Frequently Asked Questions

General

My recording studio, Serif Sound, is located in Middletown, CT, right between New York and Boston. However, for remote mixing services, I am based online. You can upload your audio files from anywhere in the world and I will mix them and send you the final product.

My current standard rate (subject to change):

    • Mixing  –  $300 per song + mastering costs*

*You should budget $100-$150 per song for mastering. I will bundle the mastering costs into your project rate and then take care of booking the mastering engineer, paying them, and all the logistics in between so that you don’t have to worry about it. Then I’ll send you the mastering invoices/receipts for your records.

    • Recording + Mixing   – Quote based pricing starting at $700 per song + mastering costs. The rate will depend on what studio(s) we use, how many days we schedule, etc. 
    • Tracking Sessions – The day rate is $300/8hr-day with an engineer. This does not include mixing, or any editing/comping/tuning etc. outside of the 8hr session time.

That’s a good starting point, but every project has slightly different needs. I will discuss the needs of your project with you and the rate will be a part of that conversation. Reach out and let’s talk.

I have been privileged to engineer for some amazing artists and bands while working for David Bendeth at House Of Loud, including Of Mice & Men, Beartooth, We Came As Romans, Tonight Alive, Fire From The Gods, Courage My Love, Young Guns, and As Lions, as well as be mixing assistant for I Prevail, Palaye Royale, Art of Dying, Defeat The Low, and The Vamps.

Recording Services

My recording studio, Serif Sound, is located in an old factory building in Middletown, CT, right between New York and Boston. It is designed to have a modern workflow, and an old-school vibe. Open the 10ft tall windows to let in the light, or pull the curtains for a darker moodier feel. Smack the always-mic’d-up drumkit, or pick through the collection of guitars and other instruments. At Serif Sound, nothing stands between your inspiration and the recorder.

Typically, no. For full-song recording projects (single, EP, or album), I schedule time based on the needs of the project and charge by the song.

For one-off sessions that don’t fit the description above, I typically book full days and charge a day rate.

(See rate info above)

Yes! My philosophy on recording is that the song is king. A great recording of a half-baked song is a half-baked recording. I am more than happy to help you develop your song and dial in sounds before and during the recording process.

If I’m in the producer role for your project, even before we hit record, we will spend some time on preproduction. That can include discussions about your goals, songwriting, arrangement, finding sounds, and sometimes demo recording to make sure everything feels the best it possibly can. Then we’ll hit the ground running for the final takes and know we are going to be successful with the end product. 

You can absolutely bring your own engineer or producer. 

However, I do require an engineer who knows the studio to be present for all sessions. Either myself or one of my engineers will need to attend the session to assist if an outside engineer is working at Serif Sound for the first time.

The recording calendar varies season to season. I recommend reaching out about booking your session as soon as all of the songs for the project are written, or mostly written. 

In general, booking as far in advance as possible is the way to go.

I try to book projects in solid blocks of days. If you have an EP and we decide we need 8 days to record all of it, we will book an 8-day block of time for it (for ex. Mon-Sat one week and then Mon-Tues the next week).

I understand that weekends are often the most convenient for people, but it’s in the best interest of every project to do the sessions in one push. This allows us to have consistency of tones between songs (keeping microphones set up between days) and more efficient use of our time (not having to re-set up the whole session multiple times). Ultimately, that saves you money and gets you a better sounding product in the end.

I will discuss your project with you so we can agree on a timeline that makes sense for your project and your budget. In general though, I plan for two days per song for recording, and one day per song for mixing.

Mixing Services

As early as you can. I recommend that when you schedule recording time, you schedule mixing as well. Leave a week or two of buffer time between the end of recording and the beginning of mixing to allow for overflow in the tracking process and time to prep the files for mixing.

I ask for the full multitrack as WAV files. All of the audio files should be the full length of the session from start to finish, properly named, and organized by instrument group. For a detailed, step-by-step guide to mix prep, check out this article. If you work with an engineer, I’d be happy to contact them directly as well.

I blend in drum samples when needed or appropriate for a specific mix or style.

In short, no. I always recommend having your songs mastered by a dedicated mastering engineer. If you need help finding a mastering engineer, I have a list of excellent engineers I can recommend for whatever your budget might be.
That being said, if you TRULY want me to master your record after I mix it, I can do that for an additional fee. Mastering is not included as part of mixing.

Scheduling your mixes will be part of what we discuss during the quote process. We will book a specific range of dates for your mixes to happen. I usually book 1 day per song, plus some extra time for revisions depending on how many songs we are doing.

That being said, revisions can really slow down a project. When you book mixing and we schedule dates, make sure you are also scheduling time for yourself (and your band) to review the mixes and write notes. The faster you get your revision notes to me, and the more thorough they are, the faster the whole process gets finished.

No! My job is to get you a mix that you love. Revisions are included in my rate.

There are two exceptions:

First, revisions do NOT include changes to the actual material used in the mix. For example, if you need to rerecord something and send me a new file, there will be an additional hourly fee.

Second, edits are NOT included in revisions. If you need me to edit the drums, or tune a vocal, there will be an additional fee.

Mixing is complex. There are a lot of things going on. For a detailed breakdown of what makes a mix “passable” vs. “good” vs. “great,” check out my article: What Makes a Great Mix? – 9 Things to Listen For