Full service recording/mixing

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your goal career wise and sound wise? How long has your band been together? (if applicable) How much studio experience do you have in pro settings? Can your drummer play to a click track?? (if applicable) Do you have a budget? Can I see you rehearse or perform?

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

A: The sound is more important than the price. You're investing in yourself, don't sell yourself short. A bad mix can cause you a missed opportunity. Understand that this business isn't cheap for engineers. Especially those whom own their own studios and gear. Gear upkeep is real and expensive. Along with the electric bill. Please know that while you may be sometimes spending more money than you're comfortable with, it costs us too. You alway get what you pay for.

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

A: I've been engineering since 1999 and in 2001 I started my own studio. There have been times where I had to work on unrelated things to make ends meet and I am now on the swing back into the studio full time. I have been fortunate enough to own a good sized piece of property. My current setup is in my private home where I built out my control room, live room and lounge area. The main goal is to record and mix full time and eventually build a separate facility on my property solely for recording. It's going to be really exciting and I'm already working on the design so if you wanna see it, you should book with me asap and frequently!

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Mixing and recording are my sweet spot. I get lots of clients who attempt to record on their own to save $. I usually get files sent to me come mix time and 9 times out of 10, it's not the greatest recording. For some reason, I am able to get them up to par sound wise to the point where both the client and I are pleasantly surprised.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I do most of my mixing out of the box and own tons of analog outboard gear. I basically use my Pro Tools system as a “playback” machine when mixing. The biggest advantage for me as far as digital, is editing. When I record it’s a hybrid situation. I track onto a Studer A827 while recording live into Pro Tools for editing and playback come mix time. My monitoring path for the artist is completely analog so you have the convenience of true zero latency monitoring. This is the workflow that I’m most comfortable with and the results are always a favorite.

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

A: Believe it or not my favorite project was a non paying one and also my very first. While attending audio school, I had the opportunity to record bands/artists once I was fully trained having full use of the studio. There were 3 time slots: morning, afternoon and evening. I was unaware that the student sign up was first come first serve. Naturally by the time I signed up only the morning slot was available. Popular music artists were out of the question and still asleep from the night before. I ended up recording a jazz trio and was blown away. No overdubs, no punch ins and it sounded amazing. That day I became a jazz fan. I hold those musicians in high regard. Even if you're not a fan, you must at least respect what they do if you really love music.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am just wrapping up a new record for the band Number 12. I worked closely with their producer. We cut all the drums and guitars to tape and edited in Logic. They are releasing their first single soon. I just heard the master and it is killer!!

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

A: I am new to this site but would love to connect and network with anyone who does great work.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love taking something from nothing and making it sound better, no pun intended. Honestly, when a client comes in and we are finished, I get to see that huge smile on their faces or get those excited emails/phone messages from remote clients raving about how happy they are with the outcome. But most importantly, people are trusting me with their sound, sometimes people whom I've never met. It's like hiring a babysitter who you don't know. I take that seriously and I am grateful for their trust in me.

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

A: What are your rates? It really depends on your project and your goals. If you love a certain artist and sound absolutely nothing like them, chances are you will be disappointed. Every artist has different needs that may require more or less work. Every dime I charge is tailored to the client and their specific needs.

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

A: A laptop is NOT a pro studio no matter what the brochure says.

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

A: 1. Studer A827 2. Neumann CMV563 3. Urei 1176LN rev. f 4. Pultec 5. Another Pultec

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I'm a chameleon when it comes to sound and my personal tastes in music. If I had to describe my mix/recording style I'd say tight, punchy and clear. I'm capable of giving my clients the sound that they are hearing in their head.

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

A: Any jazz artist from the 1950's era. Those guys were the cream of the crop. Bunch of musicians in one room, 1 take and pure gold. Nowadays that's a hard find.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Weight, clarity and a large smile.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a hybrid setup that consists of mostly analog gear. SSL Matrix console is the brain. There is a 48 I/O Pro Tools system with plenty of plugins. Studer A827 2" 24 track and tons of vintage analog outboard gear including pultecs, urei's, teletronix, API, etc. Way too much gear to list but you get the idea.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. When I attended audio school years ago, it was during the transition from analog to digital as the new industry standard. Digital Performer was the premier daw and Pro Tools Mix systems were making headway. I was fortunate enough to learn how to record to tape and get familiar with lots of analog gear. This stuck with me. Even though I’m a huge analog junkie, I do believe that the two combined give us the best of both worlds. I get what’s lacking from digital from my tape and analog gear and vice versa.

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

A: You’ll get 1 of 2 things from this studio: 1. The mix/recording you always wanted. 2. The mix/recording you never knew you always wanted.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: TAKE BREAKS!! Your ears will thank you for it.

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

A: I have experience recording many different types of music from jazz to hip hop to death metal. Recording and mixing is my passion and if it sounds good, I’ll work on anything that my client is passionate about.

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

A: Anybody who can control their bass and provide a smooth, punchy mix. Music is a living organism that moves and breathes. I’m not a fan of the loudness wars.

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

A: Mixing and recording is my specialty. I also do lots of guitar re amping along with editing and drum quantizing. I do work with a group of producers who are great should a client need more direction for their project.