Barry Gardner. Twenty-four years of listening.

After audio engineering college and a diploma, I spent three years being trained by a former BBC studio manager, then joined the UK’s largest independent audio production company, where I became head of engineering. I was the technical point of contact for a seven-room music and broadcast studio build, and my daily work was recording and mixing sessions with professional musicians: multitrack and direct-to-stereo sessions, BBC Radio 1, 2 and 3 broadcast sessions, live event recording and outside broadcasts.

That is where the ears were trained: on Ronnie Wood, Craig David, Chick Corea, John Legend, Bat for Lashes, Metronomy, The Coral, Kate Nash, June Tabor and hundreds of others, balancing real performances for broadcast where there was no second take. Mastering came up in various projects and I found I had both the aptitude and the appetite for it.

In 2010 I set up Safe&Sound Mastering as a dedicated mastering studio: no mixing, no recording, one room built and treated for the job and kept unchanged so that every decision has the same reference. Being a mastering engineer has been my sole income since. I have made electronic music myself since 1991 and still do in the evenings, which keeps me honest about what producers are up against and equally comfortable with sub-heavy dance music, heavy rock and acoustic performance.

How I work

Efficiently, and by ear. The first impressions of a mix arrive in seconds; what takes experience is knowing what to do about them, when to proceed and when to ask for a change of the mix. I would rather tell you a kick drum is 4 dB too loud than master around it. Communication is short and specific.

As a mastering engineer I like show my work room and the equipment on this site because you should be able to see what you are paying for. Plenty of engineers do not. Equipment is an important ingredient, and you cannot fix what you cannot hear.