Marty Bak @ SLR Studios

HD Mixing & Mastering

Marty Bak @ SLR Studios on SoundBetter

Hi! I just recently signed up to this website. I've been in the recording industry for over 15 years and have worked with many major artists/labels. I know how to get that big professional polished sound. Even if you're recording from home, I can breathe new life into your recordings by simply mixing/mastering your masterpiece.

I work in many styles and genres with superb chart topping quality.

I specialize in Rock, Hard Rock, Progressive Metal, Pop, Hip Hop.

All of my work is RADIO READY QUALITY! Check out some of my work in MORE SAMPLES on the bottom right.

Some of the artists I have worked with are Sick Puppies, Billy Raffoul, The Tea Party, Pomegranate Tiger, Ghosts of August, No Resolve, Autumn Kings, Ashes of Soma, Natalie Young, Rae Sremmurd, Electra Mustaine, Christie Palace, Christine Campbell and many more.

Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Interview with Marty Bak @ SLR Studios

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

  2. A: I worked with a band called Autumn Kings recently, and it was the most involved I've ever been in a project. Not only was I the mixing engineer, but also the producer, writer, sound engineer, mastering engineer and worked over 1-2 weeks on just 1 song! After everything was finished, I couldn't have been more proud of the final outcome.

  3. Q: What are you working on at the moment?

  4. A: I'm working on many mix projects from some local indie artists as well as some high profile record label projects.

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

  6. A: I recently just signed up, so I'll have to do some research before I answer this!

  7. Q: Analog or digital and why?

  8. A: Both, because going completely analogue could sound "better", however it's slower for recalls and could get much more expensive. Going completely digital is not bad, however sometimes mixes sound a little flat imo. When mixing digitally with some analogue components mixed in, you get the best of both worlds with speed/efficiency at a fair price.

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

  10. A: My clients will always be happy with the final outcome.

  11. Q: What do you like most about your job?

  12. A: Everything! I've been doing this all day everyday for over 15 years and I still wake up and look forward to mixing/mastering songs for clients all over the world.

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

  14. A: How fast is your turn around? 1 week If you don't like our song, will you still work on it? No How long does it take you to mix 1 song? Depending on the track count/duration, 0.5-1.5 days.

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

  16. A: Some artists think I can fix anything in a song, which in partially true, however, if a vocal performance is bad, or the voice is no good, that's something no one can fix!!! Please spend time on your vocal tracking! It'll be worth it in the end.

  17. Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

  18. A: What is the deadline? What kind of sound are you going for? Could you send me some other artist's songs for a sound reference you're shooting for? Are you more into the pop/clean sound, or more on the raw side?

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

  20. A: Do your research and check out other audio mixers to ensure that I'm the right fit.

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

  22. A: Pro Tools/Computer Neumann u87 UAD Apollo Yamaha NS10m monitors '52 Fender Telecaster

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

  24. A: I started off in the music industry very young at around 17-18 years old. I'm now in the industry for over 15 yeas with a very large clientele built up.

  25. Q: How would you describe your style?

  26. A: Larger than life!

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

  28. A: I'd like to work with 5 Seconds of Summer. They have a really nice hybrid sound that involves modern production with some pop and rock elements that I love to produce and mix on my spare time. I could defintely really help them craft their next single.

  29. Q: Can you share one music production tip?

  30. A: No matter how good my mix is, the song has to be great to compete with the elite in this industry. Don't expect a mix to distract the listener from a poorly written song. Write GREAT songs!

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

  32. A: Lately I've been mixing lots of pop music. Other genres include rock/hardrock, country, electronic, hip-hop as well as an electronic hard rock/pop sound that's been creeping up in the industry lately.

  33. Q: What's your strongest skill?

  34. A: My strongest skill is the attention to detail. I don't receive a song and give it a quick mix and then immediately send it to the client. I spend hours making sure I'm fully happy with the mix before the client hears it for the first time.

  35. Q: What do you bring to a song?

  36. A: I give the song the sonic landscape it needs to help indie/high profile artists compete with some of the greatest audio mixers that exist.

  37. Q: What's your typical work process?

  38. A: Usually a client will find me through word of mouth, then ask me to mix/master a song for them. Once payment is received, I receive the audio files and load them into my system. I normally will spend around 1 to 1.5 days mixing the song before sending it off to the client. Normally a client has 0-3 revisions tweaks to make, so I apply the changes, and master the song for them before an official release.

  39. Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

  40. A: I own and operate a state-of-the-art recording studio that runs as a hybrid setup. This means that I don't mix everything entirely in the box (computer). I run lots of automation and processing in Pro Tools while running drums, vocals, etc through many high-end hardware to give my mixes the depth and punch.

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

  42. A: Serban Ghenea is one of the worlds greatest mix engineer for Pop, and I do my best to try and keep up with his skill level. On the Rock/Metal size, I often compare my mixes against David Bendeth, Randy Staub and Andy Wallace. Those guys are remasters at what they do.

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

  44. A: I'm usually hired as a mixing & mastering engineer for projects. My genres that I specialize span from Hard Rock Metal, all the way to Pop and Electronic.

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Terms Of Service

My turnaround is around 5 business days depending on current workload. I can provide up 3 mix revisions free of charge.

GenresSounds Like
  • Breaking Benjamin
  • 5 Seconds of Summer
  • Katy Perry
Gear Highlights
  • Pro Tools HDX
  • Neve
  • Universal Audio 1176 x 7
  • Pultec EQP-1A x 2
  • Manley Vari-Mu/Massive Passive
  • Focusrite Red 3
  • Retro STA level
  • Compex ADR Compressor
  • LA2A
  • Empirical Labs Distressor
  • Neve EQ's. Avalon 737 x 2.
More Photos
More Samples
SoundBetter Deal

If hiring me to mix more than 3 songs at once, discounts will be available!