Professional Music Producers

Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

A: Yes, Jake Mann at KitnKboodle is a great guy and has earned a reputation as a fantastic mastering engineer. Tone from Crystal Grid is also a great music producer, friend and colleague. We have worked together on music projects of all shapes and sized for over 10 years.

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

A: Pete spent several years teaching Mastering to the undergraduates at the world-wide headquarters of the School of Audio Engineering. This was a deeply rewarding experience. Ben set up a label, Temple Step Project, for writing cutting-edge tribal dubstep/trap tracks, and remixes, during which time he collaborated with some of the electronic artists that he is most inspired by, including Kalya Scintilla, Desert Dwellers and Deya Dova.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Pete is about to work on almost-acappella vocal project with an Australian singer of Scandinavian descent, which requires pulsing, beat programming and sound design with traditional nordic vibe. Ben is in Bali for the next 3 months working with a female singer/song-writer on a full-scale electronic music album production.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: At Motiv, one of our slogans is 'Analog Heart' Digital Soul'. We opted to use the Universal Audio UAD platform for music production, everyone know is the BEST digital modelling of all the BEST analog gear every made. You only have to hear the UAD Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor to know that analog versus digital is now a false dichotomy.

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

A: Honesty

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The creative process is an alchemical calling deeply embedded in our bones.

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

A: Costs is always a concern, especially on larger projects. That's why we develop comprehensive production plans to truly assess the scope of the project. We can also build and manage crowd-funding campaigns to get you over the line.

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

A: Everyone knows that what we do it akin to 'magic' or we have 'golden ears', etc.. But the truth is, it's jsut a lot of dedication, perserverence, trial and error, and above all else... listening deeply.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What's your vision for your music or project? Have you worked with Music Producers before? Have you considered the timeframes and financials?

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

A: We're most interested in working with self-respecting clients who believe in themselves and their music. We invite you to bring your vibe and vision.. We're here to support you every step of the way.

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

A: music production system, satellite broadband, solar electric system, fishing net, boat

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

A: 30 years between us.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Relaxed, Focused, Trusting, Hard-working

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

A: Tipper. The best produced electronic music on the planet. Ever.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Listen Deeply. Listen with your whole being. Listen with your heart as much as your head. Listen until you can feel the intention and the vision in every piece of music. Then follow that..

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

A: We are both electronic music producers, as well as members of the global, tribal, medicine music community. So whether it's sacred bass, dubstep / trap / edm, or lyric-driven folk / medicine / acoustic music on guitar and vocals, it's fair to say that at over half our clients come from within this broad community.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Flavour/Juice/Rhythm/Vibe/Funk. It's just that we're strong in this or that technical aspect or our broad skill-set. Our strongest skill is something you can only hear.. not describe. Check out our audio examples and I'm sure you'll understand!

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: We relish the opportunity to bring our composition and arrangement skills to those projects that need them. Whether you have basic melodic or lyrical ideas that need fleshing out into full arrangements, or existing well-honed pieces that need only a few choice extra flavours, we have the experience and sensitivity to ensure that the story of your song is portrayed at its best. We are very comfortable writing music within specific design briefs. For example, we can ghost write entire tracks for you in many genres, or indeed remix existing tracks into new genres. We can take a collaborative approach if you like to get involved, or we can do it all for you without you needing to hold our hand!

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: We understand what it takes to go from conception to completion on music projects of all shapes, sizes and genres – and we like to have the most inspiring and creative time doing it! As producers, we keep a close eye on the content, quality and direction of the project to ensure that every production requirement, no matter how big or small, is considered in the context of the project as a whole. With larger projects (EPs, Full Albums), we create a comprehensive production plan that maps out every aspect of the project in detail. This gives the client a clear idea of the overall scope of the project, and we stick to this as closely as possible, while staying flexible. Ultimately we want to serve the music as well as the client.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Motiv works has available several recording studios to work out of in Byron Bay (Reel Spirit, Main Arm), Bali (Ubud Studio), and Melbourne. We also have calibrated production environments in Tyagarah Road base. The studios contain any and all gear necessary for professional recording situations. We use the world-class Universal Audio platform to mix/produce in-the-box with $30,000+ of the best analog modelling software in the world.

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

A: Tipper (the Electronic Producer's Producer), Michael Stavrou (Australian sound egnineer extraordinaire), Jack The Bear (Australia Mastering professional), Bob Katz (Global Mastering Guru), Murray Burns (Keyboardist for Mi Sex and Composer for Film and Television).

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

A: We are first and foremost Music Producers, which means taking projects from conception to completion by providing end-to-end solutions in the music production process. It doesn't matter whether you have fully fleshed out tracks to be recorded and engineered, or you've got a musical idea that needs to be fleshed out into an EDM masterpeice, we have the skills and experience to deliver.