John Merkel on SoundBetter

Your Vision, My Mission.

"Don't do anything small." I make this a reality in everything I do. My mission is to bring your vision to life with this same passion and dedication.

My journey in Audio Production began after a decade of playing the guitar. For the past 10 years, I’ve refined my ability to translate a musician’s perspective into creating audio program material with depth, clarity, and control.

Tell me about your project and how I can help, through the 'Contact' button above.

Credits

6 Reviews

Endorse John Merkel

by Dylan Bee
John has produced and mixed a number of my own tracks and he's a pleasure to work with. He is always innovating, growing, learning, expanding, and determined to find solutions to bring your project into fruition. He is always down to indulge my weird musical or production ideas. He is an artist for artists. Hire him!
by Michael Giacomoni
I’ve worked with John on an LP and a single that lived in two completely different musical spaces, and he absolutely crushed both. His ear is unmatched, his technical ability as an engineer is unwavering, and he produces what he says he will produce in a timely and proficient manner. A consummate professional.
by David Caplinger
I’ve collaborated multiple times with John and he is an impressive mixing engineer with great taste! He is always striving to better the music he works on and I know he would do the same for any artist he works with.
by Lauren Muck
I have had the pleasure of working with John on several occasions and let me just tell you, not only is he phenomenal at engineering but he is also an incredible force to have on your side! His attention to detail, his confidence in the people he works with, his ideas and ingenuity are just a few of the many things that make John amazing at what he does! I assure you every conversation you have with John will be full of kindness and every project he works on will be better than you could have ever imagined.
by Kevin Embleton
John Merkel has mixed many of my own songs, as well as songs by clients I produce. For my own music, the genres have ranged from hard hitting indie rock to soft singer-songwriter and folk. John has also mixed many records in the modern worship music genre, all of which would sit beside the "big 5" with ease. I love all of John's work, but what stands out is his determination to go above and beyond the call of duty as a mixer. He'll catch mistakes that you missed and won't complain. He'll serve your interests above his own. Hire him. Do it.
by Clint Sprunger
I’ve had the privilege of working alongside John on a few projects and I am continually impressed by his push for excellence. He is always pushing for the next 1% better. He manages to take simple arrangements and make them feel full without being overwhelming. He an excels at recordings with high channel counts, finding room for each piece while maintaining clarity and detail. Outside of his mixing skills John is also incredible to work with. He’s a thorough communicator, and has a deep care for the end client. I can’t recommend John enough for your next project. He is worth every penny!

Interview with John Merkel

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: To be for you. To work with you to achieve the sound in your head. Sometimes that comes quickly and easily. Other times it can be an uphill battle. In any scenario my promise is to serve you and your vision.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I started working in live sound about 10 years ago off the recommendation of an engineer I was recording an album with. I almost immediately fell in love and never looked back. I've done predominantly live but find a different thrill and enjoyment out of working on studio projects.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a small space in my home thats well treated and equipped with great sound gear. I use Genelec monitors and UA interfaces/DSP.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Noah Gundersen is the first artist that pops into my head. Him and the team he works with excel at creating really unique, almost 3D feeling soundscapes that really draw the listener in.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: Wizardry. A mix or mastering engineer can't fix poor decisions that have come before them. At most we can make the best out of a bad situation, but it will never live up to the sound in your head.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Macbook Pro, Apollo, SM7, Guitar, and my pedalboard!
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: MAKE DECISIONS! I can't recount the countless hours I've wasted on the minuscule that ultimately doesn't effect the end product. If it sounds good it's good, be confident in that and move on to the next thing.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Indie, Rock, Worship
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I utilize a pretty sizable template I've built around a concept of creativity inside of healthy boundaries. It's preloaded with all of the tracks I typically see from a client with some choice plugins instantiated, effect and summing busses setup, and my typical LR chain. This setup allows me to work really quickly to get files ingested and start working without having to mess around with routing and setup. From there I'll go through the stems to get an understanding of everything going on and then start putting it all in place.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Predominantly mixing services. From time to time I have the opportunity to produce/engineer a project and it's a lot of fun. I especially love producing electric guitars.