Meet Chi Zhang

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chi Zhang a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chi, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

Through my college time of study, I realized that if I can only play a good sound on my own instrument, there is no way to convey the charm of music to more listeners besides myself, it will lose a lot of pleasure. And how to record the wonderful music in a more precise and delicate way, and how to better convey the emotions of musicians and producers have also become my considerations.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Born and raised under 21st century, I have a huge obsession with both music and technology. With the rapid development of technology, It’s so lucky to me that I can have the opportunity to get access of a variety of DAWs, Plugins and musical hardwares since I was still in high school. After exploring them, I found out that mixing plays an important role at the production process, it attracted me deeply. I believe that with the increasing popularity of streaming music, Dolby Atmos and multi-channel live/studio mix source, is becoming the mainstream. Eventually, the market for audio processing devices in the future will continue to develop in the direction of spatial audio technology.

Back to my high school and college times, I was a drummer more than a mixing/recording engineer. Just like most Chinese kids, I started playing drums at 5 years old and keeps practicing it for 15 more years. Playing drums has always been my favorite thing to do, but I won’t stop exploring more. While listening to songs, I found that I was really sensitive in frequencies. I was so glad and thankful to the gifts, so I started working as assistants for the real mixing/recording engineers and chose the minor in Mixing/Production. When I first participated in the creation of an album with my classmates in college, I was attracted by the environment of studio. After that, I found that each steps in the whole process of music creation is extremely important, not just the performance part. If I want to make good-sounding and excellent music, I need to thoroughly understand the operation process of the entire industry. At the same time, I was so sure that the most critical link in this industry is mixing and recording. After all of that, my goal has became to build up my own studio and become a great mixing/recording engineer who could advance the audio industry.

For future planning, I have also considered disseminating the most advanced knowledge and ideas to people who love music recording and production, and I am likely to devote myself to the education industry, making my own contributions to my community and the music industry, and helping my friends and future students fulfill their musical ideals.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The skill of dealing with people
This should be obvious, but despite this, I think it is often not emphasized enough. Skill in dealing with people almost always trumps skill. No one wants to work for a demanding “genius,” and we can see that in the band, and we can see that in the staff, and they often don’t end well. If you think, “Everybody’s at fault and I’m not the only one” (to quote Homer Simpson), you might just want to look in the mirror and figure out how to get people skills.
In general, almost everyone tries to do their best. So how will you help them do that?
Of course, people skills are especially important when dealing with customers, and don’t forget that they pay their bills and expect to be treated accordingly. Sure, they may have some silly ideas or an unrealistic sense of “what can this bring” to accomplish special tasks, but there needs to be a good way to tell them these things and give them unexpected things without clashing with you.

Technical skill
Yes, technical skills are a must in our technology industry. But are your technical skills really great? If you think you don’t have anything to learn, check the second item (continuous learning) as mentioned earlier. We can all learn more. I’m always surprised to learn something new and how it immediately applies to my work. When I started this business, I was surprised that some of the basics I learned in school, such as how to calculate decibels, Ohm’s law, basic power supply design and signal flow through various systems, set me apart from my peers. Part of the problem with our industry is that anecdotal information prevails, but true information is often rarer. Attend lectures, seminars, and occasional books. Even “old” books such as manuals are great resources. Everyone engaged in professional information should have a copy and actually read its contents. Related to this are welding techniques, how to use voltage/ohm meters, how to solve the system, how to solve the grounding problem. It’s almost impossible to imagine how we could ever be in this business again without other skills, but you and I both know it’s true.

Hearing
First, we must listen to what people tell us, even if we disagree. The word of others is often a factor of truth, which in turn is also appropriate for any business. Another type of hearing specific to our business directly involves sound. Even if our auditory acuity is good, we have to train our brain how to listen critically and then what to do with that aspect. Unfortunately, 99 percent or more of the sound we hear is of poor quality in all aspects. Distortion, terrible frequency imbalance, volume turned up too loud, inappropriate sources or genres of music, etc.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

My girlfriend and I met when we were undergraduate students at Berklee College of Music, and her presence had a great influence on my career direction. In the process of talking with her, I gradually understood the logic and experience of low-level work in the music industry, and finally made me realize the importance of music post-production. All music seems to me to be like words, which require different means of transmission. Similarly, how to optimize the listening sense of music to achieve the best state is the most important purpose of music post-production. All music seems to me to be like words, which require different means of transmission. Similarly, how to optimize the listening sense of music to achieve the best state is the most important purpose of music post-production. My girlfriend has led me to meet many like-minded friends, who together help me to constantly improve my ability and cognition, which can make me have the motivation to continue to learn.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: zhang_chiiiii