Composing Music for Theatre | Acoustic Instruments, Synthesizers and Tape 

Yeah, I was thinking about all the times it has been through - made in Berlin in the 1920ies, survived a war unscathed, the wall, the coming down of that and now its in my studio. Love it to bits.

Thats a interesting way of looking at it, the gorgeous and tragic history its lived through really shows in its sound

Thanks a lot! Right now I do mostly Germany/Switzerland/Austria, but would not be opposed to work internationally. We will see. ☺️

Well, I live in Germany, so more chance of meeting :)

Thanks! I have started giving private lessons, will expand on that in the future. I really enjoy it!

very important to have a good teacher. looking forward to hear more about your program.

Thank you for watching! Its beautiful for me when people find my "older" videos and enjoy them.

Absolutely. I've only discovered your channel this week as I am currently researching ideas and methods for a project I am starting in college. I will be composing 25 minutes of experimental/lofi instrumental hip hop with a lot of experimenting with tape and I was not long finding your excellent channel. You've given me a lot of food for thought, you and Amulets in fact. I purchased "Only the Rain Never Tires" this morning, but I promise to purchase more as it is the least I owe you for the inspiration I have found from your channel.

Thank you very much! Its fun for me, especially because I enjoy the conversation that ensues here.

Thank you, that a reaction I love to hear about!

The III sounds beautiful. So very 3D even in mono, I can't explain it.

Absolutely!and not forget to talk while in the zone.

agree

its a slightly shameless plug but here's my fist youtube jam session. Not in the same level of professionalism but i'd appreciate your thoughts. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-k0uTOwkZD60.html

No wifi right now, gonna check it out over the weekend!

Thank you! Yeah, the cue was a Rhodes on Nagra at the lowest speed, absolutely brutal. Used it in Antigone in Weimar. 1. Film is indeed more precise - miliseconds can change the feeling. A much more technical process somehow. For theatre I imagine scenes from the script, write the music and see what works. Then I might write something different. Broad strokes work often better in the theatre. 2. I have done it from 2000 onwards, in student theatre. Since 2006 professionally, as my main income with no side job since 2009. The most important for me personally was "Dr.Caligari" in Trier, where I had a 26 piece orchestra playing my music to a contemporary adaption of the old silent movie. Truly eyeopening for me, after that I got much more relaxed in my music making. It was like a life goal archieved. Sadly, that was pre "I film everything I do" days, so no really document survives. The dress rehearsal recording is horrible, the orchestra only pulled together for opening night.

Wow, a Rhodes? That's rather surprising, Rhodes is often considered to be such an ethereal sound so to hear it morphed like this is really cool. Such a shame those recordings aren't up to snuff, you doing music for Caligari is such an intriguing combo I would've loved to hear it. The story itself is really cool as well. Making living as an artist is hard as it is, but to make it in such a niche environment inside that... Absolutely commendable. Hats off!

If you hit a Rhodes hard enough there happens a bone snapping attack. Combine that with hot tape and you have something superheavy.

If I ever get near a Rhodes, I will try this. Can't argue with the results! :D

Ellotus13 I see you every where !

Hey neighbour! :-)

Thanks Nicola! I have thought about the Octratrack often, but I was turned down by the sound of at least the MK1 unit, as it sounds flat to me, lacking in depth. I wonder if that has changed with the newer ones.

sorry to reply just now ... i know the octatrack is so flat sometimes, but dont be fooled by it. it have so many ways of operate that is instrument in itself and if u have some nice eq u can modify the sound (also delay and reverb are quite nice) the newer one they say sounds the same. i found out the rytm (mkll) is really different then octatrack (so warm and cool feautures) and the new sample capability is really quick and fun. i recomend to u! can i ask what kind of mixer are using ? do u use any interface for your laptop? thanks a lot and continue to make video , i rellay love them

Thank you! Theatre is amazingly free space to work in, I can only recommend it.

bist du in Berlin zufällig?

Francesco Bindi Sorry I don’t speak German.. (?)

sorry was for him

I work mostly in the german theatre system, which is in large parts state funded. Budgets depend on the size and financial situation of culture funding of the city, the venue (studio or main stage) and to some extent to the type of music required. Some cities have strictly fixed wages and are open about it, some don't. Generally it depends on the director you are working with. A new director won't be able to command a high rate, or even have a composer at hand, so you have little room for yourself to negotiate. I did a lot of music for low budgets that I could only do because I was young and had no dependents. But the team I worked with saw some success, so I could get good enough deals to allow me to live from only theatre music. Now I am generally in the upper bracket of what you get paid for theatre music.

Thanks for your reply!

Yeah, its difficult to find a language that works for both. But theatre work for me is very rewarding, happy to do it.

Thank you! My room is treated, so it sounds good. The mic is a dynamic, which will limit the influence of the room. The speaker itself sounds rather nice. Of course I could have easily gone via line, but I wanted the added distance and sound of the mic/preamp/speaker combination.

I usually only do two takes of each pass, here the piano and the Juno60. I like to keep the flow of a performance going, editing only if absolutely necessary. I like it to feel gridless, flowing. So here was not much editing, only fade in/out and how the Nagra track would move in relation to the piano recording.

I made myself the music guy at the university theatre groups - did everything there, from pa setup to performing on stage. Got to know many directors that way. One of them made a career out of it and she is my main client.

@@Hainbach ah okay, and that gave you an entry point. Interesting! Did you study music at uni, or did you just gravitate towards performing arts?

Musicology and English, but always made music all around.

Using a Sony PCM stereo recorder to record the room, so it naturally pans.

Marantz PMD series cassette will hook you up.

HAINBACH Sweet! I’ll check it out. Thanks

Just got one last week: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7b_HjNRHORI.html Love Jag, its the minimal input, maximum output machine I dreamed of. Copycat is special, way different than the RE501. I wish I had that too, love that it turns everything to steel drums.

Oh, I take a bunch of tracks, try them out during rehersal, mix and vary. Then I either make an Ableton live set or give the tracks to the sound department to arrange them on the loudspeaker setup.