01 · Production
Find the record inside the song
Arrangement, instrumentation, sonic direction and the sometimes awkward but useful question: “Does that actually make it better?”
Producer · Musician · Arranger · Mixer
Roman
Morykit
The Songwriter's Producer
I make records with people I believe in. The job is not to make you sound like me. It is to listen hard, find what is already true in the song, and help you make more of it.
How I work
There is no preset for a person.
Listen first.
To the song. To the artist. To what is there before reaching for what is not.
Protect the performance.
Polish is useful. Humanity is better. A technically perfect take can still say absolutely nothing.
Keep the dynamics.
Music should breathe, move and surprise you. I am not interested in flattening the life out of it.
Know when to stop.
Not every empty space needs another guitar. Occasionally the mute button is a very fine instrument.
“I've picked up a couple of things.”
A little about me
Musician first.
Producer because I could not leave the sound alone.
I started on classical piano at five, added guitar a few years later, discovered fretless bass as a teenager and have been mildly obsessed with sound ever since.
I grew up in England, moved to London at eighteen and spent years gigging, doing sessions and learning studios from the inside out — eventually becoming an A&M recording artist in Europe. I was fortunate to work around people including Gerry Goffin, Robin Millar and Harvey Goldberg. They taught me a great deal, especially how to listen.
Since then, most of my life has been spent writing, producing, arranging, mixing, playing and making independent records — both with Gypsy Soul and with artists whose songs make me want to get involved.
“It’s all about the feel for me.”
That is still the test. The tools matter. The technique matters. But if the music does not feel right, we are not finished.
Before the faders
Piano. Classical guitar. Two cassette players. A Portastudio. Reel-to-reel tape. London clubs. Session work. A&M. And one fretless bass that changed the whole thing.
As a teenager I started by bouncing ideas between two cassette players, making one part at a time and learning by doing. From there I moved on to a Portastudio, and eventually to reel-to-reel recorders. Around the same time, I heard Mick Karn and decided I needed a fretless bass. I have been playing one ever since. Those two fascinations — what a part can make you feel and what happens when you shape the sound around it — never really went away.
Age 5Classical piano
Teenage yearsGuitar, bass & cassette-to-reel recording
LondonGigging & session work
Since thenRecords, songs & studios
What I actually do
Whatever the song needs.
Not more than it needs.
You can work with me from the beginning of a record, send me something that is nearly there, ask me to play on it, or simply ask for another experienced pair of ears.
02 · Mixing
One of my favourite things
Shape, depth, movement, balance and detail — without squeezing all the dynamics out of the thing you worked so hard to make.
03 · Playing
Fretless, guitars & keys
Remote or in-studio parts that support the song rather than announcing their arrival every four bars.
04 · Editing
Fix the problem, keep the person
Groove, timing and vocal refinement when a good performance needs a little help — not replacing.
05 · Mastering
Finish it. Do not flatten it.
Final polish, translation and level with enough restraint to leave the music breathing when we are done.
06 · Perspective
Sometimes you need ears
Send me the song. Tell me what bothers you. I can listen and give you practical ideas about what I think comes next — with or without me.
Enough talking
Listen.
Production, songwriting, instrumental work and some of the musical territory I have travelled through over the years.
Your Kind
Gypsy Soul · Morykit / SwannOrdinary World
Gypsy Soul · Cover Story · produced & arranged by Roman MorykitAwake
David KaiClay
Laura Berman · produced by Roman Morykit · 2011Prelude
Roman Morykit · 2017Wild Grace
Gypsy Soul · Grace And Tranquility60's Chase Movie
Roman Morykit & Jason RubensteinSoul Of A Girl
Gypsy Soul · Morykit / SwannSanctuary Studios
My ears are the first piece of gear.
I like good equipment. I simply do not believe the equipment is the interesting part of the story.
The equipment is there to capture the breathtaking performance. That is the point.
Studio philosophy
Feel first.
Faders second.
Faders second.
I love working in the studio and I will spend the hours needed to get something to sit, move and feel right. I also try not to waste those hours auditioning seventeen nearly identical plug-ins for a nuance nobody will hear once the vocal comes in.
And yes: I can master your songs. I promise not to squash out all of the dynamics.
Recording & mixing tools
UA Apollo X6, Pro Tools, Neve / SSL / Universal Audio / Pultec / Lexicon / Oxford processing, KRK V8 monitors, Avantone MixCubes, TL Audio valve preamps, tube compression and Radial DI boxes.
Microphones
ADK Custom Shop Cremona 251T, Neumann U87 and KMS 105, Rode, Blue, Shure, Sennheiser and original Oktava microphones.
Instruments
An eclectic collection of acoustic and electric guitars, resonator, fretless basses and recording amps — chosen because I actually like playing them.
Apparently it works
A few kind words.
“Transcendent… Roman Morykit's musicianship is superb.”
“Mixing and production… totally top drawer.”
“Morykit is the mastermind here, building a lush musical landscape around his tasteful fretless lines, over which Cilette’s angelic soprano soars.”
“Arrangements and instrumentation, guided with the insights of Swann’s intuitive and talented partner, composer/multi-instrumentalist Roman Morykit, are beautifully understated and impeccably complementary, allowing the vocals to hold their much deserved place in the spotlight.”
“Committed… from the first note to the last.”
“It’s all about the feel for me.”
Live
Because eventually you have to play the thing.
Performance has always been part of how I understand production. The studio and the stage are not separate worlds.
Send me a song
Let's see if we should make something together.
Tell me what you are working on, where you feel stuck, or simply send me something you are excited about. If I think I can help, I will tell you. If I think you are already there, I will tell you that too.