News archive 2015
December 01, 2015 (last updated on December 31):
Delta Music Belgium will soon launch...
a second studio!
Indeed, it's not a joke, I start with a second studio! More details will follow later, but during the month of December I can already reveal the new name and logo piece by piece. And these are literally 100 jigsaw puzzle pieces, they will appear below day after day until the entire logo will be visible. Once the new name and logo have been revealed I will explain more about the new studio and of course I will also launch the associated website...
Last update of the jigsaw puzzle: December 24, 2015
Update December 31, 2015:
Who thought that it was a second sound recording studio? Indeed, it is not!
The official name is 'Delta Graphic Belgium' with as an attachment 'Delta Graphic Design Studio', just like 'Delta Music Belgium' with as an attachment 'Pro Tools | HD Studio'. administratively these are 2 different so called signs of the same self-employed company 'Marc Schellekens' under the same business number. But the list of authorized trading was significantly extended with among others activities of graphic designers and the design and programming of computer software.
Actually, for me this is more or less going back to where it all began, namely my training at the Decorative Arts, thus all forms of artistic drawing and painting, drawing and designing fonts + calligraphy and of course also graphic composition. When I was 19 I left it all behand and I finally chose a career in the music business, but at the same time I can not deny that this graphic formation has always helped me in a lot of different ways through the history of Delta Music. As with the design of logos for Delta Music, ads in magazines and of course the entire graphic design of my website. This website has been around for about 15 years, so over the years I've become better and better at programming websites and especially websites with a clear graphic and artistic objective. I absolutely can't program eg. a web shop with 5,000 products with stock management and all the bells and whistles associated with a web shop and that does not interest me at all to start with. But creating beautiful graphic logos, playing with letters, texts and images, making three dimensions fit on a two-dimensional plane, creating graphic animations, fiddling with a website, I still find it fun to do.
And apparently I'm doing it not so bad after all, because over the years people sometimesasked me if I could design them a logo, or a birthday card, or design a small website, etc ... Sometimes I said yes to please them, but mostly I said no, but I always kept it more on a distance then I would promote awareness for it. Until a few months ago I was offered a great job and I was given the choice to accept it or not. In any case it is not a voluntary commitment, it's all about designing a large new web site and keeping it up-to-date over a long period of time, So to accept, I had to immediately make everything legal and official. And that is what happened and completed, my second studio is a fact!
The first question that comes naturally to ask is whether the two studios will get in conflict with each other, but that risk seems very small to me. I already choose what music productions I would like to, I just get more choices, so the music productions that I want to do, I will certainly continue to do so. Plus there is obviously still a big difference between the recording of a full CD and the design of a company logo, a corporate identity or even a full website. Besides, nowadays you can find a company that designs websites on every corner of the street, so this won't upset the apple cart. As already stated, the job offered is so interesting that it was very difficult to refuse it, but at the same time also a full CD recording is planned for 2016, so...
Of course Delta Graphic Belgium also has a website, logically this is... exactly!
But ... there is actually still quite nothing to see, so please be patient...
And today is December 31, 2015, so... my best wishes for 2016!
November 20, 2015
Guitars with just that little bit more to it
I was already very satisfied with my collection of guitars and basses, but I know there is still missing a big name and that name is Gibson from Nashville, Tennessee, USA...
This is mainly due to financial considerations because Gibson guitars are not exactly cheap. Not that I'm suddenly going to buy guitars costing 6000 or 7000 euro (the top models do cost that much), but still buying a decent Gibson guitar remains a solid investment and they are woefully missing in my collection.
However, until today, because today I can proudly announce the acquisition of not one, but two brand new authentic Gibson guitars!
A small presentation is definitely appropriate:
Gibson - Les Paul Studio Manhattan Midnight
This is a Gibson Les Paul, more exactly the 'studio model' of Les Paul. These guitars don't have the frills of a topmodel, e.g. varying levels of top wood quality, no binding around body, neck and sometimes headstock and no chrome hardware (it does have a beautiful satin-nickle finish though), but otherwise the differences are very small.
The differences are certainly not big soundwise because this is determined primarily by the quality and type of pickups and this guitar is equipped with a Gibson '57 and a '57 Plus Classic Humbucker with Alnico II magnets, which guarantees the typical Gibson sound. In this case, the pickups are also separately switchable in "humbucker" mode or "split coil" mode, this gives even more sound possibilities than is possible with a standard Les Paul that only works in "humbucker" mode.
BTW: the dark blue 'Manhattan Midnight' color on the picture does not honor the guitar, because the real color is much more beautiful and deeper than in the picture (thanks to the genuine nitrocellulose lacquer)
Gibson - SG Standard Heritage Cherry with Angus Young (AC/DC) Signature Humbucker Pickup
This is a Gibson SG Standard, no slightly stripped down version like the Les Paul Studio, but the standard model as it was available during the past decades. In this case in the original color 'heritage cherry', again the real color is much more beautiful and deeper than in the picture (nevertheless these are the official product photos as they are available on the Gibson website). There is no binding around the guitar (which is normal), but there is a binding around the neck and the hardware is fully chromed.
The SG Standard model is normally spoken equipped with two Gibson '57 Classic Humbucker Pickups with Alnico 2 magnets (both also with the exceptional split-coil function), but with this guitar I wanted lto go that extra step further then normal. Therefore, I have replaced the bridge pickup with a Gibson Angus Young Signature Humbucker Pickup with Alnico V magnets and more windings (and also with the split-coil function)
Especially Angus Young, guitarist of AC/DC, has made the Gibson SG Standard world famous, so I think it was appropriate to make this guitar an Angus Young "tribute guitar", which gives an extra character and the typical sound of AC/DC to this guitar (look and listen on Youtube to 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC and you know what I mean).
The only thing that is missing to make it a real Gibson 'Thunderstruck' Angus Young SG are the inlays on the fingerboard shaped like lightning bolts, but... I didn't want to spend an extra 1.000 euro on that, I might be a little bit crazy... but I'm not stupid :-)
Here is a picture of the two guitars displayed on my guitar wall in the Recording Room:
You can find more detailed info about my collection guitars and basses on the page
November 13, 2015
In memoriam
Paris - November 13, 2015
October 30, 2015
A new additional equipment list on the website
about my collection of microphones
My collection of microphones was already mentioned in the • General equipment list • but without any additional information. I already started to put a picture for each microphone on this page and some text lines with additional information, but soon I found out that the already very long • General equipment list • just was getting even more longer. So a separate page for the collection of microphones became indispensable, if only because for a recording studio microphones are not really unimportant!
This is a link to the new page:
October 25, 2015
September 25, 2014 - October 25, 2015
Delta Music Belgium is 13 months open in Sint-Truiden! (it is something different than one year, no?)
This year we are celebrating not only the 20th anniversary of my company Delta Music Belgium but also 13 months of business in the new studio in Sint-Truiden.
And it went quickly that first year...In the beginning there was a lot free time, time I used to test and fine-tune the new studio. Among others this has led to the transformation of the Vocal Booth + MIDI Room + Pro Tools|24 MIX Room into the Roland V-Drums Room and also to the placement of a selection of my synthesizers inside the Pro Tools | HD Control Room.
Over time, the first new customers appearedand and what I expected has become reality: the border with Wallonia (= the french speaking part of Belgium, the border is located 10 km. from here) has proved to be no border after all, on the contrary...
A striking difference with the past is that the new customers are attracted primarily by my clear and sincere website that apparently expresses a lot of confidence, personality and professionalism. Also the private nature of the studio where customers can work with me on a music production quietly and undisturbed is highly appreciated. And third the ocCASIOnal VIP clients tend to appriciate especially the absolute privacy very well. Nobody knows they're here, I make no pictures of studio sessions to be posted on my website and brag about it, etc... The only way you can see that I worked for an artist is by the appearance of their name on my • References • webpage.
I did not expect at all that my private and serene way of working with clients would be appriciated in such a big way. So it is just logical that I will emphasize on this even more in the future. For example on my webpage with • Frequently Asked Questions • I have added a question + an answer concerning the assurances I give about privacy.
So far the business side of things, the most radical event for me personally in this first year... is the rediscovery of my first love: synthesizers!
I've sold a few less interesting synthesizers and most of all I bought some extra. Naturally, the moog Voyaager and moog SUB 37 (both superb analogue synthesizers) a very big asset, also the digital novation ULTRANOVA and waldorf blofeld are not to be underestimated.
But the machines of Roland really surprised me, especially the Roland V-Piano. The more I use it the better I like it, sometimes it's really like having a "living" piano under my fingers. The Roland JUPITER-80 is also great and very versatile, so much so that I have bought one more but this time as a 19" rack unit, the Roland INTEGRA-7 SuperNATURAL Sound Module:
This module contains all the sounds of the JUPITER-80 + an extra range of SuperNATURAL sounds + also all Roland Expansion Boards that Roland has ever released (14 Expansion Boards in a virtual form). In grand total this module has more then 6000 sounds available.
But the synthesizer that has surprised me the most is one that I bought second-hand last year, my Roland V-Synth from 2003. Originally he had passed entirely to my attention, but by reading about it aroused my curiosity and I went looking for it. And with success because after a few months I found a Roland V-Synth in very good condition and at an acceptable price.
After spending some time experimenting with this machine it dawned on me that this is the most innovative synthesizer Roland released during the last 20 years. I also knew that Roland in 2005 released a V-Synth XT (as a 19" rack unit) and in 2007 also the V-Synth GT (again including a keyboard). The special feature of the V-Synth GT is that this is actually two full V-Synth's in one machine + an incredibly good vocoder. It quickly became clear to me that this was the machine was still missing in my collection.
After searching several months I found one for sale online and what was very special about is that it was the last demonstration model at Roland Central Europe. The machine was as good as new and only had a few scratches and when I heard Roland still gave a full 3 year factory warranty, I hesitated not a minute longer and I bought it immediately.
So I am now the proud owner of an original V-Synth and a V-Synth GT, so actually three V-Synth's in total!
Of course I updated the selection of synthesizers in the Pro Tools | HD Control Room and now looks like this:
Next to the Roland JUPITER-80 lies the V-Synth GT, above it lies the original V-Synth. Left below the V-Synth GT is a 19" rack housing my Roland synthesizer modules, the display on top is the recently bought Roland INTEGRA-7.
However, there is one small thing that is still missing in my V-Synth Collection and that is a "Roland VC-1 V-Card". This is a PC-card which transforms an original V-Synth in a legendary Roland D-50 synthesizer. These are two pictures:
a Roland VC-1 V-Card
the front of the package
The Roland V-Synth XT (19" rack unit) has the VC-1 V-Card built-in, but buying a full V-Synth XT synthesizer specially for the VC-1 V-Card a is a bit too much I'm afraid...
So if you should see Roland VC-1 V-Card for sale, please let me know ASAP!
July 03, 2015
July 03, 1995 - July 03, 2015
Delta Music Belgium celebrates 20 years in bussiness!
The self-employed business named Delta Music was officialy founded on July 3, 1995 at Edegem. But actually I'm using the name Delta Music since 1983, when I made my first steps in the world of music as a composer with a live synthesizer show. After some years it evolved more and more into a composer with a studio filled with synthesizers and computers and the live aspect became less and less important.
At least as far as you could speak of a real studio, today it would be a typical 'bedroom studio' as there are so many these days. There wasn't a real recording room, but a lot of vocal recordings were made inside the bathroom. I have recorded several CDs in this studio, logically the music was mostly electronic based accompanied by vocals.
This is a photo from the beginning of 1998 in Edegem:
In 1998 all the equipment moved to a new studio in Mortsel. From then on it was more like a real studio, including a small seperated Vocal Booth and a Machine Room in the corridor next to the studio.
This is a photo from the end of 1998 in Mortsel:
In 2006, the studio was expanded to 5.1 surround, notice that even then the drawing of the plan for the placement of the speakers was graphically integrated into the carpet, just as is the case today in Sint-Truiden.
This is a photo from 2006 in Mortsel:
In 2009, everything was dismantled and packed up to move to Sint-Truiden. A whole new studio was built there on empty land, so I got the opportunity to build the studio the way I wanted it exactly.
However, the building process did not go without a hitch, so I could not start with the actual layout of the new studio until 2012. But due to some water leaks and a legal action I was forced to wait until 2014 to open the studio.
At the opening of the studio on September 25, 2014 the Pro Tools | HD Control Room looked like this:
Initially (in the middle of 2012) the Pro Tools | HD Control Room looked like this:
At the opening of the studio on September 25, 2014 it already looked like this:
And today this how the Pro Tools | HD Control Room looks like:
Since the opening of the studio nine months ago, I tested the studio very thoroughly and I was able to find out what is handy and what is not. For example there was a Vocal Booth + MIDI Room + Pro Tools|24 MIX Room with inside my old studio from Mortsel + my collection of old synthesizers.
However, practice proved that this room was not being used at all. And if an old synthesizer was used, then it was taken out of the Vocal Booth + MIDI Room + Pro Tools|24 MIX Room and it was installed and connected in the Pro Tools | HD Control Room.
The result is therefore that all the equipment inside the Vocal Booth + MIDI Room + Pro Tools|24 MIX Room was removed. The old Pro Tools|24 MIX system was sold, together with a few old synthesizers. The remaining old synthesizers were stored and I bought a legendary Roland V-Synth (second-hand) + a Roland JUPITER-80, a moog SUB 37 and a novation ULTRANOVA (all 3 brand new).
The most common used synthesizers are now installed in the Pro Tools | HD Control Room, making it today a separate MIDI corner, with additional displays for Pro Tools | HD and Genelec 8020A speakers:
Inside the Recording Room where the Roland V-Drums were installed initially practice proved the V-Drums just hindered the other musicians most of the time. So the V-drums were moved to the Vocal Booth + MIDI Room + Pro Tools|24 MIX Room, what has now become a separate 'Roland V-Drums Room':
Inside the Recording Room also my collection of electric guitars and basses took up too much place, so I hung them all on the wall.
This is a panoramic photo of the 'guitar wall' as it stands today:
And this is the opposite side (also panoramic photo) with my acoustic guitars + my favorite microphone set-up for recording vocals:
The rest of the Recording Room is now mostly empty so musicians can do their thing as comfortable as possible:
This is a more detailed photo of my favorite microphone set-up for recording vocals. It's a black NEUMANN U87al and below a RØDE NTK tube microphone that is modified with a 'NOS Telefunken E88CC / 6922 Gold Pin Diamond Vacuum Tube' from 1967 (my year of birth):
All the photos above were taken last week, in other words as well as all the photos from the studio on this website were replaced.
And for the attentive viewer it will be clear that I also replaced the background of the entire site!
Actually I consider the studio as 'finished' now,of course to the extent that a studio never can be completely finished anyway.
I for one am ready for another 20 years!
June 24, 2015
In memoriam
Thé Lau
Juli 17, 1952 - June 23, 2015
May 14, 2015
Another two belated birthday gifts:
2 x bass with a string more!
Squier by Fender - Vintage Modified Jazz Bass® V Natural (5 strings - low B)
Squier by Fender - Vintage Modified Precision Bass® V Olympic White
(5 strings - low B)
I already had a five-string ESP Ltd bass guitar in my collection, but I had no 5-string Jazz Bass® or Precision Bass®...
Now I do :-)
April 19, 2015
The 'Canaries' from Sint-Truiden finally whistle in a higher league again!
STVV returns to the Jupiler Pro League!
Congratulations!
April 11, 2015
List of birthday party gifts I received!
(or rather the list of investments done in 2015)
1 x analogue synthesizer with lots and lots of character
moog - SUB 37 Tribute Edition -
(2-note) paraphonic analogue synthesizer
1 x digital synthesizer, small, but very powerfull
novation - ULTRANOVA
1 x digital synthesizer with lots of prestige
Roland - JUPITER-80
METAMORPHOSIS OF A LEGEND
1 x digital synthesizer with an extreme character
and a dark soul
Roland - V-Synth (OS V2)
3 x Hardware guitar amp + speaker + guitar FX pedal simulator wit an orange like colour
AVID - Eleven Rack
1 x guitar with a serious 'heavy metal vibe'
ESP Ltd - 'Signature' James Hetfield (Metallica)
Truckster Guitar Aged Black Satin
1 x guitar with the character of a Foo Fighter
Fender - 'Signature' Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) Telecaster® Deluxe
1 x 'hollow body' guitar with lots of strings
GRETSCH - Electromatic® Hollow Body
12-String Sunburst
1 x guitar with a semi-hollow body + a solid center
+ 3 pick-ups (on a GRETSCH? No kidding!)
GRETSCH - Electromatic® Semi-Hollow Body Center-Block Rosa Red
2 x guitar with a 'vintage classic 50's vibe'
Squier by Fender - Classic Vibe Stratocaster® 50s
2-Color Sunburst MN
Squier by Fender - Classic Vibe Telecaster® 50s Butterscotch Blonde
1 x bass with the character of a guitar
Squier by Fender - Vintage Modified Bass VI 3-Color Sunburst (6 strings - 1 octave lower then a guitar)
1 x bass guitar with a deep and dark vibe
ESP Ltd - 'Heavy-Metal' Forest Bass (5 strings - low B)
1 x bass guitar with a split 'PJ' personality
(= a mix of a Fender Precision Bass® and a Fender Jazz Bass®)
Squier by Fender - Affinity Series™ Precision Bass®
PJ Metallic Red
April 10, 2015
Today was was my 48th birthday!
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