woodwind multiinstrumental pro

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Being creative, giving some "handmade flair" to recordings

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

A: Listen to sample recordings first. Don't be afraid to ask horn-related questions. Not everybody is familiar with these instruments.

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

A: I grew up in a jazzy family. Started with clarinet at the age of 6. Sax at the age of 13. Became singer-songwriter-guitarist at the age of 16. Studied jazz-saxophone. Founded an artist & booking agency. Began touring & recording woodwinds on a professional level in 2004 up to now.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: in terms of brass / woodwind recordings: if you want horns to sound powerful and rich in pop-productions, the players have to play with less dynamic and louder in the studio than they would usually do when playing live. You won't get this "natural compression" with any plugin...

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: First of all: let's chat! Most important is to understand what you want. The next question is: "Who writes the hornparts?" Has an arranger written something or do you want me to come up with the arrangement or is it just a quick and easy melody that needs no sheetmusic or proper arrangement. When these questions have been answered, I would do a quick sample-recording, so we can decide about style, sound, microphone a.s.o. and after having figured that out, I would start to track and send you the files as soon as possible.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I just finished this years season of "Sing meinen Song" (german music TV show) which will ne broadcast over the next 8 weeks.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: I am NOT a trumpet or trombone player. So I (myself) cannot offer a complete hornsection for 200€. I can offer a quick hornsection-recording with pro players on short notice though.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Can you give me an example / track / song / snippet that you would like my performance to sound like?

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

A: all of you :)

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Understanding of multiple musical genres, quick workflow, years of studio-experience

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

A: I have been co-writing and recording the woodwind parts for Germany's No.1 TV-music-show "Sing meinen Song" which is in it's 7th season now, having released 14 albums (some of which gained platin & gold status) and more than 500 songs.

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

A: To me good music is a mixture between heart, stomach and brain. To evoke emotions, the heart and stomach have to be triggered. This is what I love about good pop & rock music. In jazz the brain often becomes more important. I love music and artists that offer both. I like it, when it maintains some dirt. To name a few: John Scofield, Charlie Winston, Bon Iver, Regina Spektor, Beck, Tom Waits. From a production point of view, I do like to work clean and polished though, if the genre needs this.

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

A: Most of the time I record horns as overdubs when the basic tracks of a production are already done. That can mean a simple solo or melody track or a complete hornsection. Often producers or artists are not familiar with the possibilities (woodwind, brass, mixed, unison, polyphone, close miked, soft and breathy, loud with a lot overtones ...), so I often try to give examples, of what could be a good fit for the song / score. If a complete mixed brass & woodwind hornpart is desired, I can offer writing, arranging, hiring further musicians. We even can come to your studio to track the parts.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: soulful, melodic, warm

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My room is small and very dry. No bass issues. No present room tone. For recording woodwinds in 99% I use my AEA R84 ribbon with the AEA RPQ500 ribbon preamp. Another option is my Sennheiser MD441 or my AKG 414. I can record between 44.1 - 196khz. You get raw wav-files. If desired, I offer to export my tracks with EQ & compression (using the Slate Plugins).

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Nowadays I would go 99% digital since the workflow is much better. If working analog, there must be a strict reason why and a straight workflow and no mix revisions.

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

A: Tenorsax, my ribbon mic, interface, laptop, sunglasses

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

A: mostly pop, rock, jazz recordings for artists/bands but also theatre and film music productions

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: melody, liveliness, warmth