Martin Pedersen – Scores Of Zealand

1. Favorite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why?

Space Echo RE-201 Mode Selector knob. Do you really need an explanation… Just look at it:)

Space Echo RE-201 Mode Selector knob

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

Maybe my Juno 106. Great for bass, synth stabs, arps, pads.  

Roland Juno 106 and Rhodes

3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute etc.?

Macbook Pro, 2 Samsung T2 SD’s (1 with samples and libraries. 1 with projects), Beyer Dynamics DT headphones, iRig midi keyboard with sustain.
A laptop. Ableton / Cubase. Headphones. Soft synths – Omnisphere, Zebra, Diva. NI Kontakt and some libraries.
If you’re into strings – Some of the Spitfire Audio sample libraries are pretty  good. Small midi-keyboard (with sustain). And oh, just a quick tip about that…
If you play piano sounds on a small crappy non-weighted midi-keyboard, remember to use the velocity midi effect (in Ableton) on the track for playing with smoother velocities. Without it, it maxes out the vel. CCs real quick. Or a least that’s what it sounds like to me. 

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

Actually none I think. Every piece of hard- or software I have, is in the studio for a reason. After working almost exclusively in the box with soft synths and samples and FX in Ableton and Logic, for almost 15 years, I began to buy more physical gear. Mostly synths with analog circuits and my Space Echo RE-201. But with every piece of gear (hardware or software) in mind to cover different requirements.
Not because of better sound quality, since a lot of the “soft stuff” sounds amazing. But because of the tactile and more experimental experience of turning knobs and pushing faders.
I fucking love to put on the lab coat and just dive in and forget everything around me and just see where it takes me. If I pull up a soft synth, I get often inspired to make something, but I almost never get surprised. If I work on my Arp Odyssey, Lyra-8 or run stuff through my Clouds from Mutable Instruments, I get stuff I would never have dreamed of. It’s all the dirt, irregularities and happy accidents that I find interesting. It’s kind of more relatable on a both a mental and physical level. Specially as colours opposite to the more “clean” and “regular” stuff.  

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

Eurorack and Arturia Beatstep

Can’t really justify how much I spend on my eurorack setup. It just doesn’t get used enough. Same goes for my Moog Sub37.
Sometimes I cheat and use a plug-in… Sorry. 

Moog Sub37 and Lyra

But every time I do use it, specially for more distinct bass, its amazing with the live recorded filter modulation. Then the sound comes alive. 

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?’

On the “soft” side – Omnisphere, some Kontakt synths, Spitfire string libraries. Hardware – My Juno 106, the Arp Odyssey.

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

A wealthy girlfriend, cause this GAS is a sure way to be broke forever 🙂 

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

My brain
Other than that… Can’t really think of one.

9. Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

For those of you working to picture in Ableton. It’s actually possible to change the framerate. So the film and project are in sync.

Did my first feature film without knowing this and it fucked up the sync. After several YouTube deep dives, several years later (and after switching to Logic) I found a way. 

Crtl and (left mouse click) in the timeline with min/ sec. = Choose framerate 

Pro Tip: Ableton can change frame rate of timeline for sync to film

Artist or Band name?

Martin Pedersen

Genre?

Electronic or hybrid film music – Meaning a blend of electronic and acoustic instruments, and organic  elements. 

Selfie?

Martin Pedersen

Where are you from? 

Copenhagen. But grew up in the south of Zealand. Moved back just before attending the Rhythmic Conservatory in CPH.

How did you get into music? 

My parents doesn’t play music, but the radio was always on. I started playing saxophone at the age of 12 after watching a badass norwegian jazz quartet by chance on tv in my room. 

Started making electronic music at 14 – SONY Acid Music Studio was the bomb back in the 90s. For me at least.  

What still drives you to make music?

If I focus on my work in film. What drives me is, I just love storytelling SO much. Co-storytelling as a composer or just watching a film or a good show. Or just listening to a piece of music that can be a story on it’s own. It’s all about the emotional responds. To be totally immersed, letting everything else fade away around you. It all inspires my creative work and drives me to be a better storyteller. Film music or, the score, is a vital part of most film. I love amplifying the spirit of the film and storytelling with my music.
Music can reveal a films inner life in a way that can’t be fully articulated in any other way. It can have a telling effect on how the characters in the story come across – on how we perceive what they are feeling or thinking. The more engaging the drama – The truer the story becomes. Ok… I totally stole those lines from somebody. Can’t remember who… But I agree.

How do you most often start a new track?

Maybe a cool place to start is – How and when in the production phase I start composing the music for a new film or show.

Because it also relates to how I start a new track – Or “cue” – as it’s called in film. 

When – It always starts with initial talks with the director. What is the heart of the story. 

Are there musical references to draw from or is that up to me. And how do I translate that into what the DNA of the music will be. The earliest in the productions phase was composing after reading the script.   

Working on the score for the first season of the tv-show “HOOLIGAN” I worked from the script and from dailies (unedited footage shot that day). That gives me an idea of the mood and tempo in the scene. How the camera is worked, the lighting and how the actors express themselves and interact with eachother.

Working on the score for the feature film “What Will People Say” I started working from scenes and a fully edited, but not picture locked film (Not locked meaning – most of the scenes are pretty much lined up, but not cut to the final length or order.) 

How – I typically start with talks with the director about the story and the initial overall vibe. 

Maybe also guided by musical references / tracks / cues. Parts of my score for the feature film “What We Become” was initially used as temp music in “What Will People Say”, before I was contacted to do the score. Temp (temporary) music is what the editor / director uses under scenes to “colour” the scene and drive it along. Temp can also help the composer to make a cue for a specific scene, that have a similar mood / function. Some composers love it. Others fucking hate it. I really don’t mind it. The hardest for me has been composing a new cue, from my own cues from other films used as temp. Making the cue kind of like it, but still sounding original for that specific project.    

Hands on – I work in template in Logic. With everything set up with instrument groups, subgroups and fx groups.  

Logic and Controller

If it’s the first piece of music made for the film or show, I almost always open Logic. Look at the blank template. And go “Oh fuck, how do I do this? Maybe I should just find a job cutting grass or something more tangible. Normally that goes away quite fast. 

I like to think about instrumentation and make sound palettes used in the specific project, before a single note is “written”. 

During the process of working on the score, instruments and elements get cut out or added, defined by what the cues is made for if an instrument just doesn’t fit the overall vibe.

I do write themes. Sometimes from the beginning of the project. Just on a piano. 

But often I’ll start with giving characters or elements in the film, specific individual soundpalettes. Or maybe a single instrument per character as a point of departure. 

On a lot of scenes with underscoring, I start with a pad, evolving atmosphere or bass sound. “droney stuff” used as a bed for others elements. 

Sometimes you need tempo driven elements to start it off. Arps or percussive elements. Sometimes a theme. I can start out with a massive sound in one scene. An almost do nothing in another. It’s all up to what serves the storytelling. And the film overall.

So the answer is… It depends. But I usually start every new track / cue with two questions – “What purpose does the music have in this scene? What is the feeling of the music in this scene?” And musically go from there.

I’m pretty heavy on the synth and electronic side. I use Omnisphere, Arturia Analog Lab and NI Kontakt libraries a lot. 

So often I’ll set up interesting sounds within that. Some sounds from libraries. Other sounds are based on samples I’ve found, put into Omnisphere’s sampler and processed in different ways.. 

If a cue calls for something weirder like pitch-modulating or microtonal stuff, I usually start with using my analog synth’s – The Arp Odyssey or Lyra-8. If a scene calls for a more melancholic mood, I love using my Juno 106, for softer pads with a bit of modulating drift.      

Fun fact – I often get inspired by working together with the sound designer on a film. Maybe they use some auditive elements – buzzing light fixtures or aircon sounds I dig. I then use that sound or something like it processed, as musical elements. When I did the score for the feature film “What We Become”, Peter Albrechtsen – the sound designer on the film, inspired me a lot. 

I incorporated some of his sounds used as musical components. It glues the music and sound design well together.

I especially dig the primary sound in the musical palette of the SWAT team. That sound was initially made out of a metal chair being dragged over a concrete floor in an very large room. So sometimes my cues starts with a “real” sound that’s been processed.

How do you know when a track is finished?

When nothing weird sticks out, the scene moves along and you are engaged all the way. On a more overall view. A film is never finished. It premieres. Meaning you have until your deadline… Then it’s finished no matter what. 

Show us your current studio

Martin Pedersen’s Studio
Martin Pedersen’s Entrance
Martin Pedersen’s Studio Lounge

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard? 

Love what you do. And try out new stuff.  

A new approach to the material – Like working  with certain dogmas, new gear, a new instrument. Listen to genres you normally don’t do. Things that pushes you out of your typical musical comfort zone. The more I learn, the more I keep re-falling in love with music.    

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.

One of the bigger recent things I’ve done is the tv-show “HOOLIGAN” season 1. 

On  https://www.dr.dk/drtv/saeson/hooligan_343889

These days I’m working on my second album titled “COCOON”. Release later this year. Spotify

[Editor: You can find more about Martin at his site www.composermartinpedersen.com]


[Editor: There are affiliate links to the relevant gear throughout the articles. It helps to support this blog. In fact, should you be needing some patch cables or guitar strings. Then clicking on one of the above links and buying any product that you prefer, will help the blog… doesn’t even have to be the ones in the link. Thx]


Søren Dalsgaärd – Fairlighting Arpeggione-ist

1. Favourite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why? 

Transformer Switch on Shadow Hills Mono Gama. One of the fastest ways to make a dynamic change to audio input is switching from Iron, Steel or Discrete.

Shadow Hills Mono Gama

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

Fairlight Series 30A. Peter Vogel is the father of sampling and his vision culminated in the last iteration of the 30th anniversary systems. The only thing I would change would be the ability to rack mount the main frame. I appreciate the retro design but a standard rack mount setup would make the Fairlights easier to transport. 

Fairlight Series 30A

3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute etc.?

If I’m on holiday I will always bring a MacBook Pro with UAD Apollo Interface, SM7B with Soyuz Launcher, Roli seaboard and my Parker Fretless.

Arpeggione

Touring is a cargo company dream! I tour with my Arpeggione, Fairlight 30A, Roli, racked dual Mac mini’s with custom summing mixer built by Travis Schuster, Bricasti, Electronaut M63, isolated power and battery backup, Remic C5300 microphones. 

Arpeggione

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

I immediately wished the U-He Diva was actual hardware keyboard and someone made a controller that was an exact replica of the GUI. I need to find that company and see if they still manufacture it. 

U-He Diva

There isn’t an analogue device that I would want as software. There are so many digital renditions of hardware already. I have so many plugins I never use because it’s a case of too many choices. The sound of a studio was always based around its design, set of outboard equipment, tape machine and its console. You either liked the room and brought in a few pieces of outboard gear, or you went to a different studio that was more conducive to your taste. I have been selectively archiving all plugins that I rarely use. My analogue gear mixes with specific plugins and creates a set system so that my room consistently produces a signature sound. Too many choices leads to the lounge and XBox 😉

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

I sold my brothers Prophet 5 when I was a kid. I looked at it as this old, clunky wood trimmed synth with three knobs missing. Big mistake. I bought a vintage unit to replace it and kicked myself for having to spend that much money when I could have simply kept my brother’s unit and replaced the three missing knobs. 

Prophet 5

I honestly haven’t regretted buying any piece of gear. I always think about the effort that people put into the design and development of a product. There is always something interesting locked inside of equipment. Many of the coolest sounds have come from unexpected products. 

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

A Realistic brand digital voice recorder. I now use my smartphone the same way I used to carry around these recorders.

Voice Recorders

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

I started out on my grandparents piano. If I had to start over I wouldn’t change a thing.

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

I couldn’t do without my computer systems. They are a constant source of “analogue” upkeep to stay current on software and hardware. Apple has been heading towards a more closed system which is not conducive to studios because it can cripple your entire infrastructure if you upgrade your ecosystem due to “end of life” hardware decisions made by third parties. Stability is the most important aspect for productivity. Occasionally my system will make me wish that I was 100% analogue, but then I remember how much of a hassle that world used to be and I’m happy that I work with a hybrid system.

9. Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

I didn’t bother to fully read the manual for the DA-3000 DSD Mastering recorder. I found out that you could cascade the units together to create a multi-track unit. You can’t record individual tracks, but you can mixdown and archive 7.1 surround stems at 5.6Mhz DSD. I have created an 8 track mastering machine that (with a few custom bits of kit) is equivalent to mix down to tape.


Artist or Band name?

Søren Mikkel Dalsgaärd

Genre?

Contemporary Classical 

Selfie?

Søren Mikkel Dalsgaärd

Where are you from?

Yellow Springs, Ohio.
[Editor: Ha! I was certain you were Scandinavian, with your name]

How did you get into music?

My Grandfather was a professional musician and he spotted my abilities at an early age. I was guided through my early music career by my family.

What still drives you to make music?

Music is the reason I am alive. I try to honor that gift by creating art everyday. 

How do you most often start a new track?

Currently, I have commenced new tracks by drawing a waveform on the Fairlight. Once I hear a sound that is inspiring I form the music around that design.

How do you know when a track is finished?

At the point that it feels like the next thing added will ruin the piece… it’s finished.

Show us your current studio

Søren Mikkel Dalsgaärd Studio
Studio Desk

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

“Sometimes your worst work to you, is the most favored by everyone else” -quote from Johnny Frigo.

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.

https://www.sorendalsgaard.com


[Editor: Do you have a favorite tip, trick or way of working with any of the gear from this interview?
Then throw us a comment below…
]


Andreas Hald – Playful Filmic Composer

1: Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?

Roland Space Echo RE-201

Ahh, that’s a tough one – there are so many! But – I like big knobs and I can not lie – so I’ll have to go with the Mode Selector on my Space Echo RE-201. It’s big and clicky, and it sits on one of my absolute favorite piece of gear. Sometimes I just turn it on so that I can hear the tape whistling around in there. So great.

[Editor: Possibly the greatest knob on the greatest fx ever]

2: Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

I don’t think so. What comes the closest, is my old trusty Juno-60. To me, it’s the most musical sounding synth I know of. It’s perfect with all its imperfections. Warm and noisy – “brown- and round-sounding” to be cliche, it so inspiring to turn on. Instant greatness. It would be fun to add some of the features from a modern synth like the Prophet 6, but again – the limitations that this (and others) instrument has, is what I like about it and keeps my fluids going. In my line of work I need limitations, so I welcome them.

Roland Juno-60

3: What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?

Well, back in the days I always towed a guitar, amp and ALL of my pedals to any vacation, but ending up not really playing it. So I don’t bring that much anymore. It’s more than often an instrument or synth of a kind that I want to check out further and haven’t had the time to do so. On my last holiday I ended up bringing my cello and a drum machine. I have this weird sickness, that I can only do proper work in my studio, so I try to avoid working elsewhere and don’t bring computer or anything. I need too much hardware to do my work.

Prophet 6 and Juno-60

4: What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

In software to hardware – Xils 4, an “Analog Matrix Modular Synthesizer” from Xils Lab. Would love to have that as an enormous beast in the studio. I love that plugin, but mainly use my (hardware)modular synth now. But that plugin tickled me in all the right places. I’m really a big fan of hardware, so I wish that all software was hardware and that we from birth learned to write music on paper and record on tape ;-). That being said, I’m obviously a slave of the modern world.

Xils 4 VSTi

5: Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

I only think I’ve sold three pieces of gear actually, and I regret all three. A Fender Hot Rod Deville 4×10 amplifier. A Bogner Shiva head amplifier and a Custom made Fender Stratocaster. Especially selling the Fender amp is a regret. I’ve listened to some recordings from back in the days when I had that, and it sounded awesome. I sold it to buy the much more expensive Bogner, which I then also sold. So because of that, I’m never selling anything again. I still have a Bogner amp though, and I’ll post a picture of it – just because it’s so cool looking. Can’t think of any regrets in buying.

Bogner amp

6: What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

Pianos. There’s something incredibly satisfying in playing a real piano. Hard to beat. Instantly something sounds as proper music. I haven’t always had a piano at a studio, but I have now – and I would love to get a Grand Piano one day. But for now, I’m really digging the intimate and noisy sound from this upright. Just got it serviced, and it’s so good now.

Upright piano

7: If you had to start over, what would you get first?

Hmm. Good one. A cello or a pedal steel guitar. I want to be good at those and would (now) have loved to have played something else, that every kid on the block didn’t also play (guitar). I would also tell myself to buy the best equipment. Quality over quantity. I have a pedal steel with humbucker now and love the sound of it.

Cello

8: What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

Maybe my Kemper Profiler. I use it all the time and love and adore it, even though I should record amps instead. I do both, but the Kemper is just so convenient. It just looks cheap – like it jumped out of the 90’s – and the menu scrolling is horrific. But sound and work-wise: Love it. I could add my computer to the list. Love/hate relationship – but I just can’t live without it.

9: Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

Hardly a trick – but making my monophonic Korg MS-20 sound like an awesome stereo synth by using the headphone out in the external signal processor and then having two outputs from it, to plug into a mixer with panning possibilities and adding effects. Great revolution for me personally. I used that synth ALL THE TIME on a feature Netflix movie.


Artist or Band name?

Andreas Hald, composer for film and media. NBrigade – music teams for film, television and games.

Genre?

Filmmusic (which means all kind of weird genre-less music).

Selfie?

I don’t do selfies, but here’s a picture of me playing the pedalsteel!

Pedal Steel and film composer Andreas Hald’s silhouette

Where are you from?

Skagen, the very top of Denmark. Very small town.

How did you get into music?

Started playing rock music with a buddy when we’re 10, renting our own rehearsal space when we were 13 (one where we could do parties, drink beers and skip school without our parents noticing).We discovered and experimented with music together, and I’ve never let go of it. 

What still drives you to make music?

The moments with zen-like qualities that you can’t get elsewhere. They don’t occur daily, but when they do – it all makes sense. 

How do you most often start a new track?

With a weird sound created on a synth. Other times at the piano.

How do you know when a track is finished?

When I’m passed deadline. I need the deadlines.

[Editor: I also like the wooshing sound they make as they go by]

Show us your current studio

Here you go, a few pictures of studio and gear. My modular synth setup is connected with my guitar pedals most of the time, and i use Intellijell modules to do that. I didn’t have a 1 unit space in my rack, so I drilled them into a plate myself.

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

“No matter how good you get, there’s alway ten Swedes better than you”.

[Editor: Ha!]

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.

I’m currently working on two tv-series, one called Friheden ll (Pros and Cons) – which is the second season of a Viaplay Original series, and a series for DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) currently untitled.

Andreashald.com


[Editor: Do you have a favorite tip, trick or way of working with any of the gear from this interview?
Then throw a comment below…
]