Rich and colorful mixing to help finalize your song or project, giving it a balanced and polished feel, ready for distribution.
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Interview with Matt Helfer
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I had a song called "Changed on Me," during my time in Boise. Absolutely loved the song from the first tracking session and the due date changed for the mix in the middle of the marketing meeting. I mixed the song in headphones in order to meet the deadline set during the meeting when we got told the deadline got moved up. Also ended up being in the music video too. Pretty cool!
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: A few EP's, some tracking sessions planned for the weeks ahead, and about 5 mixes all with people I've met in the Nashville area. Outside of that, I'm still in touch with people worldwide I've worked with before and have multiple releases at the end of this year to look forward to.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Analog. I enjoy the workflow and sometimes just physically moving faders and knobs has a different feel and adds more connection to the music.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: Satisfaction and enjoyment our your money back no questions asked.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love watching songs develop from conception all the way to mastering and watching people express their creativity. I enjoy working on music because I first and foremost love listening to music, and being apart of the song-making process is truly a magical experience.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: Can't think of any specifics but generally I get a lot of, "Are you able to ..xyz?" questions and my answer is always yes or something along the lines of explaining that I can do my best to accommodate whatever the request may have been.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: I'm not a magician. I can't make something that sounds low quality or bad sound good. I.E, low-quality files, recordings, and completely out-of-tune vocals. However, if you have something well recorded and well composed, my job becomes a lot easier to make your song ready for distribution. A good rule of thumb is that high-quality practices throughout the whole song-making process equal a high-quality end product, whereas the opposite can be said for low-quality practices.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What is your vision for the song (or project) and how can I as an engineer help both capture and preserve that?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Feel free to reach out! I'd be happy to put together a rough mix and continue after payment, consult on a project, or just chat and get to know new people.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Neve 1073 Apollo Twin Tube-tech Cl-1b UAD Sphere Microphone Macbook
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I initially went to college for audio engineering and interned at a few studios to start getting my reps in even more. Throughout that 2 year frame, I recorded close to 1000 songs and mixed somewhere between 300-400 songs. 1 year later, I found myself in Nashville after going to the contemporary Music Center for a semester and went to the studio to work, observe and learn every day, recording, mixing and familiarizing myself with new genres, workflows and culture here in Nashville.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Preservation of original vision and the least amount of change and work as possible so as to not deteriorate that. Ofcourse, I put every ounce of effort and work needed for each and every single session or mix I have the opportunity to work on.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I would love to work with Metro Boomin. Just to see his workflow and collaborate with some of the talented folks he has around him.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Do what SOUNDS right.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Generally rap and hip-hop, however, I find pop and indie music to be quite fun as well. The processes are similar with specific attention being needed by each genre in different areas.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Lowend, vocal clean up and mixing.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Every song is different and deserves attention to detail to ensure the song is listenable and perceived well by the listener. Generally, by the time I see a song, production and sometimes tracking sessions are already done, so it's then my job to give the song a "radio-ready" finish, that preserves the ideas, effects, and vision of the producer and artist(s).
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Talk with the artist, see what their plan and vision is for the song and go from there! Record, vocal cleaning and mixing, and then consulting with artist to fine tune any loose ends to ensure client satisfaction.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a mixing set up at home strictly for mixing and currently don't record from home. I do however plan to start booking recording sessions at my home studio soon.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Engineers like Bainz, Teezio, and producers like Metro Boomin really inspire me to continue being creative and strive for a high level of quality and care for each song.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Typically, I record with folks in the Nashville area, providing high-quality stems at the end of the session. I always accept the opportunity to go one step further and mix the song. Generally, I have the session or stems from a session I was involved in and easily get straight to work.
