Composer and Audio Engineer

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

A: David Byrne? He seems like a consummate collaborator, and strongly developed sense of music in all contexts. I feel like it'd be one of the few celebrity collaborations I could pick that would be both educational for me, and yield high quality music.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I love mixing against -6db pink noise. I think it's a great way to manage gain staging, and highlight either mix or composition problems to do with instrument overlap.

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

A: My last few film scores have been electronic-oriented, although I've been using guitars and brass in some recent projects. I'd love the chance to work on a fully orchestral score again though.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Developing music uniquely tailored for a project. While it might sound relatively basic, many professionals can be surprisingly inflexible in terms of what they can comfortably produce, or simply copy trends. I take pride in the range of my ability.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: And interest in abstract and advanced composition and mixing techniques, combined with a pop/commercial sensibility. Music/audio I work on is often unique, while still having having broad appeal or catchy elements.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It varies significantly, but in general I'll develop some sample tracks for a client to help narrow in on a perfect sound, and then work over the course of a project to refine the selected tracks into something release ready.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a JBL 5.1 setup for mixing. While the primary speaker's just the LSR305, they're a suitably sized speaker for the room. I also have a Behritone speaker for use as a grot box, and AIAIAI headphones configured for mixing. I use a Behringer X-Touch control surface, and have a Saffire Pro-40 for in-studio recording.

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

A: Modern composers I love include Chrstobal Tapia De Veer, Brian Reitzell, and Disasterpiece. They each have a distinct compositional style, but also do a wonderful job tailoring that style to each project they work on. I'm deep into EDM, but the clarity in Deadmau5 tracks - both in terms of mix and composition - is always motivational. I'm also a fan of self-starting independent musicians like Johnathan Coulton, Eliza Rickman, and E-Dubble.

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

A: The bulk of my professional experience is in composing music for soundtracks, and getting that music sync/release ready. While it's a relatively specific type of job, it's given me a breadth of knowledge, including live recording/field capture, advanced audio editing&cleaning, instrument building, mixing, mastering, etc.