Creative Mixing Engineer

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Max Soulo's debut album. I'm also working on mixtapes by Flaco Paco, Amaan, Kweli, and Three Oaks.

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

A: Client: I messed up on that one part where I tried to sing. Can you put auto-tune on that? Me: I can but it might actually make it sound worse. Client: Can you put something on the hook so that it stands out more? Me: You only gave me one layer of vocals. Theres not much I can do.

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

A: If you recorded a bad song I can't make it a good song. All you're gonna get is a bad song that sounds clearer than how I got it.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What are you looking to gain from making music? Do you want to sound like everybody else or are you going to be yourself and take risks with your art?

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

A: Don't rush the writing and recording process. You won't regret investing time in these songs but you have to be patient and determined. Also you will be surprised how much better songs can sound if you properly layer your vocals.

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

A: I have been doing this for the past 6 years.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: The beginning of every good mix is a well written and recorded song.

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

A: I usually work on Hip-Hop and R&B. Although I have a background in gospel and acoustic songs.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill as a mixing engineer would have to be my ability to give each artist their own unique sound that blends perfectly with the style of music that they make. Other engineers help clients sound like other artists and follow trends, but I would rather help clients start the next trend instead.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Everytime I approach a mix I imagine that this may be the first song that a fan will ever hear from this artist. Keeping this in mind, I make sure that the client is guaranteed that every finished mix has the potential to make a great first impression on their fanbase.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It depends on the song. If the artist is singing or harmonizing then I'll do some vocal tuning first so that they get professional sounding vocals. After that I add all the creative effects to give each artist their own unique and signature sound. My last step after mastering the song is too introduce a lot of bass into the track so that it hits hard!

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I'm working with an Avid Pro Tools DAW and interface; A pair of Yamaha HS50's, Sony Studio Headphones, and an Alesis Multimix 8 Mixer. I have all the industry standard plugins necessary to maximize the potential of each song.

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

A: The most common type of work I do for my clients is mixing and mastering songs for low-budget hip-hop artists who are trying to build their catalog of music but want to sound better than the average up-and-coming artist.