Mixing and Mastering

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: It literally changes by the day, if not the hour!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital. Recall-ability and control. I like the romance and art of having analog gear and controls in front of me, but end of the day I get better results in the digital domain, and have a faster/more creative workflow because of it. There's nothing analog can do that digital can't, the inverse is not true.

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

A: On the mastering side people tend to think a bad mix can be fixed in mastering... It can't. Or that mastering is predominantly about the processing (color/loudness)… it’s not. On the mixing side, there tend to be people who think that mixing will change the song. In an ideal world, mixing is enhancing/bringing out the heart of the song, but not changing/affecring production.

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

A: Make sure your songs/production are good. No amount of mixing can make a bad song a good one.

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

A: The acoustics on desert islands aren't very workable.

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

A: I was a jazz guitarist in HS, went to college for music production, and I have a masters in sound recording where I cut my teeth largely doing classical and jazz, and many internships including an analog studio, classical festivals, and a mic company to name a few. I assisted at few world class studios like Galaxy in Belgium. After college I moved to NYC where I worked restoration and remastering for the metropolitan opera and US Air Force. I really got my a-list engineering start as house engineer at Downtown Music Studios, and then shifted to independent mixing and mastering after my time there.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My thing is big, clean, punchy with great translation. I always liked the term “All-Fi”, although my work is more hi-fi, I'm not opposed to heavy compression, distortion or other lo-fi elements when appropriate.

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

A: I like to find the good in anything I'm working on, and have had the pleasure of working with lots of great artists. What I love about my job is the diversity. I used to joke after a day of sugary pop sessions I wanted to blast Muse or QOTSA, and after a hip-hop session I want to put on some James Taylor with a glass of pinot.

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

A: Honestly a bit of everything. My clients tend to largely come for my pop, electronic and indie credits, but I love mixing more acoustic music, especially singer-songwriter, country, roots rock and I have a history getting my start in classical and jazz as a conservatory trained musician myself.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I like to think I bring the song to the song. I try to find the core of the music and make sure it's presented in the best light. Often it's the vocal, sometimes it's the groove, but I think my strongest asset is my ability to do what the song needs. Whether it's a bright polished pop mix, a lo-fi indie mix, or a clean acoustic song. If the song is there, and production is good, then we can get a great mix every time.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Mixing: After I receive files and funding, I will prep the session and get it on my calendar, or let the client know if there's something missing or that needs to be fixed. I get a first pass to clients typically about a week later, and then if they have notes I recall and address as needed. Turnaround depends on my calendar, and the scope of project but is usually around 2 weeks start to finish. Mastering: I generally listen to the song outside of the DAW, making sure it sounds like a decent mix, and that there's no major technical issues. Once I've confirmed everything is good to go, I schedule it in and hit it usually within a few days for a single, or a week or two for an album.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a dedicated mix/master suite custom designed and built from the foundation up with select hardware from companies like PMC, Antelope, Avid, API and GKL and extensive software and plugins, all centered around PMC IB1S-AIII monitors in a purpose designed/built space.

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

A: I'm primarily a mixing and mastering engineer. I have clients spanning classical to hip hop, country to jazz but most of my "big name" credits are in pop or dance, with the more household names typically on theastering side.

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

A: As far as close industry friends, two-time Grammy award winning classical engineer Brian Losch. That's who I call when I need a friend to critique or offer advice, and he's the one who told me about SoundBetter. I love producer/guitarist Tyler Cain's work, as well as composer/producer Nate Kohrs. Lots of great folks on here!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Here's 3: 1 - "over"-brightening followed by a high frequency limiter can really help add air to a track without making it harsh. 2 - Avoid using phase based stereo processors, while there's a time and place for everything, you'll get a wider/cleaner stereo image through discrete panning. 3 - Fight the urge to make everything brighter, give everything it's own space (both spectrally and stereoscopic) and make the supporting elements do just that.

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

A: All of them!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The Music! I have a great job, diverse clients, I work on my own schedule, hard to complain.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I'd like to think my ears, attention to detail, and experience/training.