Carlos Kupersmit / RetroFuse

Since childhood, my love for Beethoven’s symphonies and other classical works presented in my father’s record library inspired my musical journey. A friend of the family was teaching piano lessons to bring in income after her husband – an orchestra conductor – passed away. At one of our customary Sunday dinners with her I asked her to teach me piano and she agreed.

Her teachings turned out to be the most consequential in my musical journey. As a stern Russian instructor who often slapped my hands against the piano keys when I frustrated her, she not only taught me piano, but also music theory. Her training was instrumental in giving me an understanding of melody, harmony and orchestration. With this background, I later taught myself to play the guitar and other instruments.

In my twenties, after graduating from college with an electrical engineering degree, I worked as a union musician six nights a week and five sets per night. After my band broke up, I started composing songs in between working as an electronics engineer, playing in bands here and there.

Today’s music technology offers new opportunities for solo musicians and composers such as me to produce music for film, TV and other media, in addition to having the ability to record, arrange, produce, mix, master and publish their own music. My engineering background provides me with a high level of understanding on how to use today’s tools to achieve the sounds I am after.

At present, armed with this background and incredible, creative and powerful tools, and the help of the lead singer in my first professional band who has a golden voice, I am able to compose music and produce it effortlessly and limitlessly in my own studio in sunny Florida, USA. Happiness is music.