29 - Rick Batyr

Giannis Kampiotis
November 29, 2022

Hello music people 👋

Today in the spotlight, Rick Batyr

Coming from New York, he is deep into the music industry and he has been through all the roles. From performing in bands to producing in studios doing sessions with names such as Shaggy, Pink, DMX, Rufus Wainwright, Herbie Hancock, and many others.

He now owns a production company and a record label where he channels his creative output. 🎶

Read Time: 11 minutes 📰

Studio Tour

Gear List

Modular & Synths

The 1st modular case is 520 HP housed in a beautiful Curry Cases custom case. A considerable amount of Instruo modules to list to summarize that row and a half. A full Row of Make Noise. A full row of modulation by NLC, 4MS, Xaoc, Mutable Instruments and others.

My second modular case (2 X Tiptop Audio - Mantis cases) is primarily dedicated to drums, rhythmic , glitchy and obscure sounds. With modules from Folktek, Manifold research, Schlappi and others.

Moog - Grandmother
ASM - Hydrasynth
Novation - Impulse Controller
Homemade noise boxes

All the synths are tied together with OXI Instruments One sequencer (amazing product).

Drum Gear

Tama - Birch Walnut kit
Istanbul - Cymbals
Korg - Wavedrum
3 Large gongs and various small gongs from around the world
A large collection of handcrafted singing bowls , bells and trinkets
Large percussion collection including Tabla, djembe, handspans, native drums, dumbed's etc.

Studio

Focal Μonitors
UA - Apollo interface
ES9 - interface
Allen & Heath - Zed 16R console
Various outboard pre's and compressors
A variety of mics ranging from Tube mics, LDC's, SDC's, dynamics and various contact mics.

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Interview

Who are you and what is your relationship with music?

Hey ! I am Rick Batyr and I reside in New York.

Music found me very young. From playing drums on phone books with spoons at 5 yrs old to my first Casio synth at 8 yrs old. It was always a big consistent part of my life. It was a sort of therapy for me at a young age. Still after all of these years of studying, playing and performing music my relationship with music is still one of deep introspective expression.

I am a drummer/percussionist, synthesist, producer, engineer, sound designer and composer.

I had spent many years as a drummer in many bands, studio work etc in many genre's of music from rock, progressive, jazz-fusion to hip-hop. As I became more interested in how sound works, I went on to get a degree in audio engineering and production. This landed me many years of work in some of NY's most elite studios at the time. Working on sessions with artists such as Shaggy, Pink, DMX, Rufus Wainwright, Herbie Hancock and many others. It was here where I absorbed, learned, and studied everything I could about production and engineering. For some time this was my 9-5 job (more like 8pm-4am lol).

I went on to start my own production company (Prana sound studio) and eventually a small Label (Atherea Sound records). This allowed me more creative freedom as well as expanding potential income sources with music, scoring for some commercials, TV series, music licensing and the like.

I know the arts can be a tough way to make a living for many of us. In my experience it is best to learn and explore the many avenues one can earn a living with through music, and do them all.

Be true to your uniqueness and mostly create from your heart.

What's the one thing in your studio you can't live without?

My modular set up for sure!

I love the hands on immediacy of modular composition and sound design. Its an instant connection and transference where I am able to quickly create what I may be hearing in my brain without the hassle of setting up things in a DAW and clicking around on a mouse.

What is the least expensive piece of gear that gave you the most results?

My ears :)

What's your process?

My creative process heavily involves meditation and the practice of deep listening.

Before I begin to create, I like to do a short meditation in silence or while droning on the gongs. The goal of this practice helps me to quite the mind, push aside any ego and self criticism during the creation. It puts me in a space of non judgment and allows me to deeply connect with the sounds that are freely created in that space.

Once I have something I am connected with , I step back and close my eyes and do some deep listening meditation before moving on to the next sound/voice/addition to the composition. Taking a moment to reflect on what the song is calling for. I do this often throughout the process.

Once I have a good foundation using this practice, I then switch on my production and analytical mind. Where I can now focus on arrangements, cleaning things up, technical refinements etc. Once I Feel its mostly finished I break out my voices into separate tracks via the ES9 and console hit record and perform the composition live to the DAW.

In most cases I tend to leave it as it was performed in the moment, If minimal editing is needed I will do that in post, but if it seems a lot needs to be fixed in post I will just dump it and perform it again. I treat the DAW like a tape machine for the most part in hopes of capturing the energy and moment of the performance akin to the way music was mostly made prior to the advancement of modern technology.

The energy, essence and imperfections of live recording are what makes most of my favorite recordings so great. So I intend to keep my work as human as possible.

How would you explain your style?

The last 6 years I have deeply studied meditation and the affect music has on our mind, body and spirit. Also performing hundreds of live ambient sound meditations in the NY area.

This form of music allowed me to combine all my prior musical meanderings into one cohesive style of my own. Most of my work now whether it may be ambient, uptempo glitch, trip hop , whatever... sounds like ME, whatever that may be. A sonic signature of sorts that encompasses what I have learned , the nature and life around me, glued together with meditative practices.

The one thing I think that carries over in any genre I choose to create in is a meditative undertone. Even if it is a metal tune, there is always something lurking in the sonics that attempts to draw your attention into the song or sonic world I create that may allow the listener to experience at least some of the therapeutic advantages music has given to me.

What’s your biggest struggle?

I think my struggle of sorts is self promotion.

I rather spend the time creating music. I seem to have a hard time asking for attention, so to speak. Although it is a somewhat necessary evil in today's world of social media and short attention spans in general , It never feels great when trying to self promote.

I put things out and trust the music will resonate with listeners organically over time and stay focused on creating, learning and evolving as a musician/producer.

Has this journey of building a hardware setup changed the way you think about music or life in general?

I wouldn't say that it has changed the way I think about music, but more so has allowed me to get much closer to creating in a way that matches what I do think about music.

The more hands on and in the moment I can be the closer I am to the energy of the creative moment.

What’s your ONE tip on music-production or creativity?

Get out of your own way as often as you can.

Try not to over analyze or critique yourself too much. Have fun, be free, be in the moment.

A book/movie/article that fueled your creativity?

The most recent books that have brought me inspiration are

The Jazz Of Physics - the secret link between music and the structure of the universe by Stephon Alexander.

The classic... How Music Works by David Byrne.

Anything else you'd like to say?

I am currently working on what will be my first fully modular album.

Scheduled to be released sometime early 2023. I have been working on blending in organic instruments like live drums, vocals etc into the main modular compositions in a way that feels natural and blurs the line between electronic and organic instruments.

This record is shaping up to have some amazing friends and collaborators as well. Many of them are modular artists contributing organic instruments that they also play. I am looking forward to sharing these sounds as soon as possible with the modular synth community.