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Glad we meet here :)
I'm Ilya, a composer, sound designer, multi-instrumentalist, live performer and audio geek
Here comes my portfolio
Interlude: where the music starts
Ilya Dzeahel (Sinkopa_)
I compose and make sound design for performances, theater, computer and browser games, festival films, live immersive performances
I have been making music for over 17 years. Since the first guitar fell into my hands, I have never left this wonderful world of notes, timbres and rhythmic structures
I play strings instruments and keyboards: sitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, gitalele, piano, midi keyboard, digital and analog synthesizers. I love using the bow when playing. Carefully cultivated a collection of my VST instruments
In music, I prefer to pay attention to the atmosphere and space, I experiment with the narrative component, I strive to convey feelings of the second order and do not hesitate to ambiguous interpretations
As part of various musical groups and solo released 7 full-length albums. With information inflation, I switched to the release of singles
Composed music for 8 choreographic performances. Together with Dodoma band for 4 more. Had a premiere at the Bolshoi Theater of Moscow. Our music was presented in Germany and China
Wrote music and general sound design for the robot battle royale shooter computer game and the fantasy mobile game about fairies :)
Organized festivals and concerts for up to 1800 people. Held 15 ambient concerts at the Planetarium
I traveled with concerts to Estonia (Tallin Music Week), Ukraine (Kiev, Lviv, Carpathian Mountains), Russia (Petersburg, Moscow), Belarus (Minsk, Gomel, Vitebsk), Georgia (Batumi, Tbilisi)
I feel most at ease in DAW Logic Pro X, but I have experience and am well versed in Cubase, Ableton and FL Studio
Easily handle any type of VTS instruments and effectors. My favorites are Kontakt, Serum, NI Massive, Spitfire audio's instrument package, Waves, FabFilter plugin packages
I have experience with Wwise by Audiokinetic
Extensive experience in recording and processing live instruments, items, furniture and field recordings
Additional education:
"Designing Video Game Soundtracks". A course by Antonio Teoli, Game Composer
Rhythm and texture: music for choreography
Written for choreographic performance Demon directed by dance artist Viktoriya Archaya. Inspired by Mikhail Lermontov's poem Demon. The idea was to create a touching and at the same time disturbing atmosphere, to emphasize Georgian motifs, and to convey the story through 2 ballet dancers. I used digital and analog synthesizers to create atmospheric sounds, samples by Hamlet Gonashvili (ჰამლეტ გონაშვილი), zurna, acoustic guitar.
Composition for the choreographic performance Siyanie directed by Olga Labovkina. Premiered November 15 at the Bolshoi Theater. One of 8 tracks for a massive show for 11 dancers. You can listen for full on my soundcloud
Composition Self-portrait written for choreographic mono performance Triptych directed by dance artist Viktoriya Archaya. This is one out of three tracks composed for the performance. Full available on my soundcloud
Zoic it's an environmental immersive performance in Shangai (China). Direkted by Maria Ponomaiova and Huang Li. Whole performance had an hour duration. It was connected with animalistic nature of human being living his life in urban environment. 4 dancers involved
Jagen it's a dance piece by Olga Labovkina. Premiered at ShtaadtteaterGissen (Germany). 50 minutes length. Dancers: Caitlin-Rae Crook / Maria Adriana Dornio / Marine Henry / Jeremy Curnier / Sven Krautwurst / Floriado Komino.
I recorded carbage cracking for this track. I find it quite funny that my carbage solo toured around Germany :)
Vse chto posle - Choreographic masterpiece
Music and sound-design for choreographic masterpiece "Vse chto posle" directed by Olga Labovkina. 1h 50 min. Cello recorded by Una Peresetskaya-Molokovich
The performance balances on the edge of dream and reality: sometimes these two states of consciousness merge to the point of indistinguishability, sometimes they diverge, and a certain conventional boundary between them breaks down, unable to withstand the tension. The production is imbued with a sense of duality: the choreography intertwines lively movement with the grotesque gestures of a marionette.
Siyanie - Choreographic performance
Music written for the choreographic performance Siyanie directed by Olga Labovkina. Premiered November 15 at the Bolshoi Theater. Some out of 8 tracks for a massive show for 11 dancers.
"Olga Labovkina choreographed the ballet "Siyanie". Choosing Olaf Stapledon's philosophical fiction novel The Star Maker as a basis, she decorated the performance with inflatable scenery: a seven-meter-long silver-colored female head, the hollow back of whose head served as a sort of apartment-camera for the hero. The ambiguous humming of Ilya Dzeahel's minimalist electronic music matched the profound thought of the libretto, according to which the hero became "part of the universal collective consciousness - the Observer" and in this capacity met the "Original Source of all things". However, "being painfully blinded by its all-penetrating infinite Radiance... he was never able to comprehend the scale of what was happening to him".
Full text from a review of the ballet you can reach here
Charlie in Colors
One of my notable compositor's work was for the theatre performance titled "Charlie in Colors" Premiered on June 10, 2023
In "Charlie in Colors" I had the opportunity to compose a 70-minute musical journey that intertwined my original compositions with Charlie Chaplin's iconic musical citations. Through a blend of sound design and music composition, I enhanced the narrative exploration of Charlie Chaplin's transformative journey. The performance delved into his exploration of manipulating colors, transitioning from darkness and black-and-white imagery to a vibrant palette symbolizing his emotional growth and resilience.
Within a tight timeframe of just one month, I crafted the musical landscape of "Charlie in Colors" using a combination of VSTi instruments like the Kontakt Sampler and Labs, along with a recorded cello. This allowed me to create a diverse range of emotions, traversing ambient, EDM, and orchestral genres.
My goal was to evoke a myriad of emotions, seamlessly transitioning from colorless melancholy to moments of pure joy, surreal enchantment, and profound sadness. By blending these musical genres, I ensured an immersive and evocative auditory experience for the audience.
Immersive ticking: Sound design and music for videogames
Rescored: YET ANOTHER FANTASY TITLE
by Atomic Wolf
I got very inspired by their announcement trailer for YET ANOTHER FANTASY TITLE.
I liked the satirical presentation and visual component of the game and decided to rescore it.
In general idea was to create easy-listening fantasy music that fits each scene in the trailer. I used VSTi synthesizers for magic sounds (mostly Serum and Phase Plant) and a list of Kontakt libraries for music. Also my voice, air atomizer, falling stones, touching knives were recorded for sound design needs.
Some ideas about a Hyper Casual mobile game:
I took the timbre of marimba as a melodic basis to emphasize the mood of the island and bright cheerful tones.
Rhythmically I supported it with African percussion (based on rhythm Fanga) with the same goal - island moods. I refused to use bass to keep the airiness.
For the melody I chose the kalimba instrument - it also reflects summer, oceans and is an original combination with African percussion.
For ambience I used a recording of calm waves from Cape Verde islands, (found in free sources)
I expanded the space with reverbs and panaromization by frequencies, from this the sound becomes three-dimensional and a sense of movement is achieved 🙂 .
For the dice throw I recorded the sound myself. Lowered it a bit and rhythmicized it. The sound that precedes dice throw was inspired by the sonar sound, which I made softer through fade in/fade out and frequency correction, so that it didn't cut the ear.
For the sound of jumps used vst-library, consisting of small asmr sounds (one of my favorite)
Award stars sound - played notes from the main tone on a vst instrument harp, where samples are based on the glissando technique
Beat and harmony: releases of mine
Music of a cold winter morning. Music of cracking ice underneath and bright sun that still warms. I used Electrone Digitone synthesizer and a fretless bass guitar with a bow here. Yep, that one on a first picture
In this track, I was exploring the dancing abilities of household utensils. I recorded the keys, the squeaks of doors in all the rooms, I moved the sofa next to the microphone. The goal was to show the apartment how to waltz in 3/4. Do you know that dance music started with the waltz?
Some thoughts about the paleocontact. This track could become the basis for a street performance, but the idea with aliens was much closer to me then. Guitalele and VST instruments were used here
In this composition, I explored storytelling in music. By the way, I am a big fan of RPG games and here I wanted to reflect the atmosphere of descent into a dungeon with chains and a combat encounter with insectoid monsters
More on streaming platforms
Verse and chorus: bands I played in
This is an experimental musical project that is engaged in sound design of choreographic performances and rave music.
Dodoma creates a unique mix of electronic and live music. Live performances of Dodoma are more like a DJ-set: the music does not stops and the songs flow into each other.
Arrangements are characterized by a leisurely and expressive development of melodic lines.
Dodoma is a frequent guest of live improvisation dance sessions of different directions, performances, exhibitions and happenings.
The musicians produced music for theatre and dance performances: Exit, The Body Earth, Alpha, Touch (O. Labovkina), conscious movement, FreeYouVision).
The musicians of Dodoma Group are:
Sergey FillFree (bass, fretless instruments, sitar, wave drum)
Vladimir Gandharva (djembe, wave drum, didgeridu, ocarina, saxophone, live-looping)
Tatyana Laput (keyboards, percussions, voice, mandoline)
Ilya Dzeahel (electric guitar, sitar, guitalel, drum machines, live-looping, fx)
Ancient pre-Christian texts and authentic dialects are placed in the space of modern European dance music. The acoustic background of the voice consists of an accordion, drums, bass guitar, bouzouki, sampling, live looping.
Musicians:
Irena Kotvitskaya - folk singer, composer, pianist, teacher, ethnomusicologist, author of music for performances. Diploma for contribution to the development of ethnic heritage of cross-border region Belarus-Poland (2013, Grodno, Belarus). Stages: Moscow State Conservatory, Rachmaninoff Hall; City Hall, Oslo, Norway; Great Hall of the Belarusian State Philharmonic, etc.
Alexey Vorsoba is a composer, arranger, teacher, and author of music for films, animation, commercials, plays, and performances. Leader of the instrumental trio
Port Mone. Scholarship holder of the program of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Poland "Gaude Polonia-2017".
Oleg Vaitulevich - musician, drummer, member of the groups "Pukstband", "Silver Wedding", "True Litwin Beat". Since 2016 a member of the folk-modern band "Palats".
Ilya Dzeahel - musician, concert manager, founder of the online ticketing service Tamtam. Oh, eah it's me :)
Andrei Apanovich - musician, multi-instrumentalist, creator of the solo project "Triangle".
Sister's Ray (Сестричкин луч) is a post-punk/psychedelic musical group from Minsk.
The style and sound of the group combines the means of expression of many musical genres. And it is on their combination a unique sound of the band was formed, where each song has its own mood.
From the stage the band is telling about surreal heroes and images, which, as we are, tirelessly reaching for the light and trying to define themselves in this world. The lyrical component is enhanced by elements of sound design, achieved through the unusual use of guitar sound. In combination with the pulsating rhythm section of post-punk and borrowings from psychedelic rock the atmosphere is created, which the musicians create at their performances.
Afrococoa's style is inspired by Nigerian musical idol Fela Kuti and international blues, soul and reggae artists, as well as traditional West African music.
The mix of genres played by Afrococoa stretches from the outskirts of Lagos to bustling New Orleans bars - Afrobeat, Highlife, Reggae, Blues, Spirituality… Rhythms that penetrate to the bones and creep into the farthest corners of your souls! From which the blood boils and the ancient instincts wake up!
Tangram is my first music band. I've been growing up with this guys. We've been putting as much delay and reverb effects on our guitars as it was even possible. Good times. Good memory. Massive vibe.
Drive and energy: I'm really keen on drum'n'bass
The track was written for the indie shooter FullGun.
In the near future, robots are killing each other in a battle royale.
Might get to play.
So, you scrolled to the very bottom of my portfolio. That means we can trust to each other and that is the reason why I should tell a story about Neurofunk Ostrich...
Once I got inspired by the might of ostrich. This inspiration had to be reflected in the music. What genre is worthy of this magnificent animal?
Neurofunk! This was the answer :)
So I wrote this track and created video for it. (I'm not so good in video editing, but it was worth it)
Don't be too serious while watching. I also have videos about a Hippo who prefers listen to gabber and an Elephant who's keen on techno.