Syncing and Production with Feature Artist Crash (a.k.a Mike Beever)
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Musicadium artist and Internationally-renowned composer Mike Beever (Crash) has had such an interesting career that it was difficult to narrow it down to a few questions. For over 24 years, Mike has been producing music and immersing himself in a vibrant industry that is constantly changing and becoming more exciting by the second. As he mentions, equipment that would have cost millions and have been available to the elite few only ten years ago is now accessible to all.
We thank Mike for taking the time to talk about an exciting aspect of the music industry that can produce limitless opportunities for aspiring composers.
One of your tracks has been selected for the new Vaio laptop worldwide advertising campaign. Congratulations! How did this come about?
As a musician you are constantly pushing for work and these days that usually means blogging companies and in the end this job came down to some old traditional ‘not what you know but who you know’. My brother in law is a camera man and shoots footage for HMX Media in London the media company who create online ads for Sony. He got an email from the company looking for a composer so he suggested to them they check out my myspace site which is what they did. They got in touch and the process began with them emailing me a 2 minute video. They had a very specific feel in mind so it was a case of syncing the music to the video and creating all the appropriate dynamics. As usual with these companies it had to be done asap so time was an issue but as it happened being in New Zealand was an asset as the project was worked on 24 hours a day-as they were leaving the office I was just starting so we completed the track in 5 days.
Where and when will we be able to check out this commercial?
The final commercial has been shown around the world at all digital expos as well as all online adverts featuring Sony Vaio Laptops. Additionally it will be used in some cinema advertising and will have limited TV exposure.
You can view the video at either;
or in HD at the Sony website;
http://showcase.vaio.eu/movies/e…
How did you get into producing the kind of music that you do?
I started making music on an old keyboard back in 1984 which looking back really was the dawn of the new technology that we all take for granted these days. I joined a rock band and found myself like many keyboard players taking responsibility for the recording. This lead to a job at a studio in London where I learnt more and eventually ended up producing records for Indie bands one of which was Coldplay.
Having used 2″ tape and all things analogue for many years I eventually got into computer based recording 4 years ago and thats when I started the CRASH project which is where my focus is now. Today, as a musician you can now access all sounds and studio techniques and produce things to your specific requirements. For example a guitarist can produce live sounding drum loops, orchestral sounds etc and a keyboard player can fill the gaps by using some of the many virtual guitar programs available. Whilst neither are as good as the real thing-they always turn up on time and don’t have tantrums!!
What programs do you use to create your music?
I use the usual gear-Apple computers, Cubase SX, Pro Tools, Reason which really is my powerhouse of sounds and to add character I use a 1950s upright piano and a Kurtweil K2000 Workstation. Nowadays everything is done in ‘the box’ so I like to still have something non computer based. Its worth mentioning that what we have today would have cost millions and been only available to the elite few only ten years ago so its a great thing the speed of which technology has moved on.
Which current artists do you admire and feel are pushing the boundaries in a creative sense?
The musical climate is slowly shifting and thats a good thing. Major record companies who once dictated what we hear and buy are losing their strangle hold and that can only be good. We are moving into a period where the consumer can handpick his or her music very specifically and the home studio musician will benefit from this. The same rules still apply i.e the more you spend on promotion the more sales you will obtain but anybody, anywhere can record, produce and distribute their own music and if you’re good people will buy it. There are numerous artists out there doing just that and the level of talent is astounding. Providing you have an internet connection you can find anything you want, preview it and buy it. I listen to artists mainly through myspace & internet radio shows.
How would you suggest young composers go about starting out with composition? Do you think its necessary to attend some kind of a course or is it possible to just experiment with programs and see what comes out?
There are nowadays numerous courses for musicians to get aquainted with the tools of the trade and this is a great place to start. However its not essential as anyone can learn by just working through a program or even experimenting with recording equipment. In the old days of analogue you had limtations and that was actually helpful-the only danger a musician has now is that a modern computer based system is literally limitless-not always good. For example The Beatles had 8 tracks maximum so they would record the basics and then a few overdubs and thst it-so what was committed to tape had to be good-Fast forward to 2008 and a typical digital studio has 96 tracks or more and mixing desks that can record every hand movement but would you say that it always makes better music?
- sublocked0
someone ban this fuck already
