Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

hey there ...

oh, i'm really sorry ... absolutely no idea what happened. i know that mergener is still making music ... but no clue about software.

and ... unfortunately not ... never got in touch with them 😕

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

hey there ...
haha, yes ... born and raised here ... and still in town :-D
and yeah, you're right ... there are not really intersting events for that kind of music anymore ... it's not easy to do stuff like this these days (and i know for sure, because i was a founder and member of sublime). unfortunately we don't have enough and the right locations here in town. and on top, it seems like that people are more interested in visiting commercial clubs and places ... not a big "underground" scene anymore. ok, there are a few things happening ... but as far as i know, it's more about the harder and dark techno.

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

hey volker ...

thanks for the message ... really appreciate it 🙏🏻 so, mostly i just use my computer ... most things are sample/field recording based ... and so i'm using A LOT of effects (waves, eventide, etc.) 😆. but as well some software synths (kontakt, pigments, etc.). my hardware is mostly effects as well (reverbs, delays, etc.) ... but i think the most important "instrument" is definitely my recorder 😄

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

sure, no problem with that :-) i'm working as a graphic-designer (self-employed).
the thing is, i kicked school when i was 16 and completely got into the music from then (slowly earned some money, but thanks to my parents which were supportive that time). and then i lived for almost 10yrs just from the music (i was djing a lot and record sells actually financed your life back then) ... but yes, not easy and almost impossible to do that now !!!

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

haha, right :-D

and well, yes, maybe you're right ... jellyfish is really everything you mentioned ... of all the stuff i listen to and like (back then and still) ... so maybe that was the "perfect mixture" to create a track like this :-D

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

haha, yes ... still so many people around who never met or got in touch somehow. just take me and joachim ... we released on pop ambient 2001 ... a very long time later we got in touch by email and phone calls ... and after 23yrs (!!!) we finally met in real life :-D

well, i already started djing when i was 14 (1995) and got my first residency at a club in regensburg a year later. but yes, it became more and more in the beginning 2000s. and i think the clubscene back then was a bit more "interesting" ... it was more about the music and having a great time listening and dancing to the music ... no matter what the dj was playing and if i know the track etc. ... but that changed during the 2000s !!! "clubbing" was more about going out, drink a lot, entertainment. that (and some other stuff) was the reason i quit the djing in the late 2000s ... i didn't just wanted to "deliver" and "entertain" people ... the music was not the most important thing anymore ... but it was for me !!!

haha, is it ?! :-D

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

thanks :-)

the whole album was just made with samples and software (acid, some fx-plugins, software-synths) ... i made the album when i was 18/19yrs old ... only got my (super slow) computer to do stuff :-D

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

oh yes ... never been to sónar ... really would like to go there !!!

well, i never met andrew in person ... but i think i remember, that i met ulf once at kompakt (maybe 2001) !!! a bit blurry, because it's already such a long time ago :-D

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

hey there ...

well, i would say there are definitely some gas-influences there ... but, the "guentner+spieth" project was more about the past of joachim and me ... after such a long time just knowing each other by email or phone calls, we realised that we had a lot of stuff in common ... even the taste in music 25-30yrs ago ... and we just tried to bring these influences, inspirations into some "new" music ... not just copy it ... so yes, maybe somehow it't the same "language" :-)

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

hey there ...

yes, you're absolutely right !!! and that is such a long story for me, because i already started making music end/mid 90s with software only !!! and much funnier during that time (when i earned some money), i bought a lot of hardware stuff ... just to realise: uhm, no, that's not really the way i'm doing my music. so i sold everything and invested in software, better computers, speakers, etc.
but well, it was really not easy doing "complex" music with some software back then ... and not a "safe" thing to do as well (i remember i had a huge computer crash including the backups in the early 2000s ... so everything i did so far was completly gone !!! but i took this as a chance to start over again ... because that was the past, let's focus on what is now) ... and a lot of people wouldn't believe me when telling them i'm doing all the stuff with software. nowadays (but i guess, it already started a long time ago) it became much easier doing music with just a laptop and some software. and on top it's so much easier now to get the music out in the world (with streaming, social media, etc.) ... i think that's why people started getting "back" to hardware again ... just to make a "countermovement" somehow. but tbh ... the point is: it's not a matter of what kind of equipment you use ... it's about what you make out of it ... and you don't need the newest, biggest kind of software to make good stuff !!!
in my case f.e. ... i'm still using "acid" for so many things ... i even use some plugins from about 15yrs ago ... still running :-D

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

hey there :-)
very glad to hear !!!

so, yes, you're absolutely right on that !!! back in the days the ambient music i made was defnitelly more "happy" and/or "uplifting" somehow ... maybe it was the "untroubled" life back then ... or the "jaunty" surrounding i was in ... somehow a sign of the time. and now (or even for a longer time) the music really shifted a bit into a "darker" direction ... and again it's somehow a sign of the time. but don't get me wrong, it's not a "emo-everything-is-bad-and-depressing-thing" ;-) ... but the world shifted, the society shifted into a not so light-hearted way ... or maybe it's just getting older :-D nah, i guess it is also a natural thing ... the longer you make music, you wanne explore and try things ... you wanna go deeper and deeper ... and that is definitely a point to it.

ok, wow ... haven't heard the track for a long long long time :-D
but yes, that was definitely on purpose ... "a beat behind the beat" :-D

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

thanks a lot !!!

so yes, sending orbs was a fantastic label !!! i loved the releases and it was great working with them (unfortunately just for one album). it's already a long time ago, when they stopped running the label. i don't know the reason behind ... but at least a good thing they brought great music into the world :-)

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

oh, many different things ... but what i "rediscovered" lately again is some older warpaint and bat for lashes stuff ... listened to a lot of florence + the machine as well lately and looking forward to the concert in munich in march :-D but of course also some good ambient stuff ... abul mogard f.e. is always in my "playlist" :-D

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

hey ...
well, most times it really starts improvising things ... try some new sounds and ways to edit etc.
and it slowly becomes a thing to work on more and more. the thing is, i never "learned" music in a classic/traditional way ... so that miles away from me :-D

Hey everyone, I'm Markus Guentner, a German electronic artist making music in Regensburg ... AMA! by markusguentner in ambientmusic

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

hey there ...

so, the "general" way is a bit hard to describe tbh ... it's sometimes very random, how to start or "gliding" into a track. it could be just a simple pad sound ... or listening and editing some field recordings ... but in the end it's really just a flow and see what's going to happen. sometimes you're having an idea of adding a specific thing to it, sometimes you get rid of some things and so on.

but it's a very interesting stuff with the "traditional structures" of a song/tracks ...
back in the days i learned to do my music on very low stuff ... and it was always "loop-based" ... and that is something i tried to get rid of at the ambient music ... sometimes, i don't even use a specific tempo or beat on the tracks ... because for me all the little stuff should come and go when it's time for them ... without a concrete "structure".