Mixing Engineer - Electronic

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

A: Maybe these two: 1. Ambient style music for which I did everything. : https://open.spotify.com/album/6HUZ6t6l2Pf1vzoDUR3CrP?si=sD7NOrbhRNmzNL1T6EaLLA 2. A bit of alternative indie stuff, but I love it. I did co-writing, performance, production, recording, mixing, ...: https://open.spotify.com/album/68DCi6FDehRIG4uHPktHMI?si=8CuZDDjhT1qAwQJbdPb7Rw

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: 2 albums to be out in 2024

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

A: not yet.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: All digital.

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

A: Get a top mix for your track.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love building a great sound

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: n/a

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: I have no clue!

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What do you wish to achieve? How can I help to reach that? What are your expectations? - and I'll honestly tell you if I believe I can realize that.

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

A: I realize I'm quite new on SoundBetter, so, give it a shot. I will put my mix for your track on this profile!

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

A: My acoustic guitar and a piano. Everything else needs current.

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

A: I'm a self-made mand that took one step after another. First playing guitar, then piano, then writing songs, and soon learning that the arrangement, structure of a track is as important as the topline. From there on it's recording and production, taking lesseons in pro-studio's, all the way until I could do all by myself. That resulted in A Split-Second, where I recorded, mixed, produced all of it. Then my music carreer went low, though with my band Twilight Ritual we released several albums over the years, kept on producing, recording and mixing on a low profile. I've recently did a big upgrade in my home studio, a kind of catch-up initiative, and I'm back in business.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I tend to mix clear and crispy, with a touch of melancholy (if the track permits).

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Never save on vocal production. The performance of the singer is the most important element of a track.

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

A: Electronic in a variety of styles. I feel comfortable in electro pop to ambient, songs as well as musical experiments. My own legacy discography explains that :-))

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Listening to a track should tell me what I need to do with it. Next to the technical skills, there's also a set of choices to be made for a track to reach its potential. I believe I'm a good listener to figure that out ;-)

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: The mix. A track isn't ready as long as the instruments and vocals aren't in balance. Ideas and performances may be fantastic, but without a great sound may lose impact. Music goes to the heart, and every track should reach the sentiment of the listener (I'm making abstract of personal taste here).

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: First of all, I need to understand where the track wants to go. I strongly believe that, if you let your creativity flow, every track tells you what it needs. Just listen carefully, and you'll detect the wants and needs easily. The mixing process typically starts with the drum & bass instruments. My first step is to get the drums right. Expressive and present, subtle where needed, never lose the whole of the track though. Then add bass, and depending on the music, bring in the other instruments. Vocals are always at the end - I wish to have a solid instrumental ready before adding vocals. Vocals need very special and careful attention. It's the heart of the music. It's also the most vulnerable part, both in performance and mixing.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I've got a very powerful iMac Pro, equipped with over 300 virtual instruments and plugins. Tons of Native Instruments, Spectrasonics, Izotope, Waves etc, and a special range of "retro" virtual synths, from GForce to Arturia and Cherry Audio - I've got them all.

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

A: There are plenty, as wide as my personal taste. It ranges from Brian Eno to deadmau5.

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

A: In my mixing process, I consider it very valuable if I can tweak the sounds of the (electronic/plugin) instruments to get the best out of it. That level of tweaking is unfortunately not possible when only mixing STEMs. Anyway, the STEMS I request are for each individual instrument.