Music production, Vocal Tuning

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

A: The music my labels has put out is my proudest work. My label produces and releases music collaborations only. Not only have i been involved in the production process in them, but picking the correct artists to collaborate has been a challenge I have taken very seriously and in most of the occasions we have achieved amazing results with the work done.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Hip Hop song for a new artist. Music of my own to be released as singles.

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

A: DBMixroom (great mixing and mastering engineers) Javier Muñoz (great session drummer and producer)

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: it depends on the song I am working with. If it is a rock song of a 4 or 5 piece band then I would suggest analog. if I am doing something more "poppy" then a lot of it would come from digital. Depends on the sound that wants to be achieved.

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

A: I will put my heart and soul onto your project and deliver to my best of my abbilities.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I get to work with music.

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

A: I can make everything sound great. That is not true. i can only achieve amazing results if I am working with an artist who is authentic and sincere with his/her music. I can only make something sound great that has been great from inception.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What are you looking for with this song? Who are you as an artist? What are your principles? Do those principles align with the music you are writing/singing? How much do you want me to get involved in your project?

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

A: Find out exactly what it is you need help with. Songwriting? Only vocal coaching? How much do you want me to get involved in your project?

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

A: Computer (DAW), Audient Interface, Beyerdynamic headphones, Universal Audio Preamps and a Senheiser 421 mic.

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

A: I have been into music since forever. I started playing guitar at the age of 11, both with lessons and self taught. At 16 (while still in highschool) I enrolled in a school after classes to learn audio engineering, then mixing and mastering, and then music production. I started recording music as soon as I learned how to record a guitar onto a DAW at 16. Ever since then I have worked on multiple projects and even produced music released on my own label (Aballoon). Also, I went to university to study law in order to have a complete overview of the entertainment world, while never stopping producing music. I have been around for 14 years.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Regardless of the genre I am working on, I usually tend to write "poppy" hooks that stick in peoples minds.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Always explore different music scales to determine which one serves best for the track.

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

A: Pop, rock, latin, indie pop, indie rock.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Coming up with a melody that fits the harmonic structure of a song and that keeps the listener interested in a song.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Depending on what the needs for a specific project are and how I will get involved, but I make sure it sound honest and professional at the same time.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It depends on what I am being asked to do in a particular production. If I am asked to produce from scratch I first have the artists provide the melodies, chords and lyrics of the song I will produce. I then work around those ideas to make sure it works lyrically, melodically and harmonically. Once that is polished, I then explore different music scales to make sure I get the best vocal personality and interpretation from the artist. After that I start demoing the song and start building up from the demo until the song is ready for tracking. Once tracked, I usually edit and explore with plug ins to come up with our own universe of sounds from hat has been tracked. Once all the pieces in the song have been established, I later move on to mixing and also get creative in that process, taking all those sound to the next level to be ready for mastering.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work on Abelton Live and Pro Tools as DAW. In regards to physical gear, I have a wide variety of different microphones that provide different sounds, such as AKG 414, SM57, SM 58, Beta 52 and Senheiser 421. I also work with an Audient interface that has amazing pre amps, as well as set of Universal Audio Preamps 4-710-d and KRK Rokit 6 monitors and Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro headphones.

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

A: I have always been fascinated by musicians and producers who come up with great music without compromising the most important aspects of it: sincerity and authentic. it is not possible to have a great song if it's not constructed upon the previously mentioned concepts.

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

A: I help clients materialice their melodic and general musical ideas onto a well produced and finished song that they can be proud of forever. Depending on how much help they need, it can go all the way from the first songwriting process to determining the recording, mixing and mastering approach.