David Baron & Rubin Kodheli

Quadra

The meaning of the title ?

Quadra: The four corners of our imagined super city. 

Descriptions of the music ?

David Baron “The sonic world is futuristic and emotional. Cyber-punk romance. Everything is hand played so it has a human feel as manipulated by various processors. There are moments of tension and elation. Analog synthesizers plus cello played live.”

Rubin Kodheli “A huge part of this music I believe comes from David and I having great trust on each other’s ears and mind. None of this music was edited or re-worked. What’s so great is that when we play live it will still be spontaneous. Our understanding of improvisation and how we use are telepathic musicianship is a great part of all.

I think of words such as symphonic, interstellar space walk. Eternal emotional approach to melody and passacaglia. Atmosphere of mythological events. Meditative spirit that resonates from dreams. 

There are contrasting elements such as Orbital Speeds, yet early morning of Entering the Amazon also appear from a new point of musical arrival. There is almost moments of juxtaposition like in the music of Mahler. The blend of synth and cello reminds me of “Evening Star” by Robert Fripp and Brian Eno

Basically a giant musical soup made of clouds and space rocks.”

Memorable stories about the creation process ?

Rubin came up from New York City with his cello, electric cello and pedals.  We had no expectation except to see what would happen when we improvised. The first thing that happened when we set up was that his cello was broken. The sound post had slipped.  We figured we wouldn’t be able to get it repaired. We went to Bread Alone in Boiceville for a quick breakfast and ran into George Tsontakis, a contemporary music composer and friend. He immediately pointed us to a bass / cello builder in Woodstock who was able to fix it within the hour. The power of a small town. 

What recording techniques were used ?

We mostly used processed sounds. Rubin used both his traditional acoustic cello with a pickup and a NS Electric cello. We both used a lot of pedals. Every song was a different setup. The synthesizers varied as did the pedals. 

What gear is used ?

Analog Synthesizers: Arp Quadra, Emu Modular, Oberheim 4-Voice, Syrinx, Korg Trident, Korg PS3200, Arp 2500, Serge

Keyboards: Rhodes, Yamaha YC45d Organ

Cellos: Acoustic Cello, NS Cello

Pedals: Glou Glou Loupé, Hologram, Echosystem, Oberheim Music Modulator, Meris Mercury 7, Meris Polymoon, Line 6 

Audio: Roland Space Echo, EMT 240 Plate, Avedis Keypre, Bricasti M7

Inspirations for the music ?

We were looking for celestial futuristic music without borders. We steered clear of pre-conceived notions and let the pieces unfold as  human/technological interactions. 

Rubin went to Julliard Conservatory and David went to Oberlin Conservatory. We were trained to be traditional instrumentalists. We both took to improvisation. The idea of creating compositions by reacting is very inspiring. Add in unusual and unpredictable loopers and analog synthesizers and there are is SO much to react to.  That’s the inspiration. You hear something, you react. You give it time. You develop it, abandon the idea. Two players doing this simultaneously is very powerful. 

David Baron Bio

Record producer, film composer, musician, arranger, and engineer located in the historic Woodstock, New York area. An avid collector of vintage analog synthesizers and recording gear. Baron was responsible for synthesizers, string arrangements, mixing on EMI Records Mercury Music Prize shortlisted album The Bride (Bat For Lashes). Baron has also worked with Patrick Watson, Lana Del Rey, Melanie De Biasio, Peter Murphy (from Bauhaus) and produced the modern classical album Piano Piano (Jeremiah Fraites). Baron is lead composer and soundtrack producer for Gregory Colbert’s $100M follow up to Ashes and Snow, the multi media art exhibition, which has seen Baron working with Lawrence Fishburne, Nile Rodgers, Steve Gadd and Beth Gibbons.

David Baron ‘Earthling’ was recently licensed to Sci Fi series Brave New World (Peacock TV and Sky One).

Rubin Kodheli Bio

Composer Rubin Kodheli is a celebrated, versatile, genre-transcending creative rebel. The inspirational tapestry of his work is intentionally woven from blended threads of rock, jazz and classical influences, a stylistic trademark that has afforded Kodheli a career rich in its diversity of output. From his compositions appearing in feature films such as Precious (2009), to his original symphonic rock compositions, to his collaborations as a performer with genre defining artists - including Philip Glass, Henry Threadgill, Christian McBride, Meredith Monk, Joan Jett, Tom Harrell, and Snoop Dogg.

Audiences / Genres / Keywords (for marketing, targeting and playlisting)

Experimental music, synths, ambient music, soundtracks, sci fi, Miles Davis electronic era, Cello, Electric cello, Minimalism, Futuristic ambient, Music for airports, Music for space flight, Blade Runne, Neo-classical, Twin peak, The Planets by Gustav Holst (a remembrance), Hans Zimmer / Dune, Insomniac / insomnia, Eternity or eternal, sunshine, Eternal sunshine of a spotless mind, Ocean or oceanic, Waterfall, Rainbows in Sound 

Promo Strategy

Share various native videos of performance and abstract art across social media platforms trialing out various locations, demographics and interests. Eg video views campaign on Facebook. Then best performing native videos leave running building up a decent engaged audience. Then retarget with buy and playlist links

Case Study : when Spotify launched in India we ran video ad campaigns across various social media platforms upping the budget and leaving the best performing ad running which resulted in 250K plays of David Baron catalogue on Spotify

Social media strategy – sharing support & assets, story telling, influences, bts, playlists across various platforms. Boosting best performing posts.

Sync : David Baron ‘Earthling’ on Brave New World (Peacock TV)

our music comes in at 3:40 as they hit zero gravity