Isak Gaines on SoundBetter

Award-winning mix engineer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist with clients and collaborators including Clive Deamer (Radiohead), Michael Brook (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), Ark Patrol, Subat, Jude Icarus, Robert Sadin (Herbie Hancock), Michael Epstein (Emmy-winner), Nike, Ralph Lauren, John Deere, La Colombe, and many others.

I mix and do remote production and recording work from my studio in Philadelphia’s Manayunk neighborhood. I’ve invested heavily in acoustic treatment and monitoring to optimize the way my room sounds and translates, making it great for remote workflows, although I also love to have artists come to sessions in person.

When I need more space for big tracking sessions, I often work out of Retro City Studios, located just 10 minutes away, which has a large live room, fully loaded API console, ATC monitoring, and tons of mics, outboard gear, and back line. One of the engineers I often partner with at Retro is Grammy-winner Matt Poirier.

As a musician, my primary instrument is the saxophone (tenor and alto), but I also play clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, guitar, electric bass, and keys at a professional level, and have gigged and recorded on every one of these. I have all of these instruments at my studio, with keyboard instruments including the Expressive E Osmose, Pittsburgh modular SV1, Casio CT-605, and Wurlitzer spinnet piano. I also have experience writing arrangements for ensembles of all sizes up through full orchestra. Additionally, I'm lucky enough to have access to a large church hall (great for re-amping) with a 1920’s Steinway grand piano and a beautifully maintained pipe organ.

Hit me up if you have any questions, looking forward to working together!

Send me an email through 'Contact' button above and I'll get back to you asap.

Credits

Languages

English

Endorse Isak Gaines2 Reviews

by Ajmal Subat
Working with Isak is one of the relationships I’m most grateful for. He’s not only a musical genius and true multi-instrumentalist, but has a rare ability to connect with the soul of a song and elevate it without ever interrupting or redirecting the vision. What sets Isak apart goes beyond his range as a musician. He has a unique gift for adding depth, color, and nuance in a way that fully serves the music. He leaves his ego at the door, brings a heart of gold to every collaboration, and is one of the most intuitive, generous, and gifted people I’ve had the pleasure of creating with.
by Jude
Could not recommend more highly! Isak is not only a fantastic engineer and a top-tier musician but also a wonderful human being. He's very communicative, respectful of the artist's vision, and truly dedicated to making every track the absolute best it can be. I've worked with Isak for a couple years now, and I always know that I can trust him to go the extra mile to bring the last 5% out of a track, whether in the arrangement, in an instrumental part, or in the mix. A hidden gem who won't stay hidden for long.

Interview with Isak Gaines

Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: New EP's for Jude Icarus and Subat. Commissioned chamber music piece for piano, saxophone, and cello to be premiered in Paris this June. A few of my own solo projects.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Sticking to only one is an unnecessary limitation. There are things that can be done on each that are impossible to achieve on the other, and most of the artists I find interesting find unique ways to use both.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I will go the extra mile at every step of the process from idea through mastering to make sure that the finished song is the full realization of your creative vision. No compromises, just pure dedication to the art.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What was going on in your life when you wrote the songs you want to work on together? What artists excite you most? What are some of your favorite records and what do you like about them?
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Tascam 388 AEA R88 stereo ribbon (active) Steinway D grand piano Selmer Super Balanced Action tenor saxophone Ableton Push 3 standalone
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been a musician since I was 5 years old (I'm 30 now). I started out playing guitar and learning by ear. Started playing saxophone when I was ten, which brought me into the jazz world, which is how I learned the fundamentals of music theory, harmony, rhythm, and improvisation. Went to school for music (The New School in NYC), studying jazz performance, classical composition, and audio production. Wrote a lot of chamber music under the mentorship of Grammy-winning producer Robert Sadin. Spent as much time as possible in studios while I was in school, learning the fundamentals of engineering, DAW production, and mixing. Graduated and moved to Philly, where I currently live and work in music and audio every day.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I like to blend styles and elements you wouldn't expect to hear together. Experimentation, grit, and grime all excite me in recordings. I like to hear the contrast between pristine, detailed recordings, and things that have been absolutely blown to shit. And everything in between. All of course within the aesthetic vision of the artist I'm working with. But I like to push artists to explore territory they might not on their own. My favorite art, regardless of era, medium, or style, is usually the stuff that was made by people pushing the boundaries of what was possible at the time they were creating it.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Floating Points because of the way he uses the orchestra and the studio as one gigantic instrument. Nick Hakim because of his gorgeous voice and aesthetic, and the monumental influence he's had on me. You!
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: There's a finite amount of space. The more layers you add, the smaller each of them becomes. Learned that one the hard way.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: A huge variety. My favorite artists to work with are the ones who are up for a bit of an adventure.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: A deep understanding of how and why the established rules work, and a fearless irreverence when it comes time to break them.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: My unique life experience and the resulting taste and creative personality I've developed, my musicianship and finely honed skillset, and a fresh set of ears.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: It's different for every artist, but generally people send me songs with a general sense of what they want me to do (mix, track winds, vocal production, etc). I'll listen through, and we have a more in depth conversation about the artist's vision for the song and how I can fit into that. Then from that conversation, we'll develop a more in-depth plan (track bass clarinet in the bridge, reamp vocals in church hall, etc), work out a price estimate, and make it happen! Depending on the artist and the work that needs doing, I can either work remotely, on location, or the artist can meet me at my studio in Philadelphia.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I generally work from my home studio, which is a dedicated single room mixing and production space on the top floor of my house. Acoustic treatment: 7" thick 24"X48" GIK absorption covering the front, back, and side walls, as well as the ceiling. I also have custom built 24"X24" floor to ceiling soffit-style bass traps in all 4 corners, ensuring control down into the sub frequencies. Monitoring: PMC IB2S, Avantone CLA-10A, AKG K712 Pro headphones Converters: Antelope Audio Discrete 8 Synergy Core, RME Digiface Instruments: Expressive E Osmose, Casiotone CT-605, Pittsburgh Modular SV-1, Fender Telecaster, 1980 Yamaha Broad Bass BBVI, Washburn Festival Series jumbo acoustic, 1938 Buescher Aristocrat tenor saxophone, 1932 Conn 6m alto saxophone, 1954 Selmer Centered Tone clarinet, Vito bass clarinet, Miyazawa flute, 1960s Wurlitzer spinnet piano, Guembri, Bansuri, misc. aux percussion instruments, MPC2000, Alesis D4 drum machine Outboard: Audioscape SSL Bus Compressor, Audioscape LA2A, ART PRO VLA II Stereo Optical Compressor, SCA Neve 1272 and API 312 preamps, Shure Level Loc, Tascam Portastudio 424 mkiii, 1970s Panasonic 1/4" reel to reel Pedals: Seymour Duncan Vapor Trail, Earthquaker Afterneath, Earthquaker Nightwire, Earthquaker Avalanche Run, EHX Holy Grail, EHX Pitch Fork, EHX Stereo Polyphase, Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9, Moog MF Flange, Boss DS-1 Controllers: Ableton Push 2, SSL UF8, Arturia Keylab 88
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Mixers/Producers: Shawn Everett, Blake Mills, Andrew Sarlo, Tchad Blake, Sam Petts-Davies, Dilip Harris, David Wrench, Sounwave, Joshua Valleau, Nathan Boddy, Philip Weinrobe, Jeff Ellis, Dave Fridmann, Tom Elmhirst, Russell Elevado, Matt Poirier, Zubin Hensler Artists: Nick Hakim, Saya Gray, Dijon, Floating Points, Mk.gee, D'Angelo, Arooj Aftab, Nilufer Yanya, Gabriels, Jose Gonzalez, Radiohead, James Blake, Latin Playboys, Brittney Howard, Chicano Batman, Perfume Genius, Big Thief, Frank Ocean, JPEGMAFIA, Spill Tab, Jean Dawson, Micachu and the Shapes, Puma Blue, Konono No1, The Flaming Lips, David Bowie, Caroline Shaw, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ali Farka Toure, Clams Casino, Knxwledge, Flying Lotus and many many many more
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Production - working with artist to develop the sonic identity of a song and then bring it to life. This can mean recording instruments I play, writing arrangements for instruments I don't play, engineering tracking sessions, creatively processing/re-sampling/mangling sounds, editing audio to manipulate space and energy within an arrangement, or whatever else needs to be done to bring a song from demo/rough sketch to a finalized recording that's ready to be mixed. Mixing - artist sends me stems or a DAW session which I mix. I often also mix songs I've produced with an artist, in which case mixing is the final stage of the production process before sending to mastering.