How long have you been producing music and how did you learn?

I have a very academic background. I graduated as a composer and film composer at the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan and Amsterdam’s Conservatory (NL) I started learning music when I was four years old. At first, it was the piano, later violin and when I was seven, the trumpet. I immediately fell in love with the trumpet! By the age of 16 I was quite a promising student when I damaged my embouchure and had to interrupt my career. Only a decade later I started playing again during my music lessons for children, then three years ago I joined a brass band and from this year on picked up on regular practising. Right now I focus on the Armenian traditional duduk repertoire which I play on a four-valve quartertone trumpet.

What DAW(s) do you use and why?

I use Logic Pro 9 and X. I actually prefer 9 because I am more used to its layout and because I have a lot of nice Waves plugins on my old Mac Pro from 2007 which still works just great. I can’t remember how I chose to use Logic. I guess everyone in our film composing class was using it. There is a decent integration of video within the DAW to work on music for movies.

I also use Ableton Live X from time to time when I need to perform live, but I am not too handy with it. I use it only to launch tracks and nothing much more complex. I actually feel that I should dig it way deeper. When I studied composition we had courses for all sorts of live electronics software and programming languages for conceptual music: Max/MSP, SuperCollider, LiSa (Live Sampling), you name it... but those were too hard for me(!) I am more of an analogue composer who loves the real sound of a real instrument.

What are your favourite pieces of gear and why?

I have accumulated some gear and most of it I like a lot. I use RME Babyface Pro audio interface, AKG C414 mic, Bey­er­dy­namic DT-770 headphones. I bought them because either I’ve been advised by my friends who are professional sound producers or because I have worked with this gear before and I liked it.

What are your favourite software plugins and why?

Really hard question for me as I am using plugins in order to achieve a certain result. I soon as I achieved it I forget how I did it.

How would you summarise your approach/workflow when creating a track?

When I am working on a new musical idea I usually go through several steps. The first step is to get the emotion in my head and try to improvise. It can be a piano or voice improvisation. I write down a few bars and leave them till the next day. 

The next day I analyse my scribbles and start thinking about how to unfold this material (if it is worth unfolding). And here starts the longest part of the process. I draw a very detailed time grid of musical events. I decide on musical form and texture, how it develops and how I should finish the piece. This takes from two to 10 days. Then I start to fill in the grid with actual music deriving from the initial improvisation. And the last stage is polishing, listening, and polishing again until I am happy with the result.

What resources do you use to improve your craft?

Usually, I ask friends who know more than me. If for whatever reason they were not available I check YouTube tutorials.

What is the last YouTube tutorial you watched that you would recommend to other Re-Ex Members?

Lately, I actually follow more tutorials about promotion than music production. My favourite guys are Burstimo.

What knowledge or advice do you wish you'd learned earlier?

It is very technical about trumpet playing. Using less air when ascending.

What challenges related to making music do you face and how do you overcome them?

In the past five years, I couldn’t squeeze a note because of burnout. Some people call it writer's block. Now I am able to overcome it through playing the trumpet. Thanks to my favourite instrument I am back on track! I just asked myself what do I want to do most in music. And the sincere answer to myself was the trumpet.

Can you share any killer tips or techniques?

Analysis! Analyse everything your own way. Get to the microscopic level to understand how a piece of music, notation, instrument, hardware or plugin works. Use common sense and intuition. Understand it your own way. Don’t rely on Google or YouTube tutorials. Learn to see patterns by yourself. This way you will never copy anyone’s ideas but adopt knowledge and apply it in your music in a creative way when it is needed.

Do you try and get feedback or suggestions to improve your music? If so, how?

Yes, I torment my girlfriend (she is also a composer) with requests to listen to my music constantly!

Which track are you most proud of and why?

I would say right now it is 'Cold Wind'. It is the opening track of my project with trumpet.

Has RepostExchange affected the way you make music? If so, how?

I feel that I need to produce more often!

Desert Island Gear

Top L-R: Logic Pro 9, Ableton 10.

Bottom L-R: AKG C414, RME Babyface Pro, Bey­er­dy­namic DT-770.

Connect with Igor Iofe on SoundCloud, Facebook, Spotify, and Twitter.

Want more? Sign up at RepostExchange.com.

This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.