Mixing/Editing for Songs

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

A: No, but I would love to network on SoundBetter! I am new to the platform and want to build connections.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Unless I could afford a hybrid setup with enough analog gear to take me through a mix from start to finish, the return on investment is not worth it. The line between digital/analog gear is growing shorter, and I don't see a market where listeners will value that over a good emotional and storytelling experience through a well written song. For me digital is the way to go.

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

A: I can help fully realize what the final direction is going to be for a client's project.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Listing to the mix and listening to how it comes together before completing a pass to the artist always brings the best feeling

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

A: That an engineer can bring to life a song with no emotional or storytelling value of any kind, good songwriting and recording always come first in most cases. Many engineers also do not have a perfect ear, they can certainly miss out subtle flaws in a song, no matter how long they have been in the industry.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I like to first assess the clients goals with their project, then move forward with some questions I value like: Do they have a reference mix, how complete is their song in terms of production, will they send off their project to mastering. I also like to have a sense of their inspiration for the track(s) itself

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

A: Choose the engineer that will root for you and your success

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

A: Laptop, Headphones, Guitar, Loud Amp Cabinet, and maybe kidnap an artist

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

A: I have been producing/mixing as a hobby for around 4 years

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

A: Lizzy McAlphine. I didn't know what amazing songwriting looked like until I got put onto it recently, and I thoroughly enjoyed her recent albums. Made me shed some tears

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: No matter the song, always try to tell a story and focus on achieving the listening experience that either a client or artist would want to have.

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

A: Lot's of Rock/Indie/Alternative stuff. I try to focus on music I can practice with through freely available stems that I can access. This is done through publicly available re-productions of popular songs on sites like YouTube.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Being able to sense when a song already has a wow factor, and less work is needed to bring it over the finish line

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Whatever the client decides that the song needs, along with applying my vision to the song

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I start by organizing my stems based on instrument type or FX, then begin to clean up audio and listen to the reference mix and focus on loudness of the track and shaping the sound with EQ, Comp, etc. Taking occasional big breaks throughout the mix is important for me so I dont steer a mix into the wrong direction.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I've had a pretty bare bones music setup for many years, with some nice and essential things like speakers and a midi keyboard. I plan on investing a lot more time into acoustic treatment and audio playback devices.

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

A: Music producer Finneas has been my biggest inspiration as an aspiring music producer myself. I really admire the talent that himself and Billie Ellish can bring to the table. Nothing short of amazing

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

A: Mainly dedicated to mix engineering currently, since skill-wise that is what I am most comfortable in offering as a service