How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?<\/strong><\/em> Tell us about your favourite piece of hardware.<\/strong><\/em> And what about the software that you use for production?<\/strong><\/em> Is there a particular piece of gear that you\u2019re just dying to get your hands on, and do you think one day you\u2019ll have it?<\/strong><\/em> Can you please share some aspects of the sound design in your work?<\/strong><\/em> Any particular new techniques that you tried out for your new album?<\/strong><\/em> What does your live setup look like, and what do you bring with you when you travel for an extensive tour?<\/strong><\/em> What is the most important environmental aspect of your current workspace, and what would be a particular element that you would improve on?<\/strong><\/em> What can you tell us about your overall process of composition? How are the ideas born, where do they mature, and when do they finally see the light?<\/strong><\/em> After the piece is complete, how do you audition the results? What are your reactions to hearing your music in a different context, setting, or sound system?<\/strong><\/em> Do you ever procrastinate? If so, what do you usually find yourself doing during those times?<\/strong><\/em> What gets you inspired?<\/strong><\/em> And finally, what are your thoughts on the state of \u201celectronic music\u201d today?<\/strong><\/em> For the music itself, I saw this trend many years ago in electronic dance music. Tracks become just functional tools, and the ideas and the wish to push things forward gets lost. It is just about what works on the dancefloor, and it\u2019s about big names. The creativity moves into the background. This makes it harder for young, super-creative people to get the attention they deserve. Unfortunately, I see the same evolution in the ambient\/electronica areas of music. There will always be super interesting artists and music, but they\u2019re harder to find in an endless ocean of music and releases. There can be ten amazing releases in one week, but not enough time to listen and appreciate them all. The good stuff falls behind and gets lost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How many different studio iterations have you gone through, and what does your final setup look like right now?I have been through many different setups for my studio. So many! After my first few records came out and I made a bit of money from that, I bought lots of hardware (Mackie mixer, Emu esi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":123581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12031],"tags":[24585,6160,4553],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-123580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ambient-music","tag-guentner","tag-markus","tag-studio"],"yoast_head":"\n
I have been through many different setups for my studio. So many! After my first few records came out and I made a bit of money from that, I bought lots of hardware (Mackie mixer, Emu esi sampler, Access virus, Novation drum station, etc) but I soon realised that this is not how I make music, and more importantly \u2013 not how I want to make music. Having a digital workflow gives me more freedom to try things and make things differently. For example, in most of my ambient works, I don\u2019t even use a tempo or a beat structure. There is generally no BPM, and I am not locked into anything. This was something I couldn\u2019t do so easily with hardware. Eventually, I sold everything and invested that money in a new computer, software, and monitors. Of course, over the years, I bought more gear, and I still have some of it. But I sold the gear that I didn\u2019t use much. I guess my studio is changing constantly, and I don\u2019t think there\u2019s ever a \u201cfinal\u201d setup. Also, there will be more changes coming to my studio as I figure out how to adapt my setup to playing live shows in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/headphonecommute.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mg-studio-room-2-1048x590.png\")
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That is difficult! Honestly, it\u2019s hard to name only one of my favourite pieces of hardware because there are so many good and useful things! There is stuff I\u2019ll use for one album, and at that moment, it\u2019s the best thing to use and absolutely my favourite. Then, for the next album, I won\u2019t use those things at all! I think my field recorder (Roland R-05) is one piece of hardware that I always use. It\u2019s been like this for many years now. The Roland R-05 feels like an instrument to me somehow. There is so much I can get out of it \u2013 no matter what I record. It could be some specific sound I intended to record or unplanned sounds \u2013 like noises in the background that I decide to use when I hear the recordings played back. Also, there is one piece of gear that I don\u2019t use so much but am very happy to own \u2013 this is my 1963 H\u00f6fner Colorama guitar. My late uncle (who was a musician back in the day) gave that guitar to me around twenty years ago. But I kept it in its case and never played it. A few years ago, I started restoring this guitar and playing around with it. It\u2019s still not a good and clean sound, but there are definitely some interesting things you can get out of it. Although I don\u2019t use the guitar very often, I\u2019m always happy to see it when I\u2019m in my studio.<\/p>\n
When I started making music with software in the mid-nineties, I used ACID\u2026 and I still use it now for recording and arranging! I have also worked with other DAWs \u2013 Cubase, Ableton, FLStudio, etc. No other DAW made me feel as comfortable as I did when I used ACID. Of course, I also use a lot of plugins like Soft Synths (Kontakt, Arturia), and Effects (mostly Waves). But nothing really fancy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/headphonecommute.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mg-studio-3-1048x590.png\")
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It\u2019s kinda funny, but I\u2019m going to have to say the Roland TR-909! This drum machine is the sound of my youth. I have heard so many tracks with that specific drum sound, and I would be so proud if I had one of them. Okay, so maybe I\u2019d never use it as there is not much need for a drum machine like this in my music. I wouldn\u2019t pay a crazy, expensive price for it. But I would love to have my own Roland TR-909 one day.<\/p>\n
I think the way I approach sound design depends first on the material I have and how I decide to use it. For me, it\u2019s not necessarily important to create a sound that is modeled on a specific thing or that is exactly like something I can hear in my mind. I prefer that the sounds grow as I am working on something, and then I\u2019ll see how everything fits together as a whole. I\u2019ll tweak a sound in one direction or another. The sound \u201cdesign\u201d part itself is something I don\u2019t place too much importance on in the first place. If I limited myself just because a specific theory says that I shouldn\u2019t do this or that, then some really interesting possibilities could be lost. There can be some really weird, wrong, and dirty things happening with the production that just sounds so cool and so good that I have to use it. In such cases, I always take care of the frequencies later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/headphonecommute.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mg-studio-gear-1-1048x590.png\")
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It\u2019s not so much about new techniques, but more about the fact that I have tried different techniques. My approach was the same as in previous albums. However, there was this feeling and mood during the making of this album where I said to myself, \u201cIt has to be a bit different now\u201d. Some sounds needed more space to work, so I questioned if I really needed that pad sound. Was it necessary? Do I need certain sounds for it to sound like a Markus Guentner track? I think Black Dahlia sounds much more defined, but at the same time, there is way more unpredictability within the tracks. It became this process of reducing and then adding to make it sound big and rich.<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t played live for a while, but I\u2019m working on a new live setup now. I want to use more external effects (Microcosm, Space Echo, Wingie, and more) and possibly add some live sampling. Of course, the basics of a laptop with Ableton and controllers are a must. I hope to use sounds and samples from some of my previous works and bring them into a live show. Ideally, I want to rearrange and process some sounds to create something different. Imagine that there will be sounds that you might know from my tracks, but they\u2019ll be very different from the original.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/headphonecommute.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mg-studio-room-1-1048x590.png\")
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During Covid, I quit my office\/studio space and have been working from home ever since. The room I use as my home studio is not a perfect space to produce music as there are no acoustic treatments. But, honestly, for me, it\u2019s not about creating the perfect-sounding album where everything is precise and sounding perfect with the creative aspects moved more into the background. Over time, you learn what sounds good in the environment that you\u2019re working in. In my case, I know that I always mix with too many lower frequencies. My mix might sound good in the studio, but on the sound system in the living room or my car, it sounds like way too much! Over time, you develop a sense of what sounds good and what you need to take care of in whatever space you have.<\/p>\n
Basically, I start working on music without any concrete ideas. I play. I try different settings. I let sounds and atmospheres arise until I decide what to work further on. I like to approach this process as free and open-minded as possible, and be guided by the flow of what appears \u2013 and let that grow. Therefore, most times, it\u2019s not a concrete or conscious decision about what to use and how to use those different sounds, effects, etc. It could be that everything is built on the computer only, or something tells me to use a guitar or a particular synth or a certain effect. It\u2019s not really about intending to create specific sounds. Everything comes to me as it is meant to be. All the technical stuff with polishing the sounds and the arrangements comes after \u2013 when I have a bit of distance from the initial creative process. By now, I know quite well which finished tracks I want to use for a possible release, and I know how to continue working further on them to get an album done. Maybe there are tracks I will never use for anything. Maybe parts of some unfinished tracks I will return to someday for other projects that might suit them better. I\u2019m not the kind of guy who has to finish a track no matter what or because I have to finish it for an album.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/headphonecommute.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mg-studio-room-3-1048x590.png\")
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I always listen to finished tracks on different sound systems to get a feeling of how things work in different settings and places. This is more of a technical aspect, and there is still a chance to change some stuff before sending it out to anyone. After the album is finished, the whole process is done for me. I\u2019m not crazy about listening to my own music again after sending it out \u2013 because there is nothing I can do about it anymore! Sure, when the mastering arrives, I will have a proper listen. But that\u2019s more a technical and objective necessity. Does it sound good? Are there any mistakes? Is there something to tweak a bit more in the mastering? Things get quite surprising and funny when I hear my music after a long time again (on release or at listening parties), and sometimes there are situations where I\u2019m like \u2013 What? Where is this coming from? Did I make this? There are sounds and parts that I haven\u2019t heard before! Well, of course, I heard them because I made them, but I haven\u2019t heard them in that way before. Maybe some parts weren\u2019t obvious or important to me when I made the track. But with distance and time between hearing it again, my perspective shifts.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t really procrastinate. The thing is, I only make music when I feel like doing it. I\u2019m quite busy with my job as a graphic designer, and so I want to have as much freedom for my music as I can. It doesn\u2019t matter how long something will take. A track could be finished within two days, or it could take weeks. I never want to force the creative process. Everything happens when it needs to happen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/headphonecommute.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mg-studio-stuff-2-1048x590.png\")
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Almost anything inspires me!! I can feel inspired by my surroundings, incidents, other music, and chats with friends. For me, it\u2019s not a matter of \u201cOh, now I need to work on something because that inspired me so much.\u201d It\u2019s more about the mood and feeling that are transferred into the music. It\u2019s not a conscious decision about what to take from inspirations \u2013 it\u2019s the entire feeling or state that moves me.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a difficult question to answer because there are many answers to give in every direction about that. On the one hand, having easier and more accessible tools for producing electronic music is a good thing. It means that it\u2019s not limited to people who can afford to buy expensive studio equipment. Everyone can express their creativity. Many good things are happening because of that. On the other side, the \u201cmarket\u201d is overflowing with music, and unfortunately, there is a lot of music being released that sounds the same. There are no \u201cborders\u201d to cross anymore, like when there were just a few music labels back in the day. It used to be that you made an album and sent it to labels that fit your style and idea. Maybe they would see potential in you and then invest time, energy, and money to release your music. But now you can upload anything, anytime, anywhere, and it\u2019s sitting there along hundreds of thousands of other tracks. It\u2019s hard to tell what\u2019s worth releasing and what is not. These days, everyone who can make music thinks the world needs to hear it. A certain objectivity is missing. Is the music good because you sound exactly like another successful artist? The music becomes a product. It\u2019s no longer interesting and special. With streaming services like Spotify, it has become even worse. Of course, it\u2019s easy to listen to music that way. But if there\u2019s access to everything all the time, you get used to it without seeing the effort of making it and the value behind it. A super luxury car wouldn\u2019t be the same if you could drive it anytime you wanted to by paying 10\u20ac per month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/headphonecommute.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mg-studio-stuff-1-1048x590.png\")
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