Some briefs need a track written from scratch, others a piece of stock music reworked until it sounds like it was made for the film. Both get the same attention, big project or small.
We're based in Amsterdam, where we build a custom creative team for each project using our trusted network of freelance talent. Sometimes that's one composer and a mixer, sometimes it's six people. It depends on the brief.
Our background is in songwriting and storytelling, so we think about structure as much as feeling. Where's the tension? When do we hold back? And when is the picture better off with less music, or none at all?
The studio is small and we like it that way. You talk to the people who actually make the music, and things move fast.
We care about the numbers too. Sonic cues make ads up to 8.5× more likely to perform, and brands that keep one sound get remembered for it. So yes, an identity has to sound good. It also has to do its job.
Got a brief, or just an idea? Send it over.
Behind the studio
Daan Koekelkoren
Daan founded Studio ZK in Amsterdam in 2016. He has worked in music his whole career, first as a DJ and producer, then across ghostwriting and music for advertising. That range is why a brief for a national TV campaign and a brief for a song get the same treatment here: structure first, feeling second, and no assumption that one is more serious work than the other.
For every brief, Daan goes through his network to find the people the work needs: a composer for one project, a sound designer and a mixer for the next. He stays on it from the first call to the final master, so the person you brief is the person who hands over the files.
We build the team around the brief on purpose. A national campaign for a cheese tool brand and the audio identity for the site where the Netherlands' liberation was signed need different ears. Studios working from a fixed roster end up bending every brief toward what that roster happens to be good at, and that is how a house sound creeps in.
It also means the studio scales up for a full campaign and back down for a single mix without carrying either as overhead. What stays constant is Daan. The brief, the creative direction and the final listen are his on every project.
And it stays personal. Working out how to help a client starts with a conversation, whether the project is a brand campaign or a songwriting session: ask enough questions to know what the work is really for, then build the team that can make it.
Our process
Five steps, with one team from the first conversation to the final master.
Define your brand personality
We start by getting to know you. Your values, mission, and the emotions you want your brand to evoke.
Know your audience
We research who you're trying to connect with, their behaviours, preferences, and cultural context.
Develop your audio palette
Sonic logos, UX sounds, brand music and voice direction, put together as one palette people will recognize as yours.
Build & produce
Composition, sound design, recording and production, done by the freelance team we put together for your brief.
Refine and deliver
We go through every element with you and keep adjusting until it's right, then deliver the final masters and guidelines.
Who we have worked for
Brands, NGOs and cultural institutions we have made audio identities, campaign music and post production for since 2016.
- Knorr (Unilever): post production and sound design
- NHS Charities Together: post production and audio mix
- Doctors Without Borders: documentary post production
- Museumvereniging: audio logo and sound identity
- Museumkaart: renewal campaign audio
- Museumweek 2019: national campaign music
- Museumweek 2020: campaign audio, Effie Award
- Museumweek talkshow: original music and sound design
- Boska: national TV campaign score
- Vrijheidskwartier: sonic branding
- Festival Oude Muziek: campaign audio
- Barter: sonic identity