Nolan Perry on SoundBetter

15+ years of experience engineering, mixing, and mastering. Have worked on over 70 albums with different genres, including rock, folk, country, and metal. Music is my greatest passion in life, and I would love the chance to make your music sound as good as it can be!

I have always been inspired by the work of Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck, Air), and my mixes tend to draw inspiration from his works. I also draw production inspiration from bands like My Morning Jacket, The Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, and The Arctic Monkeys.

I am proficient in Pro Tools and use a combination of hardware processing and plugins for mixing and mastering. Although, I mostly mix in the box and get terrific results.

My mixes and masters tend to be big, full, and on the warmer side of things, but I am open to different styles and ideas. Just let me know what you’re looking for!

I have 3 guitar amps at your disposal. A Vox, a Marshall, and a "65" tube amp. If you would like to use any of them, send me DI guitar tracks and I can reamp them for you. I can also use drum sampling or amp simulation if needed or requested.

I will give unlimited revisions until you are completely happy with the mixes. I’m not happy until you’re happy.

You will get 44.1/16bit WAV files, and if you like, I can make seamless tracks for songs that blend together.

Please be sure the tracks you submit are of the best quality possible to ensure the highest quality end product! IE: Clean tracks with no clipping or background noise.

Send me a note through the contact button above.

Credits

11 Reviews - 1 Repeat Client

Endorse Nolan Perry

by Oscar Martínez
Verified
Very friendly and excellent professional.
by Cabell R.
Verified
Nolan was incredibly understanding and patient on a complex mix. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for quality, at a very reasonable rate
by Cabell R.
Verified
Nolan was very knowledgeable about how a mix should be setup. His attention to detail was incredible And very refreshing. He was very responsive to my inquiries, and very reasonable to work with. Overall, I am very pleased
by dnlmrkhvsk
Verified
Working with Nolan was easy and nice. He worked his ass off to get the mix where we wanted. We are pleased with final results.
by Noah Boland
Nolan has been my go-to for recording, mixing, and mastering throughout my entire music career. He has advanced technical skills, but more importantly he is able to understand and facilitate artists' creative visions. He offers production advice that is always helpful and appreciated. The icing on the cake is that his studio is located in the beautiful hills of the Central Coast, surrounded by lichen covered oak trees. It is just as much a cool experience to take a break and go for a hike between songs here as it is to work on the music.
by Kevin C.
I have worked with Nolan on several projects and his work has always been excellent. He has done engineering, live band tracking, mixing and mastering for me and fully delivered above my expectations in every scenario. He has extensive technical knowledge and a great ear. Beyond all that, he is a joy to be around and work with. Has no no ego or attitude and is patient and kind to work with. I can't recommend enough for recording or mixing/ mastering.
by Erick Anderson
I was referred to this dude by my bassist and was initially reluctant because I had never let someone be in control of my sound in anyway before, but I took a chance and hit up Nolan anyway. We e-mailed back and forth for a while and he asked for singles or albums or any example possible for the sound I was going for and was really nice and down to earth about it. It feels like you’re working with a long time friend you can trust. He is patient and is really here to help make your vision come to life and he has done that for me personally twice now. I dont know anyone better tbh.
by Hilary Watson
I’ve worked with Nolan on several projects and am always blown away at the level of professionalism and craftsmanship he provides. Nolan is intuitive, has a fantastic ear and will go above and beyond to hone in the sound you are looking for. Not only that but he is extremely easy to work with and a wonderful human being. Collaborating with Nolan is always a pleasant experience and I end up completely stoked with my finished product. Highly recommend!
by Anton K.
Nolan is a mixing and mastering wizard. It would be silly not to work with him! Period.
by Matt Preston
Hands down the best sound engineer I have ever worked with! He has an ear for getting the mix just right and he won't stop until he does. I also recommend him for people recording for the first time because his producing skills are excellent as well.
by Trenton Class
I've had the pleasure of working with Nolan on several releases in several bands and in all instances I had the comfort and certainty of a high level of quality and professionalism that would elevate the projects I was working on. The level of his craftsmanship distinguishes itself from all of others I've worked with ranging from home to Hollywood studios. There's a reason any I know who makes music finds their way to Nolan's studio!

Interview with Nolan Perry

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I put in my best effort to provide a product that you are 100% happy with. I take pride in what I do, and I want your work to sound exactly the way you want!
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: One thing I do fairly early on in the mixing process is use a notch filter on a parametric eq to find frequencies that are either harsh or cutting through too much. Make the "Q" as narrow as possible, boost the gain as high as it will go, and sweep around to find the offending frequency, and dip it as much as needed. The offending frequencies usually sit between 2k and 5k, but I've found they can sit higher or lower depending on the track.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Do everything you can to make your tracks as clean as possible with no clipping or background noise before sending them to get mixed. The better the source material, the better the mixes!
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I started taking an interest in this field in 2006 when the indie band I was in wanted to try recording an album ourselves. I was enamored with the process and all the possibilities when it came to overdubbing and mixing. I wanted to learn more, so I took a recording arts class at the local community college I was attending at the time. I quickly realized I absolutely loved the art of engineering and mixing. I took all 4 courses that were offered at that college, then I took my education further and enrolled in the 9 month program with SAE Institute in LA. After I completed that program I got a lot of hands on experience recording friends bands and networking. I slowly acquired more and more gear, experience, techniques, knowledge, and wisdom. And that brings me where I'm at now! Keeping an open mind and always up for learning new things.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I usually work on different forms of rock music. Indie rock, punk, pop punk, hardcore, metal, etc. But also folk, alt-country, and americana.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I usually start by organizing my tracks and getting a rough balance before reaching for plugins. Once I have things sitting where they sound balanced, I will go through the drums, bass, guitars, other instruments, vocals, in that order, and start using eq, compression, reverb, and other processing as needed. After I get a rough mix I'll apply the mastering processing and I will finish the mixing with the mastering applied. At that point I will usually compare the mixes to other mixes, take them to the car, make adjustments, rinse and repeat until they're finished.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I use Pro Tools as my DAW and I use an Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt for tracking and monitoring. I primarily mix using Yamaha HPH-MT7 headphones. I check my mixes on Mackie monitors, Apple AirPod Pros, and in my car (the ultimate test).
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: As stated in my profile, I'm heavily inspired by the clean, clear, and near perfect work of Nigel Godrich. The sonic fidelity he is able to achieve is absolutely beautiful. Over the years his sound has varied quite a bit, but it has always had the same sense of space and clarity. I love the work Shawn Everett did on the Alabama Shakes Sound & Color album. The mixing is so unique, and sometimes unorthodox. The dark, almost "under water" sound of the song "Guess Who" off that album humbles me every time I hear it. In an industry where tonal balance is held to certain standards, it's refreshing to hear an album of such high caliber throw those standards to the ground. I love the production on most of the My Morning Jacket albums, but the production of the 2021 self titled My Morning Jacket album blew me away when I first heard it. It sounds HUGE. It's loud, the bass is deep, it's roomy, it's warm without being too dull. I feel like this album gave me permission to have big bass in my mixes when I was filled with doubt about it.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I run my own recording studio and will usually perform the engineering, mixing, and mastering for about 95% of my clients. I will occasionally offer production insights and ideas when requested or needed.