Music Producer / Pianist

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

A: Some time ago, I have made a track with a friend of mine and a singer that I'm very happy with. I like the catchy vibe and it is a mixture of the genres we like. I did most of the production and sound design in the track. You can listen to it on my profile page.

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

A: I started playing the piano when I was 8 years old. I had piano lessons from a great jazz musician, but eventually I switched to someone who taught me playing classical music. I have always liked doing what I do and the knowledge I have acquired over the years, I can use in producing music, which I have been doing for almost 5 years now.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: At the moment I am working on an interesting track involving both classical and electronic influences. Using a combination of powerful synths and orchestral elements, I have created an out of the ordinary but (in my opinion) quite cool track.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Analog hardware obviously has a more natural sound, some imperfections and movement that can create very interesting sounds and processing. On the other hand, digital software is a lot less expensive and easy to access. However, the result is sometimes a little too static and standard.

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

A: It's for me an absolute must that the customer is satisfied with the result and that the person feels like it was well worth it to ask a musician like me for the job.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love the kick that music can give you when you come with a new idea. The fact that probably nobody ever has made the exact track you have made, is amazing. It's really a way to let go of everything and convert your emotions into sound.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: It's very important to know what the purpose of the piece of music is. A background track for a video is very different from an instrumental track for a vocal. It's also essential to know what the customer's taste is, to make sure that the customer is satisfied with the result.

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

A: I would probably bring a laptop, a pair of headphones, a midi keyboard, and an audio interface, that's all you need really ;)

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

A: I would love to work with flume one day. His music is so different and experimental, and I believe his creative process can be inspirational for me.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: One thing I have discovered that helped my productions to the next level, is the fact that every sound in your mix needs to be good before any processing. A bad foundation will result in a bad result.

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

A: I usually work on music I like making. It's very experimental, sometimes very pop-like, sometimes electronic, sometimes classical or orchestral, it depends.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Skills that can separate me from others: - Being able to play the piano well - Being able to come up with original chords and melodies - Having experience with different genres of music

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: To me, it's very important that the track I create, always has something that makes it stand out from the rest. A little detail, a combination of genres or instruments or a special arrangement can make a huge difference.

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

A: Personally, I am inspired by the music of Avicii, Flume, Coldplay, Madeon, Proleter or Grant for example, but also classical music of Chopin, Bach or Debussy.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Creating a piece of music usually starts with a good melody and an original chord progression of a hook or drop. Creative sound design helps defining the track. Some light processing and EQ'ing cleans up the lot. After getting this foundation down, it's a matter of arranging the track and coming up with different sections that glue the track together into one piece. Once the production stage is done, everything needs to be mixed appropriately, using a good pair of studiomonitors and closed-back headphones for the details. If the mix is right, the master stage shouldn't take a lot of time. Some light multiband compression, stereo imaging, maybe a little extra upper harmonics, and limiting finishes the track.