heard in a long time. They get away with crazy rifts and polyrhythms that would otherwise be seen as experimental. Reso because he is the best Drum and Bass producer in the world.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Keep it simple. At the beginning anyway because we can so easily get caught up in wanting to make the most amazing piece of music every heard. That is always a good intention but we need to have a good fundamental base for the track before any of the fancy stuff takes up your frequency domain. A good song is always a good song regardless of recording or mixing magic. Get it right in the recording stage and its smooth sailing from there. For the electronic producers, be original and stand the test of time.

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

A: Drum and Bass, Jazz, Commercial dance tracks, singer songwriter compositions

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Helping the client narrow down the vision and intention. Creating transparent and big sounding mixes with good low frequency content.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring an outsiders perspective which helps hone in on what needs to be done to improve the song. I also bring a great knowledge of what is required to make the song appealing to the target market of their choice.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Before any kind of work is done on the song I have a discussion with the client on how the song was recorded and what their vision is for the mix. I like to get as much detail about the process before me so that I there is less guessing on my part. I then check to see if the editing is up to standard before starting the mix. If there are problems with the editing I can either do the editing at extra cost or send it back to the client to be re-edited. I then work through the mix and send it to the client to be checked. This typically encompasses mixes with the vocals louder, drums louder etc so that they can choose between the choices. They choose one and give me notes to make the final mix. They have 2 revisions after that which are FOC after which a charge will apply. I can prepare the tracks ready for mastering at their mastering engineer of choices specifications. Upon payment I send all the relevant files with notes to the client.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work totally in the box as this ensures ease of recall and revisions of mixes are quick and efficient. I use Waves, Slate Plugins and lots of emulations of old hardware like the API and Neve soft plugins.

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

A: Snarky Puppy, Kruder and Dorfmesiter, Art Tatum, Arctic Monkeys, Reso, Rick Rubin, Dave Pensado

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

A: The most common kind of work is mixing and advising on arrangements and tonal quality of recordings. I also help the artist realise where he is going and what he is looking to accomplish.