Music Composition

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: The soundtrack for a platformer called "Far Away", a game heavily inspired by the great adventure movies of the 80s and 90s like "Back to the Future", "Indiana Jones", heck, even "The Goonies". It's a lot of fun and allows me to dwell into complex orchestration.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The freedom of being my own boss, haphazard work-life balance due to working in different time zones, the fulfillment you experience at the end of a long day at work that went well.

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

A: My job description is not "press this button for an amazing track". That's the harsh truth, sorry, not sorry. It takes time to conceive a track that we can all be happy about. Inspiration is not Avogadro's number, you cannot always quantify it. I stand by what I said in another question: if you really connect with your composer in a way that is not only a work relationship, this will pay off countless times more, because they'll be your psychologist as well as your go-to musician.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: How do you feel about our Lord the Destroyer of the Universe?

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

A: Music is above all emotion. If something engages you in the composer's playlist, chance is they will be able to deliver music that connects with you. No, more than that: they will be able to connect with you in a symbiotic way. Your idea will bounce off them and back being reinvigorated. Chose wisely and it won't even be a choice: it will pay off in more ways than you can count.

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

A: ...is it a desert island with solar panels? Otherwise my stuff won't work. I'll have to resort to violin, flute, manuscript paper, pen and eraser. The piano I will build it out of coconut shells and bamboo myself. Unless the desert island is in the Faer Oers. That would be damn unlucky.

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

A: I have been doing this for about 20 years now, but in an official capacity since 2018.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I used to mostly sketch music on paper (that is still the top method for creativity unbiased by sample libraries), but if I'm short of time, I'll start sketching with a piano in Nuendo and use it as a base to orchestrate the track. Once that is done, depending on the project, I might want to leave the music as a MIDI file or export stems and a stereo mix.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Hmm.. What was it? Hectic, or Eclectic?

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

A: Rihanna. Surprised? Haha. She's super talented and has a super team of producers, so who cares that I do mostly orchestral music. We're talking RIHANNA.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: 1) Stop fiddling with the EQs if you've been at it for 10 hours. 2) Double your flute with a glockenspiel

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

A: Hybrid orchestral/electronic music

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Adaptability

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: My heart. Haha - what a cliché. What I can bring is a broad knowledge of instruments and their soft spots, a natural ear that can help pinpoint trouble and 20 years experience in production and post-production.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Master PC: AMD Ryzen 3800X, 64GB DDR4 Slave PC: Intel i5, 32GB DDR3 Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 used on both PC DAW Steinberg Nuendo 11 Sample libraries including Spitfire Audio (Symphonic Orchestra, Harp, Albion 1 & 2) Orchestral Tools (Ark 1 & 2, Berlin Brass, Berlin Woodwinds) EastWest (Hollywood Orchestra Platinum Opus Edition + Composer Cloud) Other soft Synths including Arturia V-Collection 8 Nuendo bundled instruments SoundReveal Spire Recording Gear: TASCAM DM-3200 Behringer UMC1820 + ADA8200 Neumann U87

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

A: Currently my main job is as a technical music composer and sound designer. I do music and implement it in Wwise and integrate it in Unity.

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

A: Anything between Stravinsky and Armin Van Buuren. Oh and the T.a.t.u. Despite the fake lesbian act they were hot and they had Trevor Horn as an engineer.