Mixing | Mastering | Guitarist

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

A: If money was no object, they would be: Studer A80; an early EMT140 plate reverb; Telefunken V72; Binson Echorec; Fender Telecaster (and probably an early Shure SM7 because it can do so much)

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a hybrid studio: Studer A80 and Revox PR99 (High Speed) tape machines, Pro Tools 2021, Universal Audio Apollo, and Dangerous Converters/D-Box. I have a large collection of analog effects (Echorec, SpaceEcho, Mellotron, Rhodes Stage Piano mkI, Marxophone, etc)

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

A: I am especially proud of a mastering project I did recently for the artist, Darby Wilcox. We did a full master for vinyl and separate masters for streaming/digital. They were somewhat of a "rescue" job as the original mix engineer mixed the project as if it were a metal album and refused to send the artist any original tracks/stems for remix. The project came out really well in the end, but I put a lot of hours into it.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm finishing up two projects for singer-songwriters and just started one avant-garde jazz recording with a synth/drum duo.

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

A: There are a few instrumentalists that I do recommend (but will have to answer in specifics later)

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I use both, but I prefer analog because of the its inherent warmth and the ability to push mixes into tape for that glue and cohesion it imparts.

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

A: I promise that I will do my absolute best to make sure every aspect of the recording/mix/master is of the best quality and fidelity.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love being a part of the finished product of music: being able to be a part of the moulding and shaping of songs/albums is a major happiness-maker.

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

A: "How quickly can you get this done" ... and the answer usually depends on how well the tracks were recorded, how much attention was paid to phase etc. during tracking.

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

A: Biggest misconception is that we can just push a button here and there and "magic" happens. Or that we can use templates for projects -- I have always found that every project is different, and following any sort of template is a bad idea.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I always ask for musical references (what they are listening to; songs that they are inspired by; sounds that they'd like their music to follow, if they have any)... and always time-frame and budget.

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

A: My advice would be to ask as many questions as you can. Try to get to know the provider and what their vision is for your specific project.

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

A: I started as a studio musician (guitar, organ, mandolin) and have had about 25 years of studio experience on all sides of the mixing console.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style would be "just on the other side of 'normal'"... I prefer when things are just about to fly apart, but never quite do so. It adds a bit of excitement.

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

A: Norah Jones - I think I could add some ethereal production to her songs, something with a bit more outsider-character and vibe.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Always check the phase on multi-mic'd instruments... and definitely EQ any/all parallel processes.

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

A: Typically, I work on Americana - rock, blues, singer-songwriter.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is putting both digital effects and analog equipment together to make an organic final product.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I have a strong sense of both arrangement and how a mix/master should focus the listener towards those elements - without the listener being aware of heavy-handed mix "tricks".

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I typically listen to an entire recording several times before starting, and I make notes for things I hear that I think should have a light shone on them. I always make notes of where I feel movement in a song is going towards and try to structure the mix/master around those moments.

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

A: Jon Brion and Daniel Lanois are my biggest inspirations. Their musical landscapes and productions are something I always aspire to work towards.

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

A: The most common type of work I do is mixing, which encompasses a lot of editing, time adjusting, etc.