Bruce Balensiefer on SoundBetter

Versatile, educated musician-engineer-producer providing bass and guitar parts, mixing, and work-for-hire recordings

Hi I'm Bruce. I am a bassist, guitarist, engineer and producer with a bachelor's in Music Engineering Technology and formal training in Jazz performance and arrangement. I've played bass for over twenty years and engineered for about ten. I offer bass tracks and parts as well as full instrumental works-for-hire and beats. I also do rhythm guitar work.

I specialize in modern direct/digital recording techniques and "in-the-box" DAW mixing. I specialize in hard rock styles but I am comfortable working in the styles of jazz, fusion, and R&B, with some electronic elements. I enjoy making highly dynamic productions with lots of emotional range and poppier tracks with earworm melodies.

Blast off! Let's go!

Contact me through the green button above and let's get to work.

Credits

1 Reviews

Endorse Bruce Balensiefer

by Matty G.
Verified
Bruce did a fantastic job at mastering a metal track for me, he's a very patient guy and get's to work quickly to help deliver you the best sound out of your track and he really knows his stuff! 10/10 would work with again

Interview with Bruce Balensiefer

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Demo production, bass tracks, mixing, mastering
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Rock, metal, jazz/blues, and electronic styles like EDM and synthwave
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Versatility. I enjoy making a jazz recording or blues recording or a metal track or something more electronic all the same.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: The Contortionist, Tesseract, Tower of Power, Rick Rubin, Tom Lord-Alge, Jon Brion, Prince, Bassnectar, and more
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: The producer's mindset: A willingness to serve the project rather than my own ego as an instrumentalist or composer.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a compact, simple, but modern recording setup: A fast Focusrite Clarett interface, Live 10 running on Windows 10, JBL monitors, a 48-key keyboard, and a load of good plugins. For instruments, there are a Warwick bass, a Carvin bass, and Ibanez 6- and 7-string guitars with digital modeling amps and plugins for the guitars and synth effects for the bass.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I arranged, produced, mixed, and played on a cover of "Son of a Preacher Man" with a full staff of musicians in the studio, then published it on a compilation album alongside other local artists' tracks.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Digital. As a multi-genre musician, I'm hooked on the versatility and convenience of having thousands of instruments and effects in one box- and they sound pretty good now too!
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Receive files from the client via Dropbox, communicate here on platform or Slack, deliver also to Dropbox
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: Synthwave songs and covers
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Have as clear a vision of your project as possible and be clear about the requirements and acceptance criteria- or be willing to let the provider bring as much of that themselves as is necessary.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Acoustic guitar, double bass, piano, alto saxophone, and a cocktail kit. The Island Jazz band is born.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I attended university for a degree in Music Engineering and Computer Science. I worked in the tech world for a number of years while continuing to practice and produce music on the side. I self-release singles and collaborate with friends on new tracks and remixes. I am now shifting my focus back to music production and freelancing opportunities.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Strong fundamentals of jazz, blues, rock, and R&B supporting an interest in more experimental styles of hard rock and electronic music
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Imogen Heap. She has an amazing sense of play, discovery, and innovation in music and technology.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Go easy on the compression! The loudness wars have gone on long enough.