Mastering | Mixing for Indies

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

A: A family member came to me and needed a theme track for the intro to a podcast he was working on. He needed a very fast turnaround so I produced, mixed and mastered it and got it to him in a day. He was super stoked on the end result and was able to use it on his podcast. It was really gratifying to help a family member with my art and my career.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm currently mixing and mastering a track for a Healing music artist. She is an amazing vocalist and creates an ethereal vibe with her music that blows me away. It has been really fun working with her.

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

A: For custom song writing definitely check out Michael Averill at Mixmatched Socks Productions. Also for song production, singing and songwriting check out Kris Bradley at Boomfox Productions.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I think a mixture of both is probably your best bet. There are options that digital plugins provide like AI assistance for example that Analog is simply not capable of. On the other side of the coin there are textures, character and warmth that cannot be exactly duplicated by digital plugins that you will only find in analog hardware. Why not use both and get the best of both worlds. The only reason I'm fully digital at this time is the price of admission into the analog world. As my studio business grows I will definitely be bringing in analog gear into my processing chain.

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

A: My promise is that you will be happy with not only the end result but the entire process of getting your music mixed and/or mastered at Sonal Waves.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I am the final set of ears on projects before they are shared with the world. That's a big responsibility and I don't take it lightly. I love hearing satisfied clients' comments on how happy they are with their project.

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

A: Wow, how did you do that? I usually walk them through the processing chain I used on their project.

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

A: That mastering will magically make a bad music production or mix sound good.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What are your goals for your music? How many people will hear your music? How and where was this music recorded? Which artist would you like this to sound like? Do you have reference tracks picked out? When do you need the work done by?

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

A: Make sure you gel personally with the person you're going to hire. It will make the communication and workflow much easier. Obviously listen to their previous work and make sure it's up to the standards that you're looking for.

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

A: My first answer is 5 survival items such as a swiss army knife, fire starter, kevlar string, mirror etc... because if you can't survive there's not much point in music gear. I get where we're going with this though. 1) Macbook pro with Logic Pro and Slate digital plugin suite 2) Solar panel charging system 3)Steven Slate Audio VSX headphones with the VSX plugin loaded on the Macbook 4)Komplete Kontrol midi controller, the S49 would do 5) a decent bluetooth microphone

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

A: I have only been pursuing mastering and mixing for others for the last year after leaving my corporate job as an apparel designer over the last 17 years. I've been playing music for 36 years. I am a graduate of the guitar program at the Musician's Institute in Hollywood as well as multiple online programs for production, mixing and mastering.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I don't want to have a style in my mastering work. If anything I want to amplify the style of the artist's project that I'm working on. My job as a mastering engineer is to be transparent

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

A: Taylor Swift. In my opinion she is a master at the craft of pop song writing. To be able to write songs that catch so many people's attention is truly a gift. I also like the production choices she helps make on her albums. Yes I get that she works with a team but she still has to put her name on it at the end of the day.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Invest in acoustic treatment for your studio. If your room/listening environment is lying to you then your productions, mixes and masters will never translate properly to outside listening devices. Tip #2 Train your ears.

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

A: In regards to Mastering, Mixing and Production most of my experience is in electronic music. I come from a guitar playing, singer/songwriter past so I'm well versed in how many different genres should sound.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Listening and communication.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Years of experience being a performing musician as well as a songwriter. A great since of timing, a strong understanding of the Frequency spectrum and a well trained ear.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: My main focus is communication with my client. Once we are both on the same page and I've received files I will start a project in my DAW and get their project laid out using one of my templates depending on if it's a mixing or mastering project. I will then listen to the client's reference tracks, I also might do a quick search to see if I can find reference or two that inspire me in a different way than the client's. When it's time to jump into the project I really focus on 3 main things. Fix inconsistencies, then fix problems, then work on enhancing the track.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I'm an "in the box" engineer at this time. I use a Mac Studio with an M1 Max chip so that I don't have lag or crashes when using my multiple plugins. My Dynaudio LYD 48 3-way monitors used with Sonarworks SoundID reference software in my GIK acoustic treated room gives me a true uncolored playback environment that I can trust to create great mixes and masters

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

A: When it comes to electronic music production Eric Prydz is my hands down favorite. I'm a big fan of Jacquire King, Ian Kirkpatrick and Mick Schultz's productions as well. I love the mastering Chris Gehringer did on Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia album.

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

A: I have produced, mixed and mastered my own artist project over the last couple of years. Samples of those are the electronic instrumentals in my demo reel on this profile. I am currently mixing and mastering a Healing music artist which is an amazing project to work on.