Discover how spirit moving and emotive your tracks can be! I specialize in jazzy, understated piano and keyboards to perfectly frame your message. I layer and build upon your melody (or arrange a melody for you, if you don't have one) and take your song from good to amazing!
I’m a Smooth Jazz pianist/keyboardist/bassist, and recording artist. I’m also a songwriter/composer/producer, and founder of an Indie record label. I work primarily on Christian music across unlimited styles and genres. These styles include (but are not limited to) Jazz, R&B, Pop, Country, and Rock.
If you’re ready to work with an ego-free producer driven to help you to create incredible and wholesome music, I promise you, I won’t disappoint. No project is too big or too small. I am also able to produce full musical productions in-house, with or without external musicians, depending on budget... achieving same sonic fullness and quality.
I provide the skill and professionalism of a high demand musician, with the interaction and responsiveness of a friend down the street!
Would love to hear from you. Click the contact button above to get in touch.
Credits
10 Reviews - 2 Repeat Clients
Endorse Michael Canaan
check_circleVerified (Client)Michael is a natural talent and great communicator! His jazz sensibilities mix together classic and innovative styles and his tracks are a clear representation of his skills. Can't wait to work together again!
check_circleVerified (Client)Michael was an absolute joy to work with and has such a great heart for worship! If you get a chance to work with him - do it! I look forward to the next time we get to work together. 😊
check_circleVerifiedMichael and I have worked on three songs now, and I will continue to come back to him. He is dedicated to his work and talent and he lit up my tracks once again.
check_circleVerifiedMichael is a phenominal pianist and humble brotha to work with he made adjustments with no problem and made the time efficiently to respond and redo what he did better I recommend him highly especially because its not many black pianists on here who are skilled like him and very few black pianists at all on here so proud to be able to work with Michael and be able to build a connection and release this new material with his contribution
check_circleVerifiedMichael is a true professional, and a gifted musician. His ability to take a very simple melody and turn it into outstanding arrangement is second to none!! He is extremely easy to work with, and always eager to please. !! I highly recommend him for your next project!!
- check_circleVerified
Wow wow wow. Michael is the man! He delivered above and beyond what I had hoped, and really brought a unique voice to my song. Highly recommend! Also, super nice guy and great to work with.
- check_circleVerified
Great Work. Michael has skills and his imaginative nature, experiments with success to following direction and delivering!
- check_circleVerified
Master of the keys.. we will be collaborating again soon! Amazing work :)
For a long long time I've been looking for a professional pianist and keyboardist like Michael. This gifted man promptly and swiftly took my composition to the next level, he truly put his heart and soul into the song! Very passionate about music, and very easy to work with. Highly recommended
Michael is a fantastic musician! His jazz style fit perfectly with my pop/jazz/rnb inspired music! And he was quick and professional! I will definitely be working with him in the future! Thanks Michael!
Interview with Michael Canaan
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: tobyMac. He's versatile, and thinks outside the box. He has a worshipper's heart, but his music isn't what people typically think worship is. I think that he and I take the same approach to Christian music.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Hear and feel the music in your spirit before you begin to lay it down. For me, that usually occurs away from my equipment; most often in the shower or taking a long drive!
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Love, feel, and a heart for God which comes through in all my music.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: The title track to my upcoming EP, "Caught Up in the Clouds," is my favorite finished and released single so far. I composed, performed, produced, mixed, and mastered the song myself... and released it under my own label. For various reasons, I have had to be a musical one stop shop... all by myself. I have learned some things in 2020 that enabled me to function in that role better than I ever have before.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: My own Smooth Christian Jazz EP, and a Christian Country EP for one of the artists signed to my label. I have also started a band, and we have begun practicing our first song together, which is a song that I have written.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Not yet, as I'm a newbie... but I'll be discovering all the immense talent here soon enough!
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both! Analog captures feel and spontaneity better, while digital is more "editable" and "perfectible" on the fly (thinking mainly of MIDI). I love the ability to correct timing, velocity, or wrong note issues with a click (per note of course lol)! As far as analog or digital sound, I have absolutely no preference there. I love both!
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: That I won't stop giving my all until the song is done. I also give unlimited revisions, free of charge, until the project is completed.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: The short commute to my backyard home studio lol, and making a career of answering my God given calling!
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: How much do you charge? I usually answer by giving them a basic price... but what I want to ask in return is, "How much is your message worth?" ;)
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: That it's mechanical, and devoid of feeling. I put my heart into every song, whether it's for me or for someone else.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: My number one question is: "What do you want to say?" My second question is: "How do you want to say it?" We can work out the rest easily once that is clarified ;)
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Look for credits that match who you want to sound like. They are the most qualified to give you that sound. If you don't want to sound like anyone else though... look for me!
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: My Behringer (only 49 keys!), my AKG studio headphones, a thunderbolt cable, my Blue microphone, and of course my Mac! I'm assuming I discovered a working power generator somewhere on the island that runs on sea water? LOL
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: 20 years as a hobby, or secondary pursuit. I have been doing this full time now for six months!
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Smooth and spirit moving.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Smooth Jazz for my own recording projects.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Melody arrangement, and building a beautiful song out of a great melody.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I used to play analog into my mixer, and export audio to my DAW. Since adding my interface, I usually record through that straight into my DAW... or I record MIDI into the DAW so that I can simply edit mistakes without having to punch in redo's. MIDI is a wonderful thing ;)
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: 3 keyboards (Roland FA-08, Yamaha MOX-F8, & Behringer Deepmind 12), 32 track Tascam DP-32sd recording mixer, Quantum 2626 audio interface, and 2019 MacBook Pro running Catalina. Studio One 5 Professional is my DAW of choice.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Brian Culbertson, Gregg Karukas, John Stoddart
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Lay down piano tracks for clients, and re-arrange existing song structure.
I was the Pianist/Keyboardist, Bass Player, Composer, and Producer in this production
- PianoAverage price - $300 per song
- Keyboards - SynthAverage price - $300 per song
- Bass ElectricAverage price - $200 per song
- Songwriter - MusicAverage price - $350 per song
- Songwriter - LyricAverage price - $350 per song
- Full instrumental productionAverage price - $500 per song
- Ghost ProducerAverage price - $800 per song
One week turnaround per song (usually done sooner). Unlimited free revisions. I'm not happy unless you're blown away!
- Brian Culbertson
- Gregg Karukas
- Bob James
- Roland FA-08 (Keyboard)
- Yamaha MOXF8 (Keyboard)
- Behringer Deepmind12 (Keyboard)
- PreSonus Quantum 2626 (Digital Interface)
- PreSonus StudioOne 5 (DAW)
- Yamaha CFX Grand Piano (VST)
- Arturia Analog Lab V Classic Synths (VST)
Two song deal: Half off all listed prices for second song. Songwriter's Deal: Compose song and write lyrics for $350 (includes lyric sheet and sheet music or chord chart).
