November 9, 2006
The Producers Conference, Stockholm, Sweden
Breaking out of your bedroom studio and get recognition for your music may be easier than you think. Instead of wasting a lifetime perfecting that one track, call it done and make someone listen to it. - Just do it! Just finish a song, and then make another one, and then another one, says Niklas Olovsson, song writer and producer as he is speaking to the crowd at the Producer Seminar in Stockholm.
Together with Luthman Scandinavia and the Swedish music magazine
Studio, Propellerhead Software held a night of seminars on production,
song writing and Reason technique in general. The event took place on
November 9th at the IDG publishing office in Stockholm.
- We know that our users are very serious about their music making, and that musicians always strive to learn more. Also, a lot of musician's spend a lot of time in their studios, but only rarely get together with other musicians to talk about what they do, says Tage Widsell, VP of marketing communication at Propellerhead Software.
Participants were treated to a selection seminars by product specialists and invited artist at the IDG publishing office in central Stockholm.
At the seminar, Propellerhead product specialist James Bernard and long time Propellerhead fellow Kurt Kurasaki showed how to take Reason productions to the next level. James Bernard focused on how to get serious with your music making using Reason, while participants in Kurt Kurasaki's seminar learned how to get creative with Reason's Combinator device to create truly unique sounds.
A much appreciated feature of the seminar were artists Erik Jansson, Andreas Tilliander and Niklas Olovsson who provided the inside story from their work as professional producers and musicians.
Niklas Olovsson makes up one half of the successful song writing and
production duo Macho Psycho with a track record of numerous hits and
successful productions. He showed how Macho Psycho have been using
Reason as their main instrument when producing music for artists like
Pink, Jessica Simpson and Dirtie Blonde.
- Don't lock yourselves in the studio. Finish the tracks you are
working on and play them to others. Involve others in your music making
and get inspired by them, says Niklas Olovsson when participants ask
him how to stay creative and be successful when writing music.
Next door from the Macho Psycho workshop, Andreas Tilliander was busy listening to music by the particpants. In this production workshop, Andreas and the group provided constructive criticism on arrangement, mixing and mastering. Andreas is an award winning electronica artist that uses Reason as his song writing tool when he is not busy touring the world.
In the cafeteria, Producer/song writer Erik Jansson showed how he puts Reason to good use in music productions ranging from live show with Swedish pop singer Jay Jay Johansson to Klezmer orchestra music for a web campaign.
The Producers Seminar is the first in a series of world wide events varying in size and content, but all with a common goal: To help and inspire musicians to turn their ideas in to music. The next event is the producers conference in San Francisco starting on Nov 18th.
The crowd is watching as James (in the lower left) apparently is doing
his shoe-gazer routine. Is that a neck tattoo there James?
Later on, all visitors were treated to a James Bernard live set. Those of you who were unable to attend can download it right here (51 Mb mp3 file).
Erik's session turned into a discussion with the audience on production techniques and unlikely ways to use Reason.
Studio magazine is an IDG publication. IDG means International Data
Group and they own a *ton* of computer publications, and have done that
for some time too. Here's a gem to show off that heritage: A Commodore
Pet. It also served as a divider between old farts and not old farts.
Old farts were those of us who looked at it with nostalgia. Non old
farts assumed it was the bar cash register.
Macho Psycho's Niklas Olovsson showing the eight instrument rack that
makes up Pink's hit song Stupid Girls. It was a kick seeing just how
little there is in that rack, yet hearing how amazing it sounds.
James Bernard here shown while busy explaining song arrangement dos and don'ts.
Kurt Kurasaki lifts his gaze from the screen to see if the audience is
still following. His combinator examples were not for the faint of
heart. Never mind the Boston sign. Kurt is not trying to impersonate
any 70s arena rock band. Boston is the name of the conference room in
the IDG building where the seminar was held.
Andreas posing next to some of his favorite Reason devices - the MClass
units. Besides showing how he used Reason in his productions, he also
gave a lot of feedback on tracks that the seminar attendees brought in.
A word from the participants: Tommie Ausberg.
Q: What did you like best about the seminar?
A: Actually, it's great just meeting all these guys
with a common desire to make music who also happen to use Reason. Among
my friends, I'm the only one using Reason, so it's nice to be with
others that are using it too.
It's also amazing to learn from people who really know what they are doing. I always thought I knew a lot about Reason, but after seeing Kurt Kurasaki's presentation I know there's a lot more to learn.
Q: So how do you use Reason?
A: Music is my one big passion. It's basically the
only thing I do from getting home from work until I really need to
sleep. Ok, I sometimes do the dishes and eat too.
I've been playing music since I was 12, but I didn't start using Reason until last year when I got Reason 3.0.
Q: So, what kind of music are you making?
A: All kinds. A lot of acoustic stuff - just playing around. With Reason it's mostly Psy-Trance and Chill.
Q: So, are you inspired to run home and make music now?
A: You bet, but I'm staying at a friend's tonight, so I will have to wait until tomorrow.
