For Episode 15 of the UNSUNG podcast, MixedByJocelin and Matt Soczywko were joined by mixing & mastering engineer & founder of Schwabe Digital Ryan Schwabe at Kensaltown East studios in New York.
As an engineer, Ryan Schwabe has been nominated for 2x GRAMMYs and worked on multiple Gold and Platinum selling records along the way. After Ryan released his first artist project, he received lots of praise on the mixing and mastering of the project and clients began approaching him to help them mix and master their own projects. While building studios and teaching as a professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, he continued mixing and mastering projects on the side, slowly building relationships with an eclectic network of clients across different genres. Some of those projects began getting acclaim, then in 2021 “Planet Mad” by Baauer that Ryan co-mixed was nominated for a GRAMMY. Ryan’s second nomination came in 2023 for mixing and mastering “Adolescence” by BAYNK.
While mixing “Planet Mad” for Baauer, he became frustrated with the lengthy 4-hour-long process of running specific stems through his hardware rack, printing them, then having to re-import them back into the project at the same level. He figured there had to be a quicker, more efficient workaround, and after some homework and a lot of back and forth with a developer, Schwabe Digital’s first plugin was born. After receiving praise on Gold Clip from other engineers, Ryan decided to release it and launched Schwabe Digital in June 2023.
In this episode, Ryan discusses building a client base independently, working across different genres as an engineer, being nominated at the GRAMMYs, Ryan’s musical journey: from his beginnings as an artist to building studios/teaching at Drexel University, to becoming a full-time engineer and founding Schwabe Digital. He also covers his approach to mastering, the development of Gold Clip and Schwabe Digital’s next plugin, NAMM, and his encyclopedic knowledge of recording technology, OEK sound, Soothe 2, Highfall, delivery standards for streaming and Atmos, Ryan’s take on Atmos, why Ryan started making plugins, his approach to running Schwabe Digital, building and developing Orange clip, what Gold Clip actually is, future plugins from Schwabe Digital, analyzing audio gear to inspire new plugin ideas, Ryan’s goals, mixing with your eyes vs. your ears, casual vs. active listening and Isomorphic Mapping, and the beginner’s mindset.
