Online Mastering Engineer

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

A: I had the honor to do Mastering work on "Rockett Love" (AOR rock band) and their first single Mixed by none less than Beau Hill (Europe, Ratt, Winger, Alice Cooper). It was a real pleasure to do a mastering after such a good mixing engineer!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: None mentioned, none forgotten...

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

A: Bob Katz, when you can afford it.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: HYBRID, then both techniques has advantages and should be combined. I prefer analogue and thereafter rounded off digitally.

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

A: Your mix will always sound better or excellent after finishing the mastering!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The most exciting is the variety and challenges to live up to client expectations.

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

A: How many revisions can I get? A reasonable number unless the mix does not need to be revised.

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

A: How much headroom should I leave before mastering? ... then some of the entire track normalizes down to -3 to -6 dB peak level. It's more complicated than that. Previous unit for the program LOUDNESS was RMS, the new name is LUFS. Easily explained; a mastering engineers need to know how much DYNAMIC space is left in the mix! Waht should I do? Control the entire audio file graphically, searches for individual peaks that interfere with the mix to normalize, leveling the mix to its maximum preserving original dynamics, measures LOUDNES (needs to be between -18 to -24 LUFS or dB RMS).

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Any specific requirements or expectations and when to be completed? Do you have a reference track to attach in order to match the sound?

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

A: I am here for you, try to communicate honestly and openly, be realistic, let me help you.

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

A: Laptop, solarcharger, mobileinternet, headphones, gaslighter.

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

A: Electronics and music I have been engaged since 1986 by building own amplifiers, EQ's, Echo-machines with more. 1996 I started with mixing and mastering, enjoining until today.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Enter The Dragon:-)

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

A: I would like to work with Joe Lynn Turner, the old man beats the shit until today.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Music production is a chain of processes: playing instruments, recording, sound design, editing, mixing and final mastering. All these separate steps must be done with love and sacrifice then affect the final product. Can not you make a pizza with bad ingredients, or?

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

A: I prefer all music with emphasis on musical virtuosity and song dynamics. Actually, all music then I also get my part of personal development.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Trained ears, many years of experience and passion for the music.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I contribute with value-adding to my client's music and bringing out the beauty in it by: *CRITICAL LISTENING *REMOVING THE MUDD *DIAGNOSIS *PROCESSING *FINISHING A SONG

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: The most important thing is communication and understanding what the client is looking for! I am trying to be a good listener and helper in the whole process. After receiving the audio file and the list of requirements, I listen 2-3 times to the material. Then I look at the graphic image of the audio file with focus on; Distortion, clipping, limitation, compression, dynamic range, sound to noise ratio, with more ... The next step is any complement from the client or go for mastering ...

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have deliberately chosen not to make the studio to an spacecraft, but strive for a balance between equipment, studio space and the final consumer environment. My current setup, in addition to Digital Audio Workstation with retro programs and plugs, consist of very carefully selected outboard components balancing between sound quality, flexibility, operation and price level. I was looking for a mix of vintage analog tube/FET sound and high-end digital finish, in other words my own hybrid sound. Each device has special purpose and is connected in series with the possibility of intral parallel compression. I've ruled out switches, patchbays and mix summers with the simple reason for signal degradation, noise and capacitive losses in the cables.

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

A: Current musicians and bands; No mention, no one forgotten! On the other hand, there were two guiding stars that were crucial to my choice of profession, namely Bob Katz under the T.C. Electronic wings and CUTTING-ROOM with its commercial disc that came out in the mid 90's. This was a turning point ... My current influences include Mandy Parnell and Sylvia Massy, more of Girl Power in music industry.

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

A: It is preferable to allow a third party to listen and judge the recording and mixing results. I believe in the original beauty of produced music, as well as striving to maintain its original shine without destroying the basic elements. It's like comparing to make-up, the more you spit on the face, the more distorted the natural beauty, with the exception of recordings that have gone wrong and need to be restored.