Producer | Mixing | Mastering

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

A: Outside of questions about cost and timeframe, I truly get many different types of questions, but I guess these are the most common: What will a mix cost? It depends on how many track outs/stems you have How long will it take you? Really depends on the project, I don't like to rush things but I do like to move them along briskly. Can you make it sound less harsh? Of course I can :) Can you tune my voice? Absolutely Can you master it also? Yes I do both mixing and mastering separately or together as you wish. Can you teach me how you do it? Yes, I do live session mixing and mastering, recording videos of me working on your mix and also do 1x1 or group trainings in music production, mixing and mastering via Zoom. I also do consulting on audio engineering topics and have helped people set up podcast environments capable of broadcasting to thousands, set up their studios via remote assistance, learn gear, learn software and many other topics.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Pre-production: Songwriting starting from: Sound Design, Lyrics, Chord Progression or Melody. Also reacting to demos given to me and putting them into a new sonic context that brings out all of their color and potential. Trying to make interesting arrangement moves... change bpm, key, time signature, arc/structure Recording: Making sure everything is working and ready to roll before any artists or bands show up. Doing mic shootouts and placements to dial in a great sound and eliminate any extraneous noise. Making everyone feel cool and comfortable. Labeling takes as we go along so we're not lost in a forest later. Mixing: Very thorough vocal comping and editing... aligning all the unisons and harmonies, riding the volume gain to make manual adjustments, tuning with Melodyne Studio and other tools. Balancing the mix and getting every frequency into a place where it can live and contribute to the song. Using blends of reverbs and other fx to add texture, layers and consistency to the track... and a lot of other things too! Mastering: Developing a mastering chain that gels the song but allows it to breathe with rhythm, rich bass, golden harmonies and shimmer on top. Also getting rid of pesky and harsh frequencies.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A lot. I'm working on producing an EP for a Beijing based band called the Kuduvillands, they have a great retro feel, something like The Black Angels. Also doing many mixes for various clients, and working on launching my own record label. I will contribute to this label in the genres of electronic/EDM, folk, rock and experimental music. I'm looking for artists to join so please write me if interested! I can help you with production, post-production and marketing/release/distribution.

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

A: Try Farin Kautz, he's an incredibly talented producer and mixer that I went to school with at Berklee, he's based in NYC.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Analog going into digital. Because analog is closer to nature, and digital is where everybody has access.

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

A: I will absolutely work as hard, and as wisely, as possible to get you the best results. Your deliverables are mine too, they contribute to my pride and reputation. I treat every project of mine as a jewel to be treasured.

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

A: I guess that music production is linear, and that the more time you put in, the better the results you're going to get. You absolutely have to put in the time, but you also need to realize that sometimes a recording came out great at the outset, and that more "work" on it is only going to degrade it. That is part of the trade, having the taste and ear to make judgements, not just be an artisan hammering away to make "progress". Often letting a project sit for a day or two and revisiting it with a fresh mindset and pair of ears will immediately tell you... oh it just needs to remove this and we're done!

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

A: My Mac (loaded with Ableton and all my plugins :D), Komplete Kontrol, Push 3, Focusrite Audio Interface w/ any decent mic that can endure the salty air and a good set of noise cancelling cans (there's a lot of wind on desert islands).

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Ultimately, I'm really good at reacting to music, especially melodies and beats. If a client comes at me with even a very basic demo sung on an iphone, or a bare bones beat or melody idea, I can very often fill in the blanks with content that they don't just like, but are pretty floored by... I know this because they tell me this straight up. That's hands down my most intuitive strength. Other than that, on the post-production side, I'm very thorough and meticulous, especially when it comes to vocal comping and editing using Melodyne Studio and other tools. I take great care to dial in the right blend of reverbs, get the right amount of compression, and balance the stereo field so everything gels together.

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

A: I really have clients come at me from many genres... just within the past two years I've worked on punk, psychedelic rock, indie pop, reggae, synth pop, R&B, EDM, rap, hip-hop, gospel pop and many more. For myself, it centers more around folk, rock, electronic and experimental music.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: At this point I would have to say mixing, and also creative producing with the mix in mind. I spent a lot of time studying mixing, being personally mentored by Rich Mendelson (Berklee's premiere mixer) and mixing for many, many artists. I produce for the mix, I write songs and arrange with the mix in mind, because that's really where it all comes together. I've also invested a lot of money in having the best gear possible to mix with.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: A lot of sound design, texture, and layering. But really, it depends on what kind of song and what my role is. Am I mixing, mastering, producing, songwriting, arranging... all of the above? I consistently do work in all of these categories for both my own projects and those of my clients. For the latter, I very often find that I can take their demo content and place it into a context where it shines in colors that weren't imagined beforehand, and also enhance its finer points and bring them through.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a home studio where I run a mac based rig with Ableton, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Luna and around 300 plugins or so including those from Izotope, Slate Digital, Plugin Alliance, Waves, Eventide, Universal Audio and so many more. I'm a multi-instrumentalist as well and have 5 guitars, Komplete Kontrol, Ableton Push 3 and lots of synths, pedals, controllers and other stuff. I monitor on KRKs and Sennheiser HD-600s. Across town I also have an underground rehearsal/recording studio with a full drum set, acoustic treatment, lots of synths, and another mac based rig where I do heavy duty recording for all instrumentation including full bands. It's four stories underground and completely sound-proof capable of hosting recording sessions 24/7.

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

A: I do mixing, mastering and music production services for clients, and I also do a lot of training and consultation for all of that as well as audio engineering, gear/software training and studio setup.

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

A: I was the recording engineer for ME.3P.OH's album Passion of the Thrice. We recorded the whole thing four stories underground in Beijing in the space of five hours and pulled it off. I also mixed and mastered it. I was really channeling the energy and technique of storied producer/recording engineer Steve Albini. As it turns out, we recorded the album a year to the day before he passed away on May 7th.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I absolutely love using a wide array of high-quality plugins and honing in on great sounds.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your timeframe? What platforms are the deliverables going to? How much creative freedom can you give me? Do you have any references?

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Absolutely. Ozone EQs can automate their band bypass toggles, Neutron EQs can't (when you close the plug-in, they'll reset). This means you can do super-cool automated bandpass filters with Ozone EQs, but not with Neutrons.

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

A: I'm a producer who is enticed to listen to your ideas and react to them with musical alchemy, don't be shy, try to record your ideas no matter how basic they are, or express them in words or even pictures without any boundaries holding you back. You could even write a "mood map" of how you want the arc of the song to progress emotively and in terms of imagery etc. If you haven't recorded yet, try to do it all at 48k 24bits as a rule of thumb. When you're singing, don't sing down into the mic, tilt your head up to keep the wind pipes open, it makes a big difference. Use a pop-screen and get used to your mic. Try to use minimal gain to reduce room noise while still getting a recording with strong integrity that isn't too low and is not clipping either. Once the gear is set up and the record button is on, be comfortable, be yourself, let yourself loose!

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

A: I've always straddled the humanities and technology and music production has been the perfect realm to bring it all together. I've been doing music production since the early 2000s and its been a crescendo of activity in terms of frequency, devotion and depth. I completed my Master of Music in Music Production (MMMP) at Berklee College of Music in 2023 graduating with distinction. I really love every aspect of music production from the idiosyncracies of gear and software, to learning spaces and their character, working with a diverse palette of personalities, musical approaches and tastes, and developing all these unique blends of sounds.

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

A: I'd love to work with Dua Lipa and take her in some new directions. She has so much talent and is not averse to highly creative processing on the production side. I'd just love to work with her caliber of vocals from the recording process through the mix to the master.

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

A: DeadMau5 for his technological prowess mixed with incredible aesthetic taste, both visually and sonically. Guy Stevens for keeping the spirit of rock alive in the studio and making recording AN EVENT. Sylvia Massey for truly thinking out of the box in the recording phase.