Hip-hop, R&B, and Pop Engineer

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

A: Emma Constance is a recording artist that I have built a business relationship and great friendship with. https://soundbetter.com/profiles/9574-emma-constance

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

A: That I can magically make a singer or rapper sound like an industry main stream artist. However, I have definitely got mixes to replicate those main stream artists mixes. But I can’t replicate that artist performance 100% scientifically, unless that artist somehow morphs into the current artist I'm working with lol. People have a hard time understanding this statement.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: How long have you been making music? Do you feel you have found your desired sound? What’s your expectations for this project?

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

A: Just pass me some NS-10 monitors, subwoofer, RME audio interface, my Austrian headphones, and a laptop with Presonus Studio One installed.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Always remember to record at decent levels during production. Avoid recording too low that the room noise over powers the vocals during compression. But, don't record so loud that the recording distorts/clips at any point in the song either. -10 or -15 is a good range for the meter to be during recording. Also, if your vocals seem too low don't turn up the mic pre gain. It may be best to purchase an interface that allows you to control the vocal volume post pre amp gain. You could also purchase a dedicated headphone amp. The headphone amp would allow you to turn up the music and everything all at once while recording.

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

A: I mix and master Hip-hop and Pop music more than any other genre.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill I would say is connecting with the artist and communicating during the entire process. This has helped me develop great music relationships and get the best possible outcome for every song.

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

A: I’ll treat your tracks as if it’s the last song on earth to be mixed. Dedicated to give my all until we have it perfect!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Building a masterpiece with an artist and satisfying their musical expectations.

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

A: Kevin Gates, because I feel we would connect mentally and spiritually based on having a few similar life stories. Those connections in production can lead to untimely music being created.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring life to the song! I like to emphasize and focus on whatever emotion or performance the artist has recorded. This has always been my goal on each song. It tends to draw the listeners in as well.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I like to begin my mixing process by playing the song in a 10-20 minute listening session, without touching anything, only listening! Then, I take my mental analysis and set the levels and pans of each stem in the song to fit organically. After that I begin processing the tracked out instrumental stems with EQ and compression as needed. Next, I unmute the vocals and add Autotune if the artist has asked for it. Then, I begin EQ'ing before anything else. When I have arrived at the point of clarity I want to achieve on the vocals, without compression, I begin to compress and shape the tone of the vocals. Oh dang! I almost forgot! I do everything I just mentioned AFTER setting my mix bus for the entire song. Because I use a top-down approach when mixing. Therefore, I set most of the plugins I need to achieve the OVERALL final sound of the song in the mix bus, prior to doing any individual stem processing. This mix bus effects the entire song and remains on through my entire mixing process. When I can sit back and enjoy the song without reaching for any more changes, I know it is complete. I also send the rough draft of the mix to the client mid-way through my mixing process. So, they can confirm I am moving in the correct direction with their song.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I built my own computer with an Intel i9 10850k processor, 32 GB of ram, and plenty room to upgrade storage in the future. This build was a huge upgrade for my studio, because it increased the size of projects I can work on without my computer crashing or running poorly. The computers efficiency helps me provide the fastest turn around for all my clients now. I have Yamaha HSM 80 monitors and Austrian Audio Hi-X55 headphones for mixing. The heart of my studio is my RME Babyface Pro audio interface. I also have a Native Instruments Maschine MK3 beat machine for instrumental production. I mostly use Slate digital, Antares, and Waves plugins for mixing. Most importantly I am a dedicated user of Presonus Studio One Professional daw software. But, everyone likes to assume I use Protools for whatever reason.

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

A: Kevin Gates mixing engineer, Millz, inspires me whenever I hit play on the Islah album. His wide stereo field mix on that album speaks for itself on that album. I also heard in an interview that he recorded Kevin while on tour on a bus. He still maintained to get quality vocals and mix to perfection. I also feel that album was versatile in my opinion. This helped him display his skills even as an underdog in the industry.

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

A: I would have to admit, although, I am a mixing engineer. I spend most of the time with new clients finding their natural and unique sound. Everyone seems to believe when they start that they have to sound like everything on the radio. But, that takes the creativity out of the music. Usually it causes writers block and a few other issues when recording or when the recording session is sent off to a mixing engineer. Because the song tends to have great quality, but it does not sound exactly how their role models song sounds performance wise. That is simply because music is an art and nobody on earth is capable of recording a 100% accurate performance of another artist.