Award winning Music Producer/Composer I can produce your record, co-write songs, compose for your television advert, programme or film, edit your audio, tune your vocals and master your tracks to the highest standard.
I've been producing, writing, recording, editing and mixing music for more than 30 years. I've made records for many top international artists including: Shania Twain, Maxi Priest, Erasure, Apache Indian, Janet Kaye, Errol Reid (China Black), Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Beat, Luciano, Desmond Dekker, Dillinger and many more.
I've composed music for adverts for companies including: Pepsi, Intel, Toshiba, Etisalat, Etihad and others and composed title and incidental music for a BAFTA winning UK Channel 4 drama.
I have songs featured in International movies including the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson debut Hollywood movie New York Minute and British director Gurinder Chadha’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Afterlife’.
I've also composed, produced and directed music for many theatre productions including sell out shows at Birmingham Symphony Hall, The REP Theatre and The Drum.
Records I've made have been nominated for 2 Grammy Awards, 3 Brit Awards, a Mercury Music Prize, and I was nominated for a coveted Ivor Novello Award for songwriting in the category of Best Contemporary Song, alongside Take That and M People.
Would love to hear from you. Click the contact button above to get in touch.
Credits
- Shania Twain
- Apache Indian
- Maxi Priest
- Dillinger
- The Beat
- Luciano
- Desmond Dekker
- Erasure
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
- Janet Kaye
- China Black
- Louie Ranking
- Aretha Daye
- Stereo Nation
- ITV
- Channel 4
- Pepsi
- Toshiba
- Etisalat
- Etihad Airways
- Intel
- Charanga
- Swami
- Martine Gerault
- Anne Saunderson
- Steel Pulse
- Ruby Turner
- Paul Potts
- Shkumbin Ismaili
- Emin
- Lady Sanity
- Priyesh Dhoolab
- The Lost Notes
- Matt Hoy
- TJ Rehmi
- Graham Dee
- Chris Taylor
- Richard Taylor
- BIMM
- Bbc
8 Reviews
Endorse Simon Duggal
I have commissioned Simon over many years to compose and produce music for corporate videos and documentaries. Simon intuitively sets the mood so it fits perfectly with the images and provokes an emotional response from the viewer. Simon has also on many occasions rescued bad quality recordings of dialogue for me, and matched audio quality of clips that have been recorded in different conditions. There is no-one who knows the craft of audio better than Simon. I would recommend all video producers and editors to work with Simon.
Simon and I started working together this year on a complex, international education curriculum project. I wanted kids to hear about production from an experienced, well-known and talented producer. I interviewed him initially and then he produced examples of tracks that could be used in the 'real' world for advertising etc. Simon knew exactly what to do and how to pitch his interview. Kids will LOVE it. Simon is an absolute joy to work with and we will be working together at Charanga Music for a long time. I feel very lucky to have his knowledge and expertise as part of our schemes of work.
I worked with Simon as a musician on Sigh of the Musafir, a production at Birmingham Rep Theatre in 2019. Simon composed and produced the music, led music rehearsals, and managed all the sound tech during the performance. He is extremely talented and professional and an absolute pleasure to work with. I will always jump at the opportunity to work with Simon again. His career history is also both impressive and fascinating, having worked with some top tier international artists like Shania Twain. He is a true professional with the talent to match.
This guy has an incredible ear and an encyclopaedic knowledge of sound! He mastered our debut album of acoustic americana music and really made it shine. A fantastic and lovely guy to work with too!
Simon is a veteran of the music industry with years of hits and experience under his belt. Humble, approachable and always the professional, you can rely on him to deliver.
Simon is great to work with and has exceptional expertise in music production, studio recording and technology. He has a positive attitude and is dedicated to his work. I’ve known him for many years and I highly recommend him.
I have had the privilege of working with Simon and each time he has surprised me with his breadth of knowledge and intuitive insight into what the artist wants. I would have no hesitation in recommending him as a part of any artistic endeavour. His past work speaks for itself in highlighting the experience and accomplishments he holds.
I would highly recommend Simon. I have worked with him multiple times over the last few years and it is always a pleasure. He is incredibly knowledgeable, easy to work with and the end results are always excellent.
Interview with Simon Duggal
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Percussionist Mendi Singh and Harpist Eleanor Turner are both top class musicians! Alex Picciafuochi is a great engineer.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Solid grooves, catchy and memorable melodies, whether that's a vocal top line or a lead riff.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I recently finished composing and producing music for 3 film trailers, a skateboard advert and 8 cartoons. You can hear some of them on my website. I'm starting another big project in the coming weeks but I'm not allowed to mention it just yet.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both. Digital for the convenience and analog for the sound.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I like the variety of work I do and the freedom it gives me.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: I'm not at all sure. I tend to just get on with things without paying any attention to hearsay.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: It's best to have a phone or zoom conversation in the first instance to talk through what you want to achieve and discuss the process of getting there.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: My phone, a guitar, a turntable and a bunch of vinyl.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been making music professionally since 1988. I started as a drummer playing with Stan Campbell of Free Nelson Mandela fame. After recording his album in UB40's studio here in Birmingham I built a small home studio and started recording and producing my own tracks. By 1991 I'd had my first number one record. I went on to create the Apache Indian sound and wrote and produced all of his early records including the triple platinum album No Reservations for Island Records. When that became successful the calls kept coming from all the major labels to work with heir artists. That lead to being asked to produce an album for Shania Twain. I learnt so much from working closely with Mutt Lange during that time.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Choosing (or recording) the right sound minimises how much processing you'll have to do. If you find yourself making huge eq cuts or boosts it's probably not the right sound to start with.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: It depends on what I'm doing. If I'm mixing I tend o start with drums, bass and vocals. If I'm composing it depends on whether I pick up a guitar or bass first or have an idea for a keyboard part. Writing songs is different. I mostly write away from the studio or wake up in the night and sing into my phone so I don't forget the idea.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a hybrid setup. I'm mainly in the box in Ableton Live or Pro Tools. I use UAD interface and plugins together with some SSL outboard and a lunchbox which tends to get chopped and changed every now and then.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: There are so many greats. Too many to list but in terms of genre it's everything from Afrobeat to Reggae and Rock to Pop.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: My work is quite varied. One week I'm producing a reggae record, the next I'm composing for theatre or a TV advert and in between I'm mastering a lot of music. Working in different roles and across such diverse genres keeps it interesting for me.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: It's really varied. Everything from Reggae to pop, to theatre productions, films and tv ads. I've woked extensively in all of these fields.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I produced Shania Twain's album Up! 19 songs over 7 months. Working along side Mutt Lange in Switzerland. It was a triple album, a pop version, a country version and a world version. It achieved 11 x platinum and was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards.
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- HEDD
- UAD
- SSL SiX
- SSL Channel strips
- 1073 preamps
- HRK preamps
- Ableton Live
- Pro Tools
- Logic
- DSP Quattro
- Acustica
- McDSP
- FabFilter
- Izotope
- Waves
- Lexicon
- Brainworx
