BJ BAARTMANS, RECORD PRODUCER Dutch multi talented musician/producer BJ Baartmans was born in 1965. In the early 80’s, as he began writing and performing his songs, he also developed a strong desire to record and capture this original music on tape. Armed with two cassette decks, a hi-fi and a radio shack microphone the possibilities to overdub guitar, vocal or drum parts to a simple song form opened up a fascinating world of sound for him. With his finger nail, he would tap out bass parts on the neck pickup of his Japanese Strat with all the treble rolled off, or construct rhythm parts with his mom’s frying pans (great cowbellsound) and salt shakers (shake it baby!), playing the part on one speaker, while recording a new instrument on the other. School days were soon to end.... Within a couple of years he managed to get his hands on a real Tascam four track cassette recorder, making man and machine a perfect match. Soon he added a budget Lexicon reverb and a real AKG mike and an endless stream of home made demos, with wild sound experiments and freaky little guitar symphonies began to appear. In the meantime, gigging, rehearsing and writing turned his love of rock, jazz, folk and blues music into a real job, with recording being still mostly a side project. But more and more, musician friends would ask BJ to help them make demos or self-released tapes. The art of production slowly revealed itself, as he learned to make better use of microphones and studio equipment and the manipulation sound. By 1993 his small, but musician friendly home studio contained a budget 16/8 Soundcraft board, an 8 track Tascam 38, a collection of inexpensive, but solid working microphones, plus a few funky effect units, in tandem with his growing stash of stringed instruments. Some of BJ’s recordings began to make their way onto real albums and not just as bonus tracks.  BJ Baartmans has not yet become a high profile commercial record producer. But then, it has never been his intention. To try and combine it with an average of 100 concerts a year as a singer/songwriter/guitarplayer, would be a tall order, but not impossible. Nevertheless, his productions, or albums he’s participated on as a session player, have found their way around the world, via retail and radio. Reaching music fans of Americana, blues and folk music alike. His work is naturally crafted, well recorded and tastefully mixed, ask any of his clients!. Baartmans has the character and ability to coach a great performance out of any player or singer. In 2001 he began recording in an old rented farmhouse, just outside the town of Venlo. Occasionally assisted by sound wunderkind/engineer and co-studio owner Leon Bartels. That ‘home studio’ set-up was soon upgraded and some very cool production jobs began to appear, providing for a couple of additional great tube mics, some classy preamps and the much needed high end outboard gear. The farm’s huge loft turned out to be a beautifully sounding room and the easy country vibe of the location made for a very inspiring recording environment. Musicians loved it the minute they walked in. In recent years there have been quite a few well-known musicians in front of a microphone at Léon’s Farm. BJ Baartman’s production skills, often combined with his outstanding playing, can be found on recordings by folk rock icon Iain Matthews, British song writing collective, Plainsong. New York singer/songwriter Eugene Ruffolo.. Canadian singer songwriter Shannon Lyon, Nashville’s Billie Joyce, and Irish mandolin virtuoso Ray Barron. Coupled with a list of some of the finest established Dutch musicians and bands, such as JW Roy, Arno Adams, Bengels, Songwriters United and Ongenode Gaste... BJ also somehow manages to find the time to record and coach new promising acts like PeterBeeker, Loyola Drive, Okieson, Barbara Breedijk,and Hanneke De Jong ... They can all be found on the website. As can B.J’s own music, as his playing and writing is still the fuel behind it all... BJ has never been much of an authority on equipment, but knows more than a thing or two about microphones, preamps and compressors. Recently he’s been working in his small homestudio, Studio WildVerband. Often recording basic tracks at the farm, but doing most overdubbing and mixing at home. An incredibly busy schedule so far failed to quieten a very creative soul... :: Omhoog :: |
         
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