![\"\"](\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Vivek-Maddala-SONAR-2-300x199.png\" "\\"Vivek")
Vivek Maddala\u2019s story is one that certainly does not lack one single ounce of excitement. From being a successful [modern-day] composer of music for film and TV, to his recent build out of a new state-of-the-art home studio, Vivek has continued to deliver world-class music on his own terms.\u00a0 He has always been on the vanguard of hip new projects, but now with the new studio, the sky is the limit for this seasoned – yet still young Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist\/producer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Cakewalk: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What does a typical writing session in SONAR look like in your world?<\/strong><\/p>\n Vivek Maddala:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For me, writing and recording often happen at the same time.\u00a0 They\u2019re usually not separate activities in my work.\u00a0 An exception would be when I\u2019m mocking up orchestral parts that I\u2019ll later replace with a live orchestra. Hence, the size and scope of writing sessions can vary quite a bit.\u00a0 I\u2019ve written huge orchestral scores that have over 300 tracks (combinations of MIDI and audio) comprising strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, voices, piano, etc., organized into track folders, with 20-30 busses for instrument groups and FX sends.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also written intimate small ensemble music or singer\/songwriter material Whenever possible (meaning most of the time) I try to avoid using virtual instruments other than for mock-ups.\u00a0 However, given budget constraints, I do often find myself using at least a handful of virtual instruments along with live ones.\u00a0 I rely quite heavily on Vienna Ensemble Pro (VE Pro), as a VSTi in SONAR, to \u201chost\u201d many instances of Kontakt player, GPlayer (for legacy Gigastudio libraries), Omnisphere, etc.\u00a0 My main DAW has 32 GB of RAM at the moment, although I imagine I\u2019ll need to upgrade that at some point.\u00a0 I love the Spitfire Sable string libraries, as I\u2019m quite drawn to the \u201cimmediate\u201d and charming sound of small string ensembles\u2014in this case, and augmented triple string quartet (4,3,3,3)\u2014so I use it quite a bit.<\/em><\/p>\n For electric guitars, if I\u2019m not mic\u2019ing an actual amp, I\u2019m fortunate to have a great selection of mics and mic preamps, so these tools coupled with a solid DAW and great plug-ins has creates a marvelous working environment for me.\u00a0 And I\u2019m thrilled to be able to use them in my new studio, which is acoustically outstanding and an ideal space in which to work.<\/em><\/p>\n Cakewalk:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What keeps you on SONAR with so many other choices out there?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Vivek Maddala:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve been using Sonar for years, and it feels like an extension of me.\u00a0 I started using Cakewalk MIDI sequencing software when I was in college in the mid-1990s, and have always found it to be extremely intuitive, yet powerful.\u00a0 It simply does exactly what I want it to do.\u00a0 In the early days, I used Cakewalk for MIDI and Pro Tools (on a separate machine) for audio, and I locked the transports together using SMPTE time code.\u00a0 When Cakewalk Cakewalk: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0What are some of your most recent projects on SONAR and how was it used?<\/strong><\/p>\n Vivek:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Currently, I have a number of active projects on which I use (or used) SONAR.\u00a0 On the production side, I\u2019m working on a delightful new album by The Oopsadasies using SONAR, and I\u2019m producing tracks in SONAR for an amazing singer\/songwriter named Bhavana Reddy.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also been producing songs using SONAR for Oscar- and Grammy-nominated artist Stephen Bishop.\u00a0 Finally, I did pre-production work for Gingger Shankar\u2019s new live show and tour using SONAR.\u00a0 In fact, for Gingger\u2019s tour, we\u2019re also working with Gibson guitars and will be doing a showcase at the Gibson Showroom in Beverly Hills soon.\u00a0 A Gibson-supplied Les Paul Standard is the main guitar we\u2019re using on tour.\u00a0 It sounds and plays great, and it looks beautiful as well.<\/em><\/p>\n For more information on Vivek Maddala visit:\u00a0http:\/\/www.maddala.com\/<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vivek Maddala\u2019s story is one that certainly does not lack one single ounce of excitement. From being a successful [modern-day] composer of music for film and TV, to his recent build out of a new state-of-the-art home studio, Vivek has continued to deliver world-class music on his own terms.\u00a0 He has always been on the … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Vivek-Maddala-SONAR-7.png\" "\\"Vivek")
<\/a>One might ask, \u201cWhat is it that keeps him so busy writing and producing for such interesting projects?\u201d Well for starters, very few people can pull together the diverse musical elements that seem to come so fluently for Maddala.\u00a0 On one end of the spectrum he is an extremely proficient musician, and on the other he is an expressive individual who seems to be able to tap into emotional components of film while gracefully tying everything together with unique global soundscapes.\u00a0 He also seems to land projects right in his wheelhouse; ones that lift the human spirit and elucidate the human condition. His works which have been noted extraordinarily diverse in style, stand out among contemporary compositions for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound, and profoundly humanist nature.\u00a0 It\u2019s in this pocket where he has found so much success and respect scoring a plethora of [major] independent films.<\/p>\n<\/a>Building off from his busy schedule — currently scoring a\u00a0feature film, producing two albums, and soon scoring a TV\u00a0series — it became clear to Vivek that he needed his own\u00a0production sanctuary to work at any given moment of need or\u00a0inspiration.\u00a0 Now, when figuring out how to build a so-called\u00a0“home project studio,” it doesn’t hurt to have attended the\u00a0Berklee School of Music, and also to have degrees in\u00a0Electrical Engineering from major universities. That is when\u00a0one’s “project studio” usually takes a turn for the better. \ud83d\ude09 \u00a0Combining his skills and background in electro-acoustics, Vivek turned to acoustics consultant Kevin Lee Hughes who had recently worked on design for Capitol Studios in LA.\u00a0 The result was a stunningly beautiful and intricate professional work-space written about here in this month\u2019s issue of Mix Magazine.<\/a><\/p>\nWe recently got a chance to quickly catch up with Vivek and find out how he\u2019s been using SONAR:<\/h3>\n
<\/a>comprising only a few tracks and 3-4 busses.\u00a0 So I suppose it\u2019s fair to say I don\u2019t have a \u201ctypical\u201d SONAR session.\u00a0 The nature of my work is such that the look of each session can vary wildly.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>I\u2019ve been using the S-Gear Scuffham amps, which I think sounds as accurate as I\u2019ve heard from a virtual setup (and plays fairly realistically).\u00a0 For effects, I use UAD plug-ins quite a bit (with a dedicated PCIe DSP card by UAD), along with Soundtoys\u00a0 plug-ins (like EchoBoy) and various custom convolution IRs.\u00a0 I\u2019ve gotten rid of most of my outboard gear (like old Lexicon reverbs and hardware compressors), although I do still have a couple of amazing LA-2A style optical compressors and a smattering of other crucial outboard units.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>(the software) evolved into SONAR, I was quite pleased with how the company was keenly aware of the needs of its users and vastly improved the audio engine\u2014to the point where I found myself using Pro Tools less and less for audio, and SONAR more and more.\u00a0 As I recall, SONAR was the first native 64-bit DAW.\u00a0 Now, I do everything in Sonar (except I still run video on Pro Tools due to a peculiar setup to which I\u2019ve grown accustomed over the years).\u00a0 I\u2019ve been dabbling in Steinberg\u2019s Cubase, which is also great, but I keep coming back to SONAR because it\u2019s so powerful while being intuitive. With a good front end, I\u2019ve found that SONAR sounds amazing.\u00a0 I actually like the sound of my SONAR rig (with 36 I\/O RME hardware) better than my Pro Tools HD rig with the 192 I\/O.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>There\u2019s a film in theaters right now called AWAKE, which I scored using SONAR.\u00a0 (It\u2019s been kind of a surprise indie hit.)\u00a0 I\u2019ve got four movies touring the festival circuit, which I scored using SONAR \u2013 Career Girl, The Ballad of Snake Oil Sam, ASHA, and The Parting Shot.\u00a0 There\u2019s a documentary called American Revolutionary that recently won a Peabody Award, which I did in SONAR. (If you missed it in theaters or on TV, it\u2019s stream-able now on Netflix, iTunes, and elsewhere.)\u00a0 Also, you can hear me perform (drums, guitars, keyboards, and bass) on a number of soundtracks by other composers listed on IMBD, where I recorded my parts in my studio using SONAR.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nFor more information on how SONAR can help you score music for media visit: www.cakewalk.com\/sonar<\/a><\/p>\n