Trey Hodge on SoundBetter

Remote mastering, mixing, and guitar recording. Worked for Minecraft/Microsoft, Disney, Universal. Award nominated. More than 4,000,000 streams in total.

I'm Trey. I've been working in music in some regard for >20 years. I've been a session player, music director, worked live sound, and for the last 10 years I've worked in remote recording/mixing/mastering, while my wife and I traveled before settling in Texas. My experience in playing ranges widely, including session work, jazz scholarships way back in college, casinos, musicals, and cruise ship playing. My remote post-production work began to gravitate toward mastering, and I began doing in-the-box mastering for a wide range of artists, companies, and developers. This includes, but is not limited to, Disney and Microsoft (Minecraft products). I would love to do what I can to provide you with a product you are excited to share with the world, whether you need guitar or mixing/mastering services.

I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.

Credits

5 Reviews

Endorse Trey Hodge

by Dwight Theaker
Trey is a fantastic musician, engineer and person to work with! He approaches every project with attentiveness and a deep care for what the artist is looking for. He brings a high level of skill to the work he touches and finds way to use his own artistry to enhance the project. He will make you laugh, cry, and think deeper about your work as you collaborate with him. Everything he works on is better a the end because of the influence he brings. Don’t hesitate to bring him on to your own project!
by Rob Mitchelson
Trey is a super thoughtful and responsive creative partner to work with! He provides timely feedback and suggestions, and takes to heart the original artistic intent. His mastering work is top notch, and he knows how to make things sound the way you hoped!
by Tony M.
As a composer & singer-songwriter, working with Trey has exceeded all expectations. He has mixed and mastered so much of my work, from my symphonic rock albums to my purely-instrumental video game soundtracks and releases. His work on my album "Anchored" — as a mixing and mastering engineer, in addition to co-producer — was profound. The way he constantly communicated and collaboratively discussed creative choices about the larger body of work was pure artistry. I cannot recommend Trey enough!
by Kyle C.
Trey has been a fantastic help in my work, and my overall workflow. I work on projects where I don't always know when the due date is going to be, or I'm told very late. Trey has mastered my Minecraft D&D Album, as well as several trailer tracks of mine, sometimes with only a few days of notice. His engineer skills are top notch, and I've learned a lot myself from working with him. Highly recommend him!
by Josh Schubert
As a professional live recording and mixing engineer, working with Trey as a mastering engineer is an incredible experience. His absolute expert skill set cannot be overstated to begin with, but to add to that, his attentiveness to the track, adherence to what the client is looking for, and willingness to overcome any obstacles to creating a truly excellent product is well worth the investment for your artwork. He is such an easy person to work with, and his wealth of knowledge on mixing, mastering, and producing has come in handy for me on several occasions.

Interview with Trey Hodge

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I'm particularly proud of Tony Manfredonia's "ANCHORED" album. I co-produced, mixed about 70% of it, mastered it, and contributed guitars on multiple tracks. I'm most proud of Tony's message, and that I get to be involved in helping share it. The album is about marriage and relationships, God and faith, and I'm intimately familiar with his story. I'm familiar because the story is similar to mine, and likely similar to most married couples' stories. That through trials can come direction and redemption, if we are open to change and to listen. You matter. You're loved. So yeah, a project that tries to scream that from the rooftops is an important project to me. Not to mention the music is killer.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Are you clear on the difference between mixing and mastering? Do you require any editing? Tuning? Quantizing? If I'm recording guitar, do you have sheet music? Charts? Are you open to production advice? (A lot of people are not)
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I started in music with guitar playing in high school. By college I was getting calls to do session work at a local studio and working with multiple bands. I paid for part of college with a jazz scholarship. I then went to work for Carnival Cruise Lines, being a ship-board guitarist in the showband, reading charts on the high seas. I returned to land and played musicals and casino gigs until finally admitting that I was in love with the studio. My wife and I had began living on the road for my full time job and I wanted to bring music with us, so I began the task of building a portable studio and relearning everything from my time in the studios when I was younger, combined with self-teaching to learn production on the road. Now it's been 10 years of remote work, mixing, mastering, sound design, and session work. We settled in central Texas and now I finally use one room that doesn't get packed into a car.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: Mastering for a **secret** film studio project, recording for my church's original music, and sync music production.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Analog alarm clocks, digital telephones.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I will work to get you what you want for your release. And if I can't achieve it, I will assist you in finding someone who can.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Building relationships with clients that last for repeated creative endeavors. People are more important than whatever else. And being asked to play guitar solos.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: Can you read sheet music? Yes, it was a job requirement for playing for Carnival Cruise Lines. Do you charge separately for editing and tuning? Yes. What kind of name is "Trey" anyway? It's not a family name, I'm a third. Why do you like Creed so much? Because they're awesome. Always have been. Why do you live in Texas? Freedom.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: A lot of clients expect mixing to include editing. This is not the case for me. I can edit tracks, but I don't enjoy it. So some mixers or engineers will just do it as part of mixing. I want the client to understand that editing comes before mixing. I want your finished, completed, and finalized recorded tracks to mix. Unless we agree to pay for editing and tuning separately.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Communication is key. This cannot be understated. Asking questions and clearing up misunderstandings is a far more important skill than where to put a microphone.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Fishing gear to eat Hunting gear to eat Shelter gear to survive to weather Steel-toe work boots for navigating the treacherous landscape 1 guitar
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Very Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible movies. Always crashing and running into things. But with good teamwork and daring chance-taking, manages to get through successfully; just probably not without some scratches. And as the sun sets on another glorious and wild adventure, knowing we succeeded and had fun completing the mission.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Gin Blossoms. They shaped my youth, and I played at least one Gin Blossoms' tune in every cover band or casino gig I've ever played.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Don't be scared to double or triple whatever you need, like vocals or any kind of guitar. And please be creative and unique, the world needs more of that.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Rock, Hybrid Rock and Symphonic music, Orchestra, Singer-Songwriter, Worship
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Work ethic, I work and revise until my client is happy with their product. It's helped gain the reputation I have with my repeat customers, as my revision process is thorough and client-focused.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Patience A very trained ear A decade of experience Custom plugin management and presets to provide "my" sound, if that's the client's desire.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Depends on the project or service being provided. Firstly, thorough communication about the client's needs before spending too much time going down the wrong path. Secondly, organizing session. Thirdly, working. Fourthly, delivering. More extensive communication. Then subsequent revisions if needed.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Remote Mastering, Mixing, and Session Guitar Recording