J. Ruettger

At the beginning of 2026, the artist Otten approached me with a techno EP. He is a DJ focused on Groove and Hard Bounce, regularly playing in club environments. Since then, I have been accompanying and mastering his productions and releases for roughly the past six months.
I am genuinely happy to work on this kind of music because it differs strongly from many of my other projects in terms of genre, energy, and sonic aesthetics. The sound is dense, hypnotic, and intentionally chaotic in parts, which makes the mastering process especially interesting from a technical perspective.
Because the tracks were mainly produced on headphones, one of the main areas I focused on was the midrange translation, alongside refining parts of the stereo image and gain staging. The goal was not to drastically change the tonal identity or “color” of the productions, but rather to optimize and stabilize the overall presentation for large club systems.
The mastering approach was therefore intentionally transparent:
maintaining the original character and aggression of the mixes
achieving extremely high loudness levels around -5 to -6 LUFS integrated
improving stereo depth and spatial balance for club playback
increasing impact and translation without audible over-processing
The final masters were specifically designed for large sound systems and high-energy club environments.
According to Otten himself, the tracks ended up hitting harder and sounding louder than every other song in his DJ set.

In this project, I was responsible for the stereo mastering for the official release.
In May 2026, I spent one week in Greece, where we worked together on the song “Tifa.” After returning to Munich, the track was finalized at MSM Studios during the mastering stage.
I genuinely enjoy working on music where I do not fully understand the lyrics, because it allows me to focus entirely on the emotional impact, sonic balance, and overall atmosphere of the record rather than the literal meaning of the words.
The main goal during mastering was to make the song feel larger, more immersive, and emotionally impactful. Another issue was that the vocal tended to sit slightly too far back in the mix. During the mastering process, we were able to improve the vocal presence and enhance the overall translation and depth of the track without sacrificing its musicality.
The artists were extremely satisfied with the final result.

This project showcases a selection of my work across recording, production, arrangement, mixing and mastering in modern rap, pop and electronic productions. The playlist represents recent releases that reflect my overall workflow, sonic standards and approach to emotional impact in modern music.

I’m a Berlin and Munich based recording, mixing and mastering engineer and producer with over 10 years of hands-on experience across the full production chain. So far, I have worked on 300+ processed titles and hold 100+ verified credits on Muso.ai. Despite being relatively young, I developed inside professional studio environments early on, which shaped my workflow and decision-making through real-world sessions and artist collaborations.

My philosophy is simple: music and emotion come first. Technical decisions are tools that support feeling, not replace it. Working in a highly controlled studio environment allows me to make confident and truthful sonic decisions that translate reliably across different listening systems.

Currently, I operate within professional studio environments including MSM Studios, one of Europe’s leading facilities for immersive and stereo mastering. This environment allows me to work at a high technical standard while continuing to refine my craft alongside experienced engineers.

I consider myself a young allrounder with a strong focus on guiding projects from early creative stages through final delivery, always adapting to the needs of the artist and the direction of the music.

Spotify Playlist:
https://www.twine.net/signin

Studio Reference:
https://www.twine.net/signin

Role:
Recording Engineer
Producer
Arranger
Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer