WCA #618 with Chris Dacoron: From Boy Band Singer to R&B Mix Engineer, the Artist Vision Form, and DMing Artists the Right Way

For episode 618, Matt talks with Chris Dacoron, a Bay Area mixing engineer working mainly in R&B, pop, and hip hop. Chris runs his mix business, Skye Heart Sound, out of his home studio in Martinez, California, and has been at it for over 20 years. The two met at a Bay Area Audio Nerds gathering. Chris started out as a singer in an R&B boy band that moved to Los Angeles in 2004, became an accidental studio assistant along the way, and switched to engineering full time when the group broke up in 2006. They talk about learning by level-matching his mixes against finished records, the Auto-Tune idea he shot down years before T-Pain, the artist vision form that cut his revisions to one or two, going hybrid after one hardware EQ changed his mind, saving rough iPhone vocals, why networking in person still matters, and how to DM artists without sounding like a car salesman.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

Growing Up in the Bay Area Singing Along to Boyz II MenForming an R&B Boy Band and Moving to Los Angeles in 2004Winning a Talent Competition and Becoming a Studio Assistant Nobody Was Looking ForThe Group Breaks Up in 2006 and the Clean Cut to EngineeringComing Home to the Bay Area and Building a Freelance Career Through Word of MouthSetting Rates in the Middle Based on What Outside Engineers ChargedLearning From Claudio Cueni, Tony Shepperd, and Ken LewisLevel-Matching Mixes Against Finished Records to Learn What a Final Sound IsAlways a Student: R&B Sounds Change Every Five YearsThe Auto-Tune Idea Chris Shot Down Before T-Pain Made It a HitThe Artist Vision Form: Understanding the Artist Before Moving a FaderHandling Revisions as a Collaboration Instead of a CritiqueGoing Hybrid After One Hardware EQ Changed EverythingMaking iPhone Vocals Sound Like a Real Studio: Silver Bullet, Saturation, and ExpansionMatt’s Tip: Cleaning Up Rough Vocals With Adobe PodcastMoney: Balancing Gear Spending With Marketing YourselfTry Everything: Networking Events, SoundBetter, Websites, and DMsGet Out of Your Herman Miller Chair and Meet People in PersonHow to DM Artists: Do the Work, Make It Personal, Don’t Sell Right AwayWhy AI-Written Pitches Are Easy to Spot

Matt’s RANT!: Stop Asking for Permission

Links and Show Notes:

Skye Heart Sound (Chris Dacoron)Skye Heart Sound on InstagramAdobe Podcast

Credits:

Guest: Chris DacoronHost/Engineer/Producer: Matt BoudreauWCA Theme Music: Cliff TruesdellThe Voice: Chuck Smith