Mastering engineer

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

A: Mastering for Mac Gray's OST for the movie "Premieres Danses". It was really challenging and super interesting as this soundtrack goes from piano-only tracks to some hip-hop or even Justice or Fatboy Slim kind of sounds while doing also some "neo-classic" tunes with piano+electronics. Trying to make every track sound as good as possible, making each authentic, strong and matching the aesthetics expected in that genre while making the whole release consistent was a big challenge but a real pleasure. You can check it out here https://open.spotify.com/album/0cA0N60ZwYVYv6MA2zANyL?si=MU9pOuE-TBON1CqETih1Tg

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: mixes for clients, some ghost production, masterings for my label (Initiate Records)

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

A: nope as i just started my profile here

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: This debate is pointless to me. There's really good in both worlds and it all comes down to personal taste and workflow. I love using my eurorack (hardware but not only analog there are plenty of digital things there) to create sounds, close my eyes and get lost in it. I love analog synths for their sound, i love digital for accuracy and recall/control. Don't be just fooled by "analog" as most of mid range analog outboard it outsmarted by plugins. On my side for mastering i ended up getting rid of everything so i had nothing physically present between my ears and speakers. Also for example, for limiters moist of the time either use Fabfilter pro L2, Sonible Smart Limit, Newfangled Elevate or any combo of these (in combinations with Shadow Hills mastering comp/lim and Townhouse SSL comp emu). Having all those allows me a very broad and flexible palette to choose the right combo for every track. I prefer this 10 times over investing crazy money in one single analog limiter sounding incredible on some material but not being fitted for all. Same goes for Eq's, saturations and occasional reverbs. Also as mastering is such a detailed work being 100% ITB allows me to make very small adjustments really fast when a client asks for correction/modification which is totally impossible with outboard. Once again don't be fooled by thinking that analog is needed to achieve the best results coz it's not. In some cases it can sound better than some digital tools or adds some magic mojo for sure it's all a matter again of taste and choice of workflow.

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

A: I'll listen to you and will do my utter best to achieve a result where we're both really happy with.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Discover new music and enhance it.

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

A: Do you do stem mastering? No i don't as i feel this bridges a gap between mix and mastering which is not healthy. If you're not sure about your mix i'm happy to give feedback and you retouch it or ask someone else to take care of it. For a mastering to be good the focus of attention needs to be on the master and "mastering problems" and not shit towards mixing or it will risk to loose its objectivity and miss the spot while doing so. Do you also provide vinyl masters? Yes i do What format do i need to send my work? WAV/Aiff at least 16bits 44.1 but i really prefer 24bits 48kHz (the slight upgrade in sampling rate reduces a lot of cramping effect and many reverbs and distortions really benefit from it - unless they have internal oversample like fabfilter does for example). Never leave a limiter on your master bus while sending for master, you can keep some buss compression if you feel it's really part of your sound and at all costs never send a clipped mix.

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

A: That a good mastering can fix a bad mix. To such an extend the newer technologies allow us to do things that were inimaginable 10 years ago, yet if you really want to stand out and have a super clear, crisp, loud yet punchy master the mix needs to be top notch from start.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Did you check your mix on sveral different playback systems and on a pair of headphones you know very well? Is this the final version you are happy with (not only mixing but structure, automations etc...) Could you provide me 3 proper reference tracks that sound cloe to your track and that are examples of the sound you'd like me to match. What purpose is your music for (streaming platforms, youtube, club music/Dj's,....)

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

A: Be cautious as there are many frauds around not having the decent system to properly hear what they are doing. No matter the fancy outboard and big analog gear, mastering requires up and foremost a very well treated room and high-grade speakers with proper low-end extension, flat response and low THD. Let's phrase it this way, how could you take a good picture (no matter the quality of your camera) if you are wearing scratched wobbly glasses? Your room and speakers are what's affecting the most your sound so any really professional mastering engineer has those fixed.

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

A: No need of 5. Just need my computer, Kii Three speakers and my modular rack

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

A: Working in the music field for nearly 20 years, graduating first from SAE Institute as Audio Engineer and from Consevatoire Royal de Mons (master in Acousmatic Music composition). I then have been teaching in those 2 institutions respectively over 3 years in each, worked at Fuse club brussels as sound engineer while also doing freelance festival and concerts as sound engineer. Been making music for myself and mixing/mastering for clients since then. A few years ago i decided to work full time on music, built this high-end studio at my place, been composing music for clients (dance shows, exhibitions, audiovisual installations) teaching 1 to 1, and doing some ghost production while slowly reducing my mixing activities and focusing on mastering for clients and my own label. I've also been content creator for over two years for Shakmat modular, a belgian modular synth brand doing all their video and product presentations.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Relaxed, straight-forward, no-bullshit and open to dialog

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

A: Any artist doing his thing for the good reasons, with passion willing to go always further to become better one day after another.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Close your eyes when you really wanna listen.

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

A: Electronic in a broad way going from techno to ambient through broken beats, bass music and more experimental things as well as neoclassical.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Using technology and tools not as an end but as a mean to convey emotions and being able to somehow transcend a track to bring it to another level while doing so.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Most of clients tell me that i really "understand their music". I never use a fixed chain or any copy pasted recipe. I love to deeply listen to the track and try to feel the directions it is taking emotionally then i try with my tools to enhance this while making it technically match the industry standards and ensuring proper playback on any sound system.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I listen to the 3 reference tracks asked and take some notes (balance, dynamics, width, depth, distortion, pumping,..) then i compare this to the mix sent for mastering. After doing this i send a recap of my analysis (giving the opportunity to retouch some things in the mix if needed) and so client can understand the direction that will be taken and the meaning of the choices made. After sending the master client gets to approve or request up to 2 corrections for free. Any other request of change after that will be discussed together and will be charged.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Over the years i got rid of all my outboard except a pretty big modular system. My actual studio has been designed by Ideal Acoustics with high-grade acoustics for mastering purpose in mind ensuring very short and even decay times over all frequencies, excellent modal dispersion and flat response in combination with the incredible Kii Three + BXT speakers (going down to 20Hz at only -1,5db and having a flat response of +/-0,5dB from 100Hz to 10kHz). I got rid of desk in order to avoid any reflexions leading to comb filtering and chose to use only high grade plugins for perfect recall and higher flexibility while not having to make any compromise in the room's acoustics

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

A: Claudio PRC, Dasha Rush, Kangding Ray, Sebastian Mullaert, Peter Van Hoesen,

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

A: Electronic music mastering, producing and sound tracks composition for audiovisual installations.