Composer and Session Guitarist

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Yes! There is no wrong answer here. Analog instruments and tools sound great and are time-tested. However, digital tools democratize music creation and allow amateur artists to start creating without the need to hire instrumentalists or rent a studio.

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

A: I was in the marching band since fourth grade. I studied composition for film at UC Santa Cruz, and later got my music degree from Thomas Edison State University. Since then, I have been uploading music regularly to my YouTube channel.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My greatest compliment was from the lead designer of a college video game development team: "If I ever get to work on a Final Fantasy game, I'm going to have you write the music."

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Allow the instruments to shine by adding as few effects to them as possible. The more compression, reverb, EQ, etc. that you add to a track, the less it sounds like the original recording.

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

A: Most of my repertoire is instrumental music. I specialize in orchestral pieces, but most of my recent releases are lo-fi remixes of my favorite video game and anime music. I also occasionally cover rock songs.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: The first step is to understand my client's expectations. Asking to see what my work will accompany (storyboards, sketches, animations, etc) and what musical references the client has in mind, such as a particular song, style, or artist. From there, I will compose a few musical "snippets" and ask the client if I am on the right track, and take feedback. The last step is to finish the full piece.

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

A: Artists will request that I write a few minutes of music to accompany their animatic. The animatic they provide, as well as any specific requests they have, heavily informs the music I compose.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My guitar options include a Gretsch hollow-body, a PRS semi-hollow, a custom-built acoustic, and a Les Paul, lending to any style imaginable. A healthy library of industry-leading virtual instruments allows me to create realistic-sounding orchestral compositions or synth-heavy hip-hop or electronic music. An electronic Roland drum machine allows me to record percussion parts with a human touch, or I can lean on my collection of auxiliary percussion instruments and record live, the old-fashioned way.

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

A: I love Christopher Tin's ability to establish a theme and then increase its grandiosity over the course of a piece, climaxing with a grand finale of brass and percussion. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Disasterpeace uses simple synth instrumentation to emphasize the melody and harmony without relying on Wagner-esque fortes to grab the listener's attention.