Andre St-Denis on SoundBetter

Hey! Got some music you need an outsider's perspective? I'm your guy! From Mixing to Producing, I can offer my professional input with over 10 years of experience

I’m a bilingual Canadian-American producer, engineer, and musician. Though I work with a variety of music, my background in Jazz and Classical allows me to approach Popular music from an open-minded, holistic perspective. These days I tend to work within Indie, Folk, and Rock genres but give me a shout and we can chat about your project

Tell me about your project and how I can help, through the 'Contact' button above.

13 Reviews

Endorse Andre St-Denis

by Martin L.
Verified
André really understood what I needed from day 1 and got my song to the next level in terms of mixing and mastering. He guided me through the process along the way and gave me some insightful comments about the song. I recommand him without hesitation.
by Marshal Herridge
Andre has completely transformed my singer-songwriter project as a producer due to his imaginative perspective on my music and ability to hear what my songs were missing. Not to mention his skills as a sound engineer and ability to professionally mix/master anything in any genre. Could not recommend him higher, great guy and great at what he does.
by James Bayford
I loved working with Andre!

Such a chill and relaxing presence in the studio - but still detail oriented to the highest degree. His results speak for themselves, and I wouldn't ever hesitate recommending him to any musician thinking about hiring him!

Thanks again for all the great work you do Andre, and à bienôt!
by Lieke van der Voort
Andre is extremely knowledgeable, professional and easy to work with. He helped out when my engineer could not finish tracking my EP Atropos due to an emergency medical issue. He took over quickly and made everything go over smoothly. I highly recommend him!
by Sarah G
Andre and I have worked together on multiple projects and he is always professional and thorough. Above and beyond making a great product and being a fantastic engineer, Andre always makes sure everyone on the team has a great time working together.
by Brendan M.
Andre mixed and tracked my debut EP and he was always a pleasure to work with. He was excited with the music we were working on and was never afraid to try new things and experiment. I am very pleased with the work he did on my project and would hire him again!
by Emily Steinwall
Andre engineered, mixed and mastered my first album and I couldn't be happier with the results. He was able to understand what I wanted going into the project and make the whole thing sound better than I could have imagined! He was extremely professional, focused and always brought a positive and relaxed energy into the recording and mixing studios. I could not recommend Andre highly enough!
by Dan Minchom
Andre and I have worked together on a number of different projects and I'm always impressed with his work. Whether producing, engineering, or mixing Andre has a way of bringing out the nuanced details of the music and artist he is working with. On top of all that Andre is always professional, easy to work with, and fun to have around.
by Mark Ritter
I have worked with Andre on multiple projects now and have nothing but respect and appreciation for him and what he brings to the table. Andre maintains great focus while still being very kind and personable. I believe him to be a very musical individual with a valuable perspective that has kept me on the right track with my musical ventures many times over.
by Sean Sweeney
I have been very fortunate to work with Andre on several projects over the years. His expertise of the entire recording, producing, engineering and mixing process is second to none and he truly is a master at his craft. He is always willing to work closely with the artists to achieve the highest quality end product and he certainly has the skills to make it happen. Andre is the best of the best.
by Sarah
André was the recording and mixing engineer for my folk/jazz EP that I made last year. He is highly skilled, personable, and caring. He went above and beyond to answer any questions I had, and especially when mixing, made sure that both artist and engineer were very involved in the process. I am very happy with the results and I hope I have the opportunity to work with him again in the future.
by Kevin Stolz
I produced a big band jazz album in 2016 and Andre was our engineer for tracking. He also took care of edits and a few quick mixes for festival submissions. He was wonderful to work with, consistently going above and beyond to make sure the product was as polished as possible. He was very well-organized from start to finish, and most importantly, the tracks sounded great! I highly recommend him.
by Nico Frangini
I had the absolute pleasure of having Andre as my mixing engineer for rather a complex project featuring a wide variety of Latin American instruments and rhythms. Andre masterfully took care of the project as if it were his own and it has to honestly be one of the best sounding recordings I have ever done. He is an honest man who has the best qualities of a producer and a musician. Much love.

Interview with Andre St-Denis

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I was hired as an engineer to record a live off the floor 8 piece Latin band. The goal was to make it sound like it was a live concert in a club while recording and mixing in a very "clean" sounding recording studio. We had about 20 hours to record and mix 3 songs over 4 days (5 hours/day). It was incredibly hectic but very rewarding. Everyone brought their A game and we ended up with an EP that exudes character and emotion.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: I think the most important thing to realize is what type of relationship you want with someone as myself. And, to reflect on what aspects of you and your music that are truly important to you. Also, don't be afraid to ask literally anything. If you're unexperienced and don't know certain information, ask away! Other than that, be organized and respectful. Nothing is less productive and emotionally draining then when someone is overly scattered and/or has attitude.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: It depends entirely on what I'm being hired to do. Some artists like to talk about the direction they want to go, play me some music they enjoy and/or the demo's they have and then ultimately decide on a direction together. Others simply send me multi-tracks and tell me to go. I work both ways. Once we've agreed on a price, I ask for 50% before I start working and 50% once I'm done. If we happen to be in the same city you are welcome to come to any mixing or editing sessions. If we don't, I'll send you my first mix of the songs/album and we can talk about any revisions, which I include 5 in my mixing fee.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I look up to many artists but the ones I'm most interested to work with are up and coming, talented artists who are determined to share their message with the world.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: I'm a big proponent of the law of diminishing returns. I'm all about finding and creating that "new sound", but going too deep down the rabbit hole can be dangerous. Take breaks and constantly put yourself in the listeners shoes by asking yourself "will the audience enjoy or even notice this?". If the answer is no, you should probably move on to something more pertinent.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: It's typical, but perspective and experience are the two strongest things I bring to a song. As a producer I am able to give you a big picture perspective and deter any pitfalls that could happen. As a mixer, I am able to offer an outsider's perspective disconnected from all the emotional and technical work that has gone into the song up to this point.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I like to be fairly mobile as I'll only call home for about a year or two and work out of commercial facilities quite often. I currently use Focal Solo6Be speakers with a Coleman monitor controller and Lynx Aurora Converters. I use UAD, Fabfilter, and Waves plugins, among others. I have various microphones and preamps from Beyerdynamic, API, Mojave, Rupert Neve Designs, B&O, Neumann...
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: That I get to work with a wide variety of people and music!
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Besides all the artistic conversations, I typically like to know the time frame for the project as well as the budget. Sometimes I'll ask for technical information but that's pretty rare. I'm also always interested in getting to know all the individuals related to the project.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been making music for close to 10 years now but I've never followed any typical career path. I've always loved working on music and have therefore developed various skills pertaining to the creation of music. I've been the musician, the producer, the assistant, the grant writer, the engineer, the arranger, the teacher and various things in between.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: This might not be a preferred answer, but I don't identify with a style. My job is not to impose a "sound", it's to realize whatever is in your head. I can be gentle and I can be aggressive with sound, it all depends on the music.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: My strongest skill is to tap into the aspect of the music that translates the most emotion and expand upon it
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I mostly work as a mixing engineer and a producer
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: To always be honest and ensure that we're happy with the work we've done.