I've been writing, recording, mixing, and mastering music for years. I specialize in chill and vibey stuff that often straddles the acoustic & electronic realms. From writing & production all the way to mixing and mastering, I can take your material to the next level.
After taking piano lessons as a kid, I picked up guitar in my late teens and pretty much immediately plugged a mixer into my computer to start recording my own band in my parent's garage.
Twenty years later, I've accumulated a wealth of experience both from writing and producing songs with various bands of my own and for hire for other musicians. I've become very proficient at electric & acoustic guitar, piano, synthesis, arrangement, harmony & part writing, and production in general. From a writing or production standpoint, I can contribute parts to your songs or take you from essentially scratch to a finished product.
Beyond writing, I have over fifteen years mixing and five years mastering experience for bands and solo artists.
While I personally focus on vibey chill stuff, I've worked with clients from range of genres that spans dream pop, psychedelic rock, experimental indie, metal, punk, electronic, jazz fusion, and more.
In addition to my musical background, I have a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering with an elective focus on analog electronics and acoustics, which helps make my creative processes more robust by grounding them in deep technical knowhow.
I work out of a dedicated tuned & treated room in Boise, Idaho.
Tell me about your project and how I can help, through the 'Contact' button above.
26 Reviews - 5 Repeat Clients
Endorse Dale Hiscock- check_circleVerified
Amazing job as always. Dale is great at communicating and I almost never have to ask for any changes. Will definitely be back again!
- check_circleVerified
Dale did an amazing job mastering my song. He's my go to person for mastering now and I'm always happy with the result.
- check_circleVerified
Dale did an amazing job mastering my song, always a pleasure to work with. I never have to change anything, so quick and great quality.
- check_circleVerified
Dale is the best! Great quality work and super quick to respond! Highly recommend this guy!
- check_circleVerified
Dale is always thorough and very helpful!!! Always crushes it
- check_circleVerified
Dale is a skilled & talented mastering engineer
- check_circleVerified
Dale did once again an amazing job mastering my song. Definitely continue working with him.
- check_circleVerified
Dale's mastering services were excellent. He communicated clearly and openly, provided helpful advice and insight, and proactively engaged me in getting my songs mastered perfectly. The result: the masters sounded perfect the first time around, and I had no need for substantive changes with him. Working with Dale was a smooth process. I highly recommend him.
- check_circleVerified
Great job as always, it's a pleasure to work with Dale!
- check_circleVerified
Dale is my new go to person for mastering my songs. He always delivers on time with perfect quality!
- check_circleVerified
Dale was amazing to work with! Offered great rates and worked amazingly around my needs and requests in a timely manner. Would definitely go to for mastering again!
- check_circleVerified
Dale did an amazing job mastering my song. Looking forward to more songs to come!
- check_circleVerified
Dale did a great job mastering my song, was very friendly and responsive and I will definitely work with him again!
- check_circleVerified
Dale is awesome and worked out every bump and issue with the mixes. Very thorough and accommodating!!!
- check_circleVerified
I couldn’t have been happier working with Dale. His process and communication were both professional and timely. I feel proud to have produced these 5 songs but they couldn’t truly get to their final state without Dale.
- check_circleVerified
It was great to work with Dale. He's a real professional and he was very patient with my project. Would definitely recommend working with him!
- check_circleVerified
Dale mastered out track with incredible precision, helping bring our sound to the next level and larger audiences. He has a consummate knowledge of his craft and audio engineering history. All around great collaborator and learned a lot. Highly recommend !
- check_circleVerified
Dale is amazing! Needed my first song mastered in a timely fashion and he wasted no time at all getting to it. Dale payed extra attention to the elements I really wanted to pop in the final version, and he even tweaked it for me to make sure I was 100% satisfied. I highly recommend working with him!! You wont regret it :)
- check_circleVerified
I loved working with Dale to mix and master my latest single. He was a total professional; quick to respond to messages and great about following up. He cranked out an awesome master for me and I'm looking forward to working with him again in the future!
- check_circleVerified
Dale is awesome! He mastered our track professionally and efficiently. You can tell he pays attention to detail! Excited to work with him again!
Interview with Dale Hiscock
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Brian Squillace is an amazing producer and you should hire him.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: It really doesn't matter. I used to be more of an analog snob in the early 2000s, but digital audio technology has come a long way. Also, when I got my BS in electrical engineering and learned how digital audio works at a base level it dispelled a lot of the myths surrounding digital.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: Mixing and mastering are a mix of art and science, but they actually skew a lot harder towards art than some people realize.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been working on recording and mixing bands for about 20 years now - I started in my teens. I was just recording my own bands and other bands in the scene would start asking me to record them, and I got jobs by word of mouth for years. I've done more and more mixing, mastering, and producing over the years but I've never stopped making original music and I believe that doing both makes me better at both.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I'd have to say Justin Vernon. He is fearlessly innovative and seems pretty down-to-earth in interviews.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Work with intention - meaning, don't do something unless you know why you should be doing it in the first place.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Quite a wide range, but centering on modern indie pop, chillwave, and indie electronic. By no means limited to these genres though.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I'm quite good at listening to feedback from my clients and understanding their intentions, even if they can't quite put their finger on how to say what they're trying to say. It's my job to bridge the gap between what the client wants and how to actually execute it.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I offer a technical background combined with a lot of experience writing original music on multiple instruments. This lets me approach things like mixes and masters from a more musical perspective, rather than clinically.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: This varies quite a bit according to the job, but the first step is to always listen to what the client brings me and really zero in on the emotional intent behind their work. There's no such thing as a one-size-fits all perfect production or perfect mix - it all depends on where the client wants to go.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a dedicated 400 square foot studio equipped with measured and tuned acoustic treatment to achieve a great listening environment. I work primarily in Logic and use UAD Apollo interfaces. For monitoring I have a pair of HEDD Type 07 mk2s and a HEDD Bass 08 as well as a pair of Auratone Mixcubes. For tracking and production, I have a variety of synths, guitars, a ton of guitar pedals, an acoustic piano, and a collection of microphones.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I'm most inspired by people like Johny Greenwood, Justin Vernon, and George Martin. They're all excellent producers because they are excellent musicians, and they know how to bring that musical touch to the technical side of a production in innovative and emotionally resonant ways.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I'm most often hired for mixing and mastering work, although production and arranging are also common.
I was the Singer, songwriter, and full instrumental producer in this production
- Mastering EngineerAverage price - $70 per song
- Mixing EngineerAverage price - $250 per song
- ProducerAverage price - $500 per song
- Full instrumental productionAverage price - $300 per song
- Electric GuitarAverage price - $70 per song
- Keyboards - SynthAverage price - $70 per song
- Acoustic GuitarAverage price - $70 per song
Mix/master: 5 revisions included in base price, hourly charges beyond that
Master: Alt mixes are $10/each. If mix is changed after a job is started, new charges will apply
- Bon Iver
- Radiohead
- Sufjan Stevens
- Logic Pro
- UAD Apollo
- HEDD Type 07 mkII & Bass 08