Category: Stories

Poweruser Close-Up: Linda Vidala

Norwegian rapper Linda Vidala set fire to the Norwegian rap scene following the release of her multi-platinum single “Bængshot” in 2017, which secured her a Norwegian Grammy nomination and two P3 Gull nominations (Norwegian radio award show) for “Song of the Year” and “Live act of the Year”.

How do you use Masterchannel in your production process?

When I’ve finalized a track and received a mix I’m happy with, I upload it to Masterchannel for a final touch-up. Not only can I master my next release in a quick and easy way, but I can also master songs that I want to test with a live audience.

Do you have a production tip to share that can make your fellow creators’ lives easier?

Learn the short cuts in your preferred DAW. Create a good work flow by always naming your tracks during the production process and preferably also use colour coding. This will make your work more clear and efficient for not only yourself but also for others in the studio.

What should up and coming producers focus on to get more exposure?

Dare to be yourself and to stand out. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from your audience and to share your music with people within the industry, include them in your music journey from day one. Customize your channels based on the different listening groups you want to reach. Always make sure that your music holds the best possible quality. A good mix and master is key!

What is your biggest challenge when it comes to mastering your music?

Time. Sometimes my genre isn’t what the mastering engineer is most familiar with, which can lead to having to go several rounds back and forth. Our work hours can be very different so the mastering process can turn out to be a longer process than initially expected.

What drives you to use Masterchannel?

Time and control. With Masterchannel I can easily upload a mix and get a master back within a short time span. The revisions feature also gives me the opportunity to get different versions of a master if I’m not happy with the first version. I can skip the intermediary and get the final master ready to go within 10-15 minutes.

Master your music here

August 10, 2022
Matoma & A R I Z O N A “Heart So Big” Remix Competition Winners

In June, Matoma & A R I Z O N A were happy to announce the winner and runner-up of the remix competition for “Heart So Big”, hosted by Masterchannel.

UK-based singer-songwriter and producer Jamie A secured the Grand Prize, winning an official remix release, a one-on-one feedback session with Matoma and 1-year Masterchannel Poweruser membership. Sweden-based electronic duo laikd were chosen as the runner-up, securing a one-on-one feedback session with Matoma and 1-year Masterchannel Poweruser membership. Big congratulations to both!

Matoma shares the rationale behind the selection of the winners:
The unique sound and outstanding production was the reason the remixes were so intriguing. Jamie A’s remix showcased a unique sound that secured him a well-deserved win. laikd’s outstanding production skills didn’t go unnoticed, securing them the runner-up spot.

Jamie A is inspired by all music, past, present and future, from progressive rock to mainstream pop, Jamie’s sound is ever evolving. His distinctive vocals, creative lyrics and catchy melodies, span across every one of his productions and collaborative projects, securing him the winner spot in numerous remix competitions held by some of the biggest names in house music (Disclosure, MJ Cole), now also adding Matoma & A R I Z O N A to the list.

Using masterchannel was incredibly easy. After loading in my mix within a few clicks and a small waiting time, the track was fully mastered. It was a very efficient service I would recommend to anyone.

– Jamie A

Jamie A – Winner of the “Heart So Big” Remix competition

Jamie A shares his experience with Masterchannel:

I forced myself to learn how to master my own music. This meant I had to learn a multitude of plugins inside and out, and how a specific series of these plugins affect the sound of the mix. This was a lengthy process that, whilst of course was very valuable, was highly inefficient, taking lots of time away from the writing and production process. Masterchannel’s speed makes it perfect for anyone wanting to focus purely on production and ultimately making the best songs they can, knowing that the final mastered song will be always be a quality product. Masterchannel adds that last 10% to the song, if not more, in much the same way as traditional mastering.

Listen to the winner remix here:

After the better part of a decade of bedroom production, electronic music duo laikd started their mainstream musical journey as a way to share their love for music with people from all around the world. Blending a lot of guitars and other organic elements with groovy and powerful electronic sounds, the duo aims to make a fresh imprint on the music scene.

Our experience with Masterchannel has been really solid! We loved the fact that Masterchannel is made for “from ground-up” mastering, which means no more messing around with crazy master bus processing before sending the track to mastering. All in all, this makes Masterchannel a real time-saver that simultaneously delivers great results!

-laikd

laikd – Runner-up of the “Heart So Big” Remix competition

laikd share their experience with Masterchannel:

The biggest challenge for us producers when it comes to mastering is typically making sure the mix translates well on all playback systems. It’s really easy to get used to the studio envinronment your producing the track in and make flawed mix and mastering decisions as a result of working in a not so ideal room. Masterchannel lets us work around those physical limitations and delivers a neutral and great sounding master for all systems and places.

Listen to laikd’s remix here:

laikd · Matoma & A R I Z O N A – Heart So Big (laikd Remix)

Master your music here

July 1, 2022
Poweruser Close-Up: Skinny Days

Norwegian duo Dag Holtan-Hartwig and Halvor Folstad have written and/or produced several hit songs for artists such as Jonas Blue, Alan Walker, Seeb, CLMD and Julie Bergan. While they mainly focus on songwriting and top lining, their combined talents enable them to both write and produce across various genres (pop, EDM & RnB). Their brand of flexible creativity resulted in the duo having five different songs in the Norwegian Top 50 chart at the same time in 2019.

Which of your tracks are you most happy with the production for and why?

Perhaps “Not Gonna Cry” by Emma Steinbakken. I mean half the reason why the production sounds great is because Emma is such an amazing singer, but it’s a record we’re super proud of nonetheless. We managed to reference a little bit of Coldplay, keep the drums dirty and the guitars gritty and at the same time make it sound like a huge pop tune. Also, Jamie Snell’s mix certainly pushed it to the next level.

Do you have a production tip to share that can make your fellow creators’ lives easier?

We should be better at this ourselves, but make sure you have all the good stuff – the sounds you love the most – handy at all times. Don’t spend your time looking for your most used sounds!

What should up and coming producers focus on to get more exposure?

This is the impossible question for all artists, musicians and producers. The one thing we can say is that you shouldn’t spend too much time on stuff. Pretend it’s finished, send it to someone and move on.

What is your biggest challenge when it comes to mastering your music?

Mastering is such a dark arts exercise. It’s so subtle and so existentially important to your music at the same time. The biggest challenge for us is to trust our own ears. I mean, your hearing differs all the time, depending on the hour of the day, how tired you are, how many beers you’ve had. But you just sort of have to believe that what you hear is real and go from there. Haha, we hope that made sense.

What drives you to use Masterchannel?

The fact that it’s super fast, super easy to use and that it produces really good results.

Master your music here

June 12, 2022
Masterchannel on Forward Thinking Founders podcast

Forward Thinking Founders is a podcast where Mat Sherman interviews high potential founders with early stage companies. This allows us to see inside the brain of genius founders before the rest of the world knows they even exist. On this show, you’ll learn all about how to start a startup, pros and cons of different verticals, and learn the backstory and vision of tomorrow’s billion-dollar companies, straight from the founders. With guests coming from Y Combinator, The Thiel Fellowship, Pioneer, and the Growthmeter network, you’re sure to get a sneak peek at world-class founders at work, every day. This is Forward Thinking Founders.

Master your music here

February 15, 2022
Close-Up: J-MOX/rayn

Artist name J-MOX/rayn – Latest track Talk T o My Body/gone – City London, UK

What is the one thing that we should make sure to listen for in your latest track?

For ’Talk To My Body’ I choose a chord-progression which jumps between the minor & major scale all the time, which I personally really love, as it brings a great feel and variety to the tune.

On my track, ‘gone’, one of my favourite parts is the breakdown (starting at minute 01:04), where you get the feel, that everything stands still and is on hold for a second.

What is the sound of your childhood and youth?

The sound of my childhood varies a lot – from Heavy Metal to Jazz. As a drummer and pianist these genres have always been extremely interesting and useful to study. It challenged me to develop and understand complex musicality, broadening my horizon by just learning by doing, or let’s say, listening. My father has a great passion for classical music and operas, which he tried bringing me into many times, but wasn’t too successful 😉 Overall, I took inspiration from a lot of different styles whilst growing up, which I implement in my compositions today.

Which software do you use and how does this impact your strategy for making music?

I work with Logic Pro X, which allows me to work fast and creative, as I’m used to the system and multifarious tools since many years.

What is the biggest hurdle to get over from idea to a released track?

It depends on each project. An idea/a hook is created very fast. To finish a whole track, with all the little details and fine sound-design, can take some time though. The last 5% of finalising a production, including mixing – which I do myself mostly – take up the majority of the time. However, from then onwards, it goes pretty smooth & super quick. I just upload my final mixes to masterchannel.ai and my tracks are release-ready five minutes later.

What drives you to use Masterchannel?

It’s such a fine AI, getting my tracks release-ready in no time, super fast and easy. I most likely will never need a human mastering engineer ever again, as the process is just reliable and the outcome fantastic. I can highly recommend using Masterchannel to every musician – no matter what level – from beginner to professional!

Master your music here

February 7, 2022
Close-Up: Alaris

Artist name Alaris – Latest track Lie to Me – City Frankfurt

What is the one thing that we should make sure to listen for in your latest track?

Lots of atmospheric elements that help elevate the track more. I spend some time finding the right sounds. You can hear a sample from a train passing by in the intro for example.

What is the sound of your childhood and youth? Artists? Genres? Your surroundings?

My dad used to listen to a lot of jazz. I remember listening to Nora Jones, Leonard Cohen, Keith Jarrett and later Gregory Porter and Jamie Cullum. I didn’t grow up around a lot of the classic pop tunes from the 80s & 90s. When I got older I listened to a lot film scores, which still love today. My favourite to day is The Dark Knight Rises score.

Which DAW do you use and how does this impact your strategy for making music?

I use Ableton Live 11. For me it is important to work fast and Ableton allows me to lay down musical ideas in a short time. I have certain plugins to increase my workflow, templates and saved instrument racks to save my favourite sounds I created for other projects.

What is the biggest hurdle to get over from idea to a released track?

For me it is refining the idea over and over again and mixing. It is a constant process of refining, changing small things and assessing if you actually improved the idea or made it worse. The biggest help is to show the progressing idea to friends and people that I trust and that give honest feedback.

Why did you use Masterchannel to master your track?

For me, mastering is the last step before putting my music out into the world, and Masterchannel makes this process very easy and convenient at a low cost while keeping the quality high. So for me it is a no brainer in the process of releasing music.

Master your music here

February 1, 2022
The Journey of Masterchannel: From Idea to Launch

The Covid-19 pandemic did perhaps not change the rule book for innovation entirely, but it certainly connected us faster than ever online. Simon Hestermann became a popular mastering engineer while studying informatics. The sheer volume of requests for mastering was overwhelming and meant he could not prioritise all.

This sparked an idea of creating a service that could lower the barrier for artists getting their songs professionally mastered. And so he began programming the start of what later became Masterchannel. Close friends in the music community were allowed in to test and provide feedback.

MEANWHILE IN NORWAY

In parallel, Christian Ringstad Schultz laid the finishing touches to some tracks, reaching out into his network for recommendations for great mastering engineers.

Through fellow online friends he got in touch with Simon, who then revealed to him the first iteration of Masterchannel – back then labelled Masterbus. Christian got to test it out on the music most familiar to him and give his opinions in return.

The first interaction of the two founders, Simon Hestermann & Christian Ringstad Schultz

ZOOM IN

Zoom calls came with a low barrier all by a sudden and the two decided to hook up to discuss plans for the future. The immediate plan was to continue the discussion on weekly calls commencing September 2020.

The next six months brought many revisions of the product, tapping into the music enterprise network and incorporating the company. In April 2021, then Masterbus.ai participated at 657 Academy and started pitching to the first investors.

Still, it would take 5 more months until they met in person for the very first time.

THE ALCHEMY OF PEOPLE & INVESTMENT

Approaching summertime, things really were put in motion. The growing interest from StartupLab surfaced and eventually led to them being the first investor. Shortly after, conversation began with Andrew Jackson, Matoma’s manager. I did not take long to hit the same notes and by August, Matoma joined as co-founder of now rebranded Masterchannel.

As a budding PhD at the University of Oslo, Christian suddenly found himself having to switch lanes as the growing interest in the company drew him to take on a full-time position. Simon, on the other side of the North-Sea, finished his master degree at King’s College London in September and started packing his things for a move to Oslo.

At the end of September, Masterchannel raised 3MNOK from 7 investors. The investor team was led by StartupLab, and included angel investors Sindre Haaland, Marius Ekerholt, Jonas Andersen, Chris Moen, Adam Scheuring and the eminent artist Ane Brun.

As November 2021 began, the founding team finally met for the first time as Simon landed at Oslo Gardermoen Airport, embarking on this new adventure. Mastering the birth of a new company.

Master your music here

December 29, 2021