Dhruv Goel, a composer, music producer, and vocalist based in Los Angeles, USA was born in Lucknow grew up in New Delhi studying Indian Classical music under Pandit Nirmalaya Dey. He then graduated in Electronic Production and Sound Design from Berklee College of Music in Boston. The musician got in a candid conversation with Radioandmusic.com where he briefed us about his music collaborations and much more.
Check below.
Your association with Facebook goes a long way back, please throw some light on the same.
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I started working with Facebook in 2017. The project I work on is called Facebook Sound Collection and it was started to provide video and content creators with music that they could add to their projects. I have written over 50 songs that have been used on videos created for Facebook platforms: Facebook Video, Facebook Watch, Instagram Video and Instagram TV. Videos featuring these compositions have accumulated over 100 million views.
You are working with FB this time for its new app Collab. What is it about?
In April 2020 I was invited by Facebook to write music for their exciting new music app called ‘Collab’. It’s quite unique! In the app, a ‘collab’ is a selection of three 15-second independent looping videos, stacked on top of each other, that play in sync. For example, a collab could consist of a guitarist, drummer and a singer, each playing alongside each other in their respective videos. Users can either create a ‘collab’ by playing along with someone else’s video or, if they lack musical experience, they can just swipe on one of the three rows to choose a different video to slot into the mix from those available. The app has really been a boon for the music community during this lockdown!
I was involved in the beta testing phases of Collab and composed the first few tracks for it; the beta version of the app rolled out in May 2020. I also wrote the track ‘Disco Fire’, that was used by Facebook for Collab’s waitlist sign-up advertisements in the US and Canada.
Collab recently (December 14th 2020) released in the US on Apple’s app store!
Tell us a bit about Splice and your involvement in the same.
Splice is a technology platform for music creators that streamlines the fragmented process of creating and sharing music. They simplify music creation by bringing all of the steps into one, frictionless digital home. Splice is most commonly known for making audio samples that music producers & composers from all over the world use to make music. Artists from Justin Bieber to Eminem use Splice sounds in their songs.
I have had a strong association with Splice for many years and released my first artist sound sample pack called ‘The Lab: Indian Rhythms’ with them in 2018. For this pack I recorded traditional Indian instruments in Los Angeles and Mumbai. I recently released my second sample pack called ‘Recycling’ in November 2020, which also raises awareness about the urgent need for recycling and the climate crisis our world is facing. I recorded all the sounds for the pack in a large recycling facility in Los Angeles and this pack has received an overwhelming response from the music community with many downloads.
Here is a video link for how the pack was made:
I have received hundred of emails from musicians around the world who have used the sounds from my sample packs in their songs, and it gives me great joy to be a part of their musical journey.
You have been associated musically with movies, games, documentaries, TV Series etc. One advice you would like to give budding musicians who like you, would like to work across mediums.
I think with the right combination of curiosity and study one can figure out any genre of music. I have spent countless hours studying and breaking down famous film, video game and TV show scores- from harmony to production techniques. But honestly, it’s all about story telling. Once you figure out the frameworks that these different forms of media are working under, it’s all about doing your best to make music that supports the story.
You have been working on an album, please tell us something about that.
Yes! I am almost finished with my first solo EP that I will be releasing in January 2021. It will contain 3 songs that are very personal to me and written in Hindi/Urdu. I am very excited (and nervous) for it!
Your work will be displayed at an art exhibition in Los Angeles. What’s it all about and how does it feel?
This is a very unique opportunity for me and I’m very excited to have had the chance to work on this project. I have composed the music for a video game console art installation called ‘Moonlight Switch’ that will be available at the art exhibition called ‘Phantasy Arcade’. The exhibition will be held at Gallery Nucleus in Los Angeles from December 12th onwards. All old school video gaming enthusiasts can come to experience and even buy it there!
