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

A: I just finished writing music for a feature film. The director wanted a mixture of punk, metal, and orchestral music. I wrote and recorded everything. I ended up getting Covid, right when the director asked me to write a punk song. I sang it with my voice totally shot from coughing, and it sounded great.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: At the moment, I am working on a screen play.

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

A: No

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. In today’s world, digital is mainstream. However, vintage analog gear sometimes can’t be beat. When you use a combination of both, you can achieve some amazing results.

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

A: To always do my best, and to treat them like a partner, not just another client.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The ability to set my own work hours. (Unless I’m working on location for a film)

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

A: Q: What is your lowest price? A: That depends on the scope of your project. One track is a lot easier to edit than 100 tracks. Q: Can I pay you a flat rate, regardless of the project file size? (Up to 90 minutes) A: Sure, as long as you offer me multiple projects on a continual basis, the projects are similar in scope, and I get the same rate for smaller projects to make up for the larger ones. Ex: 1 track, up to 90 minutes. If I agree to a flat rate for a 1 track, 90 minute project, I expect the same rate for a 1 track, 10 minute project. (However, most clients asking for a flat rate attempt to renegotiate for smaller projects) Q: Can I get a 24 hour turnaround? A: Yes, depending on the length and scope of the project. If you want me to write and record music, then 24 hours turn around is not possible. Q: Can I pay you by Pay Pal? A: Yes. I also take company checks and cash.

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

A: That an hour long audio/video project takes only an hour to edit. Some projects take only a few hours, whereas others can take days or weeks to edit, depending on what the client wants done. When clients agree to a certain budget, for a certain amount of time, and then require multiple revisions or add ons, it can add substantial time to a project.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What are you specifically looking to have done in this project? What is your timeframe for completion? How do you want to deliver the raw footage to me? Hard drive, or file download? How do you want the completed project returned to you? Hard drive, Drop Box, etc? What is your budget?

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

A: Don’t work your crew to death. I worked on a film this year, where I was required to work 17-19 hours every day, for a month. It was absolutely brutal.

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

A: I started out as a metal singer, and singing jingles for various studios. I recorded several albums, but got too old, too fast. In 2017 I made a career change to film and television. I still sing, but there isn’t much money in streaming today.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Off the beaten path.

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

A: Paul McCartney, because his brain is really quick at creating great works.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Listen to your ears, and give them a rest from time to time. If something sounds “off”, you probably have a few clashing notes or chords. Sometimes, simple corrections can make or break a composition. I’ve suffered ear strain, thinking something sounds great, but after a night off, I can clearly hear the problem.

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

A: As of late, I’ve written a mixture of punk, metal, country, and orchestral compositions.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Vocals are my strongest skill, however, I have hd to adapt my skills, and learn new ones in this ever changing world of film and television.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I tend to think outside of the box. I have had many heated discussions with my old college music theory professor over the difference between writing for film, where the rules often don’t apply, and his idea of a tonally perfect composition that sounds like crap.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: My work process is pretty simple. I start with a riff in my head, record it by guitar or humming onto my iphone, and then put it down in Pro Tools. I develop the rough ideas from there. For orchestral compositions, Intend to rough out ideas in Musescore, so that I can try different MIDI instruments and build up individual sections. It makes things easier to change a score, if I can see how the notes interact with each other. When I’m happy, I dump the score into East West Orchestra, and Pro Tools MIDI, to use better samples.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio setup consists of a main control room, an amp room/drum room, and a vocal booth. I run an Avid Omni and IO 192 studio with both vintage analog gear, and plugins on Pro Tools Ultimate, and Logic software. I record orchestral midi via keyboards and a Moog Little Phatty, into East West Orchestra Opus. I use a Neumann M149 mic, a Telefunken AK 47 mic, and an EV RE20 mic for vocals, through Avalon and Neve preamps.

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

A: From a vocalist perspective, I prefer really great singers. I am a high performance vocalist, so I prefer the Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Freddy Mercury, Steve Perry, Lou Gramm, Paul Rogers, Whitney Houston, Shania Twain vocal styles.

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

A: The most common work I do for clients is audio “filler”editing. Essentially, non professional speakers utter one “um, ah, ya know” or other repetitive filler, for every 3-5 seconds of dialogue. I typically edit out hundreds, and sometimes thousands of these filler words every day. Most of my clients are corporate training companies.