Modern Mixing & Mastering

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio is an acoustically sound treated mix room consisting of the following gear: - Monitoring; Adam Audio T7V, Yamaha HS8 - Interface: Universal Audio Apollo Twin - Hardware: Rupert Neve Designs 511 500 Series Mic Pre, DBX 560A Compressor - Microphone: MikTek CV4 - DAW: Pro Tools 12 - Plugins: Waves (all plugins), Universal Audio (all plugins), Slate Digital (all plugins), Fab-Filter Suite, Ozone, Melodyne, Autotune, RX, soothe Valhalla Verb, SoundToys (entire effects rack)

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: To be honest, the knowledge I have translates over analog and digital worlds, allowing me to tap into either depending on the desired outcome. With that being said, I love working in the box (digital). I have wide variety of plug ins and tools that I feel extremely confident in that have truly enhanced my workflow. Personally I love how much control and endless options come from a heavy digital mindset.

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

A: My promise to clients is to deliver them a high quality mix that will compete in the modern landscape of the music industry. It's also my promise to clients that I'll always value every artists goals regardless of career positing, genre, skill level, etc.

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

A: A misconception about the job of a mix/mastering engineer is that it mainly relies on technical skill. While technical skill is important, I believe that a sense of musicianship and sonic taste is where the magic lies. Sometimes mix moves that may seem technically "incorrect" end up sounding incredible when used in the right context (an overly distorted bass).

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

A: I love working on commercial music including pop, country and electronic!

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill as a mix engineer is balance. Ensuring that all elements in an arrangement are accounted for and properly treated to work in unison. I like to break a mix down into two main focal points, feel and perception. Feel: With every mix, it is my goal to enhance the emotional performance/feeling of every element. This ranges from: making a percussion section hit dynamically, creating mid range glue in the keys/acoustics, compressing vocals to feel present and tamed, and using tasteful effects to add 3 dimensional depth. Perception: A large value of mine is making sure that source sounds are not lost in the process of mixing. Especially when working with solid rough mixes, there is an integrity to the captured sound that should never be lost. It's within this focal point that I spend time shaping tones and frequencies to create a cohesive but authentic sounding mix.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Typically I like to connect with an artist prior to mixing and get an idea of what the project looks like and what the goals are. It's also great to get an idea of other mixes a client loves and what we can pull inspiration from.

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

A: The most common type of work that I do for my clients is mixing and mastering!