Category Archives: Opinions
Music Fail- God that sounds shit
There was an article posted in the Guardian website recently entitled Audio Fail that has got a lot of people in a lather; sound artists foamed at the mouth and spat blood on Facebook whilst more traditional composers behaved rather smugly … Continue reading
Arturia Beatstep Pro part 1
I’ve made a lot of use of the original Beatstep for a couple of years now, and although the Beatstep pro has been out a while I hadn’t really got into the idea of having one until now. For some … Continue reading
New sounds from forgotten boxes- EMU virtuoso 2000
In the dim and distant past, in an era of Sibelus V1-V2 and computers were not very powerful there was a 19 inch rack unit called the Virtuoso 2000, This was essentially a sample based synthesizer with two orchestral sample … Continue reading
Trevor Wishart at Kettles Yard, Lunchtime concert Sunday May 11th
Its not often I feel really strongly moved about a concert to blog about it but last Sunday May 11th was one of those times. Held in the house extension part of Kettles yard, with its unique modernist space of … Continue reading
What if Britain had an IRCAM?
Britain is not short of talented people experimenting with music, which is by no means new in the UK; we’ve had some now widely accepted pioneers in art music and I see no signs of this dying out despite the … Continue reading
Recording and mixing analogue synths
The recent reissue of the Korg Ms20 with the Arp Odyssey being developed plus the growing eurorack modular market means more people are now having fun with these things once considered deeply unfashionable (I was there in the mid 80s). … Continue reading
Return of the Prodigal analogue Synth?
The return of the Prodigal Analogue Synth? The recent re-issue of the Korg MS20-mini synthesizer last year brought back a flood of nostalgia in me; the original 1970s model was my first serious synthesizer, bought in a music shop in … Continue reading
How sound art is continuous with music
This blog is the result of my thoughts on the subject, which Ive now tried to clarify, in my own head at least, prompted by a conversation with composer and musicologist Lauren Redhead Before I start: A common definition of … Continue reading
Complexity in the music or the writing?
This year in CNM we saw a work rejected by a distinguished CNM composer over issues of playability and practicality. Naturally the composer was rather disappointed but unrepentant quoting “If theres one thing Im not going to do its write … Continue reading
Emotional centre of music?
On Saturday I had a meeting with a chap whose an excellent fund raiser and whose going to be doing my funding applications for a major project in early 2013. We are currenly working on a proejct cool fusion, which … Continue reading
