Session Trumpet Player

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I've said this before and I'll say it again, not a producer, just a trumpet player. I use all digital equipment to capture the sound of my instrument.

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

A: My advice is to be 100% prepared to hire someone. What that means is that the necessary parts of your music is complete. If you're wanting horn parts created know where you want them in your track. Often the "just add horns to this" direction leads to a lot of wasted time and money. If you've got written out music, which is always preferred, make sure your arrangements are correct with the desired phrasing and articulation. I good session player will play exactly whats on the page, so make sure its what you want.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I would describe my sound and style as highly flexible. From low-fi whispery sounds to bold orchestral brightness I can cover a lot of bases. Lets find something that works for your music!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I'm by no means a producer at all. I'm 100% just a trumpet player. However one thing I do when recording stacks and layers of trumpet is use different instruments and mouthpieces to give the impression that a full section is doing the recording. This gives a more authentic sound to the final product.

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

A: There have been a couple of recent projects that I am especially proud of. A while back I was fortunate to record a bunch of Old Western styled music for an internal demo of a Nickelodean animated kids show. It was some incredible playing and it was awesome to hear myself in that setting. Additionally I've been recorded for a Blue Phoenix Film Works short film. Its those kind of production that I really enjoy.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I like the challenge of what I get to do. I get the opportunity to play a huge variety of music for some really cool productions. I always love hearing the final product of whatever I work on. It's always such a thrill with a track gets added to Spotify or the short film finally makes a debut. Hearing the work all come together is what I enjoy the most.

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

A: In general the work I do can be considered session and live playing. I like to remain as flexible as possible and be comfortable recording in many different genres. The projects I do have the most fun on are larger ones with full orchestration like film or video game soundtracks.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I think my strongest skill is taking what someone has imagined in their head and bringing it to life. I pride myself with providing clean tracks that are in tune and in time. This is to ensure that everything I send to a client is production-ready.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: My goal is always to bring simplicity to a production. I want clients to feel confident in hiring me to bring their music to life. Send the written music and I send the real sound of a recorded trumpet back.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Typically a client will contact me asking if I'd be open to playing on their session. The first steps are to always see how much music they are looking to get recorded. How many stacks, the general difficulty level, things like that, and delivery time. Then once those things are decided I'd provide them with a quote for how much the work will cost.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: It's a pretty modest studio set up as I only use it to record my own trumpet playing. The room has been conditioned to capture very clean and dry samples. I have a variety of microphones but prefer a simple ribbon mic to record trumpet. I think it allows for more warmth in the sound in comparison to a condenser.

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

A: I get inspired from a lot of my teachers. One of the most inspiring session musicians for me is Steve Patrick. His diversity of styles and lights out consistency continue to give me more to reach for in my own sound.

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

A: Most of the work that I do can be summed up as a session trumpet player. The projects that get the best end result are the ones with great music and great arrangements. I always appreciate when a client brings to me cleanly written music with great tracks already in place.