Plenty of producers can make a track sound expensive. I also work with you on what comes before the sound: what your song is really saying, which voice should say it, and which arrangement lets it land.
I played my first show at five, I’ve been a frontman since I was 17, and I’ve written more than 700 songs. So when you bring me a song, I listen as a singer and a songwriter before I touch a single sound. You get the full production, and a coach beside you from the first conversation to the final master.
I finally got my very first professional song. I didn’t think it was possible, because I was really lost.
LuisaArtist · first single produced with Ike
A lot of singers arrive right there, with a song they believe in and no idea what the next step is. It’s a good place to start. Luisa’s advice to anyone in that spot is to find “someone with great ideas and that can listen to you and that really works with you towards your goal.” That’s the job as I see it.
Before we talk about sound, we talk about the song. What happened? Who are you singing this to? Which line is still being careful?
A first draft often circles around the real subject. I’ll keep asking, gently, until we’re standing on it, and we’ll reshape words and melody where the song needs it. It’s the same work I do with songwriters in Write Your Fire, and it changes how you sing, because you finally know exactly what you’re saying.
Many producers think about a vocal technically: the microphone, the tuning, the compression. All of that matters, and none of it can add what wasn’t sung.
Shaping the voice itself is a different skill, and it’s vital to the song and the performance. I’ve been a singer all my life, so this is where we spend real time. We try a line closer and further away, with more air or more edge, until one version gives you goosebumps. We develop the tones you already have, select the right ones, and decide where each one belongs.
I think as a songwriter before I think about the music.
Does the chorus arrive too late? Should the drums wait for the second verse? Is the key putting your best notes in the right place? Does the hook need one more instrument, or three fewer? These choices can look small, and they very often decide whether a listener stays. Whatever we build has one job, which is to carry your voice and your message.
Producers often don’t really explain why some decisions are made. A track comes back different, and you’re left guessing what happened to your song.
I try to explain the decisions as we make them: why this key, why the drums wait, why this take over the other one. Ask me about any of it. You leave with a finished song and an understanding of how it was built, so you grow as an artist and bring more to the next one.
Bring a voice memo, a demo or a finished song. We get clear on what it wants to say.
We settle the key and develop the tones for each part of the song.
I build the arrangement and the sound, and you react to it as it grows.
We capture the vocal, with everything you’ve prepared behind it.
Mix and master, with three rounds of revisions.
One song includes three two-hour sessions with me, plus arrangement, vocal coaching and recording, mix and master.
Before we work together, I suggest following my course Zero to Song all the way through.
It gives you inspiration and an understanding of the different parts of the process, from writing and developing the idea to launching it, building a team and social media. Then you come to our sessions already knowing the bigger picture your song is part of.
49 short daily videos that take you from a blank page to a released song.
See Zero to Song →I have studios in both countries. You come in, we work side by side, and I coach your vocal as we record it.
I develop the music production with you online, and your vocals are recorded in a separate studio, somewhere that suits you.
I’m IKEVALD, an Estonian singer, songwriter and producer, and a fourth-generation musician.
I studied at Berklee College of Music, The Songwriting Academy and the Rhythmic Music Center in Denmark, and I’ve played over 1,000 shows. My song “Genius” won a BBC Radio songwriting competition, and “Never Surrender”, co-written with Albin Ljungqvist, was released by Takanori Nishikawa on Epic Records.
For over two years I’ve had a publishing deal as a songwriter with DWB Music in the UK. That lets me bring my global musical expertise as a creator into your project, along with recent insights from the music industry.
No. A voice memo or half a chorus is enough to start. If you don’t have a song yet, tell me, because we can also write one together.
No. Vocal coaching is part of the process. You only need to love singing and be willing to try things.
Then we work online, and your vocals are recorded in a separate studio.
It depends on the song and how we work. Tell me where it is now, and I’ll reply with a clear proposal.
Write directly, or fill this in. I answer personally, usually within two days.
info@ikevald.com+372 555 99 092