Mixing, Mastering, Editing

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: There are two: - Ayresakukin by Fnan as having in a foreign (Eritrean) language, where every instrument was recorded live - not grabbed out of the MIDI-box, as well as its very unique composition, made it hard to nail the song emotionally and sonically. - Meet Me (Spyen Remix) by Spyen was quite hard to polish up for competitive playback with other songs as being overly distorted and sonically washed out in it's rough version - but we think we did it!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Maybe your song soon, if you're reading this?

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Love analog, but digital has become so close in flavour with modern emulations, that I don't feel no need for hardware processing no more.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: Creating the creatively and sonically best version of a song.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What are you favourite songs and why?

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Tell us your vision of the song, and give some good critical feedback on the first version you get back as well.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: Starting to rap at the age of about 14 years, and wondering why one-taking a song to a beat being played in the background didn't sound as good as other songs, paved the path to an obsession with sonic and emotional excellence which resulted in Synaikido SoundArts

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: Laptop, Audio-Interface, Monitors, electricity generator and keyboard (producing and mixing) or daw-controller (just mixing). :D As far as Plugins: Novatron Compressor, Linear Phase Logic Stock EQ, SP2016 Reverb, Soundtoys Effect Rack, Slate Digital FG-X

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Undefined. Well, maybe dynamic and impactful.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: Holy crap... Eminem! Love his music since forever and would love to play a sonic role in some of it! Also First Breath After Come since they are so creative with their sounds which I would love to contribute to. Oh and there's also Florence + The Machine - so much creative dynamics and headroom to work with! In general We just love working on and enhancing music towards its best representation.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Layering with strong EQ cuts can make an instrument sound huge.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: We started on the Hip-Hop/Rap side, but also worked on some Jazz, Classical, Electronic, Rock and Indie songs, as well!

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Taking many different sounds and putting them together in a way that they enhance each other instead of competing against each other. Tools for that are usually just volume, pan, EQ, compression and different saturation types.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Great feel and sound hopefully.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: First we listen closely to the rough-mix, deciding what we like much and what less, and try to envision the songs final sound in our mind before we start the mix. Then we set your song up for mixing or mastering, organizing the tracks quickly (coloring, grouping of similar) in the case of mixing. Then we just mix. Which means we find great volume balances for the instruments, correct tonal or dynamic problems if a sound needs a change, sometimes add creative effects (depending on genre, artist and song or your wish for it) and after finding great balances and having a great sounding starting point we focus in on the details that sound different from our vision, trying to perfect them. The artist's input and feedback on the mix or master is greatly appreciated any time.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Monitoring: Our studio setup consists of Yamaha HS7s, KRK 10s subwoofer with foot-switch matched to the HS7 and recently added some Logitech trash boxes as well for checking lo-fi translation. Those are all connected to a Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 audio-interface that is connected to the computer with Logic Pro X as our main mixing and mastering DAW. The room we work in is set up acoustically neutral with the right amount and positioning of absorbers and diffusors as well as bass-traps for the sub. Controlling: We use a Qcon Pro G2 as our main DAW controller, as well as Softube's Console1 to stay off the mouse most of the time and work more intuitively. Plug-ins: We own and use many, great sounding digital DAW plugins (e.g. Kush-Audio, SoundToys, Softube, ...) to form the sound the way you want it.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Super many! Let's go...: Eminem, Dr. Dre, twentyonepilots, AnnenMayKantereit, Queen, James Blunt, Nirvana, Green Day, Imagine Dragons, First Aid Kid, U2, The Beatles, Jukebox the Ghost, LINKIN PARK, Kendrick Lamar, Yelawolf, The Weeknd, Coldplay, The Wombats, First Breath After Coma, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Portugal. The Man, Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, Kool Savas, J. Cole, Ludovico Einaudi, Fleetwood Mac, Frank Ocean, My AnT, Samy Deluxe, Kanye West, Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, The Verve, Beach House, The Kooks, A$AP Rocky, Curse, Alt-J (∆), The xx, Florence + The Machine, Mobb Deep, Fort Frances, Asher Roth, Kids Of Adelaide, Satellite Stories, Arcade Fire, Panama, John Newman, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Elvis Presley, Kid Cudi, The Lumineers, The Vaccines, The National, M83, Band of Horses, Boy, Bloc Party, Daughter, Fall Out Boy, Ennio Morricone, Hans Zimmer, Mumford & Sons, Paul Kalkbrenner, N.W.A., Miike Snow, Fun., Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Nico Stai, Hall & Oates, Michael Jackson, Chakuza, F.R., Seeed, Nelly Furtado, Kelly Clarkson, DMX, Collie Buddz, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Azad, ... and many more!

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: Mixing and/or Mastering