Hip Hop/R&B/Jazz Engineer

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

A: The first mixtape I ever produced completely on my own was exciting for me. It was for a family member and he came to me to do his mixtape even though my experience and knowledge at the time was minimal. We recorded it over a year and while the final product was a bit muddy it was still one of my favorite projects

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A collaboration with a close friend of mine. Mostly a hip hop/pop fusion sound.

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

A: No I'm new here. Looking to meet people though.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. Analog adds and color and depth thats hard to achieve digitally. But that doesn't mean digital plug-ins are useless. They are extremely versatile and reasonably priced and can make analog processed sounds reach new heights.

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

A: To get that sound you have in your head to come to life.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Meeting new people and exploring their interests.

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

A: How long have you been doing this? 14 Years What DAW do you use? Logic Pro X Where are you from? Brooklyn, NY Can you make me sound like [Artist Name]? I can get you close to that sound but I encourage artist to find their own sound. Nothing wrong with faking it till you make it though

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

A: That plug-ins and gear do all the heavy lifting in a production. So much goes into this work and while plug-ins may make it easier to shape a sound, a well trained ear is really the secret behind music production. You can only get that through discipline and experience.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: How long have you been doing Music? What do you listen to? Do you have any other hobbies? Do you play any instruments? Do you have any formal music theory training? What made you want to do music? Is it a hobby for you or do you want to make this a full-time job?

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

A: Get to know them. This part is critical in choosing a producer for your project. Have a small chat with them, ask them questions, ask about their passions etc. The process goes a lot smoother when you have at least a decent relationship between artist/producer. You don't have to be best friends but getting to know someone before hand helps a lot. Be careful sending you music to anyone. Its a shame but people do steal music and while someone may seem nice initially there is always a chance. Make the best decision for you music. You make talk to a few producers and you have one person that you really hit it off with and they are incredibly friendly and you like them a lot. But you have to go with who is going to give you best product. Its okay to make friends but this is a business at the end of the day. And while that producing may not be right for this project and may be better for the next one so don't cut ties if you don't have to.

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

A: Nuemann 102, Warm Audio EQP, Shure Headphones, ART Pro MPA II, SSL 2+

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

A: I started my audio engineering journey young with programs like Fl Studio and Audacity. Initially I just wanted to make beats and while that was fun I took an interest in the mixing and mastering process after I recorded music that I wrote and realized how hard it was to get it to sound halfway decent. From there i began learning about the process and started collecting knowledge and gear over the years and here I am.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I follow the less is more idea of mixing. I research a lot of older producers and engineers from the 60s and 70s because they had to be extremely creative with their process due to the lack of technology at the time. A solid raw recording in the right conditions can take you a long way in the production process and while the technology today is extremely helpful and allows almost anyone to create music, we should try and remember the fundamentals that got us here. With that being said, in today's music (especially hip hop/rap) everything is heavily processed with auto-tune, compression, etc so while its nice to be able to work on a project every once and while thats more raw in production, I'm more than able to adapt to the sounds of today and I'm willing to help the artist get whatever sound they're looking for.

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

A: Id like to work with Kanye West because of how critical he is of his own music. Also because he has a large role in the music/beat production side of his projects. He does not lock himself into one sound and always seems willing to try something new and is willing to go through great depths to find that "right sound".

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: You don't need expensive gear to make quality music. Skill and experience is by far way more important that getting the latest music gear or plugins. Don't try and take shortcuts, just give it time and pay attention.

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

A: Rap, Hip Hop, Jazz, R&B, Gospel, Pop. But I'm always willing to learn about producing other genres as I enjoy listening to everything.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is my ability to pick apart music to its core and build small for a large effect.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I believe an engineer/producers job is to bring the vision of an artist to life or to help them find their vision. I bring imagination and creativity to the music making process. Its good to follow industry standards to maintain quality but If you focus too hard on trying to make your music sound like someone else's then you lose what makes music so special.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Depending on the artist I either run a microphone signal through an analog vocal chain or record directly into the DAW and print audio through outboard gear afterwards. For remote work I use the latter technique. I use multiple sources for sound reference including presonus monitors, Beats by Dre headphones, Air Pods, Mono JBL Speaker, and Scarlett Studio Headphones.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Running through Logic Pro X on a M1 Macbook, I mainly use outboard gear for my mixing along with carefully selected digital plugins. My studio has a wide selection of microphones including the Nuemann 102 and 103, Slate VMS ML-1, Shure MV7X, WA-47, Audio Technica AT-2020, Scarlett Studio, and the WA-87. Recording is done in a treated booth within the studio.

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

A: Bruce Swedian, John Fischbach, J Dilla, DJ Screw, Nas, Kanye West, Daft Punk, Journey, Victor Wooten, Jaco Pastorius, Francis Rocco Prestia, Larry Graham

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

A: Mixing, Mastering, Producing, Mix Clean Up, Bass Parts, Song Writing