Sound Atelier Studio

15/08/2024

"1963 - The Swinging Years" is the 3rd of the 5-part series of "The Grandfather's Clock", and by far the most joyous and merry. It speaks of a time of abundance and plentiful, of youth and vigour - a stark contrast to the death and desolute of "1943 - The War Years".

The music showcases some elements of Malaysian folk culture, intertwining with orchestral strings and woodwinds.

Again, AI were used to generate all the visuals here. The scene of beachside outing, frolicking at the park and even marathon crowds - all these are AI, surely yet frighteningly real.

MY GRANDFATHER'S CLOCK 1963 THE SWINGING YEARSAn original composition by LIM CHIN GUANOriginal Story & Music: LIM CHIN GUANMusic Arrangement & Production: ...

14/08/2024

An interesting read!

They say music is a science, yes! Pythagoras is considered to have created the theory of music by combining intervals and mathematical calculations to create notes for the major scale. But perhaps only Leonard Bernstein, in his famous Harvard speech, [ The Unanswered Question 1973 ] truly explained why and how. Through his explanation of the harmonic series, he demonstrated the scientific basis of music theory.
However, he also noted something profound:
"What we calculate and explain or try to explain through music theory of Pythagoras, only appreciators of Indian music can feel it, they can demonstrate any mood through their scales, which they call Raaga. And a Raaga is not just a scale; it's something more. If you can't appreciate or feel it, it will put you to sleep in a few minutes. "
After observing how a harmonic series and a conch shell are similar, I feel that this connection and our ancient understanding of music may lead to this deeper understanding. Our ancestors understood everything before the father of music theory, Pythagoras.
The only word that is coming to my mind after watching this picture is PANCHAJANYA.
“The highest goal of music is to connect one’s soul to their Divine Nature, not entertainment.”
— Pythagoras
{The top image is a graph of the first nine harmonics of a harmonic series. The bottom image is an x-ray of the inner structure of a conch shell.}
Credit Goes To The Respective Owner

09/08/2024

"1943 - The War Years" is the second part of the 5-part series of "The Grandfather's Clock". However, it was the first that has its storyline done extensively using AI generated visuals.

Though AI is marvellous in getting high-quality visuals produced quickly, currently it is still far from dependable in producing historically culturally accurate materials. For example, AI could not accurately generate pictures of Japanese soldiers in the correct uniforms, nor can it understand the correct weapons that these soldiers would carry during the year 1943.

Nonetheless, I foresee this shortcoming will be slowly but surely be cut back, as AI gets more powerful and intelligent in the future.

MY GRANDFATHER'S CLOCK 1943 THE WAR YEARSAn original composition by LIM CHIN GUANOriginal Story & Music: LIM CHIN GUANMusic Arrangement & Production: ANDRE...

13/07/2024

“The Grandfather’s Clock” is a 5-part story about an old tower clock that witnesses the changes that happened in a house, set in the backdrop of Malaya from 1920s until the turn of the 20th century.

The first part “1923 THE EARLY YEARS” was just completed recently, now available to watch on YouTube.

Again, this is another attempt at using AI to generate the relevant visuals to accompany the music and story. After many years of working on producing music, it is indeed refreshing to learn a new skill and being able to apply it on enhancing sound and music.

MY GRANDFATHER'S CLOCK 1923 THE EARLY YEARSAn original composition by LIM CHIN GUANOriginal Story & Music: LIM CHIN GUANMusic Arrangement & Production: AND...

06/07/2024

“THE MAGICAL FOREST” is the latest production from Sound Atelier Studio.

Not only was I tasked with arranging and producing the music, it was also the first time for me to produce the visuals from scratch.

After doing some research, I decided to try out using openart.ai for generating the still visuals, then importing them into Moviva for post production.

Moviva is not only a video editing software, it also allows me to add multiple visual effects and animations to bring the entire storyboard to life.

I hope you will enjoy the music and the story as much as I do.

https://youtu.be/D9HQvU7XwQc?si=gnJBh0xrJx5lqqbL

THE MAGICAL FORESTAn original composition by LIM CHIN GUANOriginal Story & Music: LIM CHIN GUANMusic Arrangement & Production: ANDREW TANVideo Production: AN...

06/07/2024

Had the pleasure of recording a piano accompaniment track for a good friend, Angela Saik. She then recorded her vocal over it, and here is the YouTube link.

If not for her introducing this song to me, I’ll probably would have never heard the track!

30/06/2024

“My Innocent Childhood” was a video that was recently produced by Sound Atelier Studio for our friend Mr Lim CG.

The music is evokes childlike innocence, and at times playfulness, depicting an early childhood that was well spent in love and joy.

Mr Lim grew up in Greentown, Ipoh during the 1950s. Today, one can still find the streets named after Greentown in Ipoh.

An original composition by LIM CHIN GUANOriginal Story & Music: LIM CHIN GUANMusic Arrangement & Production: ANDREW TANVideo Production: ANDREW TAN 📍 https:...

23/04/2024

was perhaps one of the most ambitious project that Sound Atelier Studio has undertaken. Unlike previous projects, the sound and emotions of Forest Realm the Musical can only be brought out truthfully by using large orchestral ensembles.

Lush strings that envelopes during romantic scenes, aggresive brass sections that earmarked the presence of masculinity and heroes, and strong rhythmic percussions that heighthened war scenes.

Not forgetting of course, the countless tracks of backup vocal recordings after that, adding a necessary layer of emotion that compliments the music further.

Through the journey of producing this project, I have learned much about orchestral arrangements - choosing the right sound, the right instruments, the most suitable range for each of them, crafting the sound further in the mix.

Hopefully in the not too distant future, "Forest Realm the Musical" can be complimented with the right visuals, and the entirety of its work can be published to all to enjoy. 😊

08/02/2024

Gong Hey Fatt Choy and Happy New Year everyone!

祝大家新年快乐，万事顺意!

24/12/2023

Sound Atelier Studio wishes all a Blessed Christmas and a Happy 2024!

01/12/2023

The GREENTOWN 1950s was a project of 11 songs, commissioned by the studio longtime client, Mr Lim. It speaks of Mr Lim’s memories of Grewntown, situated in Ipoh where he spent his childhood years.

The first song from this series “CELEBRATING MEMORIES” is unique in such that the visuals consist of photo collages from Mr Lim’s childhood. All the photos tell a piece of Mr Lim’s memory, a time of precious joy and innocent merryhood.

Original Story & Music: LIM CHIN GUAN
Original Photos: LIM SWEE CHOO
Illustrations & Animation: LIM LIN
Music Arrangement & Production: ANDREW TAN

CELEBRATING MEMORIESI was born in Ipoh and lived my early years in Greentown, Ipoh.My father's house was a short walking distance from Ah Pek's house.Ah Pek ...

17/11/2023

Some video snippets of the recording by students from SM Chong Hwa Kuantan for their graduation song 🙂

17/11/2023

Photo snippets of recording session with students of SM Chong Hwa Kuantan 关丹中华中学.
These students came all the way from Kuantan just to record a song for their graduation. They even bring along some coconut biscuits from Sg Lembing as door gifts. Bless their hearts!

14/11/2023

Ready to rumble!
Prepping all done for clients travelling all the way from Kuantan.

Bringing out the trusted Audio Technica 4040 condenser microphone for capturing vocals and ol’ faithful Shure and AT-M50x headphones for monitoring.

19/09/2023

Another Audio-Technica ATH-M50x limited edition added to the collection!

23/07/2023

It’s a beautiful Sunday but I’m rushing to pen a new composition for a client based in China. This time it’s an instrumental piece for gu-zheng and piano duet.

I always prefer the 6/8 time over the conventional 4/4. When done right, especially with those soft notes filling up the pockets, 6/8 has a beautiful yet eager drive to it. Having a clear direction while moving forward is key to keeping the listeners on their toes.

I think it will turn out awesome.

19/07/2023

Recently, Sound Atelier Studio just completed a project for a longtime client, Mr Lim CG. Mr Lim wrote a series of 6 compositions under a theme of Sam Poh Tong.

Quoting Mr Lim:
In 2020, I wrote Sam Poh Tong on recalling my romantic memories
in the 1950's when my father took me, an innocent little boy, for
a walkabout. Sam Poh Tong is a Chinese cave temple located in the
limestone hills outskirts of Ipoh Town, discovered since 1912.

The studio was tasked with not only doing the music production, but also putting together visuals to form the backdrop of the videos that are now on YouTube.

Links to Sam Poh Tong series are in the comment section.

08/06/2023

Pearly Wong dropped by for a quick visit and jamming session with her violin!

04/05/2023

Ming contacted me a while ago about recording some vocal tracks for his jazz standards.

He has recorded a jazz trio as the instrumental tracks in Montreal. In fact he has also recorded the preliminary vocal tracks there.

However, after some time passed he now has the intention to redo some of those vocal tracks. Though it may be a challenge to match the vocal tone as those recorded in Montreal, Ming is quite surprised and pleased that his vocal tracks recorded in this studio has none of that issue!

Wishing you a very best of endeavour as you travel back to Canada end of this month. And please go release those tracks to air!!!

04/05/2023

Getting ready for another evening of vocal recording session. This time, it’s recording of standard jazz vocal tracks.

It may be a public holiday, but the studio is getting busy here.

Happy Wesak Day everyone!

09/04/2023

Sound Atelier Studio wishes all Christians a Blessed Easter Sunday!

07/04/2023

Sound Atelier Studio would like to wish all Christians a Blessed Good Friday.

16/09/2022

Today’s project was a slightly different yet interesting one.

I was asked by a friend to helped her to get started in music production, and to recommend her a decent audio interface and DAW.

The main criteria is that it must be able to record a digital piano. On top of that, an occasional gu-zheng 古筝 (a Chinese zither instrument) or a violin collaboration work. All the recording would probably be done in a living room and routed into a Windows laptop.

So, the specs on the audio interface is pretty straightforward:
1. USB connection (Windows laptop)
2. Dual headphone out (for collaboration work)
3. MIDI connection (MIDI data is so much easier to edit 😄)
4. About 2-4 audio inputs

I convinced her to get a Steinberg UR44c which meets all the criteria above. More so, it comes with an entry-level Cubase AI that will more than meet her needs. She can upgrade to a more powerful Cubase in the future.

The entire process of connection and installation was a breeze, all done under 2 hours.

All the best to you Gian Yoong. May your journey in this new hobby of music production an exiting and fruitful one! 😃

10/09/2022

Sound Atelier would like to wish everyone a blessed Mid Autumn Festival! 中秋节快乐！

25/08/2022

This week's happenings: Er-Hu recording for a classic song!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Chq8s_GDvo4/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

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01/02/2022

Happy Chinese New Year from Sound Atelier!

16/01/2022

Recording Gu-Zheng for new CNY song!

14/01/2022

Hosting an ex-colleague who paid a visit to the studio. Thanks Wynnie for dropping by!

24/12/2021

Sound Atelier would like to wish everyone here a very Blessed Christmas!

https://youtu.be/o_Zwj0v4CDo

Sound Atelier would like to wish all of you a very Blessed Christmas! 😄😄Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmaswritten by Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane_________...

07/11/2021

Received two new VSTi for free, courtesy of Steinberg - Novel Piano from Sonic Atoms and Guitar Harmonics Essential from Cinematique Instruments.

Subtle and gentle to the ear, I enjoy sound like these that just inspires me into more cinematic scoring.

Keep a lookout on this page as I shall compose some short musical excerpts using these two sounds!