Bruce Balensiefer on SoundBetter

Versatile, educated musician-engineer-producer providing bass and guitar parts, mixing, and work-for-hire recordings

Hi I'm Bruce. I am a bassist, guitarist, engineer and producer with a bachelor's in Music Engineering Technology and formal training in Jazz performance and arrangement. I've played bass for over twenty years and engineered for about ten. I offer bass tracks and parts as well as full instrumental works-for-hire and beats. I also do rhythm guitar work.

I specialize in modern direct/digital recording techniques and "in-the-box" DAW mixing. I specialize in hard rock styles but I am comfortable working in the styles of jazz, fusion, and R&B, with some electronic elements. I enjoy making highly dynamic productions with lots of emotional range and poppier tracks with earworm melodies.

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Credits

1 Reviews

Endorse Bruce Balensiefer

by Matty G.
Verified
Bruce did a fantastic job at mastering a metal track for me, he's a very patient guy and get's to work quickly to help deliver you the best sound out of your track and he really knows his stuff! 10/10 would work with again

Interview with Bruce Balensiefer

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Demo production, bass tracks, mixing, mastering
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Rock, metal, jazz/blues, and electronic styles like EDM and synthwave
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Versatility. I enjoy making a jazz recording or blues recording or a metal track or something more electronic all the same.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: The Contortionist, Tesseract, Tower of Power, Rick Rubin, Tom Lord-Alge, Jon Brion, Prince, Bassnectar, and more
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: The producer's mindset: A willingness to serve the project rather than my own ego as an instrumentalist or composer.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a compact, simple, but modern recording setup: A fast Focusrite Clarett interface, Live 10 running on Windows 10, JBL monitors, a 48-key keyboard, and a load of good plugins. For instruments, there are a Warwick bass, a Carvin bass, and Ibanez 6- and 7-string guitars with digital modeling amps and plugins for the guitars and synth effects for the bass.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I arranged, produced, mixed, and played on a cover of "Son of a Preacher Man" with a full staff of musicians in the studio, then published it on a compilation album alongside other local artists' tracks.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Digital. As a multi-genre musician, I'm hooked on the versatility and convenience of having thousands of instruments and effects in one box- and they sound pretty good now too!
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Receive files from the client via Dropbox, communicate here on platform or Slack, deliver also to Dropbox
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: Synthwave songs and covers
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Have as clear a vision of your project as possible and be clear about the requirements and acceptance criteria- or be willing to let the provider bring as much of that themselves as is necessary.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Acoustic guitar, double bass, piano, alto saxophone, and a cocktail kit. The Island Jazz band is born.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I attended university for a degree in Music Engineering and Computer Science. I worked in the tech world for a number of years while continuing to practice and produce music on the side. I self-release singles and collaborate with friends on new tracks and remixes. I am now shifting my focus back to music production and freelancing opportunities.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Strong fundamentals of jazz, blues, rock, and R&B supporting an interest in more experimental styles of hard rock and electronic music
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Imogen Heap. She has an amazing sense of play, discovery, and innovation in music and technology.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Go easy on the compression! The loudness wars have gone on long enough.