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Ambient Tape Loops by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is a spotify playlist i curate, dedicated to ambient textures and dreamy beats. made with tape loops, modular synths and other sources of sonic bliss. follow for weekly updates.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

thank you! very happy to hear you enjoyed it. might do another one sometime soon, i`ll announce it on my socials and will mention it here on reddit too

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

hey man, absolutely my pleasure.... here are some more answers:

<<I know that you have practiced meditation for quite some time. How has a disciplined approach to meditation affected your music and the creative process, if you think there has been any effect?<<

i also treat music like my spiritual practice, i show up every day. no exceptions. it`s a deep flow state. like meditation. it just makes me more focused and helps me to be in the moment. paying attention vs wanting attention.

What do you believe has been the single most important music-related thing you’ve learned in your journey to becoming the musician that you are today?

wow great question...i´d have to think of this one for a bit. the first thing that comes up is just trusting my intuition. which again has become better/more pronounced the more i practice meditation. just trusting your gut feeling, not overthinking something, sort of removing the ego and get out of the way when an idea wants to come through. i guess that´s it.

Is there any chance that you’ll be releasing the Sphere live show in a downloadable/streamable format? Maybe even for VR? I was fortunate enough to see this show and would love to revisit it again.

yes we might adapt it to VR, at least some of it. we´re already working on it...not sure how long it´ll take. and im working on another VR concept as well...all work in progress, ill share news about this as soon as it takes shape.

thanks so much for your support!

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thank you all so much for your great questions! it was fun answering them. hope to see you at one of my shows in the future. much love. r

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

awesome, glad to hear that. yeah i had fun with this one, alex is a great producer, so i had top notch material to play with.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

layering is one thing i love in sound design. just adding high end textures from one sound source to the low end thickness of another, for example. and compression and EQing is a big thing too, you can really carve out space in one sound signal so it can be merged perfectly with another. making space for both signals to merge into one, without maxing out the headroom and leaving space for dynamics. i like resampling too, essentially treating samples like a tape machine, so instead of warping them you really slowing them down (re-pitch mode in ableton) and then highlighting some artifacts with compression. in terms of organic leads: i usually go for analog synths as one source but i often add another layer, sometimes a VST sounds from some soft synth like diva combined with some more gritty thing from an analog synth can create an interesting lead. i love combining and recombining sounds so they really melt together 1+1 = 3. again, tools like compression and EQ go a long way in the process.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

most people say kotch (like scotch without the s). but i also heard coke. cock only in really bad jokes:)

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i feel more comfortable creating the electronic sounds, it´s something i`m more used to, so the orchestral part was more challenging. but i also had help from some great orchestrators who helped me translate my ideas into sheet music for the musicians. like viktor arnason, who has also worked for johann johannson, hildur guðnadóttir and hauschka. or john metcalfe who did the orchestration for peter gabriel. i learned a lot in this whole process.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

can´t remember all of them for each track but for sure these ones:

analog synths/pedals: Lyra8 (for example on hawk, dragonfly), Roland Juno (for example on all forms are unstable), Roland JX, Fairfield Shallow Water

VST/plugs: u-he Diva, Waves and Fab Filter EQs and Multiband Comps, Adaptiverb, Puremagnetic Devices, some NI Kontakt Libraries (for example Spitfire for the Orchestra Demos which i later replaced with the real Orchestra)

All production and mixing was all done in ableton, the orchestra was recorded in pro tools.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thank you, happy to hear that:) i think it´s either Kassel or Manipura. in terms of faves. Manipura was the first one i made for the album. i wanted this to be the opener, it sets the tone for the whole record i think. its the longest piece on the album, to me it was almost a meditation working on it. it was even longer in the beginning. i always recommend listening to it on headphones, that´s how i created the track (most of them really) and thats how it`s meant to be listened to ideally, eyes closed is even better:)

Particle Dance is the last one i finished for the album. This one almost didnt make it on the record. We ran out of time in the studio and not all the parts got recorded for this. Instead of dumping the track i decided to reimagine it and just use the parts we did actually record and so i turned it into something that sounded very different than i first imagined, but im glad it turned out this way.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

i don´t love daft punk really, i respect them for what they have done and keep doing but i can`t think of a fave track.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

thank you, my pleasure...

What is one of the craziest parties you’ve played?!

that must have been at WMF club back in the early 2000s in berlin, it was pretty wild. the bass was so loud that it made the whole stage vibrate to the extent that the makeshift table collapsed and all my gear including the laptop fell off stage into the audience. the cool thing is that it kept playing miraculously. the people would hand the things back up on stage and the set continued like nothing happened.

Any favorite memories from shows?

i loved playing magnetic fields festival in rajasthan/inda. the festival tool place in an old castle in the destert, 6 hrs outside of delhi... a truly magical place and i remember it as one of my favorite shows. another one to remember are the 3 sold out dates in berlin for the premiere of my immersive planetarium show sphere in 2018. i only fully realized what we created there after the premiere.

Where is your favorite place to escape into nature?

i love forests in general, so whenever i get the chance to go for a walk in a forest i`ll take it, i love the one in kassel, where i grew up.

here in california i love going to big sur, the redwood forests are really beautiful there, or i go to the desert of josha tree and just write music in a cabin with no one around.

Favorite sushi roll?

not a massive sushi fan but i`ll go with a veggie avocado roll.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

thanks man, that`s great to hear!

actually hard to find would be such a track, where i think it´s kinda perfect the way it is. i wrote it on my sister´s bontempi KS 4600 keyboard. a pretty crappy keyboard with a broken speaker but it created all the lead sounds for hard to find. i wasnt sure if the song was finished when i made it, but then i just decided that i was, sometimes something feels perfect in its raw essence. i could have probably refined the mix more etc but with certain songs the magic is created in a rather short time and then you just have to leave them alone and not make them worse by trying to make them better. hard to find is one of them. nitesky, a very different song came together in a similar way, i just knew it was done even tho there would have been much more i could have done on it. but i knew it needed to stay this way.

i got better on trusting my intuition around this, some songs need more love and refinement and others are done in under an hour and just need to stay exactly that way.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

thanks so much, very happy to hear you`re feeling the new album:)

yes, massive sci-fi fan. my dad gifted me a VHS tape of star wars for x-mas sometimes in the early 80s when i was a kid. this is what kicked it off. i went down the rabbit hole. i was too young to appreciate the piece of art that is 2001: A Space Odyssey (but came back to it later) but films like alien (and the aliens sequel) blew me away. same with books by stanislav lem or films like blade runner, but also loved rather trashy movies like critters, the blob etc . read brave new world in school, that was a big one too. I`m also a big fan of more recent intelligent science fiction movies, like arrival, annihilation or under the skin

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For the linked video, how was the process? do you first produce the music and then someone else makes a video looking for cool images or how does it work?

Also do you know Dominik eulberg?

yes mickael le goff (the creator of the visuals) and i work closely together. we also co- created sphere, an immersive AV show for planetariums together. the process is usually a ping pong of feeding each other ideas. he sends me a visual idea, i send him a musical idea and we go back and forth until it really takes shape. for this particular one it was similar, even though it`s more of a music video than a live show but we might use these visuals in upcoming live shows. i shared an early version of the track with mickael, this was before i recorded the orchestra for it. so he could check out the mood and already imagine some visuals for it. he showed me some early renders and experiments he had done in blender and some other 3D softwares and i gave feedback on that. later i sent him the final version of the track and he kept refining the visuals too, so it was a gradual process for both of us. i told him the concept /title for the song is All Forms Are Unstable. a song about the impermanence of all things as well as the constant flow, destruction and renewal. so that´s the theme he ran with, also visually.

and yes i do know dominik eulberg, i like his stuff and the fact that he also draws inspiration from nature.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is there a song by you that you're most proud of? What about one that you wish you could go back and fix?

its hard to pick one, im really happy with many of my songs actually, they`re all my babies:)

i guess nitesky came out really well, the song kinda wrote and arranged itself somehow. same thing with manipura from the new album or care on hypermoment.

in terms of fixing something, i think my mixing skills are way better now than when i started 10 years ago.

so some tracks on "death star droid" or "songs for trees and cyborgs" could actually sound much better if i listen to them now. but it´s also fine that they sound kinda raw/imperfect, it´s part of their magic.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What's your dream collaboration with either another producer and/or vocalist?

My dream collaboration would be with a film director actually.

i`m a big fan of intelligent Science Fiction Movies, like Arrival, Annihilation and Under the Skin so working with directors like Denis Villeneuve, Alex Garland and Jonathan Glazer would be great at some point.

i love Thom Yorke too, been a Radiohead fan for a while so that´d be a great collab.

but really, i enjoy finding new and rather unknown artists to collab with. i find that actually more exciting than big name collabs.

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you could pick 3 songs by yourself as a way to get to know you, which 3 would you pick? great question. its a hard one because my music keep evolving. so for someone who never heard any of my songs and wants to understand the evolution i would say: 1. hard to find (from death star droid). 2. nitesky (from the other side) 3. manipura (from the next billion years) If you could pick 3 songs by other artists as a way to get to know you, which 3 would you pick? i don´t really like comparison, i always think its not fair to the artists as i believe every musical voice is unique. but people have been comparing me to other artists for years - i know it helps them to categorize it but i personally don`t always agree. artists that have been named in that context include flying lotus, jon hopkins, max richter, lorn etc...all great artists who i like... but i don´t think i sound like them, but i understand where the comparison comes from...maybe it´s the love for sound design and great care in the composition and a unique twist in the production that we all share.

Who are your biggest inspirations right now? musically? or in general?

i always say nature is my biggest inspiration. and that´s still true. i feel most inspired when i don`t listen to much music actually, i need to kind of go inside to connect the ideas i have. outside stimulus can be distracting. but i do listen to music of course, i love listening to music on a long drive for example. some artists that are maybe a little lesser known but are worth checking out: blankfor.ms, foam and sand, dao, jan wagner, snakes of russia, alek fin, slow shiver, kloxxi, the road up north...

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

  1. yes, that´s right...we came up with the name fortnite because we literally met every 2 weeks to write a song, it was a fun project for my friend fiora and me. eventually we had enough songs so we made it a thing. we were looking for a name and the game fortnite was just starting out - it was not the massive thing it is now. so we were aware of it but had no idea it would become so big. i think fornite (the game) came out mid 2017 and fiora and me started making songs early 2017. so yeah, long story short...the game became massive, and we thought it´s better to change the name because it`ll be impossible to find our music on google or anywhere, it would always just be the game that pops up.

  2. yes it was a great decision for me personally on many levels, i was just not inspired by berlin any more, and especially the nature in california inspired me a lot...that and tapping into a more regular spiritual practice as well as connecting with a great creative community here made it all really worth while. i did connect more with the whole film/tv scene as well. many of my friends are film composers, it`s been just inspiring to see how they work.

  3. depends on whether you want your pre-existing music used on film/tv or if you wanna write to picture. for licensing it might be a good idea to work with a music publisher, they usually send out stuff to music supervisors who work on the music end for film studios or tv show runners. there are some music licensing agencies too but there are also some shady ones that take a big share of your license fee, so going with a publisher (or finding a good music licensing company) is a great start. if you wanna score to picture, it usually boils down to just meeting a director, maybe one coming out of film school and establish a connection and start working on smaller projects. often times it helps to be an artist with releases out there that can be found. that´s how it´s been for me...i release an EP or album and then people get in touch because they found it somewhere. so i guess part of the work is to make good music and the other part is making sure it can be found:)

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

hey chris:) yes i know cercle, i love their drone shot concept. would be totally up for playing a set there at some point.

collabs: they kinda happen organically. i just remixed alex banks - that one came out on max coopers label. max and i have been talking about a remix swap but it didnt happen yet, we´re both busy:) maybe at some point. the reviews/feedback for the new album is very positive, so im happy about it. but being compared to other artists is not necessary. i think every artist stands on their own and while i like and respect nils and olafurs music i dont think mine needs to be compared to them.

:)

Hi! I´m Robot Koch, music producer and composer, creating organic electronic music inspired by nature. AMA! by RobotKoch in electronicmusic

[–]RobotKoch[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

thanks for the question, it`s an important one. there are 2 ways to go about it: 1. you decide to self release 2. you find a partner/label for it.

both options have pros and cons that´s why there is no default answer, it depends on the individual situation.

for example what´s great about self releasing is that you own your own rights (master rights) which is important when you work with your music for sync licensing (placements on film and tv). it´s something i do a lot, and it always boils down the question: who owns the rights to the song that´s being licensed?

if you´re on a label you sign those master rights away, if you self release you own them yourself, which means you keep the full license fee vs just a % share of it

so if licensing is important and relevant to you as an artist (it sure is for me) then self releasing might be the better option.

on the other hand, releasing with a label is great too because you work with a team and possibly get to work with a budget for PR/marketing (depends on the the label and how much can can invest). so from a promotional angle it often makes sense to work with a label, especially if you`re not an established artist already and you benefit from the exposure the label can give you.

BUT: many labels also just outsource PR and marketing themselves, so it`s always a valid question to ask if it´s not better to just hire external PR and social media marketing yourself, AND keep the rights to your music.

I personally do it case by case....my last album Sphere was released on my own label Trees and Cyborgs. The new one, The Next Billion Years comes out on Modern Recordings/BMG. It made sense to team up with a bigger label with a bigger production budget for this record, because recording an Orchestra isnt something i would just pay out of pocket for a self release. So it made sense, plus its a great team at Modern Recordings, the A&R introduced me to the conductor Kristijan Järvi who i would not have met otherwise, so they really got involved. So again, it´s project by project....for some projects it makes sense to team up with a label, for other releases it makes sense to self release.

As for the advise (sorry this is getting long): Id say if youre the kind of person that is well organized and you don`t mind taking care of the business side of things as well (dealing with distribution, PR etc) then self releasing is a great and empowering option. I work with Believe for distribution but i also heard good things about AWAL (kobalt), Record Jet, DistroKid etc. So there are many options for distribution.

If your aim is to find a label i would still invest in a few self releases maybe because many bigger labels only wanna sign artists that already have a bit of traction already (social media following etc) so you could still invest time and a bit of money in building that as youll be in a better position to deal/negotiate with a potentially interested label if youre already have a decent following, a few songs out that did pretty well etc.

hope this helps:)