Greg Bester is an audio engineer and musician based in Johannesburg, Gauting, South Africa.
Greg’s career began 12 years ago in the United States where he went to high school (emphasis in music), university (music composition) and got his first job in audio heading up Megatön Records recording studio in Orem, Utah with wrestling great, Maxx Payne. It was only after a few short months that his promise began to show and he was promoted to the principal engineer. It was there that he received is mentorship under Maxx, and accomplished his first recordings and subsequent early albums. Greg was a musician first, playing in bands from a young age, which eventually brought him into the world of music production, live sound, and the art of recording. This gives him a versatile edge in that he knows how to communicate with musicians/artists, aiding the translation of the music into something that matches the producer/artist/musician’s vision.
I have experience in the following fields of audio:
Greg is proficient in both the analogue and digital domains and has extensive experience mixing live music, setting up and configuring loudspeaker systems, monitoring (also as a dedicated monitor engineer), and general stage management. He has mixed events numbering into the thousands and is comfortable on large and small-format mixing consoles in both the analogue and digital domains. In addition, he is also well versed in digital audio components as they relate to system technology.
As aforementioned, Greg’s career started in 1999 in the city of Orem, Utah, USA, mentoring under wrestling great, Maxx Payne, at his studio, Megatön Records (now defunct). He has learned from LA producer/engineer greats such as John Feldman, and has worked with the gold-selling rock act, the Used, as a touring guitarist on their self-titled debut album's supporting tours. In 2003 he returned to Johannesburg and began working as a senior engineer with Bombsquad Sound and Lights where he worked for three years (and continued to work for them on a more limited basis) before settling into the Edenvale-based studio, Shifted Audio, where he is now chief engineer (www.shiftedaudio.co.za).
At Shifted Audio he has recorded and produced many and varied styles of music including: Rock, African Traditional, Jazz, Gospel, Metal (and its many incarnations), R&B, and more. In addition to music, Greg is also proficient in mixing sound for video and film both in stereo and 5.1 surround. He has provided his recording and score mixing services for clients such as Phillip Miller, one of South Africa’s premiere composers (Paradise Stop, 2010, Black Butterfly, 2010)
A short list of artists/musicians Greg has worked with:
In addition to mixing, Greg also offers his services as a mastering engineer. Many of the albums he has mixed he has mastered as well so please feel free to enquire about utilizing his mastering services.
Greg has also been a contributing writer for Music Maker magazine and was consistently published therein from 2006 until it became out of print.
Articles will be available online for perusal soon.