Customer Spotlight: Rakurs Records

Oct 22

Greetings! Would you please tell us a bit about your studio?

Rakurs Records is a recording studio from Ukraine, based in Kryvyi Rih. It features a large collection of high-quality musical instruments and microphones and is equipped with both analog and digital devices. The studio was established in 2022. Despite the ongoing war and active combat phases, we were driven by the dream of being free and having our own creative space without limitations.

We aimed to be in an environment with modern and advanced equipment, as we are also musicians, and to provide this space for recording Ukrainian musicians, creating conditions for high-quality music.

By the end of 2021, we already had a draft project and dreamed of building a studio separately by the end of 2022. We decided to take a risk and create the studio within the existing office of another of our businesses, and we do not regret it now, as it has been a great experience in design. The design of the sound room and control room was done according to our project with acoustic measurements at every stage of construction.

The studio allows us to record both individual performers and groups of up to 10 people. In addition, we have our own video production, with which we can record live sessions with the highest quality studio sound, as well as interviews and podcasts. We have created our own YouTube channel where we periodically post our live sessions, interviews with musicians, video reviews, and more.

We now host people from all over Ukraine.

As a result, the studio has become a haven that can divert people's minds from the horrors of war, transport them to the memories of peaceful life, and instill hope.

However, Rakurs Records is not only about quality, professionalism, improvement, experimentation, and love for our work, but also about safety. The studio has an accredited bomb shelter, so we invite musicians to record with full responsibility.

Do you specialize in any particular style of music, or any particular part of the music creation process?

In almost two years of the studio's existence, most of the work has been related to recording performers from the metal scene.

However, during this time, our team has also recorded, mixed, and mastered tracks and albums in many other genres: punk rock, alternative rock, electronic music, acoustic works, pop tracks, children’s choirs, solo performers, and more. Overall, Rakurs Records has the capability to handle work in various musical genres and directions.

We are also involved in our own audio developments, a process that we will soon reveal to the world.

In our ongoing effort to enhance our recording equipment, Rakurs Records is constantly striving to integrate cutting-edge technologies to ensure the highest sound quality. A recent addition to our arsenal — MBT [Master Bus Transformer] processor with the 5059 Satellite model — has marked a significant step in this direction.

After careful listening and evaluating the capabilities of MBT, we concluded that its use brought a notable improvement in sound quality. This processor, with its outstanding features, has proven to be an indispensable tool, especially in mix processing. Despite the plugins we use, the capabilities of MBT added additional depth and richness to the sound, confirming its effectiveness.

We have also incorporated the 5059 Summing Mixer into our setup, which has proven to be superior to digital in-the-box solutions. The analog summing mixer has provided a more refined and natural sound, demonstrating its effectiveness and importance in our process. It achieves a warmer and more immersive sound that is difficult to replicate with only digital tools.

Currently, the whole world is talking about Ukraine, but generally only in the context of the war. Would you please tell us a bit about the music scene in Ukraine?

Ukrainian Music Industry: The Most Interesting Artists and Bands

This section of the article was written by the studio’s partner Oleksii Bondarenko, the chief editor of the music media company Liroom.

Just as Ukrainian culture is a part of European culture, the Ukrainian music industry is similar to the industries of European countries, with its own peculiarities, of course. Due to the fact that Ukrainian culture has existed in various formats for more than 1,500 years, folk roots are strongly felt in contemporary music. And perhaps it is these roots that become the object of interest for foreign listeners.

World Music

The most prominent on the world stage are bands that usually perform under the World Music brand — namely Dakhabrakha, Dakh Daughters (closer to theater), and ONUKA (closer to electronic music). In fact, participants and winners of Eurovision from Ukraine mostly also mix folk elements into various genres. Ruslana — in pop-rock. Jamala used Crimean Tatar melodies, Go_A wove folk into drum and bass, Kalush Orchestra — into hip-hop, and Jerry Heil and alyona alyona — into gospel and pop music.

In general, Eurovision plays a significant role in the perception of Ukraine in the world. Our artists, if they don't win, at least become extremely noticeable every year. One of the secrets of such success, in my opinion, is that this competition is treated with special attention throughout the country. Eurovision is only surpassed in popularity by the World and European Football Championships. Plus, there is an internal selection process, often featuring the best artists at the time.

Among the interesting folk-oriented artists, which I believe are also worth attention, are the band YUKO (which has unfortunately disbanded), its former member Yulia Yurina, bandura player and singer KRUTЬ, Zwyntar for country music lovers, the band Nazva for klezmer enthusiasts, and Casa Ucrania for fans of a darker sound.

Alternative Rock

While mainstream Ukrainian media focused on popular music and niche platforms were quite scarce, Ukrainian alternative bands immediately decided to work for an English-speaking audience worldwide. And many of them succeeded. I will name just a few, but you can find many more if you wish.

The brightest example is the Kyiv-based band Stoned Jesus, whose main hit "I'm The Mountain" became the most popular stoner track in the world on YouTube. A similar path was followed by the band Somali Yacht Club.

A notable act is the black metal band White Ward, especially their 2022 album "False Light," which ranked 51st on the Rate Your Music website, where very demanding reviewers gather.

Another phenomenon is the Kharkiv-based band Drudkh, popular worldwide but has never performed a single concert in its existence.

It's also worth mentioning the band Jinjer, which even supported Slipknot on tour, though they have a controversial reputation within Ukraine due to their ambiguous stance on the war with Russia.

Electronic Scene

Another scene not tied to language or location. Since the 2000s, Ukraine has seen the rise of musicians, DJs, and producers whose fame has extended beyond the country's borders. Perhaps the most popular among them was DJ Nastia (or simply Nastia), who performed at almost all major electronic music festivals. Miss K8, a hardcore techno DJ with millions of views on YouTube, is also incredibly well-known worldwide.

Regular residents of major festivals also include ArtBat, Woo York, and Miss Monique, though there are ongoing discussions within the country regarding their stance on Russia.

In the niche electronic direction, almost every release by Heinali receives recognition, including from The Guardian.

In Ukraine, a whole generation of phonk musicians is also emerging, who are still under the radar of music media but are exploding on Spotify. These include artists like D4C, SEAVYSIDE, MoonDeity, and others.

Popular Music

Popular music in Ukraine is primarily targeted at a local audience, so it is mostly performed in Ukrainian. Nevertheless, there are local superstars in Ukraine capable of filling stadiums and large halls across the country.

Recent examples include Artem Pivovarov with his combat pop and Klavdiia Petrivna, who marked the return of neo-chanson to Ukrainian radio stations. Among the traditional Ukrainian giants are the rock band Okean Elzy (who played their song "Obiymy" together with Coldplay), the pop-rock band Antytila (who had a very successful collaboration with Ed Sheeran on the song "2step"), and the band Boombox, who recorded a version of "Chervona Kalyna" together with Pink Floyd.

The Ukrainian indie scene has long tried to break into international markets but has not had significant success. However, I consider the band Esthetic Education to be severely underrated, as they could have competed globally.

From the latest generation of artists, it's worth listening to indie-pop band Tember Blanche, post-punk from SadSvit, aggressive electronics from Struktura Shchastya, post-rock from Renie Cares, and art-rock from the band Tsyferblat.

Underground

In addition to pop music and artists close to it, Ukraine has a historically strong underground and "middle scene." In 2023, according to Liroom, Ukrainian musicians released over 1,000 albums.

Projects can be very different in direction and level of eclecticism. For example, RUSIIICK manages to play both on the field of hard metal and hallucinogenic drum and bass. The projects Ragapop and Dakh Trio, created by members of Dakh Daughters, explore the layers of music that the parent band does not reach.

Among the metal scene, True Tough, Sick Solution, and BLIND8 stand out. Producer Alex Yarmak collaborates with top-level artists like Within Temptation.

Somewhere between the underground and local popularity are bands like Dzhoserz, spoken word from Nytsio Potvorno, rapper-rocker Palindrom, the electronic project from Dnipro Kurs Valut, or the Lviv-based singer-songwriter Montesquieu.

Overall, Ukrainian music keeps up with global trends (singer DOROFEEVA, who implements K-Pop practices), nostalgizes the old and reproduces contemporary retro trends (Mistmorn, inspired by Midwest emo and post-punk), and generates new, unique music characteristic of our country (singer Godiy Starukh, who plays the ancient instrument lira) and even of the wartime era.

Thanks so much to Alexander, Oleksii, and everyone else from Rakurs Records for taking the time to speak with us. To learn more about Rakurs Records, visit the links below.

RAKURS RECORDS ON INSTAGRAM

RAKURS RECORDS ON YOUTUBE

rakurs-records.com