Affordable mastering, veteran engineer | Asbury Park, NJ

My favorite two man band is back with their latest album, “Dos Amigos, Una Fiesta”.  I had a hand in mixing this one along with the mastering.  We’ve done a few albums together and I always have a blast working with The Two Man Gentlemen Band!  Here they are promoting it with a live performance on my favorite radio station, WNYC.

I’ll be playing softball to support a local charity on Saturday, August 28, in the Asbury Rock Stars Charity Softball Tournament.  Our team’s donations will go to the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean County, and a small contribution is very easy to make on the DONATE page of the website.  Please let them know you are sending money on my behalf so the proper charity is credited.

I’m looking forward to seeing some old friends and making some new ones, too, so if you see me there please say hi!

The M Shanghai String Band will be providing music for the Film One Fest in Atlantic Highlands, NJ, on July 17th. The band will appear onstage before the one-minute film screenings, from 7 until 9 PM. More information on Atlantic Highlands, transportation, and the festival can be found here.  Admission is free!

For the last few weeks I have been sponsoring the Deli Magazine’s online Band of The Month Poll in Philadelphia.  Winners receive two songs mastered for free, and most bands have come in with even more material (usually recorded at The Studio). I’ve gotten to work with some truly diverse artists and to go hear them live.  It’s been fun and it’s gotten me way more into the Philly scene.  Asbury Park is about the same distance between NYC and Philadelphia, and everyone seems to enjoy the vibe when they come out to attend their sessions.  

I meet some amazing people doing this work. Artists, producers, engineers: everyone has a unique point of view, and each project opens a different window into the creative process. I really enjoy the diversity of music I get to experience, too. Cutting edge kids, journeymen troubadours, old pros – I learn something from everybody.

As a musician, I sometimes live vicariously by asking my clients to tell me stories from the road or the studio. As they say, the grass is always greener… Recently, though, I worked with a guy who really made me appreciate my relative creature comforts. He is living out of his car between factory shifts to pay for and promote his hip hop album. He found my site online, called me, and after five minutes told me he liked my vibe and thought we could work well together - which we did.

That’s just the kind of connection I hope for, and I’m glad it helped him decide to work with me; although I’m sure my prices were a factor in making his decision, too. When I look at the analytical numbers for this site, the page with my rates gets the most hits. Why? That’s exactly what most cash-strapped musicians and producers want to know when they’re at the end of their recording project, behind schedule and over budget: “How cheaply can I get this done and still get a quality job that I’ll be happy with.”

That’s why I charge what I do. I’m upfront about my rates and additional charges and I don’t pull any punches. I run an independent LLC and take care of every aspect of my own business. My head, hands, and heart are involved from the beginning to the end, and there is no confusion about who to talk to when you need an answer.

I worked for years in the biggest studios in NYC: Sterling Sound and Masterdisk. I know how it gets done in the mastering room, in the front office, how to make clients feel comfortable, and most importantly, how to listen. I want my clients’ mastering experience to be full of laughs, some “a-ha” moments, and a great sense of satisfaction that comes when the album they’ve worked on so hard is finally done.

 

 

Here is the link to the BBC article.

Here is a brief and thoughtful review of a recent performance at Brooklyn’s Jalopy that nicely describes a recent M Shanghai String Band gig.  Please visit our website for more information about upcoming shows.

My friend Jeremy Backofen, producer and multi-instrumentalist, showed off his drum chops and overall geniality at one of the best shows I’ve been to in a long, long time.  The Felice Brothers, Dave Rawlings Machine feat. Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Justin Townes Earle all shared the stage for almost four hours at The Beacon, playing all together at times, and in sets that showed off each group.  Here is a review in the NYT.

I just mastered the new Felice Brothers album, the third I’ve done for them.  Seeing them for the first time last night proved their reputation as a great live band - really loose but seriously into it -  and hearing the way Jeremy’s worked with them them over the years to capture that energy has given me newfound respect for how he’s produced their recordings.

My good friends and co-conspirators The Two Man Gentlemen Band will be filling in for new friends and recent clients, The Wiyos as the opening act for the Bob Dylan Show summer tour, featuring Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp. The tour will be hitting minor league baseball parks, the nearest to us being First Energy Park in Lakewood on July 23rd.  (edit: Reviews have been great, of course.)

I guess I’m just lucky. In the small and competitive world of NYC mastering studios I’ve had the rare opportunity to be mentored by and to work alongside the very best. From Greg Calbi, Chris Athens, Leon Zervos, Chris Muth, and others at Sterling Sound to my recent tenure at Masterdisk with Scott Hull, I’ve tried to absorb as much as I could about the many technical and interpersonal aspects of the craft. It’s been educational!

Now I am moving to Asbury Media, the studios of two-time GRAMMY award winning audio engineer Tom Ruff. Like me, Tom is a Jersey Shore native, and after years at Sony Music Mastering he’s set up a great spot of his own in the heart of Asbury Park’s burgeoning creative center. I’d like to encourage clients to make the easy trip from NYC to attend sessions to see what’s happening for yourself!I’m thrilled to be working with Tom and his staff at Asbury Media. The atmosphere there is totally pro, yet genuinely relaxed. It must be a Shore thing.

Here is the press release about this in prosoundnews.com