Nadeera Zaini - Dia Penggantimu. Mastered by SLEEPY/KID Studio
COMPOSITION : 2AM Music Studios Global : 15 second advert for Philip Morris
This was a fun challenge, trying to fit everything into 15 seconds. As it’s a commercial project and a first time working with this client, no MIDI packs, samples, or even rhythm generators within Kontakt were used - everything needs to be a sound created and each note placed.
One of the key words in the advert was bold, so the intentions were to make the advert feel bold through the music. The music is built around a strong, bombastic chord progression. There is an interesting duality of the black and red, a feature of the packet design in the advert, so I had two separate sound forces to represent this: electronica and traditional classical instruments. The music initially is dominated by electronic forces while the visuals are black, but when it switches to the red, traditional acoustic forces take over. From then on, the two are intertwined to create a sum bigger than its parts. The acoustic instruments were also there to create a sense of regal strength, as is on brand for a tobacco company, so were played in that way. A prominent feature of the advert was the small broken blocks flitting around, so that was also a feature of the musical sounds. Almost like pointillism, specs of sound flit around the soundscape to represent the blocks flying around the screen. The big box at the centre had to feel like it had gravitas, so there is a large bass slide down when it first moves past (won’t translate to phone or small speakers). Bass was needed because bass is scale and size, and there are no size references in the advert so the bass slide could imply scale, like a huge ship passing by or a monumental building in front, etc - this size is great for importance of the brand. The grand musical pay off was timed on the full screen branding at the end, giving all of the weight of the importance built up to the brand being advertised.
48 kHz : 24 bit : True Peak exactly -1dB : Integrated: Exactly -10 LUFS : Short Term Max -8.2 LUFS : Momentary Max -6.3 LUFS : Loudness Range: 5.7 LU : Average Dynamics (PLR) 9.1 LU
Children : 14 year old band - Paramore - Misery Business
Parent: “Very professional and the quality of the music video produced was amazing. Tom was awesome with the kids, inspiring them. Can’t wait to record more with Tom in his studio.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Drummer: “Not only is he an amazing recording artist but also an equally talented musician and teacher. Mr Tom gave us the opportunity to record a song for our band and it did no disappoint. On top of that, he even helped create a music video for us, syncing it up and editing for us. As the drummer, he made my drums sound beefy and crisp completely blowing my mind. His studio is cozy, comfortable and professional, filled with the best audio interfaces and recording devices.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Parent: “SLEEPY/KID Studio did an excellent job in producing and mastering the first ever music video for our children’s band. The learnt a lot recording together in the studio and had a lot of fun filming the video to go with it. Being aspiring musicians, this was a wonderful way to introduce them to the other aspects of music performance apart from being on stage. Highly recommend!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4ORTE : Function band music videos (showreels)
This project was to create some fast music videos for a function band to be used as showreels and for promotion. They get sent to potential clients, and we didn’t have long - typically only an afternoon to record both audio and music video, and about the same amount of time for editing.
Gianluca Cafagna (singer): “Tom is a friend and I’ve been playing and recording with him for quite some time now and if there’s a word that can explain how good he is it’s TALENTED! Professionalism, support, skills, wonderful attitude. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Steven Raj (drummer): “Tom is a truly accomplished musician, educator and producer. I had the pleasure to have him record, play and produce some tracks of mine and I can attest to the level of skill, talent and creativity he has. He’s also great fun to work with and I would highly recommend his services.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
SLEEPY/KID Studios has been a long time collaborator with Mile High Sounds studio in Centrio Soho, Pantai Hill Park, Kuala Lumpur. The two studios and founders have actively worked together on a number of projects, and Tom Watkins is listed as an ‘Associate’ on the Mile High Sounds website and business. If required or requested, the two studios can work collaboratively in a large-scale project, or if you would like to compartmentalise different aspects of the project to two different studios.