When you need
your record to
translate
everywhere
Remote Mixing & Mastering — Worldwide
It's easy to lose perspective on a record when it's close to being done. I'm Dereck Blackburn and I mix and master music for artists and labels. Hire me and I will help you finish a record that inspires you and your audience.
Mixing
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Mastering
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Music Production
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Audio Engineering
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Dogs are cool
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Birds are real
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Coffee is life
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Mixing - Mastering - Music Production - Audio Engineering - Dogs are cool - Birds are real - Coffee is life -
Mixing
Remote mixing for artists and labels who want an outside perspective. My background is deep in indie rock; especially shoegaze, dream pop, and dense atmospheric guitar music - but the approach is always song-first: what does this track need, and what's in its way?
— Fresh ears and a defined point of view
— Revisions are never a problem
— Stems and printed mix delivered ready for master
Mastering
The final shape and weight of your record. Full digital masters optimized for streaming, plus vinyl and cassette pre-masters cut for the format. If you're chasing editorial placement, I know what those masters need to do.
— Apple Digital Masters certified provider
— Vinyl & cassette pre-masters
— Stem mastering & DDP with CD-Text + ISRC
— Alt masters: clean, instrumental, acapella
SELECTED WORK
A cross-section of releases — indie rock, shoegaze, and adjacent sounds, from digital singles to full vinyl LPs.
Who you're working with
Dereck Blackburn
Dereck Blackburn is a recording, mixing, and mastering engineer based in Boston, and he has run Quiethouse Recording in many different iterations since 1998. His specialty span tracking, mixing, and mastering independent and DIY records that have always sat at the center of the studio's roster.
Dereck's approach is artist-first, shaped by the DIY hardcore and punk collective where he got his start: recording bands to an 8-track Tascam cassette deck at house shows in a small Midwestern hometown. He still works from the same conviction - a record should sound like the people who made it, not like whatever happens to be in fashion.
He is deeply involved in the local Boston music community, having served as Secretary and Treasurer of the Audio Engineering Society. He is a current His work has earned nominations for Studio Engineer of the Year at the Boston Music Awards and Producer of the Year at the New England Music Awards.
Dereck loves Ohma World Microphones and Mic Parts Mics.
What artists say
The work speaks. So do the people behind it.
20+ years working with independent musicians, engineers, and producers across the world.
"He really listened to my ideas and did whatever it took until I was happy with the final product. Notice the depth, clarity, and low-end punchiness in our record."
Phil Golyshko
Sidewave
"Songs simply sound different when they have Dereck's touch. The mastering comes out better than I imagined — and he's considerate, professional, and reliable."
Jo Strogatz
Meira
"Working with Dereck is the best experience I've ever had with an audio engineer. He quickly produced incredible results and gave thoughtful feedback and revisions when asked."
Ryan Breen
Lucy Spacehead · engineer & artist
"Dereck keeps sessions fun yet disciplined, listens deeply to 'vibe'-level feedback, and makes my band feel like his top priority from tracking to final master."
Mary Dumont
Roser
"A rare mix of top-tier quality engineer and openly generous with his time. Feedback is honest, culturally sensitive, and always pushes the music forward."
Kevin Klein
Valleyheart
"He was actively involved in the creative process but never intrusive, which always made the demands of studio tracking much more enjoyable."
Quentin Moyer
True Faith
Hear the way you were meant to be heard
You've listened to it four hundred times. Somewhere around the two hundred mark you stopped hearing a record and started hearing a list of things you mean to fix.
So you push it out anyway, and it sounds thin next to the songs on the same playlist. Or the low end disappears in the car. Or the vinyl master gets kicked back and the pressing date moves and the whole release slides by weeks or months.
All of that work should not come apart in the middle to last stages.
Pricing
Master
You have a finished mix that needs to translate.
from $135
per song
✓ Streaming-optimized master
✓ 2 revisions as needed
✓ 3–5 day turnaround
✓ Vinyl and Cassette pre-masters
Send me the record first. I'll listen, share my opinion, and tell you if I'm the right person for it. That part costs nothing either way.
Mix + Master (single)
You have a finished production that needs both.
from $600
per song/single
✓ Full mix with revisions
✓ Collaborative process
✓ Stems and printed mix delivered
✓ Streaming-optimized master
The Record
A full EP or LP, sequenced and consistent.
Full-lengths are scoped individually. A record isn't just 6+ singles. Level, tone, and pacing have to hold across the whole thing, and that's worth talking through before I put a number on it.
I take a limited number of recording and production clients every year. Interested in working with me as a Producer or Engineer?
Get in touch.
Tell me about your record
I reply to every message within two business days.
| Artist | Services | Genre |
|---|---|---|
| Aaron Bear | Mastering | Americana |
| Adam Wolf | Mixing | Americana |
| After Argument | Mastering | Rock |
| Airlift | Mixing, Mastering | Rock |
| Angi Holvig | Mastering | Singer-Songwriter |
| Bikethrasher | Tracking, Mixing, Mastering | Rock |
| Black Hatch | Mastering | Punk |
| Brad Breeck | Production, Mastering | Composer |
| Carsick Cars | Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Chainlacing | Mixing, Production | Dungeon Dream Pop |
| Charming Arson | Production, Mixing | Rock |
| Colours | Mastering | Rock |
| Crablord | Production, Mixing | Punk |
| Crippling Alcoholism | Mastering | Dark Goth |
| Crone Visions | Mastering | Dark Goth |
| Crown of Birches | Mastering | Americana |
| Dalton Moon | Production, Mastering | Rock |
| Daphne Blue Underworld | Production, Mixing, Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Dead to Fall | Recording, Engineering | Metalcore |
| Death by Lions | Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Death Defier | Mastering | Hardcore |
| Death Pesos | Mixing, Mastering | Rock |
| Divi | Production | Singer-Songwriter |
| DKNTL | Mastering | Singer-Songwriter |
| Doom Lagoon | Mixing, Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Duck Island | Mastering | Punk |
| Einstein | Mixing, Mastering | Singer-Songwriter |
| Eliza Howells | Production | Singer-Songwriter |
| Ember Wreath | Production, Mastering | Ambient |
| Emily Edrosa | Production | Indie Rock |
| Emily Quinn | Production, Mixing, Mastering | Singer-Songwriter |
| Eric Gordon | Mastering | Dance |
| Faces in the Fire | Mastering | Metal |
| God Horse Boxer | Production, Mixing | Rock |
| Graveyard of the Atlantic | Tracking, Mixing, Mastering | Rock |
| Hawthorn | Mastering | Singer-Songwriter |
| Hedgehog | Mastering | Punk |
| Holy Gifts | Mastering | Indie Rock |
| House of Hara | Mastering | Americana |
| Husbands | Production, Mixing, Mastering | Slowcore |
| Idle Pilot | Production, Mixing, Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Imogen Heap | Remixing | Singer-Songwriter |
| INSECTA | Mixing | Hardcore |
| Josh Tarp | Mastering | Americana |
| Kamen Ross | Mixing, Mastering | Singer-Songwriter |
| Kiara Oliver | Mastering | Rock |
| KIPSY | Production, Mixing, Mastering | Rock |
| Knife Tricks | Production, Mixing | Rock |
| Kyr Grace | Mastering | Singer-Songwriter |
| Le Couteau | Mixing | Rock |
| Lewis Morris | Mastering | Hip-Hop |
| Lincoln Durham | Production, Mixing | Americana |
| Long Stares | Production, Mixing | Indie Rock |
| Loopy Bang | Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Lost Dog | Production, Mixing, Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Lover of Eve | Mixing, Mastering | Rock |
| Lucy Spacehead | Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Lurid Purple Flowers | Vocal Production | Rock |
| Luxury Deathtrap | Production, Mixing | Rock |
| M7 and the Spring | Mastering | Americana |
| Maddie Lam | Production | Singer-Songwriter |
| Meira (Jo Strogatz) | Mastering | Singer-Songwriter |
| Memory Lame | Production, Mixing | Punk |
| Michael Becze | Mastering | Ambient |
| Mint Green | Production, Mixing, Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Miss Bones | Mixing | Americana |
| mMoron | Production, Mixing, Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Moulettes | Mixing | Indie Rock |
| Mr. Airplane Man | Live Recording | Rock |
| Mr. Twin Sister | Mixing | Indie Rock |
| Nate Meads | Mixing, Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Neverless.am | Production | Rock |
| Plumes | Mastering | Americana |
| Quinn Sullivan | Mastering | Blues |
| Redwood Sleeper | Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Rogozo | Mixing, Mastering | J-Pop |
| Roland High Life | Production, Mixing | Rock |
| RoseR | Production, Mixing, Mastering | Rock |
| Sarah Grella | Production | Singer-Songwriter |
| See You At Rogers | Mastering | Rock |
| Shiner | Mastering | Rock |
| Ship Burial | Production, Mixing, Mastering, Drums | Shoegaze |
| Sidewave | Mixing, Mastering | Space Rock |
| Slim Volume | Mastering | Americana |
| Subsist | Mixing, Mastering | Metalcore |
| The Bell and the Hammer | Mastering | Rock |
| The Doldrums | Mastering | Punk |
| The Gemtones | Mastering | Rock |
| The Only Things | Mastering | Punk |
| The Ransom | Mastering | Indie Rock |
| The Reputation | Digital Transfer, Mastering | Emo |
| The True Faith | Production, Mixing | Dark Goth |
| TIFFY | Recording, Mixing, Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Tunneling | Production, Mixing | Rock |
| Ursonaut | Mastering | Rock |
| Windmills | Production, Mixing, Mastering | Indie Rock |
| Wyn & the White Light | Mastering | Americana |
| Zaid Khan | Mastering | Singer-Songwriter |
| Zoe Firn | Production, Mixing | Singer-Songwriter |
| Quadvium | Mastering | Progressive Rock |