Production/Guitar/Bass/Drums

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

A: I worked with a friend in a group called Postman. I would create bare bones beats, send them to a friend to explore vocals and melodies on, and then I would produce the track from what I received back. Postman's record entitled 2 is cohesive, off the beaten path, and very unique record I'm proud of working on. Example Track from said release: https://open.spotify.com/track/1yasgdXw93IDRakTC4IN5X?si=b34ad789090c42ee

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I've been generating music under the alias Daniel Burner for 2024, with a ruleset in place to record, mix, and release everything that I play. I currently am active every day and release around three tracks a week for this project. https://danielburner.bandcamp.com/

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

A: I'm new to the platform. Hoping to engage with the community and come back with some answers here.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I've worked with Analog only workflows, Digital only workflows. At this time I'm impressed with where many Digital solutions have gotten in quality and think a Hybrid Analog/Digital approach makes the most sense.

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

A: Let's set clear expectations, be communicative, and iterate until you are satisfied. I ensure this as long as the lines of communication are open.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Iterating and improving something is intrinsically satisfying. When music becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

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

A: Why me? I'm here due to passion and a desire to help others retain their authentic selves in music. I don't want to change the sound of a band, I desire to authentically capture it and its energy.

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

A: I've had folks provide blown out mixes for me to remix, but they want changes that clearly require stems.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I like to ask for a sample of past work, their thoughts on said work, as well as some references of recordings they like the overall sound or aspects of to understand what they are going for.

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

A: With years of experience in most areas of music, I hope I can provide immediate value from lessons learned in the past. Feel free to reach out, I'm most interested in the interactions and work and less so the money.

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

A: Fender Telecaster, Fender Bass, Laptop with Ableton, Basic Midi Controller, Quality Reverb Tool.

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

A: Music and Production have been a passion since my early teens. Been in bands on all instruments and recording/producing things with said bands since I can remember. 25+ years of Guitar/Bass/Drums. Rock Bands, Played Jazz Guitar throughout College, have had lessons on and off over the years. I list Production at a lower 10+ years as I start counting when the quality hit a certain bar. Day to day I pay the bills as a video game designer making enemies for First Person Shooter games.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Clean, Heavily Utilize Improv or First Takes, Organic, Empathetic.

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

A: Mainly other Producers to understand their thought process and workflows better. It's great to nerd out over the details. For artists, I've always enjoyed working with Rappers that have something unique to say and are open to out of the box beats.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I like to understand sonically where things should be in the mix. Forcing the mix into mono temporarily or flipping L/R to really hear what Stereo settings are enhancing in the mix is a great tool for this.

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

A: Ambient Rock, Rock, Beats, and often Beats+Rap Vocal mixing for folks.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Flexibility. I start most projects without a template and let the art dictate the process and setup. This allows me to work on very different genres and sound profiles and prevents autopilot mixing.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Passion, Attention to detail, Communication skills that allow me to have meaningful conversations about music or a mix. I will bring whatever the Artist requests or needs to a song in my experience, and that varies from project to project.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I like to listen with an open mind several times and typically take notes, thoughts or specific changes. Then I'll hop into a project with notes as my guide. I do this on repeat to limit number of things changing from mix to mix.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Ableton, mainly Fender instruments and a few Gibsons for Guitars and Bass, Plenty of Guitar Pedals. Modern PC that handles Ableton with ease.

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

A: Nigel Godrich, Radiohead, Death Grips. Madlib, Teebs. I'm attracted to authenticity and passion in music.

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

A: Typically receive a rough mix and stems from a client and general notes or a reference track for direction.