Hey! I'm offering my services as pianoman, keyboardist and songwriter of indie band "Pax Verdi". I'm always looking for new music and challenges to work on, whether it's about nice rhodes, piano parts, warm synth-pads or beautiful melodies. Get in touch if you like :-)
I'm all about playing and composing beautiful harmonies and melodies, that fit your musical vision perfectly.
So for the last 10 years i have been working as a professional session musician and as a composer for artists and film music. I can record everything here in my studio in Cologne, Germany with my nice warm pre-amps and the nearly 1 million keyboards i got here ;-) If you're interested, just write me a message and we'll talk about your project and your vision!
Of course i will give everything i got until you're 100% satisfyed with the results!
Let's make some music :-) find me on Instagram for more piano: chrisduke.music
Have a great day,
Christian
Contact me through the green button above and let's get to work.
Credits
18 Reviews - 2 Repeat Clients
Endorse Christian Raffael Duke
check_circleVerifiedVery nice working experience with Christian again! Can't wait to work more with the cool synth!
- check_circleVerified
Very very excellent working experience with Christian! He really made my track into another journey! Hope to work on more projects with him!
check_circleVerifiedAbsolutely amazing working with Christian.
Many more to come.- check_circleVerified
christian was amazing! very involved and hands on with the project throughout the process, always brainstorming ideas and coming up with cool textures and sounds to complement the production! definitely highly recommend
- check_circleVerified
Did a fantastic job on my track , he also was very flexible with my rate but put in the same effort , took an extra effort to buy the plugins that would make my song sound exactly how I wanted it to sound . Clean work , deff reccomend him for anyone looking for great tracks !
check_circleVerifiedChristian did a great job and gave the magical finishing touches to my track. Highly recommend. Very responsive, easy to work with and very accommodating.
- check_circleVerified
Christian is the man! A synth wizard and an incredible musician. He is a studio master and is extremely talented, one of the old-school musicians, not many are left.
check_circleVerifiedGreat experience working with Christian, he brought a great contribution to my song and was quick to capture my vision and enhance what I had built to take to the next level. I am working with him on another song.
- check_circleVerified
Christian is a wizard on the keys and is highly reliable and professional, I recommend him with the highest of praise and respect!
check_circleVerified (Client)artists who know what they want and can do a very good job
check_circleVerified (Client)This is the second time I'm mixing a song for Pax verdi.
Always excellent with a lot of emotions !
François Michaud / Wild Horse Studio- check_circleVerified
Great musician, good vibe, and fast! Thanks.
check_circleVerifiedI was happy to work with Krim! A musician and an amazing person. Feels the style. The selection of sounds, as if he heard my thoughts. I'm looking forward to working with him again.
- check_circleVerified
Christian did a great job on the keys for me and was quick to respond, easy to work with and a very fair price - cheers!
check_circleVerified (Client)Working with Christian was an excellent experience! Great tracks, great vibe and great communication. Thank you so much for the opportunity Christian!
- check_circleVerified (Client)
Christian is a great artist and a nice person to work with !
A great collaboration is born, with a lot of emotional vibes here...
I'm looking forward to work with him again.
François Michaud / Wild Horse Studio 
check_circleVerified (Client)Working with Christian was great. He was kind, patient and communicative throughout the entire process. We look forward to collaborating with him again.
Over more than 7 years now i´m working together with Christian and his musical horizon and competence is really incredible. As a Producer and Audio-Engineer i always need professional musicians for my clients projects and in terms of Composition, Sound-Design and as a Piano-Player Christian always is my first choice! He also is a very pleasant and great person and i´m looking forward to our next projects!
Interview with Christian Raffael Duke
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: a film score for a cinema documentary "Fortuna Düssledorf" last year - i composed the harmonies and pianos for the orchestral score and I'm really happy with the results - you can listen to it on our film music homepage measure-music.com.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: my first Piano Solo EP as a pianist
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: yes, Francois Michaud from WildHorseStudio, he makes a mix with some much heart! and of course Tim Bremer, a great producer that gets the job done perfectly everytime.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: both of course - i think when you record a signal it is important to "warm it up" and make it already sound great by using nice analog gear - but of course the digital workflow afterwards is much more easier to handle :-) So - first analog then digital. Easy!
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: i won't stop until the job is done and you are happy !
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: to create everyday :-)
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: do you understand what i mean ? - Yes!
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: that it ain't hard work to finish a song properly
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: 1) tell me about your vision of your song or project! 2) what kind of music / sounds do you like ? 3) how much time we got ? ;-)
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: talk to the person you wanna hire about your vision and your idea of how your music should sound - communicaion is key i think :-)
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: haha, good question. 1) my prophet synth 2) my 60's upright piano 3) my tape recorder 4) U87 5) and some cables to connect everything ...
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: i come from a musical family, my dad's a musical director and conductor, i've been playing piano since the age of 4, then got into a band, played a lot of bar piano in restaurants and clubs and studied composition and piano at the art university in Essen, Germany - so basically never did anything else :-)
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: playful, dreamy, colorful, melodic
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Lenny Kravitz - because the way he creates songs is really unique and i think he's a decent human being!
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: take your time when placing the mics for your upright piano recording - you can already find the right spot in the mix by placing the mics at the right spot.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: pop, indie, rock, film score, experimental sounds, electronic music
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: harmony and melody
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: i can develop harmonic structures that go beyond usual chord progressions but still sound commercial and accessible, i can create nice melodies and thoughtful arrangenments that can bring a song to the next level.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: usually the client shows me the demo or production he's working on and tells me what his vision might be; sometimes i get also some song examples of how a synth or a piano vibe should sound - then i get to work by creating little demos of how my part in the project would sound and send it over. Then we work on it until it's finished and my client is very happy :-)
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I've got a lot of keyboards in my set-up (Juno 106, Prophet 12, Nord Stage EX, Korg MS-20, Behringer Mini Moog, Korg X50, Yamaha PSS etc...) which i record through my beautiful UAD-Twinfinity 710b-4-Channel-Preamp. The sound is so warm and deep, you have to love it. On the digital side i work with UAD Apollo Interfaces and Logic Pro X with FabFilter and Soundtoys. I record my upright piano with stereo neumann or rhode mics, and neumann TLM 103 or Aston Origin as room mic.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: everything with clever harmonic compositions and soulful productions as phoenix, MGMT, Daft Punk, Tame Impala etc
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: playing synthesizer, piano and rhodes / creating harmony / composing catchy melodies for vocals, solos, lead synths
I was the keyboarder and songwriter in this production
- Keyboards - SynthAverage price - $70 per song
- PianoAverage price - $70 per song
- Songwriter - MusicContact for pricing
- Pop-Rock ArrangerContact for pricing
- Film ComposerContact for pricing
- Full instrumental productionContact for pricing
typically 3 revisions, but depends on the project - i just want you to be happy with your final product!
- Juno 106
- Sequential Prophet 12
- Nord Stage EX 2
- Universal Audio Twinfinity 710b
- Neumann
- Sennheiser
- Ibach Upright Piano
- Moog
a free example of my work and sound
