Studio Project – Lecture 1 Summary

30.09.10

Useful sites for this module:

zigzagmusic.com

dpamicrophones.com

Studio Production Exercise – AB Stereo

Looking at Omni-directional and Cardioid Condensor Microphones and placement to sound source.

1st Task

- Use two omni-directional microphones (picks up signal equally in all directions),   – the two microphones are fixed to a mic spacer bar,

- good for acoustic mixing,

- distance is critical for a decent stereo image,

-/-(too wide – out of phase)

-/- (to close together -narrow stereo)

- Set up a single stereo track to record this input.

- Record

2nd Task

- Use two cardioid microphones (AKG 414) placed on the stereo bar,

- placed at 90′ of one another to capture left and right signals,

- both send mono signals into protools inputs which are then sent through a stereo channel in protools,

-  Mic placement and gain control is key to capture the best sound possible,

- The closer the mic the less gain is needed,

- you must fine tune the gain so the channel never clips (into the red) which will prevent a horrible distorted sound.

- Record  and Compare.

With a trained Ear you may be able to hear the difference in quality of each recorded sound and distinguish which sounds better but for this excercise a basic understanding of the methods one would undergo to record a single instrument in Stereo was to be understood and the sound itself was irrelevant, as a group I felt we did this well.

I look forward to what is yet to learn.
DJ

SuperCollider Composition

s.boot

//We evalauate the above line of code s.boot in SC this enures systems are up and running.

//This particular compositon works in conjunction with Logic, SuperCollider acts as a effective Midi Controller. Screenshots of Logic and the Midi Instrument used can be seen at the bottom of this Blog page.

MIDIClient.init(0, 1);

m = MIDIOut(0, MIDIClient.destinations[0].uid);

//Note that in previous blogs the Pdef, Pbind, Ppar and ++ features of SC have been explained.

This was to be my first composition using SuperCollider and my first attempt to implement a simple key change into a composition. Firstly I needed to make up my own scale that was unlike any of the common modes that were looked at over the course of the first semester e.g. Dorian, Phydrian, Ionian etc. I looked at the different tone and semi tones patterns and noticed that none of them used the following.

My 1st Scale – T S T S T S T S

Using a Piano preset in Logic I trialed this scale and found it sounded much like a major scale because it sounded happy rather than a minor scale that would normally sound sad.

At first I was not sure how  wanted the Key to change all  knew was that  wanted to take my piece from Happy to Sad and back again.

What I have done; explained.

////////////////////////////

Track 1:

(//Open brackets opens new event.

Pdef(\Softstab,

//Here I’ve created a new Pattern definition called \Softstab. This means anything that follows can be recalled simply by asking for \Softstab and the complicated code that follows is not required for it to play.

Pbind( \type, \midi, \chan, 0, \midiout, m,

//The line above is simply connecting the following group of code with Logic and the 0, after \chan corresponds to the Midi channel in Logic. 0 in SC is matched to 1 in Logic.

\scale, [0, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11],

T  S  T  S  T  S  T   S

([C, D, D*,F, F*,G*, A, A*, B])

//As clearly stated this is my 1st scale that I have chosen to use for the Happy part of the composition. Starting from note C represented as 0 each semitone up from C is seen in SuperCollider in ascending order i.e. C is 0, CSharp is 1, D is 2 and so on.

\octave, Pxrand([2, 3, 2, 5],inf),

//In this line I have asked SC to change the Octave of my instrument at random from the 4 specified numbers. A Prand function is way of asking the assigned track to change value at random based on the values specified. Pxrand is similar but makes sure that no value is repeated until all values have been used once, twice etc. In this case at random my instruments octave will alternate between an Octave below Middle C as (2), 2 Octaves above as (5) and of course within the Octave that middle C lies (3).

\degree, Pseq([ (2), (5), (2), (7), (2), (9), (2), (11) ]-1, 2),

[0,(2), 3, 5, (6), 8, (9), 10, (11)]–(14)

//Degree is the order or choice of keys I wish the instrument to play in relation to my scale. If the degree of 1 was shown in the line above then 0 or C would play from my scale as it is the 1st degree in my scale. I could have chosen degrees 1-9 and play every note in my scale in order but instead I have asked for the 2nd, 5th, 2nd, 7th, 2nd, 9th, 2nd and 11th creating a simple arpergiated feel. Notice before I used a Pxrand to change my Octave at random in this case I have used Pseq which is similar argument but instead asks the instrument to play each degree in in order as you would read it. Note that a Pseq, Prand or other Pattern argument can be used within any field of a Pbind i.e. \degree,\octave,\dur etc etc.

\dur, 1/2

//The Tempo of this piece is set to a SC default of 120 beats per minute you can choose to change the tempo telling SC that you want a different Tempo but for ease I chose not to change any Tempo settings.

//The above line \dur is for duration of each degree. In this case 1/2 for 1/2 of 120Bpm so each degree will sound once every second at 60Bpm. You can choose to have multiple durations within the line.

))

)//Close Brackets closes first event.

////////////////////////////

Track 2:

(

Pdef(\Softstab2,

Pbind( \type, \midi, \chan, 0, \midiout, m,

\scale, [0 , 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11],

\degree, Pseq([2, 5, 2, 7, 0, 2, 7, 2]-1, 2),

\dur, 1/2

)).play

)

////////////////////////////

Track 3:

(

Pdef(\Keys,

Pbind( \type, \midi, \chan, 1, \midiout, m,

\octave, Pseq([3, 4, 4, 4],inf),

\scale, [0 , 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11],

\degree, Pstutter(2,Pseq([[2, 5, 2],[5, 2, 7], [2, 5, 9],[0, 2, 7]]-1,2),2),

//Notice the degree within this event is shown very differently from any of the previous events. Firstly I have used a Pstutter argument, a Pstutter is way of telling SC to repeat each degree a number of times before moving to the next in this case each degree will repeat will twice {Pstutter(2,Pseq}.

//When a group of numbers are given between [] square brackets within the degree field it means that each degree will play at the same time. So as you can see you are able to write out a sequence of chords.

\dur, 1/2,

\db, -8

//Here I have open a new field called \db. \db is for Decibells or Volume. If 0 was the maximum volume then -8 db is 8 times quieter.

))

)

////////////////////////////

Track 4:

(

Pdef(\Perc,

Pbind( \type, \midi, \chan, 2, \midiout, m,

\scale, [0, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11],

\degree, Prand([2, 5, 7, 0]-13, 32),

\dur, 1/4,

\db, -2

))

)

////////////////////////////

Track 5:

(

Pdef(\drums,

Pbind( \type, \midi, \chan, 3, \midiout, m,

\scale, [0 , 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11],

\midinote, Pseq([60, 63, 63, 63, 62, 63, 63, 63, 60, 63, 63, 63, 62, 63, [63,65],63]-24,2),

//This field uses \midinote over \degree as I want the instrument to play Midinotes in Logic for this channel, I have used a simple Drum-Kit. 60 represent Middle C and is my Kick Drum, 63 is for a Hi Hat midi key and of course 62 is for a Snare sound. When I first wrote this line 60 was 2 Octaves above so as you can see I have asked SC to bring the list down by adding -24 to the end of the list. This has shifted midinote 60 down from 84.

\dur, 1/4,

\db, Pseq([-3, -18, -18, -18], inf)

//Here I have Pseq’d the Volume of my instrument and each volume is relative to a \degree or \midinote. -3 is the 1st in the list so it will tell SC to play the 1st of my degrees or midinotes at -3db the 2nd at -18 and so on. Once the list is complete it reverts back to the 1st so each Kick and Snare is Louder than the Hi Hats.

))

)

////////////////////////////

//Part 2 Key Change;

////////////////////////////

Track 6:

(

Pdef(\Softstab3,

Pbind( \type, \midi, \chan, 4, \midiout, m,

\octave, Pseq([3, 4, 4, 4],inf),

\scale, [0, 4, 7, 11, 14],

[C, E, G, B,  D ]

//Here I have changed my scale, I knew I wanted it to sound Sad and have that Minor feel so I opened Logic to trial a new scale. I looked at the notes I had already and starting from C tried to use a different array of numbers causing the scale to sound entirely different. I played around with different sequences until I found something that sounded minor.

\degree, Prand([5, 4, 5, 4, 3, 4, 3, 2]-1,16),

//Notice how I have used the Prand argument on the list of degrees this means that each degree will be played at random and no sequence will ever repeat giving the piece that Jazz feel or improvised part.

\dur, 1/2

))

)

////////////////////////////

Track 7:

(

Pdef(\Keys2,

Pbind( \type, \midi, \chan, 1, \midiout, m,

\octave, Pseq([3, 4, 4, 4],inf),

\scale, [0, 4, 7, 11, 14],

\degree, Pstutter(2, Pseq([[2, 5, 2], [5, 2, 7],  [2, 5, 9], [0, 2, 7]]-1, 2), 2),

\dur, 1/2

))

)

/////////////////////////////

//Pdef Sequence:>

/////////////////////////////

//Using exactly the same techniques explained in my previous blogs I have sequenced all the different parts so they play simultaneously.

(

(Ppar ([Pdef(\Softstab), Pdef(\Keys)], 1)

++

Ppar ([Pdef(\Softstab), Pdef(\Keys), Pdef(\Softstab2)], 1)

++

Ppar ([Pdef(\Softstab), Pdef(\Keys), Pdef(\Softstab2), Pdef(\drums)],1)

++

Ppar ([Pdef(\Perc), Pdef(\Keys), Pdef(\drums)], 1)

++

Ppar ([Pdef(\Softstab3), Pdef(\Perc), Pdef(\drums), Pdef(\Keys2)], 1)

++

Ppar ([Pdef(\Softstab3), Pdef(\Keys2)], 1)

++

Ppar ([Pdef(\Softstab), Pdef(\Keys), Pdef(\Softstab2), Pdef(\Perc), Pdef(\drums)],1)

++

Ppar ([Pdef(\Softstab), Pdef(\Keys)], 1)

++

Pdef(\Keys)

).play;

)

Logic and SuperCollider as a jpg.

IXI Quarks Jam

IXI QUARKS – by Thor Magnusson

IXI Quarks – A software based live production tool for generating or manipulating sound either from IXI’s preloaded sound banks of from your own sample sources. Samples/Loops can be manipulated easily slowed down, sped up, cut and reworked. Its is easy to use a IXI Quarks as an instrument using the pre-installed VST’s available.

The Quanoon VST, a string sounding instrument played simply by clicking on the lines that look like strings. Each possible note that you can play is designed, so that it will be in key with the next so effectively you cant make a mistake. The scale can be chosen at the bottom as with most of the IXI VST’s you have many to choose from. In a group composition you would make sure you are all in the same key.

IXI has an internal record feature known as Recorder, when activated it begins saving the sound you create as mp3′s.

IXI also has internal audio effects so it easy to rework sounds from external sources including the sound you create within IXI, quickly and smoothly.

Group Composition No.1 using IXI Quarks.

Looking at what the other groups performed. I was particularly excited by the fusion of such a diverse array of sounds. Some created vast open soundscapes with inspiring texture and manipulated characteristics some created short sharp sounds backed by long open pads..

I liked the way some groups used different frequencies of White Noise Hi and Low, long and short.

Our group concentrated on the notes themselves and sounds that were harmonious to one another we implemented pre-made drum samples and manipulated the tempo how we wanted.

One of the groups used a Drum sample much like ours as a platform that each musician could latch on to this was good but made the piece lose its experimental and improvised feel. What we did well and why I feel our group was better is that we manipulated the tempo and therefore the pitch of the drum loop creating an interesting metronome for the rest of the group to follow.

If we did this exercise again, I would like to start making our own interesting sounds or at least source some that don’t have any rhythmic content and manipulate them until they do, we could have created our own rhythmic feel using our own sounds like impulse clicks or short klang and bell sounds in the Gridder Vst.

Another area of Laptop musicianship that I want to look into when improvising within a group is the XY axis controlled synth sound that you can create in SuperCollider this would allow for the Mouse or even touch pads like the Iphone as a means of manipulating sound further and could have some very interesting results.

Group Composition No.2+3 using IXI Quarks.

We were asked to re-perform our IXI Quarks composition pieces in our groups using all the different things we had learnt from previous lectures i.e. knowing when to make sound and when not to, how to follow react to each other and improvise in harmony.

My group consisted of 4 members Sammy Vear, Eliot Finch, Kaleigh Luker and myself.

Myself, Sammy and Kaliegh used synthesizers and Eliot one of the IXI Samplers.

Sammy used the Scalesynth a grid type Vst where you can click on individual squares to play a sound you can also drag across the grid to play many notes one after the next smoothly but for this composition Sammy used the drone effect at the bottom which we found created an interesting atmospheric pad like sound which she used effectively to create the buildup in the piece.

Scalesynth:

Eliot used the SoundScratcher to produce short granulated sounds taken from a sample source. using the Soundscatcher he was able to select which part of the sample waveform he wanted to replay and could choose how fast it play back as well the pitch so he could attempt to fit in with the rest of the group with some kind of harmonic content.

SoundScratcher:

Kaleigh made use of a randomised synthe instrument called Predator. Predator gives you screen with a number of dots known as prey on the screen you can add as many prey as you like and as soon as you press the start button at the bottom of the synthe a number of predators come onto the screen, starting with 3, you can add as many as you like from there on. The predators move around the screen attacking the prey, each time a single note is triggered the sound of the note can be chosen at the bottom but in our case Kaleigh used the Sine wave sound. You can control how aggressive the predators are on a scale of 1-100 the closer to 100 the more notes you’ll hear triggering as the predators attack faster and faster although unfortunately you have no control over the timing so it is hard instrument to improvise with.

I made use of the Gridder synthe it works in a similar way to Predator where by it plays different pitches of sound at random but you have slightly more control over when it plays which I found was good for staying in time with the rest of the group. In the picture below you can see a Grid with one Yellow dot in it. The yellow dot moves around the grid playing a note at a time the speed can be controlled and more dots can be added like the Predator, in this case I stuck with one. In the first part of the composition I used an Impulse sound to create a clicking beat that I then used to build up the atmoshere increasing the speed at which each click triggered following the progression of Sammy’s drone sound abruptly stopping it when I reached a maximum speed. I then changed the sound to that of a Bell and triggered it at irregular but appropriate intervals adding to the compostion.

Gridder:

We each recorded our different parts using the Recorder feature, so we could easily load our different parts in a Logic composition. As seen below:

Then using Surround Sound mixing we panned each our different parts to channel 1-4 front left and right, back left and right so each our parts could be heard separately through individual speaker points in our Lecture hall.

The following image shows how logic allows us to choose the location of a sound, the blue dot represents the sound:

If we were to do this exercise again I’d like to look into more ways of using the Gridder tool to trigger a wider variety of sample sounds so that we could create more diverse soundscape and in way that allowed for constant change through out. I’d like to make the as unpredictable as possible. Pushing for a more creative improvised group exercise. I’d also like to remove the random parts, for instance Kaleigh’s Predator synthe did not have much structure and in a way ruined the flow of the piece, the random sounds didn’t follow any particular pattern and messed with the build up that Eliot and Sammy did so well to create. Beside this I felt the group worked well together and I look forward to doing more group compositions in the future.

_______________________________

Controllerism

The following video inpired me and looks into the innovative possibilities when using Ableton Live and a modified Midi controller something I want to do in my own performance in the future. Its all very exciting and Technology as we know is only the beginning bring on the future of music. Yeeha!!!

See you Space Cowboy

A look @ Ppars, Pdefs and ++

In my last blog I looked at the possibility of live Jamming with SuperCollider. I explained that you can use sections of code and Logic and create my rhythm, lead, melody and even drum parts of a piece of music. With the clever use of Ppar and Pdefs elaborate groups of code can be simplified brought together and played all at the same time.

Lets look at Pdefs, this stands for ‘Pattern define’ and it summarises the code you write out into a single word.

Example of a Pdef:

Pdef(\example,     Pbind( *************).play

This means that everytime I want to play the code specified above between the Pbind brackets I need only write Pdef(\example).play this can be very handy when simplifying large groups of code and makes it ever easier when sequencing it all.

Ppar stands for “Pattern Parrallel” and basically allows you to run 2 or more Pdefs at the same time.

Example of a Ppar:

Ppar([Pdef(\example), Pdef(\example2), Pdef(\example3)],1).play

Notice how the Ppar contains 3 different Pdefs and they are written in a list using the [] square brackets this means that every thing contained within this list will play together, the number 1 at the end represents how many times I want the sequence to play through in this case once. With code shown in my previous blog the sequences have infinite written as “inf” number of \degrees this means the Pattern will play each chosen \degree simultaneously infinitely but this does not always have to be I could ask the sequence of \degrees to play through once or twice and so on. If I had chosen each part to play once through then using this Ppar it will ask all 3 examples to play once through each in unison.

This brings me over to ++ these two plus symbols are SC’s way of separating parts in a composition a means of sequencing all the different tracks and creating a composition.

Example of ++

(

(Ppar([Pdef(\example), Pdef(\example2), Pdef(\example3)],1)

++

Ppar([Pdef(\example),  Pdef(\example3)],1)

).play

)

So the first group of Pdefs will each play through once when each track has finished the second group of Pdefs will begin and play through once the list can go on as long as you like. Through this you can easily create Intro, Verse 1, Verse 2, Chorus parts etc etc which all look presentable easy to read and can easily be changed at the click of a mouse.

Computer says OK

Today, I discovered something new and exciting about SuperCollider. Something that could potentially make my attempts at Live Musicianship so much more interesting. I’ve always been intrigued by the Live performance power of Ableton Live now I find it is possible to write code into SuperCollider that can work in a similar fashion to Live  you can command SC to trigger all sorts of different sounds and loops of sound to create an interesting composition.

The following piece of code plays in sequence each note in the Major scale and the repeats infinitely;

)

Pbind(

\scale, #[0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12],

\degree, Pseq([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]-1,  inf),

\dur, 1/8,

\db, -3

).play

How this code works is irrelevant, this short piece of code can be seen as track or musical part within a composition. It could be the Bass section, Chords part or Melody riff either one. All we need  to do now is write a similar code that plays another part, using the same scale of notes just in different Array = [or List] creating harmony and a rhythmic groove.

E.g.

**********************

TRACK 1.

(

Pbind(

\scale, #[0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12],

\degree, Pseq([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]-1,  inf),

\dur, 1/8,

\db, -3

).play

)

**********************

TRACK 2

(

Pdef( \scaleTest,

Pbind(

\scale, #[0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12],

\degree, [1, 3, 5, 7,]-1,

\db, -6);

).play

)

*************************

TRACK 3

(

Pdef( \scaleTest,

Pbind(

\scale, #[0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12],

\degree, 0,inf

\db, -6);

).play

)

These individual tracks can be played at different intervals creating harmonic electronic music. The Pdef code on both tracks 1 and 2 allow me to rewrite the code live and change arguments around the notes played and even the sound heard.

I look forward to doing this with complicated sounds that I’ve created, we are beginning to discover how to do this in my Sound Design and Composition class and hope the theory of Laptop Musician ship will over lap.

SC = BrainWave.kr

Computer says No =(

Today Tuesday 29th September 2009, The start of the something remarkable and of course uber confusing. As a class we take a look at Super Collider the next step in Music Production. Super Collider is from what I percieve a computer program that allows a user to program in events and characteristics of music so that a computer can create it for example a simple melody or even a complex symphony.  In effect writing a score in a computer literate notational form and then giving it to the computer to read and write it with Piano, Bass, Synthe sounds etc. To make things nice and confusing the desired notes and sounds all need to be written in code, native to SuperCollider.

Where to start? Well if you imagine a 128 key, 8 Octave Piano or Keyboard, from the very 1st key far left (which is C)and  you count each key including all the black notes from 1-128. The 1st C is (1) and C Sharp is (2) D is (3) D Sharp is (4) and so on. Middle C is (60) So in simple terms you can ask the computer to generate a sound based around the chosen key therefore you can ask the computer to play a whole series of notes e.g. 60, 67, 88, 73 so on and so on.

Many Great Electronica Artist like Aphex Twin & Julio d’Escrivan use SuperCollider to generate complicated and diverse Electronic Music. SuperCollider can be used on its own or in Conjuction with Sequencing programs like Logic.

Through SuperCollider alone you can generate all sorts of wierd and interesting soundscapes and Musical patterns as you can control the nearly every aspect of the sound.

The following video shows an Aphex Twin track created using SuperCollider and from what I have seen so far, this would have taken quite some time to program but never the less very inspirational. I hope I can get my head round its complexity and use it as a creative tool.

When you take a first look at SuperCollider it all looks like computer programming and thats exactly what it is the difference is SuperCollider can instantaneously produce a result. A simple code can make your computer generate a sound. SC opens with 3 windows; the Post window a preprogrammed page that executes command that you tell it i.e. generate sound (UGen function) a simple Sine-Wave or some White-Noise, Pink-Noise etc and 2 windows called Local-Servers which the Post window connects to, the sound excites from these Local-Servers.

The manual control page opens through SC’s Post window by holding Cmd & pressing (N). On this blank text file page you can type code to execute or “call” in SC terms a certain feature or response. Although this code has to be written in a language that the Post window & SC can understand. {So normal English language is out the Window} postln;

The following image shows the 4 Windows:

As you can see in the Window the one named “Execute” the following code is written {SinOsc.ar(400,0.3)} .play. If I place the text marker at the end of my code and hold the Shift/Fn key and then press the Return key the Post window will initiate the Local server to generate a sound based on my command. { This Curly bracket opens the Function, (SinOsc) means I want a Sine Oscillation initiated, (ar) is for Audio Rate and with out this no sound will be heard. Next an ( open bracket allows me to edit the sound of this chosen Sine Oscillation, so 400, is 400Hz (pitch), 0.3 is for Volume 0 = no sound 1 = is full volume so 0.3 is 30% full volume. This is followed by a ) close bracket and finalises the detailing. The } close curly brackets finish the function. Lastly the .Play obviously ask the Post to play the sound. To conclude this short report using various forms of the example code you can build up complex and or simple rhythms and melodies to use in a computer composition.

For more information visit http://supercollider.sourceforge.net/

The Future’s Bright, The Future’s OrangeNoise .play;

Continued – Laptop Musicianship

As this area of my CMT course is of particular interest to me I wanted to continue on from my 1st Post. For some time I’ve been interested in Computer Technology and how it is shaping the music we listen to, Acoustic and Electronic. Through programs like Ableton Live solo Acoustic Musicians and Vocalist can now create entire tracks with all parts i.e. Leads, Bass, Drums, Percussion etc with out the need for other band members. (The following video shows a professional Beat-boxer using Ableton Live in this way).

Over the next 3 years of Laptop musicianship I hope that I can learn to use this program and others like it to be creative with my music production and who knows even get to grips with visual technologies.

Using a Laptop to perform a set does have its limitations, unlike a Guitarist or Pianist the DJ finds it an ongoing struggle to draw the crowd in based on their actions and movements. Any DJ can play a good track but what makes the top guys unique is the way they use all available technologies including Midi controllers, effects units even synthesizers to create their own sound. As you see them moving around the DJ booth playing with this and that, it naturally draws the audience in closer. This is where the DJ can become the Artist.

Whilst studying this course, I hope to experiment using motion censoring devices as Midi controllers for example the Nintendo Wii remotes would be ideal for imitating the role of a drummer. Like wise the the Iphone could be used in a similar way to a Kaoss Pad as an effects unit but of course the choice of application is endless. These devices can be used to trigger midi tracks and/or audio samples, edit  and rework a piece or even to play in a new part. I hope to learn how to incorporate this type of control in to my DJ set and start to feel like an Artist and less of a fancy Play button or Itunes media player.

(see below the Wiimotes in action)

What ever next?

Hello world!

Hi there and welcome to Daniel James‘s Blog.

Brief History of my Musical Achievements;

On the 8th August 2005, I first discovered Alternative Electronic/Acoustic Music @ The Big Chill Festival, Eastnor and since then I have passionately delved in to the world of Music. I now find myself listening to all kinds of weird and wonderful sounds across all genres from Classical to Gabba, Folk and Trip Hop. Music has opened my mind to some many things. Towards Culture, Religion, Art  and Society as it so beautifully brings people from all walks of life together.

In January 2006 I bought my 1st set of Turntables and got myself into DJing specialising in House Music. It took quite some time to get the hang of it but eventually I understood and began pushing Club promotors and Venues for Gigs. In September 2006 I had my 1st major break at Turnmills London. Although no longer there, this club was once one of London most prestigous and it was an honour to get the opportunity to play. Since then I’ve DJ’d for a number of other Venues around the UK including Honey Club in Brighton, Pacha and Ministry of Sound in London. In 2008 I lived in Japan for a time where I DJ’d for a Club in Osaka.

Over the past 3 years I’ve slowly added to my set up and joined various collectives. I am proudly part of a particular events group named; Curious Systems. Curious Systems aka Curious Yellow (see picture) have been hosting small Festivals for the past 10 years. The founders, known as “The Three Phat Blokes” have influenced much of my taste for Dance music and made it possible for me to host my own Club Nights and small Festivals

Since the start of my DJ’ing career back in January 2006, I’ve always been intrigued by Music production and especially being musically creative with Computers and Technology. So in September of that fateful year I steered my academic studys towards the world of Music Technology. Doing a BTec National Diploma equivalent to A level. Pending good grades this was my ticket to University and a better future.

Im now a Creative Music Technology Student at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.

The course consists of 3 major parts Fundementals of Electronic Music (FOEM), Sound Design and Composition (SDaC) and Laptop Musicianship.

I am particularly intrigued by Laptop Musicianship as many world class DJ’s that I listen to use Laptop’s to perform there set and as Technology evolves so does the DJ therefore it is only smart to move with the times. I’m really forward to learning how to manipulate original tracks (effects) as well as create new ones to use in my Live performances. Programs like Ableton Live and Native Instrument’s Traktor Pro also interest me. I’ve messed around with these programs in the past but hope that through this course I can learn to fully use them to my advantage.

Although my taste for Music is mostly facing toward Electronic genres I’m interested to see if this course teaches me basic principals on how to fuze Acoustic Music with Electronic. Bands like To Rococo Rot from Germany do this very impressively with Live Drummers and Bassists together with Laptops and Synthesizers. Other Artist that Interest me The Bays, Lamb, Trifonic and many more. I’d like to think that all of what I will learn in this course I will be able to use Creatively and one day return to The Big Chill festival as a performer.

***********************