I'm a self made man that's handcrafting my livelihood
I've been involved with music my entire life. Since childhood, I have always been fascinated by music. Being raised around studio owners and touring artists, shortly after high school I started taking music seriously. over a decade later and I've worked on numerous singles, albums, EP's, I've worked alongside some of the biggest names in the industry, and have made a name for myself in various parts of the globe.
Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Interview with Michael Knouff
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Totally. I use them whenever I get too burdened with work.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: That's going to vary from each task.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Less is a lot more than people will ever give credit to
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I usually work on Rock, Pop, Hip-hop, Electronic, Folk & Country, Singer/Songwriter, Blues, and Metal
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I do a lot of editing, programming, mixing, mastering, getting good guitar, drum, and drum tones, consultation, and songwriting
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I've worked on stuff for the Unstoppable Recording Machine, I've been a Universal artist, I've worked with George Seal from MTV Cribs fame, I could go on but I'm very proud of what I do because it's always one more step to where I want to be.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: This question is going to change a lot over time so all I can say is that I'm always working on something.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: I really hate this question. Analog and digital BOTH have their place in this world. Digital is in a place now though that it is really hard to distinguish between either. I've done blind tests to prove this. I love a good bit of analog stuff, but Digital is here to stay and it's only going to get better.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: That they will never get mistreated by me.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Getting to help people realize the best version of their vision they can get.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: "Can you help me?" and then i say ,"Yes I can."
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: People thinking it's easy. That anybody can go buy some gear and be just as good as the next.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Please come to me with an open mind. You may or may not like what I have to say about your music, but trust me, I'm in this to help you.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Laptop, interface, guitar, a damn good set of headphones, and a keyboard controller
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I jumped in right after high school 13 years ago after being around it since I was a small child
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: My style changes along with whatever I'm working on
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: There's so many to list. We could be here all night.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I don't think I have a strongest skill. I feel I'm pretty well balanced.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Good ears and seasoned tastes. Not everybody can be a master song writer and that's why I'm around. Some people can only make your simple a/b/c formula, BUT some people take it too far and try to be too "musical" and never get anywhere and generally destroy their own precious creations. Either extreme will need some help getting your song into shape by knowing how exactly to help sculpt your music.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I think that's a very open-ended question and I could not give a single definitive answer to that
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: - Mostly ITB, hand built machine running Cubase 9, SSD HDD's Optimized and tweaked for maximum performance - Focusrite preamps and converters - Pair of KRK Rokit 8's with a s10 sub - Presonus Faderport control surface - M-Audio KeyStudio - Various amps, cabs, guitars, basses, and mics - I use software made by Waves, Fabfilter, JST, Drumforge, Toontrack, Brainworx, and SPL
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Tech N9ne, Dimebag Darrell, RJD2, Hucci, Justin Nozuka, John Mayer, Eyal Levi, Joey Sturgis, Joel Wanasek, Billy Decker, Frank Sinatra, BB King, Nina Simone, Miyavi, Glass Casket, Mindless Self Indulgence
- RestorationAverage price - $75 per hour
- EditingAverage price - $40 per track
- Programmed drumAverage price - $100 per song
- Mixing EngineerAverage price - $150 per song
- Mastering EngineerAverage price - $30 per song
- Songwriter - MusicAverage price - $150 per song
- Session ConversionAverage price - $40 per session
I usually allow up to 3 revisions before charging $25 for each extra revision. I have a document I'll send to demonstrate how I typically want work sent to me.
