Finding Epic Inspirations in Music

BY: BENJAMIN "FOGHLADHA" FOLEY

Music is magical, enchanting, and can set the tone of your day. Finding the right soundtrack to life is sometimes hard and rarely sticks to a single genre. Some days you want to go out and conquer the world, others you just want to sleep till noon. Music can help you get your mind in the right place for any challenge.

When we think of the music industry we see dozens of celebrities, names we recognize, and hit songs that fill our airwaves but there are a few artists that do things a bit differently. They have combined their efforts to create a brand such as Atom Music Audio. These groups of composers sometimes include dozens of artists that most people will likely never even know their name. They will surely know their music, and have one of those "I know this song" moments, but it's rare you'll ever know the artist by name.

This is one of my greatest curiosities. How can such beautiful music be created by people who forgo personal accolade and recognition? What drives these people to continue composing music knowing they might never be recognized for creating such pieces? Today, I ask these questions and more to a very well known music group in the epic music world. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to ask Atom Music Audio about their artistry and how their music groups work.

Thank you so much for speaking with me today, I have a few questions for you, but first can you please share with us who you are and what is your part at Atom Music Audio?

Thank you for your invitation. My name is Lyubomir Yordanov, CEO Director of Atom Music Audio, newly born company for premium music production for motion picture and entertainment advertisement. A little bit about me, I will keep it in short – music composer, music producer, sound engineer and having 10 years experience in music distribution industry business, holding post as Manager of AMAdea Music (digital distributor & aggregator) company (www.amadeamusic.com)  

How did the Atom Music Audio production company begin and who was involved in its creation?

Atom Music Audio launched in the summer of 2016. That was originally only a thought I had many months ago, based on my participation in Epic Music VN, another publishing company where I held the sound engineer position, also it has always been my dream to create and manage my own company for Trailer & Film Music and last but not least, I had the support of my closest friend Borislav Slavov, who pushed me further to pursue my dream. Borislav is a multiple award-winning video game Composer, the former Music Director of Crytek and composer of Crysis 2 and Crysis 3. Basically he gave me the first tracks and helped me start Atom Music Audio with some kind of music content, which I will never forget.

What artists are currently involved in the Atom Music brand?

We work with very talented composers with an addiction to perfection in every aspect of the music production process. I can mention a few names as Alexandros Nikolaidis, David Chappell, Jonathan Mayer, Iliya Zaki, Mayrain, Danny Rayel and many more. We are constantly in search of new talents.

What drew you to epic music? How did your personal journey to the genre begin?

Honestly, it was the music of Two Steps From Hell and moreover Thomas Bergersen’s music. I was influenced also by Hans Zimmer, James Horner, Immediate Music, E.S. Posthumus, Globus, Brian Tyler, Tyler Bates, Geoff Zanelli, Harry Gregson-Williams and many others. Film music has been my favorite genre since a little boy, you know how it works - you watch a movie and then you go out of the cinema and you feel like your world is no longer so small, something new has happened and you feel enchanted by the music! I remember my first bought CD, it was ‘Brave Heart’ soundtrack by James Horner.

When you see your work used in a film or advertisement you know there will be little recognition to your name, but people will know your work. What inspired you to take the selfless route and create beauty in the world without self recognition?

Indeed, sometimes our names are not credited properly or at all! It is a burden to everyone in this industry, but I believe it is far more important to place your music, rather than leave it in your own drive space. As everything else, it takes time to put your name on the table, as well as people to know it or recognize it easily. Until that time, we focus entirely in the beauty to create our music with passion and love.

What's the typical process for creating music for Atom Music Audio? Does the music production company assign artists tasks or do the artists provide inventory for the group to license?

We usually assign projects (albums) based on specific themes – Emotional, Action, Epic, Adventure and etc, then we work out this process with various composers to assemble the submissions. The music written for Atom Music Audio is exclusive only and specially composed for us. Even if artists send us submissions, we work with them to take part in different projects we are working on or settle individual albums with them if possible. We do rarely take finished tracks directly submitted to us. Even if it takes longer, it is vital to follow our own path and have the music we want.

When you're starting the process of creating a track for a client, what process do you typically follow to capture the essence of the film or advertisement you’re composing for? Where do you find inspiration?

We generally know what the industry requires, so as we said earlier we plan well our albums to be classified by proper moods and genres. This is essential for the editors, when they listen to pick quickly the right music they need. We do also custom music, where usually we receive exact requirements to follow as: (timing, mood, description, references and etc,). Inspiration is very important, which is why we assign the music we want to different composers, based on their skills. Not every composer is good in every style, especially in nowadays modern film music.

What type of hardware and software do you use while composing your music? Do you have any preference of microphones, mixing boards, software etc?

We do not create any music ourselves, the composers we work with do it. Most of them have professional setups of gears and software, enabling them to create high quality content. However we provide mixing and mastering to every album of ours, so we have our own studio where we create and give the final touches to our sound quality.

If a YouTube Creator, Livestreamer, or Podcaster wanted to license your music, how much would they be looking at spending on average?

It depends, if the YouTube creator or Podcaster is a non-profit organization with ideal purpose looking to create quality content, we would love to help them and let them use our music in favor of the promotion they do. If they still want to earn through monetization in YouTube, they will need to acquire a license, and it is on average basis around € 25 per track.

Do you have a goal or dream that you’re striving for? Any project you would love to take on in the future?

Of course, we have! I believe everyone in this business have a goal and dream. Our own is very simple – we want to push our music to become a significant factor of the industry itself. We are patient enough to know success comes with the right steps. Recognition is the goal we aim for, when someone listens to our music and connects it directly with Atom Music Audio!

How can people learn more about Atom Music?

We are in the process of creating soon our website, but everyone interested in us can find us here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atommusicaudio

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AtomMusicAudio

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/atommusicaudio

Bandcamp: https://atommusicaudio.bandcamp.com/

Google + : https://plus.google.com/+AtomMusicAudio

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