Loopmasters recently met up with Bespoke Loops co-founder and award-winning compose Nico Willems. Read the interview below on the remote session service;
*To be in with a chance of winning the opportunity of having your music recorded by the top string players within the industry - completely free of charge (value of $1,000 / £800), just sign up to their newsletter here.
Hi, can you introduce yourself, please?
Hi there, we are Bespoke Loops – the online remote session service that exists to provide composers and producers access to world-class string players from the comfort of their studio.
What is the main focus of the Bespoke Loops service?
It is to support composers and producers in making their music sound the best that it possibly can. It is to put the highest quality string playing in the hands of our customers for the best price possible, and with an exceptionally fast turnaround if required. Our players generally record for artists such as Ed Sheeran and Mark Ronson, as well as composers such as John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and Max Richter.
What is the main benefit for the musicians out there?
Well, every musician that we speak to about our project cites a different advantage. Here are just a few that receive a lot of praise:
1. We offer a 48-hour turnaround, which has helped numerous media composers when they have been up against the clock with deadlines looming. In fact, we have done various jobs involving music for adverts within 12 hours, when the client has specified that requirement.
2. Our clients’ also love that we offer our services from as little as 16 bars at a time. When writing groove-based music or writing for media such as advertising, this is often all that is required, and forking out for an hour session is excessive. The quality of our players means that they would generally not accept jobs smaller than a 3-hour slot!
3. Others really appreciate the fact that they can stay within the comfort of their studio and don’t have to co-ordinate players, an engineer and studio time. It streamlines the whole process and makes it hassle-free - they simply write their music and then have us send them the audio files of their parts for them to mix into their productions.
4. Our string section recreation is very popular as it is only a fraction of the price that a real string section costs, and we achieve a sound very similar to that of an entire orchestra.
5. For us, of course, the real benefit is the quality of our players, which is unrivalled within the industry. There is simply no compromise on quality!
Can you tell us anything about the players that you use to record these strings?
Yes of course! Firstly, they really are the best in the business! Our team is made up of Daniel Bhattacharya on violin, Bruce White on viola, Nick Cooper on Cello and Richard Price on Double Bass. Between them they have been featured on in excess of 1000 Hollywood soundtracks, including such films as Inception, Gravity, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Hunger Games and more. They have also performed with artists such as Madonna, Oasis, and U2. They have recorded with legends such as Kylie Minogue, Paul McCartney, and Stevie Wonder, as well as more modern artists such as Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Amy Winehouse, Sam Smith, and Will Young, to name but a few. All of our players have also featured in numerous string libraries, including Spitfire Audio’s, so the chances are that you have already had them on your tracks!
What is the main difference between VSTs and real players?
To be honest they are incomparable! One is a computer program, and the other is a real human being. I would liken the difference to a microwave meal and a Michelin star chef – especially when it comes to our musicians. The capacity to interpret a piece of music and to inject emotion into it is incomparable. The VSTs mimic the players, whereas the players are the real thing. Real music has depth and many layers – VSTs simply don’t!
Who has used your services so far?
We have had the great pleasure of providing our service to wonderful musicians very eclectic in style. They have included Garage pioneer MJ Cole, composer Michael Sajic, songwriter Rasmus Faber, Soul and Disco outfit Andromeda Orchestra (Robin Lee), and EDM producers Author (Jack Sparrow and Ruckspin).
What’s next for Bespoke Loops?
We have new concepts that we are looking to bring to the market, but unfortunately, those cannot be revealed yet. What I can share is that we are currently working on plans to expand the range of instruments that we offer – so by all means feel free to drop us a line if you do require another instrument. We are always looking to evolve … watch this space!
*To be in with a chance of winning the opportunity of having your music recorded by the top string players within the industry - completely free of charge (value of $1,000 / £800), just sign up to their newsletter here.
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