Pro Audio mixing & mastering

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Vintage, warm and fat.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: What you put into it, you will get out of it.

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

A: Rock, Heavy rock, Classic rock, Country rock, but, increasingly also: Hip hop and (Psy)trance.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I can make something out of nothing. I see music production as Lego building. Putting the different elements together in such a way that it tells a story, moves you.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Clarity and focus

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: First I listen to the song, get insights into its goal and intention. Then I clean up the audio where/if needed. The basic arrangement gets some scrutiny now as well. Then the balancing and adjusting starts. This last stage could take multiple days and multiple listens on multiple media systems. If needed, the final mix will be mastered as well; sometimes as part of the mixing process, sometimes plain afterwards or sometimes the mix will be send to external mastering engineer.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: In my home studio, I prefer to work with Reaper, which is connected to a RME interface with a Dynaudio speaker setup. I mostly use Waves and Soundtoys plugins to mix and master. Next to this, I have Pro tools running and the possibility to use an analog studio setup at the studio I co-manage. (www.Hitfabryk.nl)

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

A: Since childhood, my main inspiration always have been The Beatles. Nowadays, what I take out of that, is that there are no rules. You are only limited by your own creativity and personality. Next to this is authenticity; be honest and be yourself; this will always be more rewarding then the chasing of money or building your ego.

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

A: I mostly do mixing and arranging. Often clients do not know how to properly handle audio in general, or they want to put too much into the mix. Having both a creative approach and a understanding how people listen to music really adds quality to the final product.