Joe Zeitlin

Cello & Strings

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58 Reviews (52 Verified)
Joe Zeitlin on SoundBetter

Principal chair in Oscar® -nominated soundtrack "Jackie" (Mica Levi), Bryan Tyler, Jonny Greenwood, Jeffery Lewis, Aphex Twin, Johnny Flynn, Floating Points. I was a member of a professional string quartet for many years, performing regularly at London's Wigmore Hall as well as other esteemed concert halls worldwide.

*PLEASE NO TIME WASTERS. I PROVIDE QUALITY PERFORMANCES AND RECORDINGS ONLY, AND QUALITY COSTS MONEY. IF YOU WANT BETTER IT'S HERE, IF NOT IT'S ELSEWHERE. THANK YOU*

I have extensive experience in recording and performing music from all genres. My string quartet was an international prize-winning ensemble. At the same time I also produce electronic music for commercials, play in a folk band and have participated in many different projects, from John Cage performances in warehouses to a remote orchestra concert with Aphex Twin, to morning coffee concert recitals at Wigmore Hall, The Arnold Schoenberg Centre in Vienna, International concert Hall Beijing, Snape Matings and at BBC Proms. I also play regularly with Philharmonia Orchestra, London.

Session experience includes Principal chair in Oscar® -nominated soundtrack "Jackie" (Mica Levi) The Last Czars (Netflix), Bryan Tyler, Johnny Flynn, Patrick Wolf, Jeffery Lewis, Jonny Greenwood, Aphex Twin, Floating Points.

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Credits

AllMusic verified credits for Joe Zeitlin
  • Johnny Flynn
  • Mica Levi
  • Floating Points
  • Johnny Flynn
  • Jonathan Jeremiah
  • Jeffrey Lewis
  • Johnny Flynn
  • Johnny Flynn
  • Johnny Flynn
  • Johnny Flynn
  • Johnny Flynn
  • Johnny Flynn
  • High Sign

58 Reviews - 6 Repeat Clients

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  1. Review by Chris K.
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    I love working with Joe. He's very versatile and his string parts are always in line with my vision for the song (even if I have a hard time articulating it). The string parts for these two songs were gorgeous as usual!

  2. Review by C. Y.
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    by C. Y.
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    Joe Zeitlin was the first of many Cellists to respond and deliver for my upcoming Compilation Album titled "Bucket O' Cello" (14 Songs) I knew right away that Joe had a “Team Player Attitude”, as he responded with utmost kindness, respect, and cooperation, and he delivered promptly with amazing talent and results. Joe has a "Team Player Attitude" AND amazing talent! It has been a pleasure working with Joe, and I will have more projects for him in the future!

  3. Review by Karl E.
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    Joe is an exceptional musician and very easy to work with.

  4. Review by Andy H.
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    Another great session from Joe, nails it every time!

  5. Review by Andy H.
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    Great playing, great communication and a pleasure to work with.

  6. Review by Aneesh
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    by Aneesh
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    Joe recorded cello and violin for me on a pop style piece and brought amazing lyrical phrasing and emotion in the playing. Very pleased with the result. Quick delivery and excellent communication. Will definitely go with Joe again and highly recommended to anyone looking to record strings.

  7. Review by Chris K.
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    I've worked with Joe several times and he always comes up with amazing arrangements that utterly unique. I love his ear for capturing just what the song needs. I look forward to working with him again in the near future!

  8. Review by Andy H.
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    Once again Joe did a brilliant job translating my rough sketches into something compelling.

  9. Review by Alexxsjohnson
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    Awesome arrangement and attention to detail for my track! Would love to work with him again

  10. Review by Peter F.
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    Five stars across the board. Joe is a great cellist and a pleasure to work with.

  11. Review by Active Light Sound
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    Very professional communication! Top notch cellist who will give a strong performance and very good recording quality... I hired the full quartet for a project and they played and performed very well together. Couldn't recommend Joe enough and great price for this quality of work..

  12. Review by Chris K.
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    Joe consistently brings inventive, well thought out and striking string arrangements to my tracks. What I really love about his string parts is that he is always careful to avoid the obvious and really gets creative, and the tracks themselves are always gorgeous. I look forward to continue working with him in the future!

  13. Review by Ilia G.
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    Joe is an a fantastic person to work with. In less than one week he has managed to record fantastic session with 45 tracks of excellent sounding strings. His attention to the details is phenomenal and quality of records is superb! Highly recommend him for the projects - he will take your songs several levels up

  14. Review by Ali T.
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    by Ali T.
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    It was my pleasure to work with Joe. Joe captured the main sentiment in my music and delivered several versions of an improvisation I requested from him with excellent musical and technical quality. Communication was effortless and he was very quick to respond even during odd hours given the time difference between us. Joe has been great and I would love to work with him again in the future. If you are looking for someone who can deliver top quality music Joe will not disappoint.

  15. Review by Peter F.
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    Joe's a pro - and a brilliant cellist. Can't thank him enough for the beautiful work he did on one of our tracks.

  16. Review by Lucian B.
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    His cello sounds amazing as is. I didn't need to do/add anything, edit, modulate pitches, etc. Joe is a professional and easy to work with as well. I look forward to hiring him for future projects.

  17. Review by Alvin P.
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    Joe is an extremely beautiful player and above all, he was very patient with my queries and changes. He arranged the entire string section for my song and sent me great quality stems as well. It was great working with him!

  18. Review by Chris K.
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    Joe provided a stellar cello arrangement for my song. The recording was expertly played and sounds amazing. The arrangement itself is gorgeous and inventive. He's very communicative and a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend him!

  19. Review by Andy H.
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    Joe did an excellent job recording multi-tracked cello for my project.
    Very good communication and he was very flexible when I needed to adjust the track mid-project. Would highly recommend, a very safe pair of hands if you're looking for cello.

  20. Review by Nils V.
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    Joe was a pleasure to work with. He got the parts done on time, and they sounded great! I'd definitely work with him again.

Interview with Joe Zeitlin

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

  2. A: Try to be as clear as possible with what you want. We can certainly help with this, which is why I always prefer to meet on the phone and talk about the project first, perhaps with cello in hand to demonstrate things. This always always improves the final result.

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

  4. A: That because it looks easy, it is easy! I would say that practising an instrument to the high level needed to do it professionally can be likened to boiling a pan of water. As soon as you take down the heat the water no longer boils. We need to be at boiling point consistently, and to do this a LOT of work goes on in the practise room. Not to mention the 10s of thousands of hours we have put in since we were kids...

  5. Q: Analog or digital and why?

  6. A: Both are brilliant!

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

  8. A: 100% extreme happiness with what we send you. I’ll do anything and everything to make sure a client is perfectly happy at the end of the process.

  9. Q: What do you like most about your job?

  10. A: The hugely varying and contrasting music I get to play, and I never know what’s coming which keeps my professional life exciting.

  11. Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

  12. A: A difficult question I get quite a bit is to give a quote for work before any details have been shared. It’s very difficult to say what a job is worth until we know what the job will entail. I would say before you ask for a quote, get everything together in terms of exactly what you want us to do. The more accurate you are, the more accurate we can be in terms of getting you the cheapest quote.

  13. Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

  14. A: If anything is unclear or is not consistent in the materials I receive I will always seek to clarify before we start. But mainly it’s about the character of the song- telling us any hidden meanings or emotions behind the work help us to get closer to the clients’ ideal...

  15. Q: How would you describe your style?

  16. A: Lyrical phrases with a warm and generous tone, at all times corresponding to the feel of the piece or song

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

  18. A: We all graduated from London Music Colleges- Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal College of Music. We have all been playing our instruments since early childhood and so it has always been a life’s vocation for all of us.

  19. Q: What's your typical work process?

  20. A: On receiving scores or parts from the client, we have a look over it, mapping the harmonic form if necessary or sitting with the tracks to let them sink in, while speaking with the composer/songwriter about their vision for the performance. We are trained in Classical music but we have worked on many different styles from all types of electronic music to Jazz to Folk. If the parts are any less than straight forward in terms of technical difficulty we then spend some time practising the parts with our instruments. We find that while it’s possible to turn up and sight-read, reaching the true potential of the music is easier done with a little practise...

  21. Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

  22. A: It’s quite simple really- we have a well acoustically- treated room first of all, and we record with a Neumann TLM 103 and a KM 184 stereo pair going into an ART PRO MPA2 tube pre and a UA Apollo with a variety of UAD preamps. We think the sound we get speaks for itself!

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

  24. A: Possibly Hildur Guðnadóttir. Apart from being a fellow cellist, a lot of times I have been watching films/series and noticed the brilliant music, the composer turned out to be her...

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

  26. A: Hagen Quartett; Steven Isserlis; James Ehnes; Arkadey Volodos; Nicolas Altstaedt, Teldec Studios

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

  28. A: Interpret, perform and record clients’ music in close connection with them. We can also work with them on creating and arranging parts.

  29. Q: Can you share one music production tip?

  30. A: Get your room in acoustic shape first!

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

  32. A: Classical, film scores and songs.

  33. Q: What's your strongest skill?

  34. A: Communication. With the composer at first through listening and discussing, and then through our instruments as we convey the clients’ ideas to their audience.

  35. Q: What do you bring to a song?

  36. A: We bring a warm, soulful sound, naturally lyrical phrasing, all captured in a pristine quality recording.

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Gabriel's Oboe Theme

I was the Cellist, recording and mix engineer in this production

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GenresSounds Like
  • Beethoven
  • Schubert
  • John Williams
Gear Highlights
  • Neumann TLM103
  • Neumann KM184
  • UA Apollo8
  • Art Pro MPA2
  • Eventide Eclipse
More Photos
  • Morricone TributeJul 11, 2020

    My version of Gabriel's Oboe, for cellos

  • Co-composer on 'The Last Czars' on NetflixJul 07, 2020

    Check out the original soundtrack I composed and performed with Johnny Flynn for recent Netlflix dram "The Last Czars"