My friends at Virtual Guitarist have just released a new VI.
With summer around the corner this sensual nylon guitar might just be what you need: SILK!
Oh… And before I forget: I’ve written the demo song “Down By The Lake”.
Co-produced by Martin Seyer. Dreamy vocals by yours truly.
Today I started co-hosting the Radio 7 Morningshow. And on top, I’ve developed the sound concept of the Radio 7 Morning Show by producing our new jingle package.
Shout outs to my partners in crime: Benjamin Krause, Juan Carlos Enriquez, Noe, FAB, Gus & Justin at Igloo Music.
♡
You gotta love London. From Brick Lane to Soho– just the perfect balance between dirty and polite. I’m always happy to find an excuse to go and last week I had a good one:
My Berklee buddy Matt Lange performed an epic DJ set at London’s Ministry of Sound in Dolby Atmos, which kind of blew me away. Probably the reason why the photo I took turned out so blurry.
Every April audio professionals from all over the world pilgrimage to Frankfurt for Musikmesse. This year I supported my friend, Mastering Engineer Stefan Heger of Fisheye Music, at the MasteringWorks booth.
Strolling around, I especially loved the Mother-32 by Moog and was super impressed by the Roli Seaboards. In any size: Definitely worth checking out!
It’s easier to criticize rather than to support,
To judge rather than to understand,
To discourage rather than to inspire–
Don’t go the easy way.
I have never felt as horrified, sad and powerless as these past days.
There are just no words.
Things I learned this month:
A substitute dominant chord resolves a half step down and takes the lydian dominant scale.
To create an “ow” sound on a synth you need an LFO, an LPF, a VCA and three EGs.
Even though they look the same– wax paper should not be used as baking paper.
Cheers.
A few weeks ago, True Motion Pictures reached out to me to produce a song for them. So I sat down with my Hammond SK1, a notebook and lots of Starbucks coffee to come up with a riff, the melody and, of course, lyrics.
But writing lyrics and composing a melody is just one step of the whole production process. You have to arrange the song, which means deciding on tempo, key, style and instrumentation. You could turn a Beatles tune into a death metal song or Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” into a dance track. You don’t have to, of course, I’m just saying– that’s what ‘arranging a song’ means.
Once you know what you want the song to sound like, you wanna make sure you record with great musicians. I am lucky, because I am surrounded by quite a few badass musicians who are fun to work and hang out with. I also had my first Pop Tart ever while recording drums with James Applegate. Now, when you have recorded, edited and premixed the tracks (editing as in cut out laughters or nonsense talk about Pop Tarts) there is a slight possibility that you can’t stand to hear your own song for another time. That’s because you have been playing it for about five days in a row over and over again. Don’t worry, that feeling will pass! Maybe take a walk and meet friends who tell you things like: “Dude! You’re so pale! Do you ever see the sun?”
The final step of the production is the mix and the mastering. Besides great taste and excellent ears you also need a lot of experience for these matters so you might wanna hand your tracks over to an expert, which I did. Sal Ojeda has been mixing for film as well as for ridiculously famous artists (who we’ll not even name because we’re too cool to even bother).
All there is left to say is: I am really grateful for my wonderful team. Thank you for your passion, musicality and inspiration @ James Applegate (drums), Benjamin Krause (Hammond/bass), Mike Hernandez (guitars), Andres Fonseca Alfonso (percussions), Sal Ojeda (mix/mastering) and Alexander Papastawrou (True Motion Pictures).
High Five!
I remember the first time I set foot into a professional recording studio. I was 13 and my uncle, a trumpet player from New York had brought me along to record one of my original songs. I was super intrigued by all the equipment and a little intimidated by people talking in a language I would not understand yet. But I also felt that this was where I belonged.
Countless recording sessions later, I still feel the excitement and an instant happiness when I get into the studio. You close the door of the vocal booth and leave the world outside. It’s just you and the song.
In case you wondered, what a music producer actually does– let me unravel the mystery for you…
