Today we’d like to introduce you to Tommy Horne.
Hi Tommy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m Tommy Horne, originally from Phenix City, Alabama. I developed a love for music at a very young age because my mom and dad would always have the cassette tape of every new single that came out back in the 90’s. Also at the time, I would watch B.E.T’s Video Soul and Rap City after school and on the weekends. One Christmas, my mom bought me a Karaoke Machine with mic and the two tape decks. I would use the instrumentals from my mom’s cassette tapes to try to rap and record myself on the Karoake Machine. In ‘99’ after I graduated school, I went in a pawn shop in Columbus, GA and saw a Tascam 8-Track recorder. At the time, I didn’t know what it was but it had knobs and faders and looked like a studio so I wanted it. Later on after that, I got a job and went back and bought the 8-track recorder. From there, I bought a keyboard and beat machine and started my own home studio in my room at my grandma’s house where I lived at the time. I began to work with a lot of local artists from around the Phenix City, AL and Columbus, GA area. Years later, I bought a laptop and Protools. I developed a love for Protools and wanted to really learn it so I went to Atlanta in 2007 and took Protools classes at Stankonia Studios and got my Protools certification. After that, I wanted to learn music on a professional level. I saw a Facebook post from T.I. about engineering interns being needed in ATL so I emailed my resume. There used to be a studio in Decatur,GA called Defient. I started interning there back in like 2012 or 2013. I would drive up from Columbus, GA every weekend because I wanted opportunity and I wanted to learn music on a professional level. While interning there, I learned all about Audio engineering. (Recording, Mixing, and Mastering) I started out cleaning up the studio, doing food runs, taking out the trash etc. After seeing my work ethic around the studio, I was allowed to sit in on sessions. From that point, I began to record artists when there were not any engineers available at the time of their sessions. I got more and more used to recording artists. One artist took me under his wing and I became his personal engineer. That’s when a lot of major opportunities started happening including my very first engineering placements. That helped me to get credits for recording, mixing, and mastering. Also I became a voting member of the Atlanta wing of the Recording Academy. I’ve been to the Grammys twice, 2015 & 2017. While working on music very heavily, I also managed to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Production in 2017 from Full Sail University. Right now, I am a freelance engineer open for recording and mixing projects. I’m also available to engineer sessions at Levels Recording Studio in Columbus, GA.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been an easy road because with anything in life that you want to be successful in, there’s going to be ups and downs. Also sometimes, you will have work, and sometimes you will not have work. It’s all about being patient and getting better at the craft.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve worked with artists including Big Kuntry, T.I., Dro, Mac Boney, London Jae, 5-Mics, Lil Donald, Tasha Catour, FKi, DJ Holiday, Dope Boi Ra, Dibb$, T-Moo, No-Limit Legend Mo B Dick, Florida rap artist LilQuezz, Southern Soul artists Sheila B. Sexi, Kandi Janai and many more. As an Audio Engineer, I handle several tasks whether it was tracking vocals, mixing, mastering or editing. I have a playlist on Apple Music of all of the music I’ve worked on.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
What makes me happy is knowing a client loves the way their music sounds or knowing that they were happy enough with the sound of the record to release it to the world after I worked on it. It makes me happy because when a client gives me a record, it’s like they are giving me pieces to a puzzle to put together but at the same time, add my flavor to the puzzle as well. I love the challenge and the final results. Besides working on music, God, my wife and my kids make me happy.
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