Engineer, Session Guitarist

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Keep moving. Don't get stuck. If something is giving you trouble to try and make work into a song, it doesn't work. Get rid of it and move on. Use your instincts, and be collaborative and open. The best music was not made by only one person.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I strive to bring exactly what the song needs, as simple or as wild as it may be.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: For tracking, demos. Demos, demos. Write the song and figure out everything it needs in the pre-production stage. Record everything you hear in the song. Now, re-record it, with special attention to how everything needs to sound. Get everything sounding like you imagine it in the mix, this is the most important part of the mix right here! For mixing, I like to listen through a song once. This is the magical first listen, and you will never have this experience again. I write down everything I hear happening in the mix creatively, and take note of where I imagine everything sitting. From there, I work in stages. First is level balance, I put everything mono and begin level balancing to a good reference mix. Then, still in mono, I begin EQ work to take care of any battles for sonic space, and also to begin shaping sounds. Next is compression, panning in the stereo field, creative effects, and automation. A mix is an extension of the performance, and that is exactly how I treat it. For guitar, I listen. Listening is the most important aspect of playing. What do I hear? Where does the guitar fit in this track? What is my job as a guitarist on this song? Once I have identified those things as I listener, I make it happen as a player, and at that point, it is easy.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: At the studio, we have a three room set up. A live room, an isolation booth, and a control room. For monitoring we have a set of Genelec 1031 A, and NS10m speakers, as well as a set of JBL 4225. We use Pro Tools, with a C24 control surface for operation and mixing within the DAW. I have a Neotek series 1 console that I like to use for tracking and also mixing through. We have a wide variety of outboard gear available, but some of my favorites are rack mounted PM1000 preamps modified to have Neve 1073 EQ points, an EL8 Distressor, Blue Stripe 1176, DBX De esser, DBX 160 compressor, and much much more... For plug ins, we have Fab Filter, Sound Toys, Slate Digital, UAD, and Izotope products.

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

A: Frank Zappa is a huge inspiration to me. As someone who became an incredible composer, guitarist, and producer, through the necessity of needing to have his music played the way he heard it. Beyond that, I am typically more inspired by works of art themselves, and how they were achieved by the professionals working on them.

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

A: Engineering tracking sessions, mixing songs and projects, writing and production for their projects in the studio, and also playing guitar on their tracks.