We are continuing our series profiling the companies on our Audio Market page where we offer smaller developers the opportunity to reach the Pro Tools community at a much lower price.  This week we turn our attention to Charles Schiermeyer the developer of Chordie.

How did you start? Tell us about your journey to setting up your company.

I’ve been playing music since I was a toddler, so I after I moved from Seattle to NYC to go to college (for music of course), I decided to go full-time and I’ve been a New Yorker ever since. Most of my work is producing horn and string arrangements for gospel albums which keeps me in my studio most of the time. Along with producing, I’m a professional horn player, I create tutorial videos and I’ve also developed a teaching tool called Chordie. My purpose is to educate in the simplest way I can.

Tell us a bit about your company and the products you produce?

I've been a professional musician & producer for about a decade now. That journey involved teaching stints, playing weekend weddings and and lots of arranging gigs. Over the last 2 years, I’ve focused on creating tools that helps musicians become better at their crafts. I’ve created tutorial videos and masterclasses about horn and string arranging and most recently, I created a really helpful app called Chord that essentially helps anyone identify any chord on the piano.

While working on gospel music projects, I was exposed to amazing musicians who’d blow your mind playing crazy complicated melodies but weren’t as strong in music theory or chord identification. I wanted to meet that need, so that’s how Chordie was born.

What challenges are you facing at the moment?

The usual headaches of software development! You assume that implementing a feature will only take a couple days and six weeks later, it's still not done. 

What plans do you have for the future that you can share with the community?

Besides running updates on Chordie, I’d love to get into developing audio plugins, because I’m fascinated with the math behind it.

What is your favourite audio tool (excluding any of your own products)?

Probably my Akai EWI4000s. It - along with tons of work - opened the door to getting a pair of grammy nominations as a string & horn arranger and programmer on the gospel scene. My EWI is what I use to program everything. 

What one thing gets you annoyed about the audio business?

The same thing that annoys everyone else! Customers who think music and musical products (be it software or talent in the studio) should be free.

Anything else you would like to share with the Pro Tools Expert community?

Thanks for all the support! If only one person gets that "a ha!" moment after using my app or tutorials, that means I've done my job in delivering a tool that allows you to teach yourself. 

Charles, thanks for what you are doing in helping other musicians with this clever little app.

Remember to visit the Audio Market page and support all the small developers, all trying to punch above their weight.