Idan Altman “Music Is As Expansive As Outer Space”

Meet Idan – an indie music producer, musician, and sound engineer. When I first heard about his minimalist approach to production, I was quite frankly star struck, as it was quite the opposite of my own approach. Especially as a student, when I (wrongly) assumed I needed to impress everyone with a wall of sound. Idan is also a composer and performer of his own music which we will also touch upon in this interview. From his earliest music memory, to psychedelics-induced music making, to his audio mixing tips, here is a conversation we have had recently. A perfect read for a chilled Sunday morning.

Bartek: What’s the story behind your decision to become a professional in the music industry?

Idan: I got into music fairly late because I wasn’t really encouraged to do anything in that direction. I started to feel a deep passion for music when I was a teenager but I didn’t learn how to play any instruments until I was 18. In Israel we have to do 3 years of military service and the idea of losing 3 years of my life made me furious. I decided to make the best of the situation and bought my first guitar for 20 euros which I took everywhere and practiced every free moment I had.

What was the defining moment?

After about 6 months of torturing other people with my playing, my older brother noticed that I was very serious about learning music and offered to help me get a better guitar as well as guitar lessons. It was around that time that I started writing songs and recording demos, but I had no idea what I was doing and didn’t even have a real microphone. There was a TV program back then called “Classic Records” by the BBC and in one episode about The Doors, I saw their producer solo a guitar track from one of the songs and my mind was blown! I had no idea that people recorded music in layers before that and I was like “I have to learn how to do this if I want to understand music better”.

How did you go about making this dream happen in real life?

When my military service ended I got a basic studio setup and started to experiment more with recording techniques as well as recording my friends. I really wanted to study music production but my parents preferred that I studied something that would help me get a “real job” so I went to university to study biology instead. I felt really out of place in that environment and didn’t bother studying that much because I was too busy recording songs and this meant that I got kicked out after 1 year because of my grades. That’s when it became clear that I was done trying to please my parents and that I was gonna do what I really wanted, which was to study music production. 

I first thought about studying in Tel Aviv but the costs of living there were (and still are) ridiculously high so I ended up moving to Berlin which was a lot more affordable back in 2010 and that’s where I got my diploma in Music Production.

What would you say is the main advantage of being an independent music producer?

Being my own boss, making my own hours and not being dependent on any company to give me a paycheck every month. Music aside, there’s something very empowering about running your own business. It took a lot of time and effort until I was able to fully sustain myself but I couldn’t live any other life.

Earliest music-related memory and how it affected you?

When I was 6 years old, I was at a friend’s house and we went into his older brother’s room to listen to his CDs. My friend grabbed a random CD and put in the discman and what followed next was one of the most vivid memories of my life. I heard a strange sound which made me feel a deep sadness, not the kind of sadness that you feel as a child when someone takes away your favourite toy but more like the kind you feel at the peak of a midlife crisis. All of a sudden, I was just there and the only thing that existed was that music. 

This was the first time I heard ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and when I think about the biggest influence any artist had on me, it’s definitely The Beatles and especially John Lennon. Except for shaping my sonic taste, this specific song has always had a special place in my heart because it pretty much summarizes everything I feel about life and growing up.

Proportion-wise, how much of your life is music production (and related activities) and how much is music making?

My professional life is divided into about 70% production and mixing (for artists) and 30% teaching. I work a lot and this work is very demanding on my ears so whenever I have some free time, I usually choose to spend it doing something quiet and ideally away from the studio, so producing music for myself hasn’t been a priority for a while now.

The album entitled “Bubble Bee” which you released in 2021 was made on micro-doses of psychedelics. What made decide to experiment with them while creating music?

Micro doses, medium doses and fairly large doses as well, haha!

I didn’t make an active decision to make an album on psychedelics. I was just at a point in my life where I was going through some challenges and I was trying all kinds of things, including psychedelics. 

On almost every trip, I started hearing music in my head and just recorded whatever came up and then put it aside. It was only after I accumulated a bunch of tracks that I started to choose the best ones, continued working on them and arranged everything as an album.  

It was an interesting way of making music but it was a one-time thing. I had some useful experiences on drugs but at some point, it was time to let all that go.

Which track/album you produced for yourself or someone else are you most proud of?

When it comes to music that I produced for other artists, there are 2 albums that immediately come to mind: “Katie” by Delta Maid and “Caethes Traum” by Pulsar Trio. 

Both of these albums have a really balanced sound. The arrangements are fairly minimal which help support the melodies without adding anything unnecessary. I’m not a fan of over production and there’s nothing I find more beautiful than simplicity in music as well as in life. 

When it comes to my own music, I don’t think that I have one album where I’m really happy with my voice but if I had to choose one I’d go with “It All Works Out In the End” because the songs are short, the vocals aren’t that bad, the overall vibe is really fun and lyrics pretty much sum up everything I have to say, which is also why this album was the last time I wrote lyrics.

What’s the biggest lesson you have learned while producing music?

Any goal, no matter how big, is attainable if you work hard and have patience. A lot of people don’t follow their dreams because they’re afraid to take risks or because they feel that they have to invest a lot of time. But without taking risks, nothing big is ever going to happen and time will pass no matter what you do so you might as well use it to achieve your goals.

What’s the most common mixing mistake made by new or unexperienced engineers?

Spending too much time on a mix. A pro mixer never spends more than an hour on a mix before checking with the artist and getting their feedback. As long as you are mixing on your own and have no feedback you have no idea when the mix is finished and can’t even tell if the mix is good or bad. Feedback helps you to see that many of the things that you worry about actually sound fine and that the artist is more worried about things that you didn’t even consider. I have a special method for teaching mixing which is based on working fast and getting regular feedback and so far, it seems to work very well for everyone who learns it.

What/who has been your biggest inspiration for making music?

My main motivation is a thirst for knowledge. Music is as expansive as outer space, every time you think you know something, you realize that there’s a deeper level that can be explored. I am looking forward to seeing where this journey goes and what new discoveries will be made as the years pass. 

Plans for the future?

I recently finished building my dream studio which is something I have dreamt of since I got into this business so at the moment I don’t have any big goals. I’m currently focused on developing my own production and songwriting courses, which are already underway and I guess that the next phase would be to integrate everything I worked on so far into my own music production school. As far as upcoming releases go, I honestly don’t have anything in the making right now so I guess it will happen when the time is right. Also, I’m really happy to be in a supporting role and help artists to transform their ideas into great sounding music that they’re happy to share with the world. 

Photo: Idan Altman

More info: www.idanaltman.com