Mixing & Mastering Engineer

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I’m currently working on an independent artists next album. There are no set amount of tracks yet, but we are tracking and reviewing after.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have multiple places of work, but I always bring my own microphone and interface. I’m currently using Pro Tools as my main DAW, a UAD Apollo twin Duo Mk2, and sphere to track vocals and mix them afterwards.

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

A: My favorite project would be “Designer clothes, and finer hoes, by a group of 3 that go by the name of “Contraband Gang.” 2 of them are blood relatives. They were the first people I worked with outside of myself after actually learning about mixing. Out of my 9 years mixing we worked 6 of them together, I was the first to get them a sound they love and we have been working together ever since. One of the members was recently killed and it makes me cherish the music even more.

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

A: Not yet.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital, I hate having to commit to a sound once it’s recorded. I’ve ran into artist who love a song in the studio and hate it outside, so when they want it remixed I don’t want to be stuck with a sound and not be able to fix it.

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

A: I promise that I’ll exhaust every resource it takes to get the sound that you’re wanting as long as the quality is there.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love seeing an artist happy about what they’ve created with me.

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

A: “Do you make beats?” Is the most asked questions, and I have to answer no, because I’m mainly in the studio recording an artist or mixing down tracks so I don’t pursue producing instrumentals.

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

A: I think the biggest misconception is that I’m a producer. Everyone thinks an engineer is just a “beat maker.”

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I always ask what kind of microphone, interface, and what daw was used to record the songs. They play a major part.

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

A: I’d say be ready for a few conversations about the actual music during the process. And to be upfront about any doubts you have in me or your own music so we can address them to make the process as smooth as possible.

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 kaotica eyeball, My mic with XLR cables, MacBook, and a solar powered charging hub.

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

A: I wanted to be an artist, but I see that being an engineer is what I’m better at. I grew up around music and would freestyle with my older cousins when I was in elementary school. I’ve been mixing for nine years, coming up on 10 in February 2021.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I’d say my style is natural, everything I know I learned from actually doing. From frequencies to just downright standing in front of the mic to test how certain vocal levels sound I’ve done it to improve my mixing.

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

A: Future and Roddy Ricch, Future because he inspired my music at a younger age. I was scared to deliver my music a certain way and hearing him do it how he did changed the way I performed vocally on songs. And ultimately changed how I mix music. Roddy Ricch because he does so much in the vocal range within one song, and it reminds me of me.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don’t stay in the same spot too long.

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

A: My main genres are hiphop and r&b, I have a few artist who are rock/hiphop and they love to let me record because I bring a nice balance to the two.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is coaching artist, I was an artist myself so I get the fears that people have when recording a song. Not wanting to try a high note because they think they sound bad, but I encourage them to try it and get comfortable with things like that when recording a track.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I’d say I bring the sound, I’ve worked with artist who didn’t know themselves and got them to the point where they go from dull and shy to highly confident and versatile with their vocals.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I normally start out with a template I’ve created to speed up tracking. It has each track session labeled, grouped, and color coordinated to link to Aux tracks that will be used to eq, compress and more. Once the artist starts recording they’ll be able to hear a sample of what the final will be close to. Once I’m done recording the artist I mix in session and they will leave with a final mix to their song if time permits it.

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

A: Kanye West and Future are two of my biggest idols musically.

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

A: My main job is recording and mixing as an engineer. I master about 65% of the tracks I record. That’s due to some artist not being able to afford the services.