I'm a professional music producer, beatmaker and mixer with 12 years of experience in crafting soulful hiphop music, who has gathered over 100 million streams on Spotify. My discography includes several albums, EP's, singles and official remixes (Selah Sue, Emancipator, Wax Tailor, Talib Kweli, Hermitude,...) on both independent and major labels.
If what you're looking for is sterile and digital sounding music, don't read any further. If, on the other hand, you aim for a warm, modern sound with a raw edge to it, I'm your man. My obsession with music production started 12 years ago and has allowed me to make music professionally for about 5 years now. My forte is soulful, jazzy hip-hop and R&B instrumentals (both old school and modern) with electronic influences, but I'm open to work on more uptempo and funky genres too.
I specialize in a number of things, but my main strengths are:
- Producing tailor-made instrumentals/beats with groovy, head nodding drums and melodic, lush instrumentation (I love Fender Rhodes, grand piano, analog synth chords and warm basslines)
- Mixing vocals
- Mixing full songs (using both outboard gear and plugins)
- Expanding on existing demos/ideas in order to give them that last professional touch
- Remix work
- Soundtrack composition (I composed the soundtrack for Sony Xperia's worldwide promotional campaign)
I can work towards a specific sound if you provide me with a list of reference songs. This gives me a good idea of the sound you're aiming for and makes the process more efficient for both parties.
I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.
Credits
AllMusic verified credits for Poldoore5 Reviews
Endorse Thomas Schillebeeckx: Poldoore- check_circleVerified
Thomas is a brilliant professional, he did quality work. In addition to being agile, he communicates well and fulfills everything agreed.I'm looking forward to the next collaboration with him and I highly recommend working with him.
- check_circleVerified (Client)
Thomas hired me to play strings on his EP. First of all, his music is awesome- as an analog guy I love the warm natural tones he gets in his electronic production. Super high production value and musicality. Secondly, he's really easy to work with and was very clear about what he wanted on the tracks, which helped give me direction. I'm looking forward to the next collaboration with him, and you should be too!
- check_circleVerified
Working with Thomas on mixing and mastering my song was a great experience. Communicating with him was easy, clear, and concise. As well as having the professional skills to take your song to the next level, he is very patient and receptive towards any revision notes I provided.
I would definitely recommend Thomas and look forward to working with him on future projects! - check_circleVerified
Thomas is very easy to communicate and work with and can take your track to the next level with that professional final polish. I look forward to working with him again!!
- check_circleVerified
Thomas was so patient to work with. He provided me with many revisions until I was completely satisfied. A pleasure to communicate and work with, I will be seeking his assistance in future projects for sure. Thanks Thomas!
Interview with Thomas Schillebeeckx: Poldoore
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I mainly produce full songs or instrumentals from scratch with the vision of the client in mind. I also enjoy expanding on an already existing project, meaning that clients come to me with a basic musical idea or a demo that needs to be translated into a full song.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I composed and produced the soundtrack for "The Journey": a crowd-sourced short documentary that was directed by award-winning cinematographer and director Mateo Willis (Planet Earth, Blue Planet,...) and released by Sony as a worldwide promotional campaign for their Xperia smartphone. Closely collaborating with an Emmy-award winning director was truly an enriching experience.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What music they are currently listening too and some of their all time favorite albums.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: My passion (or rather, obsession) with making music started 12 years ago and has allowed me to make music full-time for the last 5 to 7 years. Apart from producing I have also toured with my Poldoore project in clubs and festivals across Europe, the US and Canada.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: A blend of soulful, jazzy and often nostalgic music with electronic influences and a raw edge.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: One thing I highly advise is to take a 5 minute break every hour. This will reset your ears and allow you to objectively listen to the music you're working on. You will immediately be able to pinpoint issues that might have been clouded by listening to the song on repeat.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Mainly soulful, jazzy hip-hop or r&b, but I honestly love working on anything honest that has groove and makes me move.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: Computer: iMac + Apple MacBook Air. Synths: Prophet 8, Moog Subsequent, Korg MS-20, Roland Juno,... Tape delays and reverbs: Roland RE-201, Watkins Copicat, Dynacord Echocord,... Distortion units: Thermionic Culture Vulture, Elysia Karacter, Sherman Filterbank,... Tape saturation: Rupert Neve 542, Empirical Labs FATSO,... Compressors: TK Audio BC1-S, custom made 1176, Warm Audio WA-2A,... EQ's: Warm Audio Pultecs, Elysia xFilter, Siemens w295b,... Pedals: Strymon, Pearl, EHX,... Eurorack modules: Metasonix, Wasp, Mutable Instruments, Doepfer,... Microphones: AKG C314, SM57. Pre-amp: GAP Pre-73 MKIII. Plugins: UAD, FabFilter, SoundToys, PSP, Plugin Alliance, Sonnox,... Monitors: Yamaha. Soundcard: MOTU. MIDI controllers: Akai MPD, Novation Launchpad, Roland A-88.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both. Analog sounds better to my ears, but the digital workflow is much faster and easier for re-calling. I couldn't live without one or the other.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: 100% satisfaction. It's as simple as that!
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: The simple fact of being able to make music all day, every day. Hearing music I worked on on the radio or in a bar or club.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: That there's such a thing as a 'make a song' button in the studio. Making music takes practice, time and discipline.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Make sure the producer is 100% behind your idea or he won't be able to work on it with full dedication.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Prophet 8, Moog Subsequent, Empirical Labs FATSO, Roland RE-201 and a coffee machine.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: There are way too many! Some favourites would be Herbie Hancock, Anderson Paak. and Curtis Mayfield.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Being able to inject both individuality/personality and commercial viability into a song.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: A human, organic touch.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I love watching Ludwig Goransson, Andrew Scheps, Fab Dupont or Young Guru doing their thing.
I was the songwriter, producer and mixing engineer in this production
- Beat MakerContact for pricing
- ProducerContact for pricing
- Mixing EngineerAverage price - $150 per song
- Mastering EngineerAverage price - $30 per song
- RemixingContact for pricing
- Film ComposerContact for pricing
If I'm not touring or on holiday, I can usually deliver within a couple of days. I am flexible on the number of revisions as I aim for both parties to be fully satisfied with the result.
- Pretty Lights
- Massive Attack
- Bonobo
- Synths (Prophet
- Moog
- Korg etc) - Tape delays (Space Echo
- Dynachord etc) - EQ's (Pultec
- xFilter etc) - Compressors (SSL-style
- 1176 etc) - Saturation (Neve 542
- FATSO etc) - Distortion (Culture Vulture
- Sherman etc) - Pedals (EHX
- Strymon etc)