Mixing, Mastering, Editing...

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

A: I did an 8 song album for an online band once, and it was almost a year ago, and I'm proud of it partly because it was the first thing very notable that i'd done, but it also set me in my place in showing me how much I still had to learn and was humbling in that aspect. It's not the best mixing I've done at this point, but it's still one of the first big things i've done and I appreciate that aspect of it.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Aside from classes and work within those, I am working on some personal demos for my bands new album, as well as a debut EP for an unannounced band in jacksonville florida.

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

A: not at the moment.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I like both, but definitely use more digital. For one thing, some of the digital things I have are cheaper and more affordable, and I also believe that digital is definitely making strides in becoming more and more relevant as top quality gear.

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

A: My promise is that I will be there to work with them, not just for them, and will do my best to make their song sound as good as I can mix wise, but also do whatever I can to help satisfy the individual customer(s).

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I like doing mixing and mastering and just working with music in general. I've been a musician (Guitarist) for over 10 years, so have always enjoyed music.

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

A: How I get my sound, and I just say practice.

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

A: That it's easy and that anyone can do it without practice.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I like to know how familiar clients are with the process of sending stems to songs and how open they are to advice and feedback I can give to help benefit them in some ways.

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

A: Be sure to hear samples of the providers work to ensure the sound they can achieve is the sound you are most interested in going for.

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

A: 1) A Generator 2) A Mac (with logic pro x and steven slate drums deluxe) 3) a Kemper 4) an Ernie Ball JP13 guitar 5) Yamaha HS8 monitors.

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

A: I am currently in my senior year at the University of North Florida pursuing a degree in Music Technology, so have been learning and progressing my skills in this field more intensely for the last three years.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I can do mixes relatively fast, but I don't rush through. I take my time to ensure everything sounds as good as I feel I can make it, and do my best to make songs sound and feel like they are really glued together, instead of being a whole bunch of separate instruments playing at the same time.

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

A: I would love to work with Joey Sturgis, because he is a master in his field and to learn from him more than I already have would be extremely beneficial not just for metal and rock but for mixing and mastering overall.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I think one good tip is having patience, and learning to compare your mix to other mixes and try to really listen for the subtle things that you may not notice at first, but end up really popping out to you later. Also, ensuring you take breaks as to not strain your ears, inevitably making the perceived sound not as good or accurate to the songs quality.

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

A: I primarily do Metal music (of pretty much all varieties) and rock. I have done projects in the variety of Jazz, EDM, acoustic, and other things too though.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Mixing for sure.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I do my best to bring as much energy, life, and intensity as I can.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Usually if I already have the stems to a song, I will simply go part by part to first make sure the song is edited just to ensure everything is placed right, quantized, and in line with the whole song, while maintaining the human error type of sound.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I run Logic Pro X, with two Mackie MKII MR5 Monitors, I have a Line 6 POD HD pro X Rackmount unit that I use for guitar and some bass tones, I have Steven Slate Drums Deluxe, a variety of plugins from Joey Sturgis and other brands, and more.

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

A: Joey Sturgis, Jason Richardson, Misha Mansoor, Adam Nolly and Rob Scallon.

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

A: I primarily do Mixing, Mastering, and can do Editing as well as programming drums (if necessary), especially in the rock and metal genres.