SoundGym Hero: Madeline Currie

Jazz-trained songwriter and audio professional based in Toronto, Madeline writes, performs, records, and mixes her own music, blending a lifelong love of songwriting with the sharp ear she's built through daily SoundGym workouts and fearless self-learning. Madeline is this month's SoundGym Hero!

How did you first find your way into making music?

I found my way into music when I started playing the trumpet in band class in Grade 6. I quickly discovered my love for songwriting soon after, and began composing songs in an online notation software called Noteflight. I had no theory knowledge at that point, but the software could play back what I wrote, so I learned how to read and write music by inputting notes and hearing them played back. My love of music continued to grow from there, and after finishing high school I attended Humber Polytechnic in Toronto, ON, Canada to get my degree in jazz and contemporary music. 

Aside from music, what hobbies or activities do you enjoy?

Some other things aside from music that I enjoy are trap shooting (ie. shooting clay discs out of the sky), and going dancing at underground clubs. 

What’s something you're surprisingly good at that has nothing to do with music?

One thing I am surprisingly good at is art, in high school I took classes on traditional and digital arts disciplines from grades 9-12. My favourite medium was painting. 

If you could play or create with any artist, who would it be and why?

One person I would love to create with is Nile Rodgers. I am a huge fan of disco music, and he played a pivotal role in developing the genre in the ‘70s with his unmistakable funk rhythm guitar sound. He has written and produced many, many hits, such as the entire “We Are Family” album by Sister Sledge, everything by CHIC, David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, or Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”.

I’ve watched interviews with him and I also just really love his energy, if we ever got a chance to work together I would probably spend half my time asking him questions about his life!

What piece of music gear do you love the most, and what makes it irreplaceable in your creative process?

As a songwriter who travels a lot, I love my Yamaha Reface CP keyboard. It is a 37-key, travel-size keyboard synthesizer with beautiful emulations of classic ‘70s keys sounds that I find really inspiring in my creative process. It even has built-in speakers and the option to be battery-powered, allowing me to sit on my hotel bed and write without having to be tethered to a laptop or a wall outlet to write.

What daily or weekly habits do you have in place to keep you creating?

I set a 10-minute timer each day and write, and as soon as the alarm goes off I have to stop. Making this a habit has forced me to focus less on perfection or intensity in my approach, and more on consistency. I found that in the past I began to develop an all-or-nothing approach; if I didn’t have a 2-hour writing session and come out of it with a masterpiece, then I wasted my time.

Obviously that type of mindset is not conducive to creativity, so by bringing it back to the basics and making songwriting low-commitment and bite-sized, showing up each day felt much more achievable.

What keeps you motivated to continue making music?

To be honest, the thing that keeps me motivated is thinking about the alternative. I have worked hard physical labour jobs and emotionally draining sales and customer service jobs, and although my current work comes with its own challenges, I wouldn’t trade it for anything else. I get to make my own schedule, choose which gigs I want to do, take vacation whenever I want, and oftentimes sleep in with no alarm (that changes when I’m on tour though!). 

What song would you choose as the soundtrack of your life?

“Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine. 

What's your favorite feature on SoundGym, and how has it helped you in your musical journey?

One of my favourite features in SoundGym is the competitive aspect of the platform. The SPI rankings, leaderboards, and games against other users will humble you quickly! It’s similar to video games; when you play on your own, you think you’re a great player, but once you log in to the online mode and play against other people you realize that the skill ceiling is actually a lot higher than you thought. As a competitive person myself, I’ve found this to be motivating on the days when I didn’t feel like doing my ear training

What’s something exciting you're working on or looking forward to?

This is a goal for a little further down the road, but a dream of mine is to create a space for mixing and mastering in Dolby Atmos. I’ll admit I was a bit sceptical of the medium at first (who needs 12 speakers to listen to music?), but after attending a demonstration recently where the mixing engineer played A/B comparisons of the stereo and Atmos versions of songs he mixed, I was converted. The music suddenly felt so much more immersive and emotionally impactful, and I would love to offer that as an option to my clients.

You can follow Madeline on these respective platforms: Website, Instagram, and YouTube!

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