Mixing Engineer

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

A: My promise is to be open and collaborative in working on their art.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: My favorite part of mixing is an artist's reaction to hearing their song mixed and mastered who feels their song has gotten better because of it.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What genre is your song and what songs could I listen to that provided the inspiration for your sound?

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

A: I started my audio career in church audio mixing front of house, monitors, broadcast, and post-production. With over 4 years of live experience, I been able to marry my passion for recording and working with others by working in the box on others' music with the tools I've gained from the live world.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill comes through my ability to balance tracks so that each instrument/vocal is serving the song and has its moment to pop where needed.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring an ear that aims to enhance the creativity already put into a song through appropriate balancing and processing without harming or reducing the character of the song.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I enjoy hearing an artist's demo first to get a feel for where the track is already at. Using a template, I'll then get my own rough mix started using gain control to balance the mix before processing. After the mix is balanced and processed where needed, I'll bounce the track and listen in my car, or through commercial earbuds, or even just my phone speaker to see how the mix is translating. Once it feels right to me, I send it out to the artist for revisions and get their input.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I mainly mix in the box with a MacBook Pro using Pro Tools. I use an Apollo Twin with a patch bay giving me access to my outboard compressors, equalizers, and effects units. I also have access to a plethora of plug-ins from Waves, UAD, and Soundtoys.

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

A: I balance my work between mixing live and in the box for post production. My mixing credits are generally from local singer-songwriters, bands, and churches across Southern California.

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

A: I was especially proud of the mix for A Reason to Smile by Olen. I really liked the production and arrangement of this track. I felt it was my job to enhance what was already there to bring out the feel of the song.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I like a combination of analog and digital. The ease and mobility of digital is what has gained my clients to begin with, however, I love the tradition and approach of analog. That's why I like using outboard gear when it serves the track.

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

A: Most customers are pleased with a quick turn around. A common question would be when they could hear a first pass of their song. My answer is typically as soon as I can get their song delivered with a specific date, so as to not leave them waiting.

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

A: The biggest misconception is that a great mix must come from a multi-million dollar studio. A great mix comes from great ears and passion for music, not the gear.

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

A: Be honest! The best product comes from an artist and engineer working together to craft a sound that fits the song.

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

A: My desert island pieces of gear would be: a MacBook Pro, a UA Apollo interface, Beyerdynamic DT 770s, a Neve 1073, and a Urei 1176.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style could be described as a minimalist's workflow in mixing music. Focusing on the sonic feel of a song instead of the tricks I could throw into the session as an engineer.

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

A: I'd like to work with anyone who has a passion for writing and recording music!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: One tip I could share is to have a clear line of communication with the artist(s) you're working with. The end goal of a mix engineer is to please the artist and bring their project into the light in a way others can enjoy their art.

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

A: I typically work on singer-songwriter music that could fall under the genre of pop.

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

A: I love the mixing styles of Tony Maserati, Tchad Blake, Andrew Scheps, and Jacquire King.