Mixing & Mastering

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

A: A recent one was the Shallow Side EP "One", a terrific rock band from Cullman, Alabama ! They're doing amazingly well, had a couple songs on the top 40 Billboard rock charts and they're getting nice reviews on the specialized media. Another recent one was the complete score for the "Gabe" documentary, directed by Luke Terrell. around 30 music pieces...Will be out soon !

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: As usual, i have a lot of projects in progress. Recent albums for Telebit and upcoming albums for bands like LosPetitFellas and Superlitio but there's so much happening here ! So much great music !

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

A: Yes, in fact i've been working shoulder to shoulder with Andres F. Millan, which besides being a terrific recording and mixing engineer, is current president of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) Colombian section and we share many projects together. Reach him here : https://soundbetter.com/profiles/29305-andres-millan

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: It doesn't matter anymore but for certain tasks nothing digital can beat one of my self-built tube compressors.

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

A: I promise you this : A big smile on your face. Just read my verified reviews from clients.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: That it doesn't feel like a job anymore. It's pure pleasure.

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

A: The most common : Can we get it real loud ? (yes we can, but i advise against it unless it's absolutely necessary) Another one : What's your studio's weapon of choice ??? Answer : Me, of course. Equipment is irrelevant compared to human resource.

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

A: That would be the idea that anyone without real world experience can do this in any room, treated or untreated and get real world results.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: The main question is : How dynamic or how loud would you like your master to be ? How fast do you need it ? Any specific loudness and format requirements ?

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

A: Take your time to evaluate your options. No rush ! And let your prospect engineer's experience and credits do the talking. He / She needs to be a good fit for your project. Remember : Equipment is irrelevant compared to human resource.

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

A: My Barefoot MM35 Gen2 monitors. 2 - My soldering iron, so i can modify anything i want !!. 3 - My Herman Miller chair, comfort is paramount. 4 - Cashews. Lots of them. 5 - Good company !

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

A: I've doing this since i finished high school. I jumped on a console as soon as i could after that. I wanted to be who i am now since i was 13. Of course i've had luck but i always prepared myself to made sure that i was worthy when the big chance arrived. I've had the luck of winning a couple Latin Grammys and being nominated 14 times over the years, four of them are name nominations (when the engineer is nominated by name, just as the artist, that happens on album, song and recording of the year).

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style is a combination of technically-minded but very creative and ever evolving process. Loud, punchy. dynamic but above all, respectful.

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

A: I always listen to the material first. If asked, i'll offers suggestions according to what i hear. Then i'll proceed and send a preview on MP3 at 320KBPS for approval (or revisions). After approval and payment, i'll send the full package, including a DDP master with custom player (if required), certified "Mastered for iTunes" versions (which are mastered at lower levels and with better dynamics than the CD / Radio version) and anything else my client request. Remember that i'm an Apple certified "Mastered For iTunes" engineer.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Trust your instincts. Don't overthink. Don't procrastinate, take quick decisions and commit to them.

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

A: Being in such a musically-diverse country as Colombia, i've worked on everything, from the Colombian Symphonic Orchestra, to Jazz, Rap, Trap to World Music, to urban to top-40 Pop to Rock to Death Metal. I enjoy every genre and every style brings me a different learning experience. Recently i've had a couple songs on the Billboard top 40 charts too !

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I always listen to the material first. If asked, i'll offers suggestions according to what i hear. Then i'll proceed and send a preview on MP3 at 320KBPS for approval (or revisions). After approval and payment, i'll send the full package, including a DDP master with custom player (if required), certified "Mastered for iTunes" versions (which are mastered at lower levels and with better dynamics than the CD / Radio version) and anything else my client request. Remember that i'm an Apple certified "Mastered For iTunes" engineer.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Perspective. Vision, objectivity and a fresh set of skilled and experienced ears. I'm not your typical no-credits no-name no real-experience youtube-educated "mastering" guy. I've done the whole ear-educating process of being a recording and mix engineer for more than a decade and i use all that experience to my client's advantage. Remember this : A mixing engineer who also offers mastering (usually as a package and usually doing so in a mixing room not designed and optimized for mastering to keep costs down) can get good results quite often, but a true mastering engineer is irreplaceable (Gladly !). We get paid for our experience and objectivity, and the ability to apply that experience and objectivity on a specialized, fine-tuned environment.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I always listen to the material first. If asked, i'll offers suggestions according to what i hear. Then i'll proceed and send a preview on MP3 at 320KBPS for approval (or revisions). After approval and payment, i'll send the full package, including a DDP master with custom player (if required), certified "Mastered for iTunes" versions (which are mastered at lower levels and with better dynamics than the CD / Radio version) and anything else my client request. Remember that i'm an Apple certified "Mastered For iTunes" engineer.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My setup is mostly custom-built or modified gear. I tend to dislike stock gear, as i think any idiot with some money can get great and expensive gear, but very few engineers are capable of building and modding their own gear. Sadly, that breed of engineers is slowly disappearing. Anyone can buy. Few can design and build. However, i reckon that some pieces, i'm not THAT skilled to design or build them so i've bought a couple key pieces, chosen mostly because ergonomics and of course, versatility and sound (Like the BuzzAudio Mastering EQ). For the monitoring, i chose the fabulous Barefoot MicroMain35 Gen2, mostly because i really dislike subwoofers and the Barefoots can go as low as 35Hz at very high SPL levels while delivering the most precise sound i've ever heard on a multipurpose monitor like this (but my whole system is linearised down to 25Hz with acourate). My electro-acoustic setup is perfected using the most sofisticated acoustic correction system known to man : (((acourate))) by AudioVero. This system is so powerful that it runs on its own dedicated computer with a big digital i/o card (Lynx AES16) to handle all my digital sources. Acourate effectively perfects my impulse, transient, phase and frequency response to be as perfect as physically possible but of course you need a proper room and highend monitoring to take full advantage of such system. It is quite hard to implement and really involved, definitely not plug-and play - I had to spend a couple months studying it before i was able to implement and integrate it on my room but it has paid off tremendously : Decisions are quicker and more confident than ever, clients are happier than ever too ! It has to be heard to be believed. This system makes any other similar system on the market (Dirac, Trinnov, IK ARC) look like a toy. My passive monitoring controller, i built it to be superior to any active (amplified, be it discrete, opamp, etc..) monitor controller. It's signal path is the closest you'll get to a wire and there's no active components anywhere. Also, stereo tracking error is less than 0.1dB worst case scenario. I made sure of that by matching by hand every component to 0.1% tolerance. I recently installed the fabulous BuzzAudio REQ2.2 MEA Mastering Equalizer and the Pendulum Audio PL-2 Analog Brickwall Limiter. I realized that i'm never going to finish that tube mastering EQ i've been building for so long...I don't have that time anymore as my room is pushing me right at my limit ! I have my own brand tube compressors and summing amplifiers, and i'm a heavy UAD user. I have a powerful setup (UAD2 OCTO+QUAD) so i have plenty of creative power. My room is rated at NC (noise criterion) 20 with the ventilation system running. It's very quiet. Also, i have natural lightning, which is a big plus. Comfort, comfort, comfort ! This is paramount !

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

A: More than music production professionals, i'm inspired by people like me : Studio engineers who can build his own equipment or genius designers who influence all our sounds with their designs : People Like Bill Putnam (UA), Rupert Neve (Rupert Neve Designs), George Massenburg (GML)....

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

A: At this time, i'm dedicated exclusively to Mastering....Sadly i don't have time anymore for mixing as much as i love it. I really miss it but all my energy is focused on Mastering right now.