Mixer and recording engineer with world class studio experience and a proven track record.
What can I say? I love music and I love mixing. My goal is to achieve the highest quality mixes possible and I do so through a thorough process of listening and mixing with intent. I've been working in audio for over 15 years and have experience in a wide variety of genres ranging from classical to world music, jazz, rock and roll, and beyond. I am currently a P&E wing voting member of the Recording Academy/GRAMMYs. I was a staff engineer at the world renowned Fantasy Studios in Berkeley California for ten years and have worked on projects ranging from tight budget singer / songwriter to big budget, major label artist releases. Furthermore, I have considerable practice recording and mixing large ensembles such as jazz big bands and orchestras. I can facilitate in-studio recordings and mixes or in-the-box hybrid mixes in my production suite all either client attended or unattended. Please contact me for more examples of my work. Thanks for reading and I hope to collaborate and help you realize your vision!
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Credits
AllMusic verified credits for Alberto Hernandez- Throttle Elevator Music
- Throttle Elevator Music
- Roscoe Mitchell
- Roscoe Mitchell Orchestra
- Roscoe Mitchell
- Roscoe Mitchell Orchestra
- Volti
- Robert Geary
- Erik Jekabson
- Electric Squeezebox Orchestra
- Roscoe Mitchell
- Erik Jekabson
- Larry Ochs
- Christopher Youmans & the Sound Agency
- Marcos Silva
- Mary D'Orazi
- Marcos Silva
- Mary D'Orazi
- Trio 180
- Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers
- Johnny Thunders
- Janis Mercer
- Neil Young
- Promise of the Real
- Kenny Washington
- Michael O'Neill
- Devon Holland
- Devon Holland
- Meerenai Shim
- Nathan Johnson
- Penelope Houston
- Joe Satriani
- Joshua Bell
- Zhang Yi
- Howlin Rain
- Journey
- Andraé Crouch
- John Vanderslice
- Magik Magik Orchestra
- Huun-Huur-Tu
- George Winston
- Mike Rinta
- Huun-Huur-Tu
- Train
- Orquesta Aragón
- Bamboleo
- Mazter
- Pedrito Calvo
- Pedrito Calvo
- ¡Cubanismo!
- ¡Cubanismo!
- Gallygows
- Gallygows
- Gallygows
- Gallygows
- ¡Cubanismo!
- Adalberto Álvarez y Su Son
- Rebekah Victoria
- Rebekah Victoria
- Maite Perroni
- The Greatest Showman Ensemble
- Bruce Kaphan Quartet
- Moises P. Monk
- Moises P. Monk
- Counterweight
- Elias
- Elias
- Juan Vegas
- Moises P. Monk
- Gregory Howe
- The Zombie Valentines
- Scott Smith
- Season of the Crow
- Season of the Crow
- Dave Hosley
- Lucia Comnes
- Rocio Guitard
- Moises P. Monk
- Marta Soto
- Marta Soto
- Marta Soto
- Brass Farthing
- Marya Stark
- The Lost American Jazzbook
- Alex Ubago
- Alex Ubago
- Alex Ubago
- Lost Jazz Ensemble
18 Reviews
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The "Sanctuary" session is a resounding success; masterful location recording by Alberto Hernandez today, at the Old First Presbyterian Church. The hour-long solo piano performance will be released in 2019, on the Artists Recording Collective label.
I loved working with Alberto on a recent album and would jump at the chance to work with him again. He brings extensive knowledge, precise technical skills, and an ability to apply his expertise to the particular goals of a project. On top of that he’s a great listener and loads of fun.
Alberto is my go-to recording engineer. We've collaborated on three albums now; working different ensembles of various genres on nearly every track. We've tracked together, edited together, and mixed together. Every session is a true joy because of Alberto's affability and expertise. His attention to detail is on a supremely high level which I have not encountered often in my career. He is thorough, conscientious, and considerate. Everything we've produced together sounds incredible--there's a level of audio wizardry that is beyond my understanding which Alberto brings to the table.
I've had the honor of working with Alberto on many projects over the years. He has a calming and competent presence behind the board, and with his clients, and is always happy to lend an experienced ear to a track. After working on two or three projects with him, I noticed that he'd dial in the sounds that he knew I liked to hear, and he's got so much experience both as a producer and an engineer that he's the whole package!
I've worked with many engineers over the years and Alberto is one of the absolute best. I recommend him to anyone, and look forward to sitting next to him again soon!Alberto is hands down the best engineer that I've personally worked with in the west coast. Not only does he understand different rooms and different gear for sessions, but he understands music!!! In a modern recording world, where engineers commonly don't have any basic education in song form, to me this is one of Alberto's greatest assets. Before I can even ask him to cue up a particular section in a song or ask him to edit a chunk in pro tools, he's done and he's made it sound better than you thought it could. He's a joy to work with in the studio and just a joy to be with in general.
I have enjoyed working with Alberto many times at Fantasy Studios over the years. He's easy-going, a great communicator, and very musical (which is important to me as a producer). He's also really chill, which makes the sessions a complete joy. And of course, everything comes out sounding great in the mix! I highly recommend working with him for your next project.
I had an awesome time working with Alberto. He is fun, easy going, came well prepared for our sessions, and made me feel really comfortable and at ease while in my creative process. we captured some really beautiful sounds together, and I have continued to call upon him whenever I'm in the bay area for session work. highly recommend
I had the great fortune of working with Alberto on the first vocal recording I ever did, at the legendary, Fantasy Studios. Alberto is a consummate professional who goes out of his way to make you feel comfortable and unintimidated by the recording process. He is patient, supportive and a perfectionist. I have done subsequent tracks with Alberto and I'm grateful for the opportunity of working with him and look forward to many more sessions with him.
I have had the pleasure of recording with Alberto numerous times at Fantasy Studios over the years with various projects and most recently at Decibelle Studios. Tracking with Alberto as engineer is always a pleasant experience. He is extremely capable behind the desk, easy to work with and a pleasure to be around. Needless to say – everything always sounds great, too! I can’t recall ever having an issue tracking drums with Alberto at the helm.
Alberto is an incredible engineer. He is my go-to person for mixing my albums (Raze the Maze, MoeTar). He is incredibly fast, knowledgeable and easy to work with. He is kind and open with no ego issues getting in the way of an easy working relationship in the studio, which I find has been hard to find in a studio engineer. If you're looking for a great talent who will quickly become your right-hand in the studio, Alberto is your person. He is a gem.
I have been working with Alberto for about a year now, and I enjoyed every second of the studio session. The guy is a PRO. My style is Flamenco music and I have had hard time finding people to work with. Alberto not only is versatile and has a broad range of music knowledge, he also exceeded my expectations. Not to mention, the guy is very patient. He will work with you until you are satisfied with the song.
A perfectionist. I highly recommend Alberto.Alberto is simply a joy to work with! We've recorded many projects together at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley for various artists over the span of nearly a decade, and in every case the artist and musicians were all delighted with Alberto's friendly, fun, and totally pro approach to recording. Being a musician himself, Alberto applied his advice and golden ears in a most musical way to every phase of the project. Plus, Great Guy he is, Alberto always made me - and all - feel right at home.
Alberto is hands down among the top engineers in the Bay Area. He is incredibly knowledgeable, works with a wide body of music/instrumentation, and has one of the best dispositions in the studio. Most importantly, he sincerely cares.
I work with diverse genres regularly (ranging between Orchestral, Arabic, Hip hop, Rock, Jazz, Electronic, Latin, etc.) and there are very few engineers I would trust to work with that variety of artists. Alberto's incredibly open with regards to what he listens to and his knowledge of instrumentation/how to get the best sound.
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Working with Alberto is a joy and a privilege! He is a masterful engineer and a funny, thoughtful and kind human being. He has an excellent ear, no matter what music he is working on, and he brings a curiosity and love of both people and music to his work every day. He is also a talented musician himself! One time, after we had finished our session and gone home for the day, Alberto stayed in the studio and recorded a bass line onto one of our tracks and surprised us with it the next day. Such a good guy. Look no further! Alberto is the engineer you want.
Alberto has done masterful work on both of my current sessions for the Artists Recording Collective label: Ruminations / ARC-2956, and The Ancients / ARC-2819. He understands the needs of highly specialized instrumental musicians like myself, who require extended, real-time performance at the piano. Unlike others in this highly competitive field, Alberto is acutely aware of nuances in recording environments, which, without question, has consistently brought out my very best work. Thanks again, Alberto -- I look forward to our next session !
The short and sweet of it is, if you are looking for the very best engineer in the SF Bay area, look no further than Alberto Hernandez.
Precise, efficient, and a master of his craft in all he does, Alberto also possesses the “musician’s ear”. He has worked with a broad range of music genres, and yet, because of his overall understanding of music, he tunes in to what is needed and wanted with the proper setting of sound for each instrument in each track of each recording, and always relative to the style he is working with. We have created two top-notch albums together! He is a gem indeed!
I bring all the tracks for my alt/pop band to Alberto for mixdown. His familiarity with a broad range of music and his skill at the console means he can capture any vibe you can think of, and he's got a strong attention to detail while being able to work very quickly. He routinely uses the best equipment money can buy but always keeps things down to earth and is a breeze to work with. Highly recommended!
I've worked with Alberto on several Classical and Contemporary Classical projects. He has engineered 5 full length albums and an EP for me. I've worked with him as a performing artist and as a producer. I can't say enough great things about working with Alberto.
- He has a great ear and attention to detail.
- He can read music so I can give him a score and the tracking and mixing sessions are a breeze.
- I can trust him to help lighten the mood when a long recording day gets stressful.
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Interview with Alberto Hernandez Audio
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Original Telefunken U47 (with infinite VF14 replacements), Neve 1073, GML 8200, SSL4056E, Pro Tools HD rig w/ 48 channels of I/O
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been doing this professionally for over 15 years. I've been playing music since elementary school (saxophone, guitar and bass) and studied music through college. I started out recording my band's rehearsals, then started doing live sound at a bar I was working at during college (studying mechanical engineering), built a small home studio then decided to study audio engineering rather than mechanical engineering. I was a staff engineer at the world renowned Fantasy Studios for ten years.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Be well rehearsed before going into the studio and have all if not most of the parts fleshed out. Additionally, at times simplicity can be infinitely more engaging that complexity; openness and space will make those big moments that much more impactful.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: The most common service I provide for my clients is the final mix of their project. I can also provide help in sourcing recording studios that best fit the sound, scope and budget along with being the recording engineer. I also edit and tune vocals.
I was the Mixing Engineer on all and the Recording Engineer on most in this production
- Mixing EngineerAverage price - $250 per song
- Recording StudioAverage price - $500 per day
- EditingContact for pricing
- Vocal compingContact for pricing
- Vocal TuningContact for pricing
Every project is different so the prices listed above are averages. Please contact me to discuss your project's details so that we can come up with a game plan and an accurate budget. Thanks!
- SSL Sigma Summing Mixer
- BAE 10DC compressor / limiter
- 2 channels of Vintech X73 (Neve 1073) 1 channel of Vintech X81 (Neve 1081)
- 4 Channels of Vintech 473 (Neve 1073 class A Preamp)
- 2 channels of Millennia Media STT1 Origin