Metal & Rock Mixing - LOUD!

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

A: Probably that as a mixing engineer I can fix what is impossible to fix. Great masters come from great mixes, which come from great productions, recordings, arrangements and compositions.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Mainly albums & singles in the progressive & modern metal genres, as well as a bunch of pop and hip-hop single releases.

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

A: I mainly get questions about how the client can make sure that the final product will sound as good as possible. My usual recommendations (and common areas of improvement) are: Tune your guitars (unfortunately very common!), add the correct amount of layers (not too many, not too little), have a clear vision for which elements in your track are going to be the most important.

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

A: Even though I love to work with well established acts, I find that up & coming bands and recording artists with fresh ideas can often be the most thrilling projects. Those people are eager to get heard, and the music will show.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is the emotion you're trying to convey? What is a good reference for the sound you're going for? Did you polish your production as much as you'll want me to polish your mix?

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital, but with as much analog emulation as possible. Digital has a lot of potential and provides a smooth workflow, but the analog character still needs to be respected. Ears > gear.

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

A: A laptop, Universal Audio interface, Sennheiser HD600 headphones, FabFilter complete bundle, Ozone 11.

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

A: Yes! I've had the pleasure of collaborating with a very talented producer and engineer named Jonathan from Sweden, and I'd definitely encourage my clients in need of high quality production to contact him.

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

A: I wrote, produced, sang & mixed all songs for my band's first album, "The Affection" by SEVENSENT. I've been working on that material since I was a teenager, and finally seeing it come to life was incredibly rewarding. Also, I've had the pleasure to mix through SoundBetter a very intricate, 22 minute long progressive metal track named "The Absurdity Of Life" by the band Acquiescence - I'd encourage anyone who's curious to work with me to give it a listen. Another standout project booked through SoundBetter would be Demons In The Dark by CloudBeast.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Import & organize everything, duplicate tracks that will need to serve different purposes in different sections of the mix, and then it's all about finding the "center" of the track and listening to instinct. I generally mix drums against the backdrop of sound they'll have to pierce. Mixing with all channels open comes first, solo comes second, muting and un-muting third - all while remembering that the volume fader is more important than most of the processing. What follows is a long process of listening, re-listening, and then listening some more - especially on multiple sound systems, the crappier the better (I swear by double checking my mixes on my computer monitor's speakers). Then it's all about being open to client feedback.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I can remember making my own music as a young songwriter & being constantly afraid that the work of the people I hired, with the little money I had, wouldn't live up to my expectations. I aim to be the person that takes your idea seriously and helps you turn it into a reality.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't get so lost trying to fix minute details that you end up losing sight of the bigger picture. Fix the glaring issues first, and if you don't know what those issues are, ask for feedback - and be able to accept it.

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

A: Well, I once had a blast working on a hybrid rock-bossa nova song, but modern Metal is definitely my genre of specialization :) Thankfully, I'm being booked more and more to also mix in different genres.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I can usually intuit the artist's vision and enhance it. I'm obsessive about my work, and I will not quit before I'm 100% satisfied with what I'm delivering.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Aggression, ambiance, polish, balance.

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

A: As a producer and engineer, I really have a soft spot for Devin Townsend, Chris Lord-Alge, Peter Tagtgren, Jens Bogren, Adam Getgood and Zakk Cervini (not to mention the mastering skills of Ted Jensen.)

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work 100% in the box: Universal Audio interface & preamps, Sennheiser HD600 headphones (Sonarworks calibrated). I have a vast collection of libraries for production purposes, while my plugin selection is a mix of FabFilter, Waves, Slate, iZotope & SoundToys. When tracking vocals, I sing into a Shure SM7B microphone with Neve preamp, 1176 compression & Pultec EQ UAD sims.

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

A: The very basics: double track your guitars and be especially demanding about your guitar tuning - if it's off, the mix won't sound good and there's nothing I can do about it. Check your input level when you're tracking - if you're clipping, re-track. If your room is not perfect, don't track vocals with expensive condenser microphones - get a shure SM7B, which always gets the job done. Have an idea of the finished product that's as clear as possible. Send references, give honest feedback, go for what you actually want. The more you help me, the more I can help you.

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

A: I started as a classical piano player at the age of 6, moved on to drums at the age of 15, studied at the Collective School of Music in New York, toured a bunch of countries and recorded at the Saltime Studios in Mesa. I remember writing my first song in my early teens, and I've been a professional audio engineer since 2010. I also sing professionally quite a bit.

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

A: Great communication & teamwork. You will be listened to, your inputs will ALWAYS come first, and you will be very happy with the final product.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Years ago I would have used adjectives such as aggressive and uncompromising - nowadays, even though I retain quite a bit of that attitude, I'm trying to become more well rounded. No need to push that clipper & limiter THAT far anymore.

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

A: Mix engineering with a focus on heavy music, looking for an huge, uncompromising sound. I also quite like to mix in other genres such as EDM, Hip-Hop and Pop - everything that needs to sound energetic is my cup of tea.