James Bernard

[Jagwah]

I was sad to see James go as I'm sure many others were.

I remember he did mention he would be back but after a small Dubspot tutorial I never saw him do anything Reason related.

Just wondering if anyone knows what he is up to these days? Still in the audio world I hope...

[bxbrkrz]

[Eski]

He's still putting out some quality ambient/atmospheric music too.

https://jamesbernard.bandcamp.com/music

[arnigretar]

Oh yes, indeed. James Bernard is missed. Was a great Propellerhead.
And he is a great musician. Beautiful ambient releases..highly recommended

[plaamook]

Oh yes, indeed. James Bernard is missed. Was a great Propellerhead.
And he is a great musician. Beautiful ambient releases..highly recommended

Yeah, no kidding. I never heard his music before this thread.
I sort of figure all those Props types are always into more pop music but what's posted here is really interesting in that 80's Vangelis vibe sort of way.

[Jagwah]

He's still putting out some quality ambient/atmospheric music too.

https://jamesbernard.bandcamp.com/music

Nice thanks for the link!

Oh yes, indeed. James Bernard is missed. Was a great Propellerhead.
And he is a great musician. Beautiful ambient releases..highly recommended

Great now I have a bunch of chill stuff when I need it, I wonder what else he has around

[Jagwah]

Hell yeah it's great to see he is still deep in the game designing and innovating stuff!

Yeah, no kidding. I never heard his music before this thread.
I sort of figure all those Props types are always into more pop music but what's posted here is really interesting in that 80's Vangelis vibe sort of way.

Check out the Blade OST credits here for the song 'Playing with Lightning.' https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120611/soundtrack

Really cool, but was quite a while back and I'm sure he's done loads since then.

[motuscott]

Glory to the digital warriors

[MattiasHG]

Oh yes, indeed. James Bernard is missed. Was a great Propellerhead.
And he is a great musician. Beautiful ambient releases..highly recommended

Yeah, no kidding. I never heard his music before this thread.
I sort of figure all those Props types are always into more pop music but what's posted here is really interesting in that 80's Vangelis vibe sort of way.

Interesting that you think that! Most of us don't make pop. Ludvig plays in several jazz bands, a live electro act and an analog synth quintet, Andreas does experimental electronica, my boss David plays in an Irish folk band, Carl has a successful vaporwave act, and I make ambient electronica, video game soundtracks, doom metal and play in a garage punk band. The list goes on!

I actually keep a Spotify playlist for fun that's music made by employees at Reason Studios, from recent releases to stuff made many many years ago. Only a fraction of things from people comfortable with telling me what they make: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1u65x ... 33fe6047e3

[arnigretar]

Thanks for the share Mattias. Would love to hear your ambient electronica and video game soundtracks! You have any alias for that?

[MattiasHG]

Thanks for the share Mattias. Would love to hear your ambient electronica and video game soundtracks! You have any alias for that?

Still preparing the first album release, but ambient-ish stuff here:

Game soundtracks is under my name and not often available at streaming, but: https://anosou.com/?page_id=14

[plaamook]

Yeah, no kidding. I never heard his music before this thread.
I sort of figure all those Props types are always into more pop music but what's posted here is really interesting in that 80's Vangelis vibe sort of way.

Interesting that you think that! Most of us don't make pop. Ludvig plays in several jazz bands, a live electro act and an analog synth quintet, Andreas does experimental electronica, my boss David plays in an Irish folk band, Carl has a successful vaporwave act, and I make ambient electronica, video game soundtracks, doom metal and play in a garage punk band. The list goes on!

I actually keep a Spotify playlist for fun that's music made by employees at Reason Studios, from recent releases to stuff made many many years ago. Only a fraction of things from people comfortable with telling me what they make: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1u65x ... 33fe6047e3

Wow. Thanks for that. Sorry for the pedestrian assumptions!
I think I get the impression from how Reason is marketed. Though most daws are marketed like that I guess.

[rootwheel]

I think I get the impression from how Reason is marketed. Though most daws are marketed like that I guess.

This is the problem with a lot of music software marketing in general; it's manoeuvred itself into a place where it's totally lost touch with the people it really needs to reach and with the message it really needs to get to them. It's all just one big disingenuous lifestyle showcase now, a race to the bottom featuring dumb 'Instagram influencer' style nonsense and 'click bait' style YouTube thumbnails.

I can understand why the above approach is in vogue but I personally feel it always sells the product short. To me it would make more sense to show why a piece of software is the best choice for the utilitarian and rather unglamorous reality of clicking for hours within it to get actual work done. Or in the very least have two different marketing campaigns; one for the dumb masses/fake wannabes and another for the workhorse people.

[arnigretar]

Thanks for the share Mattias. Would love to hear your ambient electronica and video game soundtracks! You have any alias for that?

Still preparing the first album release, but ambient-ish stuff here:

Game soundtracks is under my name and not often available at streaming, but: https://anosou.com/?page_id=14

Like this. Thanks for the share!

[EnochLight]

I think I get the impression from how Reason is marketed. Though most daws are marketed like that I guess.

This is the problem with a lot of music software marketing in general; it's manoeuvred itself into a place where it's totally lost touch with the people it really needs to reach and with the message it really needs to get to them. It's all just one big disingenuous lifestyle showcase now, a race to the bottom featuring dumb 'Instagram influencer' style nonsense and 'click bait' style YouTube thumbnails.

I can understand why the above approach is in vogue but I personally feel it always sells the product short. To me it would make more sense to show why a piece of software is the best choice for the utilitarian and rather unglamorous reality of clicking for hours within it to get actual work done. Or in the very least have two different marketing campaigns; one for the dumb masses/fake wannabes and another for the workhorse people.

I mean, I get what you're saying and actually agree to an extent (especially about the social influencers/lifestyle stuff), but we'd be foolish to think that the vast majority of the world (at least the majority of the world that buys music making software) doesn't listen to pop music. I mean, it's literally in the word - it's popular music! Most music industry companies make products to sell to the greatest market to turn the greatest revenue, and pop music is (and always has been) the greatest market, I'm afraid.**


**That's not to say there aren't some companies that *DO* cater to a more obscure crowd who's interests aren't in the traditional pop realm (I thinking Teenage Engineering, Sonic Charge, etc).

[npinero1]

Thanks for the share Mattias. Would love to hear your ambient electronica and video game soundtracks! You have any alias for that?

Still preparing the first album release, but ambient-ish stuff here:

Game soundtracks is under my name and not often available at streaming, but: https://anosou.com/?page_id=14

NICE TRAX!!!

[rootwheel]

This is the problem with a lot of music software marketing in general; it's manoeuvred itself into a place where it's totally lost touch with the people it really needs to reach and with the message it really needs to get to them. It's all just one big disingenuous lifestyle showcase now, a race to the bottom featuring dumb 'Instagram influencer' style nonsense and 'click bait' style YouTube thumbnails.

I can understand why the above approach is in vogue but I personally feel it always sells the product short. To me it would make more sense to show why a piece of software is the best choice for the utilitarian and rather unglamorous reality of clicking for hours within it to get actual work done. Or in the very least have two different marketing campaigns; one for the dumb masses/fake wannabes and another for the workhorse people.

I mean, I get what you're saying and actually agree to an extent (especially about the social influencers/lifestyle stuff), but we'd be foolish to think that the vast majority of the world (at least the majority of the world that buys music making software) doesn't listen to pop music. I mean, it's literally in the word - it's popular music! Most music industry companies make products to sell to the greatest market to turn the greatest revenue, and pop music is (and always has been) the greatest market, I'm afraid.**


**That's not to say there aren't some companies that *DO* cater to a more obscure crowd who's interests aren't in the traditional pop realm (I thinking Teenage Engineering, Sonic Charge, etc).

It's not about listening to pop music per se, I imagine most of the world's best record makers are listening to pop music too - but not in the same way the masses do. It's the difference between consumers and producers and the spectrum in-between - it's about the lie that making pop music is easy if you just buy our tool.

I remember when I first got into music software in the early noughties; the whole concept of the prosumer music software market still felt like it was in its infancy but you could sense where things were heading. Even then though, not just anyone could make music; and software makers couldn't really sell the dream that literally anyone could 'make beats'. Instead they sold to a target market of people who already knew at least something about music and tech and wanted to better themselves at that craft and try to take it more seriously - who saw each new product as an investment worth making to develop further. A lot of modern music tech marketing seems to have now been largely disconnected from these kinds of people.

Like I said before, I understand why. It's in vogue. It's part of a wider trend in popular culture where things are deliberately made to look accessible and easy; instead of the idea that blood, sweat and tears are required for years. Marketing and self-promotion now seems to go out of its way to actively hide the idea of real effort; so consumers feel like they too could still easily aspire to achieving such success overnight, without the need for any real work.

We're at a place now where much of the prosumer market has gone so far towards being dumbed down that it actually feels like it is aimed exclusively at the casual and more and more with each passing year. I would argue that this approach does the software and the industry a great disservice.

[Heigen5]

Thanks for the share Mattias. Would love to hear your ambient electronica and video game soundtracks! You have any alias for that?

Still preparing the first album release, but ambient-ish stuff here:

Game soundtracks is under my name and not often available at streaming, but: https://anosou.com/?page_id=14

I just enjoyed these 4 tracks of yours Mattias. It had some healing affect on me, thanks for sharing.

[EnochLight]

It's not about listening to pop music per se, I imagine most of the world's best record makers are listening to pop music too - but not in the same way the masses do. It's the difference between consumers and producers and the spectrum in-between - it's about the lie that making pop music is easy if you just buy our tool.

I remember when I first got into music software in the early noughties; the whole concept of the prosumer music software market still felt like it was in its infancy but you could sense where things were heading. Even then though, not just anyone could make music; and software makers couldn't really sell the dream that literally anyone could 'make beats'. Instead they sold to a target market of people who already knew at least something about music and tech and wanted to better themselves at that craft and try to take it more seriously - who saw each new product as an investment worth making to develop further. A lot of modern music tech marketing seems to have now been largely disconnected from these kinds of people.

Like I said before, I understand why. It's in vogue. It's part of a wider trend in popular culture where things are deliberately made to look accessible and easy; instead of the idea that blood, sweat and tears are required for years. Marketing and self-promotion now seems to go out of its way to actively hide the idea of real effort; so consumers feel like they too could still easily aspire to achieving such success overnight, without the need for any real work.

We're at a place now where much of the prosumer market has gone so far towards being dumbed down that it actually feels like it is aimed exclusively at the casual and more and more with each passing year. I would argue that this approach does the software and the industry a great disservice.

Making pop music is easy ...if you know how to write pop music, for sure! My point is that pop music is the greatest market, so it should come as no surprise that companies market pop music more often than not (note that when I say "pop music", that encompasses multiple genres of music - traditional "pop music", rap/hip-hop, etc). That said, whether the marketing is accurate or truthful is a question as old as time.

[selig]

Like I said before, I understand why. It's in vogue. It's part of a wider trend in popular culture where things are deliberately made to look accessible and easy; instead of the idea that blood, sweat and tears are required for years. Marketing and self-promotion now seems to go out of its way to actively hide the idea of real effort; so consumers feel like they too could still easily aspire to achieving such success overnight, without the need for any real work.

We're at a place now where much of the prosumer market has gone so far towards being dumbed down that it actually feels like it is aimed exclusively at the casual and more and more with each passing year. I would argue that this approach does the software and the industry a great disservice.

The way I see it, the market of full time 'working' producers/musicians/engineers is really quite small, but the market for general 'consumers' is HUGE. At some point the 'pro' market became saturated, and the only (?) way to increase sales was to enter the consumer market. I think it's great that more folks are into making music, even if just for themselves. But the result is software that often omits key features (from a more pro perspective) because they have to cut costs somewhere as the consumer is not willing to pay what I 'working pro' can pay.
For example, when Autotune was first released it was $600, and we GLADLY paid that because it was in contrast to a $3-4k harmonizer etc - plus, you could used it multiple times in a track without paying extra (yes, that was actually a selling point back then)!
FF to today, where even at 1/10th of that price it is seen as 'gauging' and 'motivated only by $$$'.
Bottom line, moving from the 'pro' to the 'consumer' market means you may have to sell up to 10x as many products to operate at the same level in that market.

My hope is BOTH markets can survive. For the 'pro' market, in addition to the 'blood/sweat/tears' etc you also need to spend whatever is required to get the tools that do the best job for you 24/7. For the 'consumer' market you need quick results tools at as low a cost as possible. IMO, there is confusion when you try to straddle the two markets…it's the classic triangle of "cheep/quick/good"…

[EnochLight]

One thing is for sure - it's probably equally harder as well as 1000x easier to be a label talent scout these days - no more need to shop seedy bars or wait for demo "tapes" to be sent in. All of your scouting can be done from the comfort of your home or phone with just a few clicks. But the democratization of music making (and the massive flood of bad/amateur music) makes weeding through possible bands to sign a major PITA, one would imagine.

[plaamook]

I've heard that the majority of plays on Spotify is the classics. Of whatever genre.
If that's the case...wha'ts pop music?
I get that the DAWs still have to market at someone but I wonder what the actual demographic is for 'pop music'

[fullforce]

James Bernard made the best Reason videos. He showed you how to do stuff like create your own multiband compressor. Reason Studio wouldn't even dream of doing that now, it would be WAY to complicated for their new target audience.

Funny anecdote. James Bernard made a tune for the Blade (yes the movie) soundtrack album, which were tracks from the movie (such as New Orders Confusion, the blood scene, you know), or inspired by. I had no idea at the time, but that track from him on the album was by far my favorite. It was only years later that I noticed it said J. Bernard. So I asked him, is this you? And he was like yeah, and I still haven't gotten my royalties for it.

This is the track. Totally bad ass.

[EnochLight]

James Bernard made the best Reason videos. He showed you how to do stuff like create your own multiband compressor. Reason Studio wouldn't even dream of doing that now, it would be WAY to complicated for their new target audience.

Funny anecdote. James Bernard made a tune for the Blade (yes the movie) soundtrack album, which were tracks from the movie (such as New Orders Confusion, the blood scene, you know), or inspired by. I had no idea at the time, but that track from him on the album was by far my favorite. It was only years later that I noticed it said J. Bernard. So I asked him, is this you? And he was like yeah, and I still haven't gotten my royalties for it.

This is the track. Totally bad ass.

Hahahaha that's nuts! I had no idea that was James B, and I think I have that CD laying around somewhere! True story: we just watched Blade for family movie night like 2 weeks ago. Holy 90's - I forgot how awesome that movie was. Definitely not the MCU of today - Lol!

[ryanharlin]

Interesting that you think that! Most of us don't make pop. Ludvig plays in several jazz bands, a live electro act and an analog synth quintet, Andreas does experimental electronica, my boss David plays in an Irish folk band, Carl has a successful vaporwave act, and I make ambient electronica, video game soundtracks, doom metal and play in a garage punk band.

Don't forget my Bluegrass!