Mastering Engineer

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

A: Bob Katz, Ten Jensen, Barry Grint, Emily Lazar, John Greenham, Justin Perkins, Glenn, Schick, Pete Lyman, Mandy Parnell

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

A: That mastering engineers only make things louder. It's my job to find a songs 'loudness potential' where you are gaining density and impact by making things louder, along with giving music the correct tonal balance to translate well on all systems. An often forgetten part of the process is also the quality control of the audio content, files and metadata. Everyone prior to the mastering engineer is very involved on a project for a long time and we can help to catch any small issues that slip through and ensure all the music goes to distribution as intended.

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

A: In the past I have had the chance to work on a range of different genres, modern and classical, but I find in recent years the majority being somewhere in the areas of pop, rock, metal, indie and electronic but i'm open minded to working with any artist or sound.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: A new perspective and a fresh set of ears to help take projects over the finish line. Hearing the music in a space seperate from the studio it was mixed in will bring attention to any areas of the mix that still need a little refining. I am happy to be as transparent as possible, or bring some new colour to a record with the various tools at my disposal, depending on what the artist wants. Quality control is incredibly important in the mastering stage and I can help to elevate the music to it's full potential, while also ensuring the audio is optimised for all the different distribution formats.

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

A: Stereo Mastering. Sometimes i'll need to work with stems for a song if it calls for it, and I still mix my own music and some music for friends bands. But it's almost entirely mastering work now.

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

A: PMC Result6 Monitors, Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro headphones, Mac Pro, RME ADI-2 Pro AD/DA, acoustic treatment

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

A: I've been working as a professional in sound for over 15 years, during that time i've worked in a few different fields including live sound, film & TV and music. I decided to pursue mastering as a career in 2015 and since then have started my own professional mastering studio, gained my Apple Digital Masters Certification and joined the professional music body the Music Producers Guild, alongside working on some records i'm very proud of.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio is a hybrid digital / analog setup so I can go out of the box when I need some analog depth and warmth, or if I need to stay clean and in the box I also have some of the best tools available for that style of workflow