ABSRDST on SoundBetter

Producer with multiple viral hits who specializes in sound design, song writing and vocal processing. Work with Bonnie McKee, Dorian Electra, Bonavega and Sonny Side Up.

Professional Summary:
A versatile and accomplished music producer and audio engineer with over 10 years of experience in audio mixing, mastering, and sound design. Recognized for contributing to viral projects such as Dorian Electra's "Flamboyant" album. Proficient in using industry-standard audio software and plugins, and adept at collaborating with artists and professionals to achieve high-quality sound and production. Committed to innovation, technical excellence, and continuous learning.

Skills:
1. Comprehensive knowledge of audio software and plugins, including FabFilter suite
and Celemony Melodyne.
2. Expertise in audio mixing, inspired by the fewer elements done to perfection
approach.
3. Mastering engineer with a focus on balancing loudness and taste.
4. Composer with influences ranging from video game music to classic Hollywood films.
5. Sound designer specializing in creating rich, textured sounds using Serum and
FabFilter plugins.
6. Over 10 years of experience in arranging and structuring songs, editing vocals, and
working with samples.
7. Excellent organizational skills with a systematic approach to project management.
8. Adept in critical listening and providing constructive feedback.
9. Exceptional communication skills with a focus on client expectation management and
collaboration.

Contact me through the green button above and let's get to work.

Credits

9 Reviews - 4 Repeat Clients

Endorse ABSRDST

by Nicholas A.
Verified
Jacky is an outstanding producer, has a great ear, and is a fun conversationalist. Really excited to work with her on upcoming projects.
Archer and Dempsey
by maggielovesart
Verified
Jacky is incredibly knowledgeable and a great teacher. She even gave me a homework assignment which was a great way for me to stretch my skills and learn. I made a lot of progress after just the first lesson! She is patient, helpful and very professional, I highly recommend working with her.
by Devin C.
Verified
She rocks my sox! Legit great producer that I am learning a lot from quickly.
by Reid S.
Verified
Jackie is a real master of her craft and devises lesson plans (incl. exercises and homework) to fit my goals and challenge me. Every time we meet it feels like my brain gains a wrinkle - my progress in learning Ableton, sound design, production, etc has all skyrocketed since we started. Don't sleep on Jackie.
by Jared S.
Verified
ABSRDST (Jackie) was INCREDIBLE. Went above and beyond to help me with my own production. If you're an artist, no matter where you are skill wise, you will pull SO much out of just one lesson. Jackie is an incredible teacher and very tactful in her explanations.
by Edie X.
Verified
Jackie is incredible to work with. She listened to what I wanted and then managed to somehow make that idea even better than I could have imagined! She is an incredibly talented producer and songwriter..... seriously hit this queen up <33333
by iisey
Verified
in only 1,5 hours Jackie managed to provide me with great insight on the questions that i specificly asked about and i already can see a good difference in my approach to solving the production issues i asked her about.
I highly recommend anyone interested to take lessons with Jackie, it's mind boggling to be able to get lessons from an artist on that level for the price that is asked for. Looking forward to get as many lessons as i can get with her.
by Reid S.
Verified
Jackie came really well prepared and did a great job of assessing where my skills are and the right way to push me out of my comfort zone. I came out of the lesson already feeling more confident and am excited to practice what I learned. Looking forward to another lesson, highly recommend.
by Devin C.
Verified
So happy that I found ABSRDST and she agreed to work with me. Not only is she highly skilled but she is very patient and informative. I learned so much from our sessions together. Her expertise was vital to help me craft the sound and style that I was looking for and I can't wait to collaborate with her in the future. If you are looking for a producer/songwriter that knows what she is doing and understands modern pop and EDM then Jackie is your girl!

Interview with ABSRDST

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I was extremely proud of my work on We're Beautiful, which was a co-production between myself and the artist Diveo, which went on to capture the hearts of TikTok and garner tens of millions of plays on the platform.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I am working on too many things to list, but a new album and a sample pack are on the horizon.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: I had a track mastered by "Elliot James Mulhern Mastering" and it came out great. He was very attentive to my specific needs, even though my song was in a genre outside of his wheelhouse.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both are good! Analog warmth is always a wonderful thing, but some of the defining sounds of our time come directly from our shift to digital production workstations. I say if a production doesn't have at least a bit of both, I'm not interested.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I can promise you that I will do my best to help your production shine bright like a diamond.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love the look on people's faces when I show them how good their voice can sound, and I especially like it when they start to dance and get excited about releasing.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: "Can you make me sound better?" My answer is always yes* *but you need to be open to learning
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: The biggest misconception is that there is a "right way" to do it. While there are standards and practices that will yield a good result, every production comes with its own challenges, and sometimes a strange experimental decision can take a production to the next level. Rules are meant to be broken, basically.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Have you taken vocal lessons? Do you have access to recording equipment?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Come in with an open mind. Honest feedback can be hard to take, but I find the people who are most willing to learn get the most out of working with me.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: All I need is my laptop, an interface, a microphone, and speakers. I guess the final one I'd bring is my Nintendo Switch so I don't get bored.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: Without getting too deep into it, I had a few viral hits on soundcloud, got picked up by Skrillex's label, went on to do remixes for Anamanaguchi and produce many songs for Dorian Electra. I've been doing this for roughly 10 years.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I would describe my style as classic song writing mixed with futuristic synth heavy production.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I would love to work with 070Shake. I love her voice / delivery, and I love that she bucks gender norms. I aspire to be like her.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Reach for a good saturator before you EQ anything. FabFilter Saturn allows you to process in bands, and each band gets its own EQ and presence knob, so for frequency boosting, Saturn will give you more color and control on the overall aesthetic of your sound. This is regardless of which instrument you're using, be it voice, drums or synths.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Hyperpop, dance and hip-hop.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I'm very good at helping artist find their voice.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Along with the aforementioned plugins, I bring a mastery of many aspects of music technology. I've been producing music for 10 + years, and I have a wealth of pop culture / music history knowledge to draw from for influences. I've also studied songwriting under the great Bonnie McKee (Britney Spears, Taio Cruz, Katy Perry and many more.)
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: [Collaboration: Sessions range from 1 to 4 hours, during which I usually get to know my clients. I try to judge their strengths and weaknesses to create a song that exists squarely within their world and within their vocal range, with their input. I ask collaborators to bring references and personality to my sessions. I like to think of producing for someone to be a two-way conversation.][Mastering / Engineering: When I do mastering and engineering, I try to take on the role of a co-producer. I will add my own drum samples or instruments if a production sounds a little flat. I will use sidechain compressors and adaptive eq's to tame everything to a nice base, and then I compress all of it and color it with saturators and other effects.]
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a very minimal setup that includes 1 macbook, 2 speakers and my imagination. Jokes aside, I have an extensive suite of plugins. Here are some that I use extensively, though I have many more. Compressor of choice: FabFilter Pro-C 2 EQ of choice: FabFilter Pro-Q 3 Limiter of choice: FabFilter Pro-L 2 Reverb of choice: FabFilter Pro-R Saturator of choice: FabFilter Saturn 2 [Delay of Choice: Fabfilter Timeless] [Chorus of choice: Maserati GTI (in clean chorus mode)] [Pitch correction: Melodyne] [Vocal Processing: Nectar 3] [MISC: Lil Alter Boy] [Fav Synths: Serum, Massive X]
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I am a giant pop and electronic music geek. [Pop/RNB/Hiphop/Modern: Britney Spears, Weyes Blood, Frank Ocean, Ke$ha, Dua Lipa, The Dream, Tyler the Creator, Charli XCX, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, 100 Gecs, Max Martin, 070 Shake] [Electronic: Sophie, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Flume, Maxo, Diveo, Bryan Eno] [Classics: Arthur Russel, Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, Les Paul, Ruth Brown] I also draw from alot of vgm. Some of my fav soundtracks are Donkey Kong Country 1 + 2 for the snes.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I tend to help my clients either sound as good as they want to sound, or in some cases help them become better producers themselves. When I am helping with songwriting, I tend to try to put a picture in the artist's head of what they might want the song to look like. Very specific visuals are referenced while creating a palette of sounds that we will use to build a beat that sounds professional and on brand.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Have you taken vocal lessons? Do you have access to recording equipment?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Come in with an open mind. Honest feedback can be hard to take, but I find the people who are most willing to learn get the most out of working with me.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: All I need is my laptop, an interface, a microphone, and speakers. I guess the final one I'd bring is my Nintendo Switch so I don't get bored.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: Without getting too deep into it, I had a few viral hits on soundcloud, got picked up by Skrillex's label, went on to do remixes for Anamanaguchi and produce many songs for Dorian Electra. I've been doing this for roughly 10 years.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I would describe my style as classic song writing mixed with futuristic synth heavy production.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I would love to work with 070Shake. I love her voice / delivery, and I love that she bucks gender norms. I aspire to be like her.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Reach for a good saturator before you EQ anything. FabFilter Saturn allows you to process in bands, and each band gets its own EQ and presence knob, so for frequency boosting, Saturn will give you more color and control on the overall aesthetic of your sound. This is regardless of which instrument you're using, be it voice, drums or synths.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Hyperpop, dance and hip-hop.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I'm very good at helping artist find their voice.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Along with the aforementioned plugins, I bring a mastery of many aspects of music technology. I've been producing music for 10 + years, and I have a wealth of pop culture / music history knowledge to draw from for influences. I've also studied songwriting under the great Bonnie McKee (Britney Spears, Taio Cruz, Katy Perry and many more.)
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: [Collaboration: Sessions range from 1 to 4 hours, during which I usually get to know my clients. I try to judge their strengths and weaknesses to create a song that exists squarely within their world and within their vocal range, with their input. I ask collaborators to bring references and personality to my sessions. I like to think of producing for someone to be a two-way conversation.][Mastering / Engineering: When I do mastering and engineering, I try to take on the role of a co-producer. I will add my own drum samples or instruments if a production sounds a little flat. I will use sidechain compressors and adaptive eq's to tame everything to a nice base, and then I compress all of it and color it with saturators and other effects.]
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a very minimal setup that includes 1 macbook, 2 speakers and my imagination. Jokes aside, I have an extensive suite of plugins. Here are some that I use extensively, though I have many more. Compressor of choice: FabFilter Pro-C 2 EQ of choice: FabFilter Pro-Q 3 Limiter of choice: FabFilter Pro-L 2 Reverb of choice: FabFilter Pro-R Saturator of choice: FabFilter Saturn 2 [Delay of Choice: Fabfilter Timeless] [Chorus of choice: Maserati GTI (in clean chorus mode)] [Pitch correction: Melodyne] [Vocal Processing: Nectar 3] [MISC: Lil Alter Boy] [Fav Synths: Serum, Massive X]
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I am a giant pop and electronic music geek. [Pop/RNB/Hiphop/Modern: Britney Spears, Weyes Blood, Frank Ocean, Ke$ha, Dua Lipa, The Dream, Tyler the Creator, Charli XCX, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, 100 Gecs, Max Martin, 070 Shake] [Electronic: Sophie, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Flume, Maxo, Diveo, Bryan Eno] [Classics: Arthur Russel, Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, Les Paul, Ruth Brown] I also draw from alot of vgm. Some of my fav soundtracks are Donkey Kong Country 1 + 2 for the snes.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I tend to help my clients either sound as good as they want to sound, or in some cases help them become better producers themselves. When I am helping with songwriting, I tend to try to put a picture in the artist's head of what they might want the song to look like. Very specific visuals are referenced while creating a palette of sounds that we will use to build a beat that sounds professional and on brand.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a very minimal setup that includes 1 macbook, 2 speakers and my imagination. Jokes aside, I have an extensive suite of plugins. Here are some that I use extensively, though I have many more. Compressor of choice: FabFilter Pro-C 2 EQ of choice: FabFilter Pro-Q 3 Limiter of choice: FabFilter Pro-L 2 Reverb of choice: FabFilter Pro-R Saturator of choice: FabFilter Saturn 2 Delay of Choice: Fabfilter Timeless Chorus of choice: Maserati GTI (in clean chorus mode) Pitch correction: Melodyne Vocal Processing: Nectar 3 MISC: Lil Alter Boy Fav Synths: Serum, Massive X
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I am a giant pop and electronic music geek. Pop/RNB/Hiphop/Modern: Britney Spears Weyes Blood Frank Ocean Ke$ha Dua Lipa The Dream Tyler the Creator Charli XCX Lady Gaga Kanye West 100 Gecs Max Martin 070 Shake Electronic: Sophie Aphex Twin Boards of Canada Flume Maxo Diveo Classics: Arthur Russel Nina Simone Dinah Washington Les Paul Ruth Brown
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I tend to help my clients either sound as good as they want to sound, or in some cases help them become better producers themselves. When I am helping with songwriting, I tend to try to put a picture in the artist's head of what they might want the song to look like. Very specific visuals are referenced while creating a palette of sounds that we will use to build a beat that sounds professional and on brand.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a very minimal setup that includes 1 macbook, 2 speakers and my imagination. Jokes aside, I have an extensive suite of plugins. Here are some that I use extensively, though I have many more. Compressor of choice: FabFilter Pro-C 2 EQ of choice: FabFilter Pro-Q 3 Limiter of choice: FabFilter Pro-L 2 Reverb of choice: FabFilter Pro-R Saturator of choice: FabFilter Saturn 2 Delay of Choice: Fabfilter Timeless Chorus of choice: Maserati GTI (in clean chorus mode) Pitch correction: Melodyne Vocal Processing: Nectar 3 MISC: Lil Alter Boy Fav Synths: Serum, Massive X
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I am a giant pop and electronic music geek. Pop/RNB/Hiphop/Modern: Britney Spears Weyes Blood Frank Ocean Ke$ha Dua Lipa The Dream Tyler the Creator Charli XCX Lady Gaga Kanye West 100 Gecs Max Martin 070 Shake Electronic: Sophie Aphex Twin Boards of Canada Flume Maxo Diveo Classics: Arthur Russel Nina Simone Dinah Washington Les Paul Ruth Brown
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I tend to help my clients either sound as good as they want to sound, or in some cases help them become better producers themselves. When I am helping with songwriting, I tend to try to put a picture in the artist's head of what they might want the song to look like. Very specific visuals are referenced while creating a palette of sounds that we will use to build a beat that sounds professional and on brand.