Remote Mixing, Music Producer

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: At the moment, digital. But trying to expand my studio to incorporate additional analog gear.

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

A: A 100% analog mix is going to sound better-- this is a misconception because a good mix depends entirely on the mixing engineer's skills with his/her equipment. Second misconception I hear a lot: A C9 chord does not equal a Cadd9 chord.

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

A: 88-key weighted MIDI Controller, Universal Audio Apollo x8, LA-2A, an SSL EQ, and my hard drive with all my sample libraries on it (is that cheating?)

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

A: Undergraduate Degree: Music Composition from Kansas State University Master's Degree: Commercial Music Composition and Arranging from Belmont University Worked at the University of Miami for 2 years as a Music Production Specialist. I currently teach Logic Pro X courses for Point Blank Music School and write educational content for Pro Media Training, the #1 largest official Pro Tools certification training company in the U.S.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Mixing. Piano. Arranging.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Logic Pro X, Pro Tools 12, Ableton Live 10 Suite, Sibelius 7, Kurzweil SP4-7, M-Audio Keystation 88, MicroKORG, Scarlett 2i4, VXL Condenser microphone, Spectrasonics Keyscape, East West Sample Libraires, Shure SM57/SM58, JBL LSR305 Studio Monitors, various Waves and iZotope plug-ins.

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

A: Can you write a beautiful, yet simple, piano part? Yes. My snare doesn't sound very punchy, can you fix it? Yes.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Send me a few tracks that you want to model in your own music-- I will tailor my mixes/productions to that sound

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

A: Daft Punk-- very clean mixes across the entire frequency spectrum.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: A little bit of panning goes a long way

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

A: Rock, Funk, Jazz, Orchestral

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

A: 5-song rock EP-- Matter of Time (available on Spotify) Composed, arranged, recorded, edited, and mixed the entire project by myself.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Various freelance orchestral pieces for music licensing libraries

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Professionally crafted keyboard parts, professionally composed arrangements. A mix catered to a client's vision.

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

A: Ben Folds, Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, John Williams, Danny Elfman, Mark Mancina

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

A: Mixing (in a variety of genres) Writing/Performing piano and keyboard tracks. Arranging Transcribing Composing.

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

A: I promise to communicate with you to best bring forth your vision.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Helping others with their creative projects.

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

A: Provide some other music examples to give me the best idea of the sound you're looking for.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Pop/Rock meets Jazz/Funk

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Depends on the project. Writing/Recording piano parts: Listen to the rough demo (or read the sheet music) and improvise different pianistic ideas over the top to figure out what the song needs. Arranging: Sit at keyboard and figure out how musical elements will fit together to achieve the best arrangement.

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

A: Not yet! I'm just getting started here.