Vocal tuning and mixing

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

A: Make sure to ask if they are willing to make multiple revisions. It is important to make sure that you're paying for what you want, and sometimes it takes a few revisions to get to that.

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

A: A quick turnaround and as many revisions as you want.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What kind of sound are you going for? How married are you to your preexisting sounds?

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

A: A Teletronix LA-2A compressor. It sounds so good, and when adjusted just right it makes some amazing distortion sounds. A pair of AKG 414s, because they are so versatile. You could put them on any source and get a high fidelity response. A royer 121, because it's my go to for recording guitar amps. A Shure SM57, because that is the most useful mic in my book. It can close mic anything, and it can take a beating.

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

A: I plan on being a studio engineer. I have been working for hire for the past year or so, and hope to continue doing that. Eventually I would like to get into a producer role, however I would like to get more experience engineering before I dive in.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I listen through the song on Pro Tools and drop markers at any problem spots that sound iffy to me while doing macro settings such as basic levels and muting. If I'm tuning I just go straight to the lead vocal track. If I'm mixing I figure out which part is really the meat of the track. It could be a guitar lick or the vocals, and try to make that sound as cool as possible. I then try to shape the mix around that.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I do a lot on my computer. I have Logic, Reaktor, and Pro Tools, however most of the work that I do is in Pro Tools. I have a few preamps that I really love (APIs in particular), and a lot of Waves plugins that I think sounds really good.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Jazz Punk

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

A: Bruce Springsteen.

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

A: I typically work on indie rock and jazzy punk music.

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

A: I was a student of David Leonard (Prince, Toto) and I utilize what he taught me every time I open up a session. Musically I grew up listening to probably too much Green Day for an eight year old, and that has shaped my musical thinking ever since.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am currently looking to expand my portfolio. I am a young audio engineer and right now I want experience more than anything. I have good ears and a college education in audio, so now I am putting them to good use

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Hybrid. Some of the best plugins may be able excellently emulate analog gear, however analog doesn't suddenly stop working once a few updates happen. You can also push analog gear differently and get some amazing sounding distortion or compression if you tweak the settings just right. I like having a few pieces of analog gear that I feel like are worth the money and have their own unique sound that I use as staples in my work. Beyond that I go digital, because you can not beat the price, the instant recall, and the mobility of having everything on my laptop. Without a doubt digital saves time and money, however I believe that there is a happy medium between the two that can help make some amazing sounds.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: It engages every part of my brain. The mix of creative and technical skills required keeps me constantly entertained and striving to improve myself. Like many other people in the arts I'm doing what I'm doing because I wouldn't be happy with anything else. Taking people's music and bringing it to the next level is my favorite thing to do, and I'm very lucky to have made a career out of it.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My ability to manage multiple tasks efficiently. I know how my brain works and what kind of break I need and when I need it. This keeps the quality of my work at my best, and it keeps me having fun with the music.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: The fanciest gear is the world is useless if you aren't really listening. Start out with just the factory plugins and maybe a sm57 and a sm58 and work on hearing the differences between different settings. Then once your ears are well trained, move up to bigger guns.

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

A: That tuned vocals all sound robotic. I actually make a point to make each voice sound as natural as possible while making the pitch match the song.

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

A: Vocal tuning and editing. I use melodyne and get it done very quickly.