At BandLab we frequently push features and delight in delivering the unexpected to our users. Of course there is a strong team behind this amazing product we are building and today we would like to introduce you to our Product Lead…. Akmal (a.k.a. Aki).
From Uzbekistan to Singapore
I joined the company very early on in its inception. My background is in radio and TV engineering, including telecommunications – but in all of my previous roles I worked on products that had been defined prior to my employment. It was super exciting to join a business starting more or less from scratch.
It was also incredible to move from St Petersburg (where I was working) to Asia – which is another world entirely! Since then everything has been moving very fast – and that pace shows no sign of slowing down.
Building an Agile Team
I love that the team I work with is agile – and we work together closely. Even though I’m the lead, ideas can come from anywhere. I want the whole team to be coming in with suggestions or new creations – and no matter where an idea comes from, if it sounds good, then we are always willing to experiment and try it out.
And that’s the beauty of working on a new product – and one with endless possibilities. We just want to make amazing technology to help people make their best music. What we are building has never been done before in music-tech – on BandLab you can work from different parts of the world without email or without dropbox; all on a cross platform DAW. It’s unreal! There are no rules. We are writing them as we go along.
BandLab Mix Editor, it’s a Philosophy not a Tool
During my time at BandLab, I’ve have been lucky enough to build our product from scratch and also build on other amazing people’s work too. But out of everything I’ve done, I think it’s the Mix Editor and the creation suite of tools that I am most proud of.
Making the Mix Editor was super challenging, firstly because we were not just building a tool that works on one device, we are building an ecosystem where it is possible to switch between your phone and your computer, and even between platforms if you use different phones. We don’t believe that your platform should bind you to only being able to create on one device. No one would accept that when creating and accessing documents, so why should you accept it for your original music?
But this isn’t just a music making tool with extra features like a MIDI editor, post effects and a metronome (although we have these features too!), it’s a platform to empower seamless creation – to fit into your life, no matter what device you have with you or where you are in the world.
Hard Work and Purpose
Our team works hard – and the thing that keeps us going is knowing that we are making people’s lives easier – and more enjoyable. I’m happiest when I hear direct feedback from our users – and we receive tons of feedback. They tell us stuff like: “I’ve been searching for this for years” or “I love that now I can work with my friends across the world” or “No one else is doing this!”. That’s the best feeling we can get.
Aki.
