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31 - The Alchemist’s Pupil

31 - The Alchemist’s Pupil

Giannis Kampiotis
December 06, 2022

Hello music people 👋

Today in the spotlight, Alchemist’s Pupil

He is a sound designer, music composer, and audio engineer based in Taiwan.

But behind the labels, he is an artist.

“I don’t feel like I’m making music, more like discovering music within the air” he says. His favourite instrument/tool is a handheld recorder. Why? Check his interview below to find out 🎶

Read Time: 9 minutes 📰

Studio

Gear List

Avid - Pro Tools

Ableton - Live

Antelope - Zen Core

Zoom - H4n Pro

Adam - T7V

dbx - 166xs

dbx - 160A

dbx - 231s

Lewitt - 104

Shure - SM57

AKAI - SM58

Mackie Mixer

Novation - Launchpad Mini

Korg - NanoKontrol

Beyerdynamic - DT990

Keycontrol - MIDI keyboard

Fender - Stratocaster

Epiphone - Studio

Schecter - 7 string

Cort - Acoustic

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Interview

Who are you and what is your relationship with music?

My name is Linz, a.k.a. The Alchemist’s Pupil.

I’m a sound designer, music composer, and audio engineer based in Taiwan. I’ve worked in the sound industry for a decade, participated in many albums, concerts, and designed sounds for commercials and game assets.

It all begun a magical day. It's the day I saw Nine Inch Nails' music video for the first time. They were doing a live performance in the studio. In the video, they tweak the knobs of gears and operate music software. It was like discovering a whole new world to me. Before that, I never thought about how music is produced. I had no idea about what it looks like behind the scenes. At that moment, I was thinking that this is definitely something I want to do. I want to make my music. I wanted to know what they were doing exactly, to achieve such phenomenon music with so much energy. I was only 12 years old by then and I already decided that I wanted to make music for the rest of my life. Just like them.

So, I begin to learn everything about music production, recording, mixing, and composing with my crappy computer and cheap mic. I record my own guitar playing and edit with windows stock audio software for years. Then, I moved to a big city for college. I had a chance to become an intern in a recording studio. I learned a lot of decent knowledge about music production and audio engineering. I had the opportunity to assist producers and learn from them. Even got a chance to use all the fancy gear. Right after graduating from college, I started working in the sound industry till this day. I not only work for music but also for every sound-relative gig. For living and for my passion for the sounds.

So basically, my dream already came true. Except for the rock-star part.

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

The Zoom H4n pro handheld recorder is definitely the one thing I can’t live without. It’s easy to use and very durable. Whenever I want to record something and feel lazy and don’t want to set up gear, it’s the only equipment I need.

In fact, I often take it to travel with me as well. It helps me record interesting sounds anytime, anywhere. It’s my trusty buddy.

What's your process?

In general, I start with a very simple idea. A simple beat, melody, or just an audio clip that I recorded with my handheld recorder. Then I jam with it, to feel its groove. Its pulse. It's a slow process in the beginning, sometimes it takes hours to find the breaking point. However, once I can feel and hear the music with it, things just grow naturally, like a living plant. I can come up with many inspirations to complete the song till I feel it’s done. Or hit my skill limitation.

I don’t do too much detail mixing or mastering for it. It’s not like working for a client, I don’t want to polish it till I feel it’s perfect. All I want to do is preserve the feeling and try my best to complete it before I lose the inspiration.

I don’t feel like I’m making music, more like discovering music within the air.

How would you explain your style?

I’m not sure how to define my style.

Doing alchemy is probably the closest term that I can come up with. I love to manipulate different sounds into a complete form. Turning foley sounds into musical instruments or transition sound effects, etc. And blending every genre I love, rock, orchestra and electronic music.

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

When I just start learning music production I was obsessed with fancy gear. Classic synths, analog outboards, and even legendary consoles. However, I found out that, the most interesting sounds with textures usually are the sounds that exist in life. So I stopped pursuing gear and I focus on how to find the essence of the sounds themselves. I don’t believe fancy gear can make you produce good music. Your experience and your soul are more crucial. My current setup is quite minimal so I can focus on finding the different possibilities of the sound.

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

Having an experimental spirit.

I’ve been tought Not To Do something or avoid making “mistakes” in the early days. People teach by their success experiences. Following their path usually won’t have too much trouble and almost guarantee you decent results.

But it won’t surprise you. It won’t bring you something new.

When you are making your own music, especially when you’re creating music with software, I encourage you to try something you’ve never done before. You can’t break it by turning the knobs all the way up. So, don’t worry about it. Being too careful and trying to avoid mistakes only makes you lose an opportunity to discover a new sound.

Unless you’re working for a client. Because experimenting with new skills, or new methods that you’re not familiar with on their project is not fair. Keep it to your own creation until you acquire this skill.

A book/movie/article that fueled your creativity?

The art of loving by Erich Fromm.

Art is something you need to practice day by day, year by year, in order to pursue the best outcome. Making music is an art, cooking is an art, and even having a disciplined life is an art. Devoting yourself to doing a thing well makes you a better person, and you’ll be closer to your achievements.

Love what you do, do what you love.