Author Interview: Baritone

This week in our series of interviews of AudioJungle authors, we meet…

Baritone (Michael Barrett from Barrett Tone Audio Productions)

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, what do you do for a living?

Born in Los Angeles, I have been in Northern California since the age of 16, and have lived in Alameda (an island in San Francisco Bay) nearly half my life.  I’ve worked as a sound designer for software game publishers and toy companies, and I’m now doing it as an independent contractor.  I also play in a Beatles cover band called The Sun Kings.  Together for nine years, it’s become much more of an occupation than the hobby it started out to be.

2. How long have you been composing music and what got you started producing?

I started composing songs at age 12 after receiving my first guitar.  I wrote five songs in the first five days as fast as I could learn new chords.  The output has varied since then.  I first started producing music by recording my songs directly into a cassette recorder, listening back, and all too often saying ‘Hmmph,  I can make it sound better’ instead of leaving it alone.  Eventually I graduated to a reel to reel tape machine with sound-on-sound capability.  Hello overdubbing!  Since then, the gear and methods have improved considerably.

3. Do you play any instruments? Do you have any formal music training?

I play guitar, keyboards, vocals, harmonica, and some bass.  And drums when given the chance to bash away.  All pretty much self taught.  I muddled along through my first few musical years, learning whatever I could from older and better players.  I took a music theory class in high school and that was when the lights finally went on.  I discovered that there was a method behind all this passion.  I majored in music (and dabbled in violin) at college, but left to become a working musician before obtaining a degree.

4. Could you describe to us your home studio and the equipment and software you typically use to produce audio?

The core of my set up is Logic Pro.  I’ve been using Logic in all its permutations since 1996.  These days it’s running on a MacBook Pro and through a Fireface 800 audio interface.  The last two years have seen, except for guitar, a complete switch to software instruments.  Had an Oberheim Matrix 1000, but happily sold it once I discovered Arturia’s Modular Moog, my latest love.

Other than the suite of software instruments included with Logic and a bundle of Waves plug-ins, I use NI’s Kontakt, B4 II, Akoustik and Electric pianos, FM8 and for live performance, Kore 2.  I have an MBox 2 for working on ProTools files for clients, but tend not to record with it.  The quality difference between audio recorded with the MBox and the Fireface is dramatic.

5. Could you tell us a bit about how you typically compose and then produce your audio? Describe your creative process.

As most folks might answer this, it all depends on the piece and its first spark.  Sometimes it may start with a rhythm, other times a melody or chord progression and sometimes a quest for a mood or feel.  In any case I will start with the first element and build it (and occasionally strip it) layer by layer until it fits and feels right to me.  Then attention is given in placing each part in the mix to play well with the others and to avoid a muddle of competing frequencies in the center of the stereo field.

6. What genre of music do you enjoy producing for and why?

One of the best assets a composer/sound designer can possess is to be genre nimble.  I’m best versed and most comfortable with rock ‘n’ roll, but particularly enjoy the challenges of composing for an unfamiliar genre.  Have delivered music to clients in many styles, from silent movie/vaudeville to country western, surf, hip-hop, trance, classical… a long list.

7. What kind of things inspire you to create music? Do you have any musical influences?

The current job and the next job are always inspiring.  Something in the challenge of rising to the occasion once again to produce audio that satisfies both client and self.

Hearing great music makes me want to take it apart to understand why I like it so much.  My very first musical influences were my parent’s phonograph and record collection, consisting mostly of folk music (loved it), jazz (a harder sell), and show tunes (a definitely mixed bag).  Then along came the Beatles, who have steadfastly remained at the top of my list.

When trying to write in a new genre, I’ll first seek out recordings from the masters of said genre to get a road map, then try to add a left turn or two.

8. What genres of music do you listen to in your spare time? Do you have any favorite bands or artists?

Mostly rock and roll, it’s still what gets the blood pumping.  After the Beatles, favorite artists include Led Zeppelin, Ennio Morricone, Brian Wilson, Aaron Copland, Ben Folds, ELP, early Genesis, Frank Zappa… it’s another long list.

9. What is your advice to other AudioJungle authors regarding how to create a successful portfolio of audio?

Well, if my portfolio were more successful my advice might be more valid, but since you asked…  With the tools available today, it’s so easy to produce professional sounding audio at home with a quality that we could only wish for as kids and frankly, it’s easy enough to produce decent sounding music without trying too hard.

If I had to offer one nugget of advice it would be the one I’ve always followed.  Presets are excellent starting points to hear an instrument’s capabilities, but relying on them only ensures working harder to sound original.  So go ahead, alter that envelope, sweep that filter, EQ that sample, patch something differently just to see what happens to the sound.  Tweak those presets, make them your own and bend them to your voice instead of the other way around.

10. What do you do to market your AudioJungle files?

With time demands elsewhere, not much for the first year, but I’m slowly coming around to the fact that AudioJungle is a community.  As a member of it, I should represent myself as a citizen by letting others know I’m here and contributing, to forum as well as portfolio.  In the outside world, I have links to AudioJungle on my social network pages.

11. What are your three favorite tracks in your AudioJungle portfolio and why do you like them?

My favorites at the moment include:

Hormuz, as it’s unlike anything else in my portfolio and was inspired almost instantly by the percussion loop.

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I really enjoyed producing SixTease and the client loved it, though it may probably work better on AJ as two separate pieces since the A and B sections are so different.  It’s also one of two pieces that were not produced specifically for AudioJungle.

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I also like Introduction, because as of this writing it’s the newest piece and I haven’t fully detached from it yet.

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12. Apart from yourself, who is your favorite AudioJungle author and why do you like them?

My hunch is that ADG3studios rate high on most everybody’s list here.  Adrien’s portfolio is more like a music library and shows a fine grasp of so many genres.  Oh, to be that prolific.  Recently I’ve been hearing consistently good things from Smelin and Symphony-of-Specters.

13. If you could change anything about AudioJungle, what would it be?

What, other than that it’s too popular?  When not on a deadline, my production speed tends to be more Peter Gabriel than Brill Building and it seems easy to get lost in the flood of daily additions.  AudioJungle seems to be dealing with that nicely with features like artist interviews and spotlights.  Thanks for that!

14. Could you tell us about some of your audio projects outside of AudioJungle? What have been some of your biggest audio successes so far?

I’ve performed character voice talent for a number of fun and varied projects, the latest being a series of Sam and Max episodes.  The Sun Kings might also be an audio success for the sound design and programming needed to perform the more psychedelic or orchestral Beatles numbers live, without sequencing.  People always seem pleased and surprised by the attention to detail.

I look back fondly on some of the music and sound effects produced for computer games back in the CD-ROM days.  ‘Where in Space is Carmen Sandiego?’ was the first title where I created all the music, sound effects and directed all voice talent.  After that the projects became too big for one person.  Writing and producing the title music for ‘Prince of Persia 3D’ was pretty thrilling, especially when the kanun player came in to record the plucked instrument score, which really brought the track to life.

15. When you aren’t busy creating music, what do you like to do in your spare time?

Working from home has really stepped up my gardening game, especially since going organic.  I’m the designated cook of the family by mutual consent of all the consumers, and enjoy the process of raising food from garden to table.  More creative arts I guess.

Love to travel when I can, though most of it lately has been with the band.  I’m also a voracious reader of books, newspapers, magazines and a big fan of Wikipedia.  Hiking is a necessary pleasure and luckily, my corner of the world has no shortage of fantastic trails, varied terrain and inspiring vistas.

View / listen to Baritone’s AudioJungle portfolio.