Location: Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S.A.
Member since: April 5, 2010
Tracks in portfolio on MusicRevolution.com: 29 (click here to hear all tracks) http://www.musicrevolution.com/search?artist=129
Background—
Steve Steckler is a composer and musician who creates original music and sound design for commercials, long-form television programming, film, radio and the web.
–High profile projects or clients you have worked for?
I co-wrote the series music for Discovery Investigation Channel’s “Real Interrogations” and “Main Street Mysteries”, and the opening theme for Discovery Green Channel’s “Total Wrecklamation”. I scored National Geographic shows “Cuban Crocs”, “Climbing K2” and “Diving Shark Alley”. Advertising music includes TV and radio spots for DC Lottery, Boscov’s store, Comcast, Pennsylvania Health and numerous political ads. I also wrote music for several documentaries – most recently a film called “Shattered Sky” about global warming and the ozone layer.
–Primary instrument?
I’m an old-school rock and blues guitar player, so it’s always a blast when a job calls for guitar – maybe some slide, or a straight-up Les Paul plugged into a Marshall. I try to have a few uncommon stringed instruments lying around for inspiration, like I picked up a mini-bouzouki from Athens last year (a tzouras). I have no idea how to tune it properly, but it makes amazing resonant sounds.
–Favorite music-making piece of gear or software you currently use?
For scoring I rely heavily on Spectrasonics Stylus, Omnisphere and Trillian. I also use Kontakt for orchestral parts. But I’m a studio owner in the Washington DC area and know a lot of incredible musicians. So when budgets permit, I love to bring in live drummers, horns, string players, etc.
–Piece of gear or software you wish you owned?
Well, a vintage U47 would be nice…Although I’d be psyched to own a new Neumann M-149, or maybe a few more API mic pre’s.
–Moment you first knew you would be a musician?
I always played music since I was a kid. My parents signed me up for piano lessons, and that was cool but I found myself spending a lot of time zoning out and letting my hands randomly fall on the keyboard. I would make up my own rhythms and scales – they made sense to me at the time. Now sometimes if I need a burst of inspiration I’ll go back to that approach – just bang and create sounds. Then I’ll work through them with the editor and try to extract moments of inspiration, giving both halves of my brain a chance to participate.
I remember the first time I walked into a professional recording studio and what it felt like. The quality of silence when the doors shut, being around the dazzling array of technology, and how huge the music sounded through those speakers. I knew I wanted to spend a lot of time in that environment, and work with other people who were passionate about music.
Now of course, there are so many tools for creating music that composers couldn’t have dreamed of 10 years ago. The last scoring gig I did the producers were on the other side of the country, and we sent audio and video clips back and forth very early in the production. I was dynamically involved in creating the moods of the film, and even though we were far apart geographically, it really felt like I was part of the team.
I am thankful every day to be able to work in this environment, doing what I love!
Some of your favorite tracks that you would want us to feature in the blog.
“Home Run” http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?trackid=29755
“Freedom” http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?trackid=29753
“GroovyBath_extendedmix” http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?trackid=434
We thank Steve for sharing some of his musical background with us and for contributing his tracks to MusicRevolution.com, the Royalty-Free Music Marketplace. Steve’s music is anything but stock music. Steve’s music has a great sound for corporate and retail use. If you need original music for commercials, long-form television programming, film, radio and the web, give Steve Steckler’s music a listen.
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Chris Cardell is the co-founder of MusicRevolution.com http://www.musicrevolution.com, a royalty-free music marketplace with nearly 28,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, advertisers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music from an online community of professional musicians. MusicRevolution.com also provides custom music production and custom music streams. The entire MusicRevolution.com production music library is available for third-party distribution and bulk licensing for background music for retail, restaurants and businesses, and for other commercial applications. Cardell has been involved with digital content and E-Commerce since the mid-1990’s.
