Tracking/Mixing Engineer

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

A: I think my first major project years back. It was a local community theater and I had a session recording the band in one go, then several with vocalists. Being way more green, I made mistakes but was forced to learn from them. I'm more proud that I seemed to grow by leaps and bounds.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Soldering actually! I have preamps I am finishing up. It's been a nice break from the software and is fun.

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

A: Not yet but I'm eager to network further.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. Digital is convenient, recall is nice. It's a lower cost for multiple instances. Analog brings it's hardware components to color the sound differently and honestly, it's just aesthetically appealing. There are car guys, there are gun guys. I just find audio gear sexy in that way.

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

A: That you're happy with the end result. It's an investment in yourself against the massive wall of noise in the music world. If you're not happy, it reflects poorly on me which makes me not happy.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: That moment when a client hears the finished mix and says, yeah man, that's our sound. You fucking nailed it. That's a good feeling.

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

A: Flexibility on rates. I honestly hate the money talk the most. But I am flexible!

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

A: That it's on the same technical level as a dj. I try to say it's similar to being a high end chef; you've access to ingredients that need to play well together. Boldness and subtly sit in balance.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: The first is for reference tracks of course! We need to be on the same page. If they've prior experience with tracking/mixing, how long they've been playing, what music they like. It gives me an idea of them and where they came from.

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

A: Don't hesitate with any questions! I want you to be comfortable in your decision and not feeling like you didn't get what you wanted.

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

A: Geez, tough.. A computer with a massive monitor A UAD interface for the amazing plugs A pair of dynaudio BM5As (my ears been adjusted to them after 10yrs!) An endless supply of bourbon (sometimes it's needed haha) And lastly probably a virus TI to make weird sounds

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

A: Tutor/teacher turned AE haha. I was tutoring German during college and fell into engineering. I like the marriage of science, technical know how, and creativity. Professionally I've been at it for nearly a decade.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I like to aim for a nice balance while still remaining natural.

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

A: I ran sound for an Australian band Castlecomer. They were a really fun mixture of rock, pop, and electronic music. Plus a buncha nice guys just having fun while being appreciative! I would definitely like to work with them again. Another mention would be local post rock/metal band If These Trees Could Talk. Amazing musicians and tones, plus music I often listen to. That would be killer.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: A simple one, but toss a pre reverb EQ on the aux channel. Cleaning up the reverb space can really make or break the reverb itself.

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

A: Lately more rock and metal, but I'm open to any genre. I've done theater recordings to trip hop, nothing is off limits.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Having worked in studio and live with a wide range of music, I feel comfortable within most any genres. I love being introduced to new subgenres and try to learn an extra engineering tricks or trips about them. I think a desire to go outside my comfort box allows me to develop broader skills to apply to future work

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I think looking at each song and project as a whole lets me avoid robotic mixing. Some people use the same processing in every piece without wondering why. Maybe you're doing a stylized genre of music that shouldn't be using modern gear, but techniques of that era instead.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Even before mixing I address audio correction issues , timing issues, phase issues, and comp tracks. Whatever to streamline the mixing process of course. Within mixing, I love starting with from the bottom up; a solid rhythm section and accompanying bass, then slowly bring in elements. Mixing is a circular process and moves from a general feel to sharp precision as I continue a song.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: It's a hybrid system right now. Running pt12.x through an RME madicard and conversion by an Orion 32. 24 inputs and 8 send/returns to outboard equipment. Alongside analog outboard I use various plugins.

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

A: I'd have to go with a lot of Sylvia Massy's credits on this. She has had a hand in a lot of the music I listen to. Plus she is insanely creative.

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

A: At the moment, I am focusing on mixing (thanks corona!). I am renovating a space within Cleveland to encompass tracking as well. I'm a proponent of the local music scene, regardless of genre, and want it to flourish.