SonicScoop Podcast

This week, Justin Colletti is joined by Maor Appelbaum, a mastering engineer who as worked with Faith No More, Sepultura, Yes, Meatloaf, William Shatner and many more. Maor is a creative mastering engineer who is obsessed with finding the right tools to apply the right kind of coloration to the project at hand. Hear about his approach to auditioning gear, choosing the right tones, interacting with clients and a whole lot more.

Justin Colletti is joined by John Congleton, producer/engineer for St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Baroness, Xiu Xiu, Explosions in the Sky, The Roots, Erykah Badu, David Byrne, Wye Oak and more. In their far-ranging conversation, John and Justin talk about everything from studio design, to co-writing with artists, to Texas vs LA to balancing a full life with a career in the studio and more. Thanks to Focusrite, Soundtoys and Eventide for sponsoring this podcast.

Influential producer/engineer Joel Hamilton shares his inspiring story, and the secrets to the success of Studio G Brooklyn, which has grown from humble origins to become one of the biggest and busiest studios in all of New York City, Joel tells Justin Colletti about his approach to business, audio and life in a conversation that covers everything from mixing to finding inspiration to surviving the vagaries of New York City real estate and beyond.

Nic Hard has been fearlessly recording his effects and audio processing for decades, and talks to Justin Colletti about how you can do the same. This industry veteran has worked with artists including Snarky Puppy, The Bravery, Ghost Beach and routinely commits to audio processing choices while tracking, from compression to EQ to distortion to pitch vending, sometimes to an extreme degree, all in his pursuit of getting as finished of a sound as possible while going in.

This week, Justin Colletti talks about the 80/20 approach to audio engineering: how to focus on the things that matter most and avoid the comforting lies that keep us from making great sounding releases. He skewers the "Myth of A Thousand Little Choices" and offers a better mindset and a set of techniques for making sure you can make bold choices and avoid getting bogged down in the kind of minutia that just doesn't matter.

In this episode Justin Colletti talks to Manny Marroquin, one of the biggest mixers of the 21st century about music production and the studio business. Manny is a multiple GRAMMY winner who has worked with the likes of Post Malone, John Mayer, Imagine Dragons, Lizzo, Whitney Houston, 2Pac, Pink, Shakira, Maroon 5, Rihanna, Ludacris, and many more.

You asked, we answer! In this episode, Justin Colletti fields questions about monitoring levels while mixing and mastering, the details of Michael Brauer's multi-bus compression setup, how to land studio jobs and more. Want to ask questions of your own? Hit us at podcast [at] sonicscoop.com. For special, regular live Q&A sessions where you are sure to get your questions answered, consider becoming a supporter at patron.com/sonicscoop.com This podcast is sponsored by Eventide, Soundtoys and iZotope.

How much do audio engineers make? Justin Colletti dives into the statistics on income in the audio and sound fields to break it down, and examine some fo the latest trends. Some of key takeaways this year? After migrating from New York to California earlier this decade, some of the audio jobs may be migrating back OUT of California, now to smaller, even more affordable locales. Thanks to iZotope, Soundtoys and Gear Club for sponsoring this podcast.

Legendary music mixer Michael Brauer joins Justin Colletti to talk all about the art of mixing, and how to overcome the fears that have kept so many mixers—including him—from doing their best work early on in their careers. From Coldplay to John Mayer to Grizzly Bear, Brauer's body of work, spanning more than 40 years, has made him one of the most respected and influential audio engineers on the scene today.

In this episode, Justin Colletti tackles an unlikely topic for a channel that's all about music and audio production and business: Investing. In this episode, you'll get some evidence-based best practices for managing your surplus so that you can weather lean times in a creative field, more confidently make the leap to working for yourself full time, or even just support an expensive calling in the arts. Thanks to Gear Club, Soundtoys and iZotope for sponsoring this podcast.

16 bit? 24 bit? 32 bit?? How much of a difference does bit depth really make? And are these differences you can hear for yourself? Justin Colletti dives deep into this topic to clear up the common misunderstandings around bit depth in audio and helps make you make the best choices for your productions, whatever DAW or interface you may be using. Thanks to Soundtoys, Focusrite and Eventide for sponsoring this podcast.

Scott Bradlee started with nothing but a keyboard and a basic camera and grew his Postmodern Jukebox YouTube channel into a creative musical empire of sorts, with nearly 4 million subscribers. There's a thing or three that any musician can learn from his story. Join in on a conversation between Scott and SonicScoop's Justin Colletti on what it takes to leverage video platforms and social media establish your own base of fans, and to build a real, sustainable career in music—or any other creative field.

Justin Colletti talks with Paul "Willie Green" Womack about wearing the many different hats a modern producer/engineer must don in the studio. How do you keep it all together, shifting between the roles of technician, coach, arranger, craftsman, collaborator, and when should you farm some of the tasks to assistants and others? This podcast is sponsored by Novation, Gear Club and Soundtoys. Find Paul at http://www.williegreenmusic.com

Taxes? Yes, taxes. SonicScoop's Justin Colletti can make even this topic fun, interesting and useful!  In this primer, learn all the things you never learned in school, and get a great framework and tons of useful tips, tactics and strategies for making sure you can keep more of your heard-earned money each year, and continue to grow your creative business. Thanks to Focusrite, Soundtoys and Eventide for sponsoring this podcast.

Sampling rates. 44.1k. 48k. 88.2k 96k. 192k?? How do they impact your sound, and how can you make the best choice for your projects? Justin Colletti dives into the science behind sampling rates in a fun and informative talk that demystifies what they're really all about, and puts to bed much of the confusion surrounding this topic. Thanks to Soundtoys, Sonarworks and Eventide for sponsoring this podcast. Get more from Justin at masteringdemystified.com or mixing breakthroughs.com