retro

Interview

About Jonas aka retro

Hey, my name is Jonas. I'm from Cologne, Germany and I've been on Audiotool for 8 years. In 2016 I started making 8-bit covers on @8bit_n_chiptune and then in 2017 I made the @retrorhythm account to start making some actual music. I came across Audiotool via a friend of mine that happened to also be friends with Martin Below who was working on this amazing website where you can make music online, and for free. I don't have a favorite style of music. I listen to jazz, classical music, electronic music and everything in between. If I had to choose I'd say pizza prosciutto is my favorite.

Describe the style of music you produce

I have no idea how I would describe my music. I would say it usually has a certain groove to it and doesn't take itself too seriously. I try to incorporate somewhat interesting harmonies in my tracks with it still being digestible for the average listener.

What is your musical background and when did you start making music?

My parents make music, my brother makes music, most of my friends, and even many of my neighbors make music. So as far as I can think back, I've been surrounded by musicians. I learned to play piano by ear and only started taking lessons many years later. I've been taking piano lessons for over 16 years, and 8 years ago I started taking bass lessons as well. Audiotool was my first experience with music production on the PC. Since then I studied Audio-Visual Media Design and worked in different recording studios.

What is your favorite Audiotool device and why?

Probably the Pulverisateur. It was the easiest to understand synth for me when I started on Audiotool. The analog synth styling is timeless, and the whole layout is easy to understand.

What is your favorite trick in AT/What technique do you always use?

Something I like to do is layering noise with my percussion using the Pulv. Or use just the Pulv to make hi-hats — activate only the noise oscillator, put the sustain on 0%, and use the decay to adjust the length of the hat. Something I only do sometimes is using the note splitter to play up to 3 synths at once.

Have you ever had a writer's block? If so, how did you deal with it and what do you recommend to your colleagues?

Something that seems to work for me is only listening to music that you're not usually interested in and studying it. And if that doesn't work just don't make or listen to any music at all for a while. Just take a break. Trying to force it will make it worse.

What has helped you the most on Audiotool to improve and widen your musical horizon?

What helped me when I started was opening up tracks of other users and just studying the draft, looking at what they did and thinking about why they did it that way. And what has definitely widened my horizon is the diversity of the music people make on Audiotool. I discovered genres I never even heard of before.

What do you like most about Audiotool? Is there anything you would like to suggest?

What I like most on Audiotool is obviously the community. The amount of artists on here that are easily distinguishable in their style while having the same set of devices as everybody else is astounding. I know the Audiotool team is working hard on improving the site, and it's honestly a miracle to me that Audiotool can sustain itself.

Your message to the community:

Just keep making stuff, and don't take yourself too seriously. Much love <3:)