Proving once again that music is something that lies inseparable from the human consciousness, the self-taught music artist and composer VDX has made a permanent mark when it comes to Electronic music. From his day job of making ICs to his drive for creating music, the artist leaves no stone unturned to show how to strike the perfect balance in life. With tracks like ‘Voice of the Mountains’ and ‘Nightfall Serenade’, the artist has conjured the perfect formula for creating musical masterpieces: creative instinct and fearless experimentation. Drawing inspiration from a wide variety of sources like J.M. Jarre, Enya, Abba, Boney M, 80s Italo, and above all Vangelis, the artist introduces into his music a diversity that comes as a welcome freshness for listeners. Currently the artist is attempting to re-create Vangelis’ “Direct Method” where an artist attempts to control a multitude of music elements in real-time. All his tracks are available for downloading for free on SoundCloud.
DMR: First of all, congratulations on your new releases. Your creations have been the most captivating music experience for us all. Hopefully, we will get to hear more of your tracks, packed with charming lyricism and compelling vibes to go along. When it comes to electronic music, how did you find your calling?
VDX: Thank you very much!
Well, I was born in the mid-80s. I think that was a time when Electronic music really blossomed, and when the field saw significant advancements, due to pioneers using new sounds in creative ways. The synthesizer reached Hollywood movies. I just remember listening to a lot of music, starting at a very young age, liking it a lot and being inspired by it.
DMR: Can you recall your first most precious musical memory growing up? What is it about this memory that makes it stand out among others?
VDX: My dad used to record music from the local radio station. He had dozens of “hand-made” recorded tapes that I used to listen to a lot, when I was really young, basically a toddler. I would learn to operate that cassette player and was always amazed how the sound (especially human voices) could come from that rather small box.
When I was 4, I lived for one whole year in the countryside with my grandparents. It was a large house, and it featured this acoustic upright piano right in the living room. I remember being fascinated by that piano. Right there, I started “messing” with it. I somehow was able to reproduce very simple melodies using only one finger (things I had heard on the radio or listening to tapes, or Christmas Carols).
I remember being asked by my mother how is it that I can do that, to which I replied “What do you mean? Can’t you do it?”. That is a funny memory I have.
DMR: Vangelis seems to have had a massive influence on you when it comes to music. Can you tell us what is it about his music that appeals to you the most and why?
VDX: I actually learned about Vangelis when I was in high school. I mean I had heard some of his music before, and I knew some of it quite well, but never knew who the man behind it was (and it was actually a great surprise that there was only one man who composed, performed and recorded it by himself).
I had known “Conquest of Paradise” as it was featured as an intro, in some local television broadcast.
I also remember having a tape with stories, and one story was Hansel and Gretel. The recorded story had this beautiful fantasy melody in the background. Then, during high school, some colleague came up with the CD album of “Conquest of Paradise” and I recognized the first track. When I bought the CD afterwards, I was shocked to learn that my fantasy music from Hansel and Gretel was actually “Monastery of La Rabida”. I cried out loud, when I heard that. I had found my favourite composer!
What appeals to me most from Vangelis’ music is the wonderful, simple, extremely melodious themes. Like “Conquest of Paradise”, “Monastery of La Rabida”, “Chariots of Fire”, “Procession”, “La Petite Fille de la Mer”. They are so simple but they speak to me so much! They stick inside the mind and get associated with deep emotions.
“Procession” really speaks to me as a dialogue with a Deity! Whatever that might be.
Much later, I learned to enjoy “Heaven and Hell”, “Blade Runner” and some other, more “experimental” music.
DMR: Can you tell us about your first experience of composing and recording a track and what got you hooked to it thereafter?
VDX: As opposed to recording, “composing” started much earlier, when my parents gave me this toy keyboard when I was 7 or 8. It was a little Yamaha PSS-12 with tiny keys. Well, I don’t know if I could call it “composing”, it was a lot of experimentation. I learned to recreate what I heard even better, and discovered what later I learned were called “chords”. At first a chord was just a bass note, then two notes. To this day I still play a chord using two notes, and “teach” the keyboard (through programming) how to interpret those notes to create full chords and notes that work around those chords.
I can acknowledge that my first composition was made on that small keyboard, and I recorded it later. I think I called it “Sky Fly”. I recorded it directly from the PSS-12 and uploaded it unedited to Soundcloud.
I got into music software, when I accidently found a software synthesizer on a CD that came with a magazine, before the days when I had Internet available. It was 2002 and there was this free synth called ZynAddSubFX, which at the time was beyond my comprehension, but sounded a little like the fantasy sounds I had known from Vangelis. I later started contributing to that open source synthesiser by porting it to Windows.
Properly recording and creating a track… well, that came much later (around mid-high school, around 2005), after I had a computer at home, and found out that MIDI exists, and there is such a thing as a low latency audio driver for Windows. This meant you could do real-time sound processing on a PC. And you could perform and record multiple sounds too.
DMR: You mentioned that playing classical pieces is not what you are looking for. But what is your general opinion about artists who try to copy and play classical pieces?
VDX: First, I must say I have nothing against classical music. I often listen to classical music and respect the classical composers. I also have nothing against artists that try to copy or play classical pieces.
What I meant is related to my experience, when I tried to go to a local music school. I did actually attempt piano lessons, but only to find that the curriculum consisted solely of a repertoire of things classical composers did in the past.
Unfortunately for me, I found that they do not teach you how to compose, how to make something new, how to express yourself or how to turn the things you hear in your mind into sounds. They try to teach you to “read” music and just be a “playback machine”.
That wasn’t what I was looking for. I remember I would look up some classical piece on the internet, find the MIDI, study that, play it back by ear instead of reading it from paper. But I got caught, and that was the end of my experience with music school.
DMR: Do you find your day job has any sort of influence over the type of music that you create?
VDX: I work all day drawing transistors on a computer screen for a living. I don’t think my actual job has any influence on the music I create, it just doesn’t leave me barely any time to create any music.
However, being an engineer does help with the technical parts. I can program my keyboards to do exactly what I want them to do. I can create my own sounds, I can analyse sound, see sound by visualising its spectrum using technology. But I do find that I tend to spend too much time engineering a piece rather than “composing” or just being creative.
DMR: You mentioned that you are attempting to recreate Vangelis’ “Direct Method”. Can you explain a bit about it to the readers and how did it draw your attention in the first place?
VDX: There’s really a lot I could talk about this.
I think the main idea is to control, live, as many sounds or instruments as possible, in order to transfer the sound that you “hear” in your mind as “directly” as possible, with the least amount of overdubbing.
Vangelis was known to be able to recreate a large portion of a symphony orchestra, live, using just his two hands, and his feet by controlling many pedals in a way that mixes various instruments together instantly, and recording all that to a multi-track recording environment.
I’m attempting to recreate this by writing my own software to interpret my performance on the keyboard in real time. For example, two fingers of my left hand can define up to 16 chords. I do not play the keyboard as a trained classical pianist would.
The chords detection generates additional notes in the background for pads, or choirs. How hard I hit a key determines the fills in the drums. The bassline automatically adjusts to my left hand in real time. I can change or layer instruments that I play with my right hand by working with MIDI foot pedals.
This is more engineering than musicianship, I guess. But it helps to create in the moment. The initial idea is often the best idea.
DMR: Your job does not allow you much time to invest in music as much as you would like. But given the opportunity, what are some of the areas that you wish to explore?
VDX: If I had more time, I’d probably focus more on sound synthesis, particularly voice synthesis. I’d also probably make a “Knight Rider Theme” cover just for the fun of it. But it would mean a lot to me to get that “guitar / synth” sound exactly right.
I’d also invest more time in writing my own MIDI tools.
DMR: While most artists try to monetize their creations, you make your tracks free for downloading on SoundCloud. Can you divulge the reason behind this decision of yours?
VDX: I’m rather convinced that without a lot of marketing and promotion effort, you can’t really monetize anything. I can’t be right now, the artist and the business man, at the same time.
On the other hand, I don’t fancy the idea of turning music into a product, for the sake of marketing that product. Once the music becomes a product, it becomes very difficult to change that product. You have to repeat yourself and create the same thing again, because people tend to put music in genres, and they often like to hear more of what they heard last time.
What I do appreciate is people listening. If they like it, they can download it and listen to it offline on their favourite device. But it is difficult even to find people listening to “free” music.
On the other hand, I don’t like the idea that you have to pay in order to distribute your music to popular streaming services. Why should I pay streaming services just to get my music out there?
That’s why I’ve stayed with Soundcloud so far.
DMR: Harping on a personal note, we would love to know about your interests and hobbies. So, when you’re not working or making music, what would you be found doing?
VDX: I’m a nerd. I love reading or watching videos about AI, physics, maths and whatever science-related topic is covered today on several YouTube channels.
DMR: Can you give us an insight into the projects you are currently working on and when can we expect them to be released for listeners to enjoy?
VDX: I’ve been trying to do diverse things.
I hope I can come up with lovely melodies, and turn them into beautiful tracks.
It would be very nice to have an actual vocalist on board. That would probably change a lot and bring more value into my music, but I don’t see that happening too soon. What I always strive for in my project is good melody. Something you should be able to hum, or sing, or something that you can remember.
DMR: How hard is it for upcoming musicians to get their first break amidst the cut-throat competition in the industry?
VDX: I am not in the music industry. At least not yet.
My impression today is that it is very difficult to get noticed in such a saturated industry. I feel that the younger generations do not feel music is as important today as music was important to my generation. It is a lot more difficult to get attention.
The other really difficult thing is that it seems to me, you have to really create a lot in order to get any attention. Quantity seems to me to have become more important than the music itself.
But I love listening to my own music, and I will continue to create music regardless of trends or the industry.
Follow VDX : Soundcloud
