Production · Recording · Mixing
Music production & mixing
I produce, record and mix music and spoken word from my studio in Hackney, London. I’m a working musician as well as a producer, so I’m interested in what the players are trying to do, as well as what the microphones are picking up.
A lot of my work involves brass, woodwind, jazz and music that crosses between traditions. It also takes in documentaries, comedy, podcasts and electronics. The job is to listen to what the project needs.
Tell me about your projectLooking for production music to license? Listen to my Felt tracks →
Selected recordings
Spanner Big Band · A Load of Old Toot!!
Production and mixing. A large band, a lot of detail and plenty of room for the players to sound like themselves.
I play featured trumpet solos on Medicine, Shofukan, Listen Up! and several other tracks. Start with Medicine, or choose any track below.
Bollywood Brass Band & Jyotsna Srikanth · Carnatic Connection
I produced and mixed this meeting of brass, percussion and Jyotsna Srikanth’s violin. It brought the band a Best Group nomination at the 2017 Songlines Music Awards and was selected for Songlines’ 50 greatest world-music albums of the previous five years in 2020. We followed it with the EP A Day in Bangalore.
For the Record: An Incomplete History of Music
Music consultancy and mixing for the Cosmic Shambles documentary series, alongside arranging, playing and leading the band for the performances that close each episode. Different guests, different songs, and the pleasure of finding a sound that brings everyone together.
Three of those closing performances: different voices and arrangements, all with the same house band. Each player starts at the song.
David McAlmont · Nightshift
I played synth on Nightshift with David McAlmont and the band, closing the final episode.
Charlotte Carpenter · Friday I’m in Love
On trumpet with Charlotte Carpenter and the band, closing the first episode.
Ruarri Joseph · Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Another of the closing performances, recorded live at Kings Place. Arranging, bandleading and mixing.
Selected audio commissions
Podcasts & audio storytelling
I create, present and produce Steve Pretty On the Origin of the Pieces, bringing conversation, musical demonstrations and sound design together to explore how music works. It draws on the whole process: developing an idea, recording an interview, shaping the edit and making the final mix.
Alongside my own show, I take on selected podcast and audio commissions, particularly projects where original music, sound design and editorial care are central.
Lulu Popplewell · Come to Bed with Me
I produced, recorded and composed the music for comedian Lulu Popplewell’s Come to Bed with Me. Here’s an episode with Ed Gamble and Matthew Crosby.
My podcast-production clients also include the World Bank.
From an idea to a record
I can help develop arrangements, record parts and performances, and work through the production and mix with you. Or you can bring a project that’s already recorded and needs mixing.
My experience includes co-producing several Hackney Colliery Band albums, recording and mixing brass ensembles, and making music and speech for podcasts and films.
Finding the sound
Acoustic instruments, synths, sampling and live electronics are all part of how I work. I can help develop the arrangement and choose the sounds that serve it, then bring the parts together in the mix.
For a standalone trumpet or brass part, you can book a session separately.
Trumpet & remote sessions →Working together
Send me something to listen to, even if it’s an early sketch, and tell me where you’d like to take it. We can agree the scope, schedule, fee and delivery requirements before starting.
I’m comfortable working from scores or by ear, and with musicians who work in quite different ways. Much of this happens remotely.
For the gear heads
The studio includes Genelec monitoring, Coles and Sphere microphones, Neve, SSL and Thermionic Culture preamps, and an assortment of analogue and digital processing. There’s a Rhodes, an upright piano, brass instruments, percussion, synths and a lot of shells.
I work with Pro Tools, Logic and Ableton Live. If a project needs a particular format or setup, let’s check it together.
The studio is also set up for filming, with cameras and lighting for interviews, performances and demonstrations. I film my podcast and plenty of other work here, so we can capture the pictures as well as the sound.
A look inside the sessions
Building the sound
A vintage brass sound
Trumpet, tenor horn and baritone, layered for a session with James Turner. A deliberately nostalgic brass sound, keeping some of the small imperfections that make it feel human.
A punchier trumpet section
Layering trumpet parts for Future Pop: Brass-Infused Pop, working with Ed Haydon. Different horns, mouthpieces, microphone models and room sounds help each part find its own place in the section.
Jim Moray · Spencer the Rover
Layering cornet, flugel, tenor horn and baritone for Jim Moray’s take on the folk song. Here’s how I built the brass-section sound, one part at a time, with baritone horn added off camera. You can hear it all together in Jim’s finished track.
Inside the session
The finished track
What are you making?
Send a listening link or project outline, what you need help with, your timing and budget. For podcast commissions, please include the format, number and length of episodes, and whether you need original music, sound design or full production.
Enquire about production or mixing