4Bit Studio

Hello, my name is Ulrich Troyer. I am a composer, musician and sound designer who is running the 4Bit Studio since 2001. I've specialized in using analogue synthesizers and effects combined with traditional instruments and everyday sounds to create sound design & music.

Photo by Eva Kelety

If you are interested in my music released since 2000 you can listen, download & buy Vinyl, CD's & merch at my record label's website www.4bitproductions.com or stream my complete discography on Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal or your favorite streaming-platform (browse for "Ulrich Troyer"). Further information about releases, current live-dates and DJ-Sets you can find on my personal website www.ulrichtroyer.com

Instruments & Tools

My favorite tools for creating music & sound design are analogue synthesizers and keyboards. I love to add reverb, filter- and delay-effects to create organic textures and surprising sound effects.

I play classical, acoustic and electric guitar, electric bass, piano and various percussion instruments, objects and gadgets to create sounds.

When recording foley work and sound design effects, I like to improvise to the picture and use these recordings as basis for more detailed edits to the picture later on. The final sound design is a combination of live-recordings and synthesized sounds, multi-layered and manipulated in the computer to sculpt the final organic and unique sound effect.

My recording setup includes a collection of large and small diaphragm cardioid microphones, various dynamic micorphones, a large diaphragm tube microphone, a phantom-powered ribbon microphone and various hardware pre-amps, EQs and compressors.

Services

Music & Sound Design
Composition & Arrangement
Beats & Riddims
Dub Versions & Remixes
Record Production
Soundscapes for Exhibitions
Multichannel Soundinstallations
Recording & Mixing

Press

“Absolutely fab.“
- The Guardian on LOOPIMAL

“BANDIMAL is the world’s cutest app for kids to make music“
- Fastcodesign on BANDIMAL

“Sensational!“
- Forbes on BANDIMAL

“And parents can exhale: Austrian composer Ulrich Troyer designed and composed all of BANDIMAL’s sounds in the key of C and around the pentatonic scale, imbuing all its outputs with a pleasant quality.“
- Vulture.com on BANDIMAL

“Superb visuals & audio-loops!“
- Tapsmart.com on LOOPIMAL

“Slaptastic soundeffects“
- FASTCODESIGN on MIXIMAL

“Packed with effortless charm!“
- Cartoonbrew on MIXIMAL

“BANDIMAL is a terrific app for young kids to experiment with music and rhythm. With an intuitive interface, kids can create great-sounding tunes without needing to possess any musical knowledge. The melodies have an upbeat, electronic feel, and kids will surely giggle at the sight of the animals getting stretched and squished to match the beat. Highly recommended.“
- Geeks With Juniors, Blog

“The other bit of brilliance inside the app is that you can’t make anything that sounds bad. Ulrich Troyer designed the entire sonic experience around the sharps-and-flats-less key of C and the pentatonic scale (which features five notes rather than the typical seven you know from minor or major scales). As a result, creating dissonance is impossible. Such a framework takes rule-bending, jazz creations off the table, but then again, it lets you score a whale, panda, and a chicken together with ease. At the end of the day, what could be more fun than that?“
- Mark Wilson on BANDIMAL, Fastcodesign

DOLOMITE DUB featured as #6 in the Top 10 DUB & REGGAE columnists' charts of 2019
- Steve Barker, THE WIRE

DEADLOCK VERSIONS featured as #10 in the Top 10 DUB & REGGAE columnists' charts of 2015
- Steve Barker, THE WIRE

4 star Album review for TRANSIT TRIBE: "Top drawer future dub explorations from Viennese avant-garde-electronicist / DJ Troyer. A collab-heavy set, with British poet Roger Robinson emoting over undulating bass synths (Lago di Garda) and balafon master Mamadou Diabaté providing melodic bounce to Latzfonser Kreuz."
- Simon McEwen, MOJO MAGAZINE, december 2024 issue

Awards

2024 States grant for Composition 2024, BMKOES (AT)
2019 Digital Ehon Award, Tokyo, Japan / Special Jury Prize: NANAKO ISHIDO PRIZE for BANDIMAL
(with Ilari Niitamo & Lucas Zanotto)
2018 APPLE DESIGN AWARD for BANDIMAL (with Ilari Niitamo & Lucas Zanotto)
2014 "Pädi-Award" for the kids app MIXIMAL (with Niels Hoffmann & Lucas Zanotto)
2002 Recognition Award for the project “Audio-Timetable“, art-within-architecture competition “Marie Curie“
(with Josef Rainer)
2000 Honorary mention Prix ars electronica for the EP “NOK“, category digital music
1999 Honorary mention “Max Brand Preis“, Phonotaktik

Clients Feedback

"Ulrich is an incredibly talented composer, an excellent manager and a great person. He is well organized, insanely creative and it is a real pleasure to work with him."
- Denis Alenti / Producer, Author, Director @ Recircle Animation Studio (Zagreb, Croatia)

“Reliable, attentive & with startling solutions at hand!“
- Armin Blasbichler / Architect & Artist (Basel, Switzerland)

“Highly recommended as composer & collaborative artist!“
- Robert Clark / Choreographer (London, United Kingdom)

“Ulrich delivers lovely work, with a very professional yet personal approach.“
- Dennis Hoogstad / Director, Illustrator and Animator (Delft, Netherlands)

“Highly professional and fun collaboration. A humble perfectionist!“
- Nicolas Mahler / Graphic Artist (Vienna, Austria)

“Top musician! Top Sound Designer! Great Teamwork!“
- Lucas Zanotto / Designer, Animator and short-film Director (Helsinki, Finland)

Clients List

Architekturstiftung Suedtirol, Bolzano (Italy)
Armin Blasbichler, Basel (Switzerland)
Dennis Hoogstad, Den Haag (Netherlands)
Filmarchiv Austria, Vienna (Austria)
Georg Blaschke, Vienna (Austria)
Stefan Holaus, Luzern (Switzerland)
Karwan, Vienna (Austria)
Kulturabteilung, Bozen (Italy)
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Austria)
LANG FILM, Freienstein (Switzerland)
Liz King, Pinkafeld (Austria)
Louis Morton, Los Angeles (USA)
Lucas Zanotto, Helsinki (Finland)
MPA, Lodon (UK)
Michael Fliri, Milano (Italy)
Michael Turinsky, Vienna (Austria)
Nicolas Mahler, Vienna (Austria)
Orange, Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire)
Passion Pictures, London (England)
ORF - OE1 Kunstradio, Vienna (Austria)
ORF - musikprotokoll, Graz (Austria)
Paulig, Helsinki (Finland)
Raphael Barth (Golden Girls), Vienna (Austria)
Recircle Animation Studio, Zagreb (Croatia)
Robert Clark, London (England)
Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin (Germany)
Supernauts, Helsinki (Finland)
The Playground Studio, London (UK)
Tomas Danielis, Bratislava (Slovakia)
TWOF2, Vienna (Austria)
Veronika Schubert, Vienna (Austria)
Viennale, Vienna (Austria)
Wethinkthings, Hamburg (Germany)

Contact

Ulrich Troyer
Mobile Phone: +43 699 10 700 881 (Austria)

Get in touch via Email

I look forward to hearing from you!

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