Film/trailer Music producer

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

A: I'm mostly proud of this project with Alexa Ray. I compose 10 instrumental cues (slow epic orchestral), and she composed and sung the vocals on top of these cues. Then I mixed in her vocals. For me this is really the most impressive music I am part of. Largely thanks to her composing skill, always surprising me and providing enough variation between the different songs.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Several albums for Really Slow Motion, An album with Alexa Ray, and several songs for Thapes.

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

A: Not that i'm aware of

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Everything I provide is digital. No real instruments I mean. A client can always provide that of course and then I can use it in the production (same for Vocals). I think digital provides more freedom, and I think VSTs are of such high quality that it is perfectly possible to make them sound realistic if need and more powerfull at the same time.

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

A: That the end result will be a professional sound. I do not master, as I think this is a very specific skill. But I can provide an optimal mix, with all stems. Most publishers master themselves anyway.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Helping people, explaining. As I'm also willing to explain in detail how I did it, if a client would like to "learn" from this process.

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

A: What they have as expectation of this song. As this will determine how I can help them.

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

A: That music production is just about finding that one trick that will solve all: for example, for years I was sure that my compositions only lacked a good mix. But I wrongly orchestrated song cannot be corrected, even by the best mixing engineers. So it is really the whole process that needs to be optimal. That is why I also propose to help on the idea. And I won't just mix a song if I see that the problem is upstream. That would be a waste of money for my client.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I think it is important to really explain my global vision. As explained in the point below. The idea is the obtain an optimal result, so I like to sit together with my clients and brainstorm and how I can help best.

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

A: Be open. Don't get defensive about criticism. Every composer (even experienced professional composers) are confronted with this. And it is the way one deals with this that will make the difference.

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

A: My pc, headphones and my two 4 Tb SSD disks with all my VSTs :-).

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

A: I just started about 10 years ago, but it became such an obsession. So after my classical music education I took some more advanced online courses (Evenant for example). And then I started working with several publishers. First a couple of solo albums with Amadea music productions (TV production music). But then the publishers become higher level and mostly towards trailer music (All SPM labels, such as CTM, COS, and HCM). And eventually, 3 years ago, I started working for Really Slow Motion music, which can be considered as one of the main (if not the main) trailer music publishers.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Cinematic, larger than life sounding.

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

A: A very good singer. But on the other hand I really feel I already did as for me Alexa Ray is soon going to become a famous singer, specifically in this Epic pop genre.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I don't think that this exists to be honest. As a beginner, I have also been looking for that, but the skills I actually have in music production and mixing for example are really the sum of hundreds of small details. It all needs to come together and the main factor are simply "your ears". As long as you don't "hear" the details, one cannot come up with a good result, whatever tools and tricks one applies. So it took me years of ear training. It is of little use to follow a mixing course, if you don't "hear" what needs to be mixed (tonal balance, stereo image, reverb, ...). It is like cooking. If you don't "taste" the impact of your ingredients, thatn it is difficult to obtain a professional result.

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

A: Mostly on trailer music. But also epic music (my solo albums) and even Epic pop like my work with Alexa Ray or Thapes.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Overall production. Creating that wall of sound in the climax of the song, that "larger than life" sound.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I can reenforce the idea (as I'm also a composer), bring variation, make it evolve in a cinematic way, and turn it into a full orchestral production (including synths and sound design). If required I can also think of a speicifc signature sound (or a hook) that makes the song stand out even more.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I first develop the idea into a sketch consisting of a limited number of layers (25 or less). And only, when me and my client are 100 % happy about that, I orchestrate this full into my template consisting of more than 150 layers (orchestra, synths, percussion, effects, ...).

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My hardware setup is rather basic with some basic monitors, a midi keyboard and so on. But more importantly, I have a huge pack of virtual instruments (VSTs) which is the result of all these years. And I have completely optimised templates that ensure that I can quickly orchestrate and produce a simple sketch or idea.

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

A: My work is really focused in this specific niche (film and trailer music) so I'm mostly inspired by some of my colleagues at Really slow Motion music, e.g. Bastiaan Ruitenbeek.

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

A: I'm still building on that specific experience as I used to compose and produce my own music for several publishers. But for example for a new upcoming label providing Epic pop music (Thapes, https://www.instagram.com/p/DGxrDQateHF/), for several cues, I converted a simple piano sketch into the music you can check on their instagram link.