3-Day Oval Creative Coaching - Overview
OK, so this is not your typical “workshop”, in which an established artist tells you how his ideas / tools / tricks are simply the best ever and otherwise just sits there, more or less absent-mindedly listening to your music, dropping the occasional pro tip. Instead, this is an intense, interview-based, up close & personal coaching session focused on you, your potential, your goals and your creative mission.
Multi-award-winning electronic music innovator Markus Popp aka Oval will employ all his musical expertise, strategic insight and coaching experience of a global, 25-year career - incl. 20+ critically acclaimed albums, exploring numerous, wildly different styles and aesthetics - to challenge, shape and (re)define your musical vision.
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OVAL 3-DAY CREATIVE COACHING FOR GROUPS - EXAMPLE SCHEDULE
DAY 1 - BUILDING THE BASE
1 INTRO
1.1 Concept of this course / schedule / introductions
2 DATA COLLECTION
2.1 Quick recap of your “Intro Q&As”
2.2 Big interview 1 - Your project / motivations / process / agenda / mission
Break
3 REALITY CHECK
3.1 Your building blocks
1 - “What does X mean to you / in the context of your music?”
2 - “How has your relation to X changed?”
3 - “If I take X away from you, what do you do!?”
3.2 Provocation - first steps out of your comfort zone
A - Asking HOW / Asking how your music is not X
B - Asking WHERE / Asking about the whereabouts of X
DAY 2 - MUSIC DAY
1 FINALLY...MUSIC!
1.1 Finished Tracks
Let’s listen to some of your finished tracks and discuss your initial intentions for these tracks vs. the (often unsatisfactory) reality of the outcome. Let’s then hold each track against a detailed list of criteria (premise, composition, narrative, aesthetic, ideas, innovation, identity, tools, techniques, sound etc.).
1.2 WIP Material - Dissecting an unfinished piece
Let’s look at a track / composition of yours that’s still work-in-progress. Let’s work on a change in perspective in order to let you look at your music differently. This can result in anything from small course corrections to a radical makeover.
Break
2 YOUR LIVE SETS
Let’s talk in detail about your live setups and what you would like to change about them. And if it is of interest to you, I will break down the 3 years of homework I did for my “Oval Club” live setup (Ableton Live, tools, automation, modulation, controllers etc.), which might show you new options and avenues for your own process.
3 OPEN MIC
3.1. Your musical (and non-musical) ideas to improve your projects - my perspective.
DAY 3 - YOUR CREATIVE PERSONA
INTRO
PART 1 - Endless possibilities, but only one image fits you
Interview A + discussion of the following aspects and their connection to you:
Break
PART 2 - Between 100% authentic and 100% artificialInterview B + discussion of all aspects and their connection to you
PART 3 - Mix & Match
PART 4 - Conclusion and recommendation: THE FORMULA
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ABOUT THIS COURSE
This course is designed to turn your world upside down: I will analyze, challenge and optimize your concept of music and musical self-image - in your day-to-day workflow and for promoting your project.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to be an already accomplished professional - what’s much more important is that you are passionate about what you do. The technical aspects of this course will perfectly scale to your level of experience - so will the interviews, my suggestions and the language I will use to explain myself.
I am a 100% DIY artist and have developed my various styles following nothing but my own, often unorthodox ideas. I am going to show you that your musical mission and the way you present it to the world will vastly when you put the right kind of instinct, audacity, enthusiasm and care into it.
Don’t expect any “secret weapon”-type of hints, but do expect lots of unexpected and inspiring input on how to build a unique musical identity. After dozens of lectures and workshops for all sorts of audiences all over the world, I’m ready for pretty much any kind of question and/or challenge.
ABOUT MARKUS POPP
Berlin-based composer / musician Markus Popp aka Oval is one of the most distinguished and respected producers in electronic music. Popp’s album releases, remixes and collaborations have always been at the cutting edge of electronic music, many of them turning points for the genre. No one else out there plays the computer quite like him.
His distinct and process-oriented, yet strikingly musical signature sound pioneered "glitch" and "clicks & cuts" in the 1990s. In 2010, after years of silence, Oval made a spectacular comeback with a radical, organic, “hyper-real" style. Recently, he has explored “club” sound aesthetics (from retro to fantastical) with his explosive, extravagant “Popp” album. Markus has won both the PRIX ARS ELECTRONICA and the QWARTZ awards *twice*. Since 2015, he is coaching newcomer artists / music projects full time. So, yes, he’s in touch with the kids.
Multi-award-winning electronic music innovator Markus Popp aka Oval will employ all his musical expertise, strategic insight and coaching experience of a global, 25-year career - incl. 20+ critically acclaimed albums, exploring numerous, wildly different styles and aesthetics - to challenge, shape and (re)define your musical vision.
---
OVAL 3-DAY CREATIVE COACHING FOR GROUPS - EXAMPLE SCHEDULE
DAY 1 - BUILDING THE BASE
1 INTRO
1.1 Concept of this course / schedule / introductions
2 DATA COLLECTION
2.1 Quick recap of your “Intro Q&As”
2.2 Big interview 1 - Your project / motivations / process / agenda / mission
Break
3 REALITY CHECK
3.1 Your building blocks
1 - “What does X mean to you / in the context of your music?”
2 - “How has your relation to X changed?”
3 - “If I take X away from you, what do you do!?”
3.2 Provocation - first steps out of your comfort zone
A - Asking HOW / Asking how your music is not X
B - Asking WHERE / Asking about the whereabouts of X
DAY 2 - MUSIC DAY
1 FINALLY...MUSIC!
1.1 Finished Tracks
Let’s listen to some of your finished tracks and discuss your initial intentions for these tracks vs. the (often unsatisfactory) reality of the outcome. Let’s then hold each track against a detailed list of criteria (premise, composition, narrative, aesthetic, ideas, innovation, identity, tools, techniques, sound etc.).
1.2 WIP Material - Dissecting an unfinished piece
Let’s look at a track / composition of yours that’s still work-in-progress. Let’s work on a change in perspective in order to let you look at your music differently. This can result in anything from small course corrections to a radical makeover.
Break
2 YOUR LIVE SETS
Let’s talk in detail about your live setups and what you would like to change about them. And if it is of interest to you, I will break down the 3 years of homework I did for my “Oval Club” live setup (Ableton Live, tools, automation, modulation, controllers etc.), which might show you new options and avenues for your own process.
3 OPEN MIC
3.1. Your musical (and non-musical) ideas to improve your projects - my perspective.
DAY 3 - YOUR CREATIVE PERSONA
INTRO
- Why having more questions than answers is actually better
- From intuition to awareness to planning
- Why be unique / different at all?
- Social media changes everything
- Why an image is a skill
PART 1 - Endless possibilities, but only one image fits you
Interview A + discussion of the following aspects and their connection to you:
- audience
- publicity
- narrative
- presentation
Break
PART 2 - Between 100% authentic and 100% artificialInterview B + discussion of all aspects and their connection to you
- Let’s define your DOs & DON'Ts
- Character creator - let’s pick your ATTRIBUTES (from a HUGE list)
PART 3 - Mix & Match
- The Grid / An image toolkit
- Your choices + a scenario + reality check
PART 4 - Conclusion and recommendation: THE FORMULA
---
ABOUT THIS COURSE
This course is designed to turn your world upside down: I will analyze, challenge and optimize your concept of music and musical self-image - in your day-to-day workflow and for promoting your project.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to be an already accomplished professional - what’s much more important is that you are passionate about what you do. The technical aspects of this course will perfectly scale to your level of experience - so will the interviews, my suggestions and the language I will use to explain myself.
I am a 100% DIY artist and have developed my various styles following nothing but my own, often unorthodox ideas. I am going to show you that your musical mission and the way you present it to the world will vastly when you put the right kind of instinct, audacity, enthusiasm and care into it.
Don’t expect any “secret weapon”-type of hints, but do expect lots of unexpected and inspiring input on how to build a unique musical identity. After dozens of lectures and workshops for all sorts of audiences all over the world, I’m ready for pretty much any kind of question and/or challenge.
ABOUT MARKUS POPP
Berlin-based composer / musician Markus Popp aka Oval is one of the most distinguished and respected producers in electronic music. Popp’s album releases, remixes and collaborations have always been at the cutting edge of electronic music, many of them turning points for the genre. No one else out there plays the computer quite like him.
His distinct and process-oriented, yet strikingly musical signature sound pioneered "glitch" and "clicks & cuts" in the 1990s. In 2010, after years of silence, Oval made a spectacular comeback with a radical, organic, “hyper-real" style. Recently, he has explored “club” sound aesthetics (from retro to fantastical) with his explosive, extravagant “Popp” album. Markus has won both the PRIX ARS ELECTRONICA and the QWARTZ awards *twice*. Since 2015, he is coaching newcomer artists / music projects full time. So, yes, he’s in touch with the kids.
