Mixing and Mastering

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

A: I've been doing this for over 4 years , and I'm just wrapping up my high school education, although I have been producing music professionally and releasing/playing live at a professional level for over 8 months now.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I use Reaper as my DAW of choice , and I mix and master with plugins from Waves [ most commonly the SSL Channel and EQ emulations, the CLA compressors and the Scheps Omni channel] , Plugin Alliance [ I absolutely adore the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor ] , some plugins from Black Salt Audio [ like the Escalator ] and some other amp sims and drum samplers from various companies like Audio Assault , GetGoodDrums and ML Soundlabs. As for my own recordings , I use either my ESP LTD EC1000, or my Jackson JS32 or my Fender Squier Telecaster into a Focusrite Scarlett solo interface , and I use a Rode NT1A microphone as my microphone of choice for clean vocals and acoustic guitars, and my SE Electronics V7 as my microphone of choice for harsh vocals..

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love everything about it , mixing, mastering ,production and making music is awesome , and great fun!

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: 1] Record your tracks as tightly and professionally as possible : the better the source audio , the better the mix will turn out 2] Try to have a clear creative vision for how you want your music to sound

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

A: I would love to work with Testament , as they're one of my favourite bands of all time , and I would be able to learn a lot just by being in the same room as them during the recording process, both in terms of how they write their music and in terms of how they go about getting such great and well produced material.

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

A: I usually work on all kinds of metal and rock ,although I do take up pop projects if I like what the artist is trying to convey through their music.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Since I am a musician myself , I also look at the song/s from that point of view , which helps me mix and shape the song/s better and to get it/them to sound more unique.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I usually take a day or 2 to really listen to the song to figure out what I think it needs as a mixing and mastering engineer , and then I start by organizing my project [ balancing levels , routing tracks , etc.. ] and then diving into the real mixing, after which I cross reference the mix on a few different sources before I pull up some reference tracks and master the song .

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

A: I mix and master my client's music. This means that I take their recorded tracks , and mix them with plugins and software to get them to sound great and be ready for release across all streaming services. I also produce music for my clients , and in this case I help them bring out their creative vision for their music by offering compositional help.

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: I'm extremely proud of my latest solo release , Black Hole. I wrote that song during a low period in my life , and I'm extremely proud of the way I managed to convey my emotions musically , and how well the final mix and master turned out , which I think is my best work till date . I wrote , recorded , produced , mixed and mastered that song.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm currently working on the demos for my 2nd full length album.

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

A: Not as of now.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I would say digital because it's easier to manipulate , but I'd still love to have a few outboard compressors sometime in the future haha , since analogue definitely has its own character and that's something I'd love to explore someday.

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

A: I will give my 110% on every track that I mix, master or/and produce , since I really enjoy the process and this is something that I absolutely love doing.

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

A: My guitar , my interface , my laptop , my mic , and my mixing headphones.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Slightly different , but effective.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't fix it in the mix : Always try and get the best source audio possible as that always results in better sounding mixes.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I am a musician myself , so I think I can try and heighten some songs with mix decisions that are out of the box.

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

A: The list is endless , but a few are... Bands : Be'lakor , Iron Maiden , Queensryche , Metallica , Testament , Exodus , Intervals , etc.. Producers/Mixing Engineers : Andy Sneap , Jens Bogren , Kristian Kohlekeller , Glenn Fricker , Nolly, etc...