Mastering, with love.

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

A: I often work in close conjunction with Maya at Root 73 on social music projects in our local communities - he is a very talented mixing engineer, you can find him by searching 'Root 73 Studio'. If you're after a live feel, acoustic, singer-songwriter, soul sound he is your guy! I've also worked on multiple large projects with another very skilled mixing engineer, Juan M from Mexico (you can find him by searching that). If you're after a big, bright, 'pop' glossy sound he is your man!

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

A: The most common question I am asked is would you like the final mix with the limiter/compressor on the output or without it? My answer is always remove any master compressors or limiters and ensure there are at least 6 db of headroom. Sometimes the mixing engineer has very specifically mixed into a limiter and I am able to work with tracks like this, however no processing on the master out is the ideal situation.

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

A: To work relentlessly until they're happy and their music sounds amazing!

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

A: Mastering will turn a bad mix into a good mix! This is why I will often give mix appraisals first to improve the mix and therefore the overall sound of the project.

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

A: I have mastered music for a video on SB.TV, this has been my highest profile work so far.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: 80% of the plugins I use are digital emulations of analogue hardware. It is very important to know the character of different units as there will always be an instance where a specific unit comes in handy. As I am independent and do not work in a big studio I am currently saving to upgrade my studio and own the hardware versions of all the plugins I use!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Every job is different, working with musicians, sessions are always very enjoyable and never boring.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Some common questions: Are there any problems that you encountered with the mix? Is there anything in particular you would like adjusted? Do you have a target loudness for your song? However if a mix is great, and the direction is obvious, I don't really need to ask questions.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I would say a well rounded low end and general track weight/warmth is an important part of my style.

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

A: In the UK scene I would love to work with artists such as Giggs, BBK and IMDDB. In the US scene I would love to work with artists like Joey Badass, Kendrick Lamar and Cardi B.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I always aim to bring: a coherent sense of space, tonal balance, clarity/separation of individual elements, an appropriate amount of warmth, and of course loudness/fatness. However, I can bring whatever the client requires and I can very often tell what they require without them describing it in detail (according to the genre they are working with).

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: First things first, if anything needs ironing out on the client's end for better results, I'll offer my advice. This ranges from removing clicks in audio stems with fades to a full detailed mix appraisal. Eqing and tonal control comes first and is the most important thing about mastering. It is very common for me to receive music that has been made entirely 'in the box' - the most noticeable thing in these songs is a perceived harshness; most noticeable on snares and vocals. Its my job to tame these frequencies and aim for a 'smoother' high end. Other common problems in mixes I receive are unbalanced bass or 'mud' in the vocals around the 200-400hz range. After I am happy with the eq curve of the song, I may adjust the stereo image using extremely subtle plate reverbs and mid/side eq. I tend not to use stereo imaging plugins as they produce unwanted phase artefacts. After this I may introduce some extra colour to the song with some tube or tape saturation or using certain compressors purely for their colour. Modern music is generally very compressed in the mix, and does not require gain reduction via compression on the mix buss. There are some very rare cases where I may use multi band compression to solve problems in the low end/low mids/ultra highs, but about 90 % of these cases can be solved with careful eqing. Finally there is limiting to control the peaks of the material and increase the loudness/fatness to the clients' desired level.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I currently work in 2 well isolated studios. The first is equipped with 2 Dynaudio BM5As, a KRK 10S Subwoofer and an Apogee Ensemble. The second has Yamaha HS10s, Avantone Mix Cubes, a Warm Audio 1176 and a UAD Apollo. Having this mix of speakers allows me to ensure clients' music sounds great in all listening environments. I use high-end plugins from UAD, FabFilter, Sony Oxford/Sonnox, EMI/Chandler Abbey Road, Waves, Nomad Factory, Izotope and Brainworx.

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

A: I've been mastering for 3 years. I trained with the community studio ROOT 73 in London. I also produce drum and bass as Melysma and have releases on Dispatch Recordings and Program (RAM).

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

A: Streaky at Metropolis Mastering, Brian 'Big Bass' Gardner, Colin Leonard at Sing Mastering.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Using my ears!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Very often a small (1-2db) but broad dip at 2k can really tame digital harshness on vocals and drums.

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

A: Track masters for hip hop, trap, grime, R'n'B, and singer/songwriter music.

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

A: The Warm Audio 1176, my MicroKorg, MacBook, Dynaudios and KRK Sub.

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

A: Don't hire someone who is brisk and unpleasant. If they don't seem respectful, chances are they won't treat your work with respect. So make sure you get along!

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

A: I work with a wide range of genres but predominantly with vocal artists. This includes singer/songwriter music, hip-hop, trap, R&B, soul, grime and pop. I do occasionally work with indie rock bands which I also enjoy immensely.