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Dana Nielsen

@danafrio

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→ GRAMMY-nom'd producer, mixer, engineer
→ SZA•Bob Dylan•Slayer•Post Malone•YOU🫵
↓ Hear latest work, download free mix tips + more

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🌒 midnight mood // Launch Sale on my @studio "Natural Vocal Production" course ends Friday! ⏰ Snag a 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 sample lesson - Link in bio
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#homemusicstudio #studioacoustics #protoolshdx #atcloudspeakers #dcommand #producingmusic #outboardgear #recordingmusic #soundstudio #soundengineers #homestudios #homestudiorecording #homestudiosetup #recordproducer #acoustictreatment #mixmaster #audioengineering #audiomixing #musicproductionlife #mixingmusic #homestudio #recordingstudios taken in Los Angeles, California by @danafrio

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3 years ago

Beyond stoked on this Grammy certificate for SZA’s award-winning album ‘SOS!’ 🎶 I mixed 3 songs: Notice Me, Gone Girl, and F2F.

Honored to be part of this incredible project. Huge thanks to @robbisel, @sza, the @recordingacademy, my amazing wife @charissanielsen, and manager @leib. This is a team effort. 💫

#homestudios #mixmaster #audiomixing #mixingmusic #audioengineering #bedroomproducer #protools #mixingengineer #homestudio #acoustictreatment #studiogear #dcommand #grammyaward #grammywinners #sza #rcarecords #topdawgentertainment by @danafrio

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2 years ago

Dana Nielsen (@danafrio) is a Grammy nominated recording engineer, mixer, and music producer who’s worked with artists such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers, SZA, Bob Dylan, Adele, and Post Malone.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:
- Vocal Production Techniques
- The Importance of Headphone Mixes
- The Art of Editing Musically
- Melodyne Vocal Tuning Tips
- Working with Rick Rubin
- Understanding Production is about the People, Not the Tools
- Running a 2nd Record Rig at All Times
- Translating Your Taste to Your Production Choices

Check the full episode out wherever you listen to podcasts or on YouTube.

#progressionspodcast #vocalproducer #musicproduction #recordingstudio #vocalist by @danafrio

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3 years ago

I went and watched TV while my studio bounced 100+ a cappellas without me. 🤯

For the past several months I’ve been deep in a massive project, over 50 songs. When a request came in for a cappellas of every single one, I knew brute-forcing it wasn’t an option.

Enter @soundflowapp and @ascheps’s Scheps Bounce Factory.

First, I wrote a custom SoundFlow script to automate the tedious prep work: opening sessions, saving as, rerouting my mix bus for offline bouncing, muting my printed mix, disarming mute automation, duplicating a few inserts. Stuff that’s no big deal on one song but absolutely soul-crushing at scale. Now it’s one button on my Stream Deck. One second. Done. ✅

Then I layered in Scheps Bounce Factory. Using the new SoundFlow panel inside @avid.protools, I set up “wet” and “dry” a cappella exports for 50+ songs and saved each as a bounce snapshot in the standalone Bounce Factory app.

Here’s where it gets wild: I queued up 20+ songs at a time, hit bounce, and walked away. Bounce Factory took over, closing sessions, opening the next one, bouncing both passes, moving on. I hung out with my family, watched some TV, and got an alert on my Apple Watch when everything was done. 📱

Watching my faders snap into action on their own, sessions opening and closing without me touching anything... honestly one of the most grin-inducing moments I’ve had in the studio in a long time.

Enormous love and gratitude to my dear friend and mentor Andrew (@ascheps) for building this alongside the incredible team at @soundflowapp. Full-circle moment: so much of what I do in the studio every day traces back to what Andrew’s taught me over the years and albums we’ve made together. The fact that his tools are now giving me hours of my life back? 🥹💗

If I hadn’t invested time learning these tools, I’d probably still be in my studio bouncing a cappellas instead of writing this caption.

Go learn your tools. Future you will be so glad you did. 🚀

🎶 Big props to @djgalmalka for the absolute banger “Dulce de Leche” 🔥 Found it on @motionarray while editing this reel and couldn’t not use it.

#mixingengineers #bouncefactory #andrewscheps #soundflow #audioengineerlife #avids6 taken in Los Angeles, California by @danafrio

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6 days ago

New SWAG for my wall! ✨ Eternally grateful to @lilbieber and fam for bringing me along for this incredible ride. I spent much of 2024/25 recording pre-production and songwriting sessions with Justin (and his insanely talented producer/artist friends) in several private studio installations throughout the U.S. Utterly unforgettable. Justin is the kindest, warmest, most talented artist ever, and I’m so blessed to have been a part of his SWAG and SWAG II albums. The memories and epic jams will bring a smile to my face for the rest of my days! 🙏🎛️🎚️🎷

👉 Link in bio for a deeper dive into my SWAG journey.

#grammynominated #albumoftheyear #justinbieberswag #audioengineering #homerecordingstudio #recordingengineer by @danafrio

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a month ago

Dana Nielsen has mixed SZA, engineered Bob Dylan, and recorded Neil Young — all while running his own studio and keeping the freelance finances tight. He joins Working Class Audio for episode 607 to talk studio hierarchy, knowing when to speak up, running six albums at once, and the financial discipline that makes a long career possible.
Link in Bio
Thank you to our sponsors: @gracedesignproaudio @audioscapeaudio @kaliaudio @gearspaceforum @distrokid @adkmicrophone @lautenaudio
#WorkingClassAudio #AudioEngineering #MixingEngineer #MusicProduction #StudioLife #DanaNielsen #MixProtege #FreelanceAudio by @danafrio

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2 months ago

Happy 26th anniversary to us!
👰‍♀️ 🤵‍♂️We got to speed thru our hometown yesterday on the way to the Chicago airport. We thought it would be so cool to stay at the same place we had our wedding night-Cora was there so it was a bit different!😂
These photos span from senior prom to our wedding - it’s been 31 years! @danafrio
Seeing our high school, Karizma, and our old houses was so fun and I am in love with you still and adore 🥰 ALL our memories! taken in Geneva, Illinois by @danafrio

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3 months ago

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!! I love you so soo soooo much! Thank you for being the best mom I could ever ask for because without you I don’t know what I would do! by @danafrio

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4 months ago

What if you could take your studio with you - and it still sounded exactly the same?

@danafrio put SoundID Virtual Monitoring PRO to the test - and made it part of his workflow.
From Justin Bieber and SZA to Metallica, Dana’s work spans genres - but one thing stays constant: mix translation.

Different spaces. Different acoustics. Same expectation - the mix has to hold up everywhere.
With Virtual Monitoring PRO, he can capture his room and hear it on headphones, whether he’s at home, on the couch, or on the road.

More engineers are starting to rely on it in their day-to-day work and now it’s your turn to give it a go and get studio-accurate headphone mixing for life. by @danafrio

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5 months ago

So fun dusting off my trusty old Juno-106 today. 🎹 I was putting the finishing touches on a client mix and realized the pre-chorus was still missing that one little thing… not a big “look at me” moment—more like structural ear candy that pulls you into the next section.

So I played this simple Juno part, sending it through my beloved Strymon StarLab eurorack reverb on its way into Pro Tools for a little extra fairy dust. 🧚✨🤌. It’s wild how a subtle synth layer can do more for momentum than another EQ move.

PSA: I’m also producing this project 😅 I wouldn’t be adding synth parts if I was hired strictly as the mixer lol.

#producingmusic #studiogear #maschinestudio #juno106 #soundengineers #mixingstudio #recordinggear #recordingsession #musiccomposer #avids6 #rolandjuno #protools #atcloudspeakers #protoolshdx #outboardgear #homestudiorecording #recordproducer #audiomixing #musicproductionlife #mixingmusic #recordingstudios #audioengineering taken in Los Angeles, California by @danafrio

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7 months ago

A little pics of 2026 (dance version)😉 by @danafrio

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7 months ago

🔥 Fired up to watch my brother @lilbieber take the Grammy stage, and couldn't be more proud and thankful to have been a part of the SWAG journey! Absolutely unforgettable times. 💜🏆🙌

#grammys2026 #albumoftheyear #recordingmusic #audioengineering #soundengineers taken in Los Angeles, California by @danafrio

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8 months ago