String and Orchestral Arranger

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Listen to the string arrangement on T.Rex's Cosmic Dancer - that's basically the inspiration behind everything I do.

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

A: Everything from pop, rock, gospel and hip-hop to music theatre, rock operas (a favourite!) and film soundtracks.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My ability to hear a finished piece of music in my head when listening to a rough idea. Also my communication skills - essential for making sure I create what my clients are expecting.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring rich, ultra-realistic strings and orchestral instruments that will set your songs apart and give them a unique identity.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I like to ensure I'm 100% on the same page as my clients from the outset, so I'll start with discussing influences, project aims and timescales. I'll create a few initial ideas to check I'm heading in the right direction before focusing on arrangement and orchestration. I'll then track everything using virtual instruments before mixing/mastering and creating PDF scores. Finally, the revision process involves further discussions and often live mix sessions via Zoom.

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

A: Tony Visconti remains a huge influence on my production work. His string arrangements for Bowie and Bolan are timeless. It was one of the best days of my life when he complimented my own work.

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

A: I mostly work on arrangement and production work, everything from orchestration, arrangement, editing, tracking instruments, mixing, mastering and everything inbetween.

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

A: I loved working on an album called Reflections with an artist called Sam Art, who is a New York singer and musician with the most incredible voice and style. Completely unique. As part of my wider production and arrangement role I added a number of stringed and orchestral instruments to her songs.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: An album of unreleased Marc Bolan songs, restored from original 4-track demos and authentically overdubbed with sampled sounds from the original T.Rex band. I'm in technical nerd heaven.

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

A: I'm new to the platform so haven't met many people yet - check back later :)

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: There's no easy answer to this one. Both have advantages/disadvantages. Digital provides more flexibility, analog (sometimes) provides more warmth. It depends on the sound you're going for.

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

A: I am only going to be happy when you are happy :)

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Earning a living doing the thing I love. It doesn't really feel like a job.

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

A: Question: do you work with live or virtual instruments? Answer: I work entirely with virtual instruments. I can produce a full score if you're planning on re-recording with live strings / orchestra. In most cases the VIs alone are enough. Modern VIs - if used properly - are hard to distinguish from the real thing.

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

A: That I have an entire live orchestra permanently set up inside my studio :)

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Do you have a demo I can listen to? Could you send some links to music in a similar style to what you're looking for? What instruments would you like me to add? Do you need just mixes and stems, or do you also need a PDF score?

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

A: Listen to their previous work, and ask for additional examples. Make sure their previous work is broadly suited to what you're looking for. Focus on their responsiveness, and their attention to detail, particularly at the start when you're identifying what exactly they'll provide for you. Credits and Spotify plays are great, but great communication trumps all.

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

A: I mean, food, water, a tent, some seeds and a pocket knife. String arrangements would probably take a back seat?

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

A: I started as a composer in the mid-90s training under renowned Welsh composer Michael Parkin. This led to me studying a Music degree at Oxford University, followed closely by 10 years as a performing musician on Oxford's legendary music scene. Moving into production full-time in 2019 involved a return to string and orchestral arrangement and composition, so I've basically come full circle!

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

A: I'm always interested in working with people with strange, unusual, unique musical ideas. People with beautiful ideas and a non-commercial approach to music making.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Virtual instruments only sound convincing if you understand the instrument they are replicating.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio is based in a beautiful seaside town called Tenby in Wales, UK. I work primarily with Logic Pro, utilising Waves plugins and Kontakt / Opus VST libraries.