Rupert Lally

"Great White Silence" and the beginings of a new album

2012-02-10T00:04:00.000-08:00

So...we're already over a month in 2012 and I'm already feeling guilty that I'm not posting anything...

Despite, what I thought was a relatively exhaustive run down of everything that happened in 2011 in my Xmas Letter, I still managed to forget a bunch of stuff - including my wife's new Japanese garden she started at the back of the house (in fact, I managed to miss out mentioning her once in the entire Xmas letter - so you can imagine the reaction that got!) - I also forgot to include the fact that one of my remixes for Simon Fisher Turner ended up on his soundtrack to "The Great White Silence" - a documentary about Scott's ill-fated Antarctic expedition, which uses footage of the expedition shot by Herbert Ponting.

You can read The Guardian's review of the film here

The Dvd is available from the BFI (and any number of other places as well) Here's a link to the page on the BFI's website and Here is a link to the soundtrack on Discogs. I remixed my own remix and made it into "An Almost Perfect System" which was on "The Body Synthetic" but the original version was very different - In fact, even I don't know exactly what it sounds like as I've still never heard the final version with live strings by the Elysian Quartet - anyway I'm very pleased that it's available...

And while we're on the subject of music: I've already started on tracks for my new album. The working title for the album is "Process" and below you can listen to the first two tracks from it: "Unity Gain" and "Glisten". I originally thought about doing a solo guitar album (or at least my version of one), but decided that I (and my guitar playing technique) weren't quite up to that challenge yet - so I've begun to chop and mangle the pieces I've already started, with result (so far) being something akin to the work on "Body Synthetic" but with a slightly more acoustic sound. I'll post new tracks as they're finished, just as I did with "Theatre Of Noise".

Xmas Letter 2011

2011-12-18T02:28:00.000-08:00

Xmas time once again, and as promised last year, I will make no apologies for sending this Xmas letter instead of Xmas cards...

I also don’t need to apologize about a lack of blog posts this year as I seem to posted more in last 12 months than in the previous two years...

In fact, this last year, has been relatively busy for me - with combination of work and other projects, plus my full-time job as “doting Daddy” to my two little “darlings” (all speech marks very much intended) has resulted in an almost total lack of dull moments.

For the first few months of 2011 I was busy putting the finishing touches to my musical score for Momentum Dance’s new production: “Mobile”; which premiered at the Tojo Theater in Bern, in March; and has gone on be performed in venues and schools around Switzerland.

The video below, should give those of you who didn’t get to see it at least a flavour of what the show was all about.

The burst of musical creativity I experienced, didn’t just extend to the show’s soundtrack, I also created a new cd’s worth of my own music (entitled “The Body Synthetic”)

Both it and the "Mobile" soundtrack can be listened to and downloaded for $1 each, from my Bandcamp page here.

Almost as soon as that was over; I went to the UK for a week, and happily managed to catch up with friends and family in both Brighton and Liverpool. For any of those I didn’t manage to get to meet up with, hopefully we’ll get the chance when I next come over - sometime mid 2012.

My next project started soon after I returned from England. The resulting band, “Flöör” (pronounced like “Fleur”, the French word for “flower”), has been a collaboration between, myself, a young Swiss singer and performer Fiona Hess and my friend and theatre producer Stefano Cocchi. We cover a variety of songs in French, German, Swiss-German and English and have already played a handful of gigs in Luzern and Bern and hope to do more in 2012. I’m playing the guitar live for the first time in about 15 odd years; which is both enjoyable and terrifying (though not as terrifying as singing, which I also do on a couple of songs - music lovers beware!)

In July, we had a family holiday in Ticino; along with some friends of ours and their children - during which it rained almost the entire time!

Not only that but our camera got broken and I managed to get bitten or stung by something on my leg, that then got infected and I narrowly avoided severe blood poisoning and spent a week with my leg up...

A few weeks later, I decided I’d really better do something about the ingrowing toenail that had been bothering me since March and I had that operated on...so yet again, another week with my leg up...

I did spend the time productively though: playing guitar and writing new music; which can be heard via the soundcloud player to the right of this page. It’s also available as a free download via my Bandcamp page here.

The work was my way of getting myself familiar with the process of writing music on the computer again (because of Flöör, I hadn’t touched my software for months) as well as experimenting with new software and synths that I hadn’t really had a chance to explore yet. Some of it was also done to see how quickly I could create a piece of music; with one piece being done in the time it took Heidi to finish watching the news. This time I was keen to document the process via this blog; posting tracks as soon as they were finished and describing how they were made. Perhaps as a result of playing pop and jazz tunes in a band, the new music is even more experimental than normal - so don’t say I didn’t warn you! :-D

Another thing that happened during our time in Ticino, was that our elderly rabbit, “Chessy” passed on to that large rabbit warren in the sky; so we bought 3 new baby rabbits all with floppy ears (something I’d always wanted). It was obvious that the back and white one had to be called “Panda”, and I decided to call the tortishell and white one “Pebble” (something of a misnomer these days, considering how big he’s got we should have named him “Boulder”!) and we let Benji name his rabbit (a little black one) himself. He decided with spark of imagination previously unbeknownst to us to call it “Flap” - so there we have it - the 3 latest additions to the Lally Family Zoo!

After the summer Benji started at playgroup; which he really enjoys; which is good, though I’ll be completely honest and say I was more nervous than he was and will no doubt be next year when he starts Kindergarten...

Looking back at photos of the kids this year it’s amazing how much they’ve both grown in just 12 months - especially Rebecca, who has seemingly made the transition from toddler to little girl in the blink of an eye... That I’ve been (in Benji’s case) a Dad for 4 years already, seems unbelievable to me...That time seems to have gone extraordinarily quickly and with Rebecca, doubly so...

As if I didn’t already have enough reminders of how quickly time has gone by; in October I started work on a revival of “Backstage”, the show I was working on just before Becky was born. As it was 2 years ago, the show was performed at The Bürgenstock Resort, a hotel in the mountains near Luzern...The show went well, and there are plans to play it at other venues in Switzerland in 2012.

So, that was it really: 2 Shows, 2 health issues, 3 Rabbits, 3 albums, Kids growing up fast and a whole bunch of other stuff in between. December has already been busy with birthdays (mine and Rebecca’s) and now we’re struggling to get those last few things done before Xmas...like this letter.

Anyway, Merry Xmas to all of you from the whole family and best wishes for a happy (and healthy) start to 2012...unless of course the world does, in fact, come to an end sometime next year, in which case this will be the last Xmas letter I ever have to write...

R x

"Theatre Of Noise" available as a free download on Bandcamp

2011-12-17T11:04:00.001-08:00

"Theatre Of Noise" - the collection of experimental and ambient tracks I started in August is now available as a free download on Bandcamp. The album contains 11 tracks (plus "Atrocity Exhibition" as a bonus, because it just didn't fit anywhere else in the running order)

Listening back to the music after a gap of a few months - I felt they deserved to be released "as is" - not put on the shelf or cannibalised for my next cd.

For those of you who missed the blog posts made during the creation of this album I've also included them in the sleeve notes.

Here's the link

My Father, The Actor (2004)

2011-11-05T03:14:00.000-07:00

This 30 minute film ; that I made about my father, Anthony Lally, was my first completed documentary.

It was initially invisioned as a "test film" and not really meant to be viewed by the general public - I was busy making another documentary about comedy duo "The Black Sheep" and wanted to test out my abilities as a documentary filmmaker before I had to begin editing that one.

In the end, the film turned out better than expected and my father, who was initially very sceptical about the whole idea and ended up being very pleased with the finished film.

It's not perfect by any means: the music is far too intrusive at points, the lighting for the interview would be a little too dark for my taste now and the zooms created in the edit make me cringe. I'm also not especially impressed by own narration that opens the film - as I recall it was a last minute idea, due to my feeling that the viewer would need some kind of introduction as to why I was making the film. However, despite it's faults and whilst it's obviously a very personal film for me, it's also a documentary about a type of acting and acting training that has long since vanished and for that, if nothing else, it deserves to be seen by a wider public than I first imagined.

"Backstage" Returns!

2011-10-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

"Backstage" - the behind the scenes musical, that I created the lighting design for 2 years years ago is returning to the stage at the Bürgenstock Hotel, up in the mountains above the lake of Luzern, during November/December 2011.

The show opens on Fri 18th Nov. and runs until Sun 4th Dec.

more info can be found via this page from Bürgenstock's website.

In the meantime, to add to your anticipation, take a look at this short intro film, which I directed, that sets up the story of the two characters in the show:

The End Of The Pier Show (2004)

2011-10-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

The short abstract documentary Barny Livingston, my wife Heidi and I made back in 2004 about the destruction of Brighton's West Pier, due to a combination of arson and storm damage, is now available to watch online:

The film was inspired by Chris Marker's use of still photos in "La Jetteé", Heidi & I had often photographed the West Pier on our visits to Brighton and so we had more than enough material.

I really wanted to try and make the photos come alive and try as much as possible to have the film look like something more than a glorified slideshow. I'd seen some very interesting stuff created using still photos in "After Effects" and, knowing Barny Livingston had a lot of experience in using it, handed the whole editing side of the project over to him after we'd gone through all the material.

The Editing took about a year, with Barny working on the project whenever other commitments permitted; and He and I talking about it over the telephone or via email (Heidi & I had moved to Switzerland by this time) whenever we could. I wrote the music (not to picture, needless to say) in early 2004 and Barny already had part of a rough edit to show me when I arrived back in London in the summer of 2004 to shoot a couple of short documentaries.

There were some technical problems with the sound when the film was rendered out from Barny's computer, the score was also about 20 seconds too short. At the time, these were problems I had to live with; but now could easily be fixed in about 2 minutes using Premiere on my Macbook. I replaced the glitchy soundtrack with a copy of the original file (which, fortunately for me, Barny had given me along with all the material, After effects files etc on a separate disc; as I had long since lost my copy of it!); time-stretched it slightly, so it was now the same length as the film and added a few small sound fx that I'd always thought should have been part of the soundtrack.

Looking back, and possibly because I had relatively little with it's construction, it's one of the films on my c.v. that I'm most proud of. It's special for a number of reasons - not least because it marks one of the few times Heidi and I have worked on something together - but ultimately it's real charm lies in it's simplicity and the fact one can enjoy it on a purely aesthetic level, without knowing anything about Brighton or the West Pier.

Great Opening Titles (part 1): Hue & Cry

2011-10-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

The other day I watched "Hue & Cry" an early Ealing Comedy starring Alistair Sim; for the first time. With my mind currently focused on editing and title design, due to the work I've been doing lately (see recent posts), and because I loved the credit sequence so much I thought I'd share it.

Fortunately for me some kindly soul has put, not only the credit sequence but, the entire film up on YouTube:

It's one of those lovely, simple ideas that work so well and set the tone for the film perfectly - I especially love the "Wot no producer" bit.

Throwing good words after bad...

2011-09-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

Why do people always misinterpret me?...

Seriously, this question is one that has haunted me for most of my adult life, if not all of it...

It doesn't seem to matter whether or not I communicate with someone face-to-face, via email, twitter, facebook etc - someone always takes what I say, write or do the wrong way...

Just ignore it, I hear you say?...well, I do...most of the time....

...but sometimes people's inability to accept well-meant advice from a friend as just that really pisses me off...

If you create "work" and present it to the public (even if that public only consists of friends and family) then you have to accept that people will offer their opinions and suggestions on it. The people who offer these "suggestions" do so out of kindness and because they believe that you, like they themselves with their own work, would welcome other people's feedback...

Except you don't...

...You take any feedback that isn't of "You're a genius, why didn't I discover you sooner?" as a threat that you need to retaliate against.

I'm reminded of what my father once said to me, one evening after watching some terrible amateur theatre production, when a friend of ours wanted to give some the performers (who we knew) some friendly advice:

"You must remember, Ru; Nobody really wants to know what you think...they just want you to tell them how brilliant they are..."

I shall know better in future...

Some thoughts on writing...

2011-09-11T23:11:00.000-07:00

Writing music has taken "a backseat" in the last couple of weeks as I'm currently busy working on a screenplay; which, for various reasons: lack of time, being too busy with other work and my own inability to come up with a decent storyline - is long overdue...

An actor friend of mine from London, Dominique Gerrard, has recently started her own blog; and called it, rather nicely I think : "Randominique". So far she's only written a couple of funny and self-effacing posts about "not knowing what to blog about" and asking herself (as I often do) whether she'll actually have the stamina and self-discipline to keep the blog going (those few of you who actually read this blog regularly will know only too well how bad I am in that area).

Anyway, all this got me thinking about my thoughts on writing in general; and I decided I'd put them into a blog post, for lack of anything better to write about...

Like a lot of people I find writing hard work. Not the "ideas" part of writing, you understand; but the actual hard slog of getting it "down on paper".

Beginnings are always the hardest part. This is invariably the moment when I feel I have no talent and ability whatsoever, and, despite, having written any number of short stories, plays, screenplays, poems etc during my adult life - I always have a crisis of confidence when starting a new project. At University, my creative writing tutor (and great poet herself) Deryn Rees-Jones, would always have some little exercise for myself and the other students, to get us started writing when we complained about being "blocked". This not simply restricted to writing words by the way - this often happens when I start a new musical project too. Somehow screenplays often seem among the toughest to get started on, though. This may have something to do with the way they are "laid out" on the page. For those of you who've never seen how a screenplay looks, it has very strict rules about presentation. This is a short section from my screenplay, for example:

At the top of every scene you have several key pieces of information: Whether the scene is "Exterior" (EXT.) or "Interior" (INT.), the location the scene takes place, and whether it's day or night. Then comes "The Action" - that's anything important that happens non-verbally, and then a character's name and underneath, words they have to speak.

As few scenes start straight in with dialog, the first thing you have to write is, invariably, some form of physical action. This is much harder than it sounds. Just as an excersise, pick a very simple series of actions (opening a door and walking into a room, for example) and then try writing out those actions in a way that both makes every movement of that action clear but also interesting when appearing as words on a page...you'll soon realise how hard screenplay writing can be.

At some point however, you start to find yourself "on a roll" with your writing, at this point you'll be coming up with ideas so quickly, you'll struggle to get them all on the page. These are the moments that make writing worthwhile - those few, often brief, moments when it truly seems effortless...It isn't, of course, but then I guess you've already realised that...right?

There isn't a trick to get you through the difficult bits. You only have two options when faced with writer's block: Go and do something else for a while (my solution is often taking the dog for a walk); in the hope that, by clearing your mind and thinking about something else, inspiration will strike. Otherwise, the only other thing to do is keep writing - even if you think what you come up with is awful - in order to move past the section of the story that doesn't inspire you to get to the next section that does...

Theatre Of Noise Part 4: 6 new tracks!

2011-08-29T03:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I had a productive weekend. As well as gigging with my band, Flöör, on Saturday; I found the time, on Sunday, to come up with six new tracks for the "Theatre Of Noise" project.

This was largely due to me buying some new software and being inspired enough by it to create a whole bunch of new music:

A Quiet History by rupertlally
Seven Starlings by rupertlally
Inaudible Light by rupertlally

These first 3, which all have that 70s Eno tape Delay vibe, were done just using the "Entangled Species" soundbank for AAS Player/String Studio; which was created by composer/sound designer David Kristian ( AAS' website also has an interesting interview with Kristian here)
I've wanted this soundbank for a while and now that AAS have created a player instrument, I was able to buy it and use it even without the full version of String Studio.

I also created a fourth track, just using "Entangled Species"; which to me sounds reminiscent of the sound design/underscore in certain scenes from "Blade Runner" - I'm thinking of the scenes in Deckard's appartment etc...

Filament Timeframe by rupertlally

Finally there are two other tracks; the first using "Entangled Species", plus Cinematique Instruments' Gekko - Complex Environs; which reminds me of those slightly creepy early 70s film scores which I've always loved and which are hugely influencing the sound of this project:

The Unsure Ones by rupertlally

The second one, which is very short and more upbeat and continues in the slightly Eno-esque of the earlier tracks was started last night using Gekko and finished early this morning using Madrona Labs' Aalto (a Buchla emulation):

A Life In Miniature by rupertlally

I've not got further than trying out the presets on the Aalto, so far; but stay tuned for more tracks featuring this synth in the near future.

Flöör Live!

2011-08-25T23:23:00.001-07:00

Flöör, the band that I play in with Swiss singer Fiona Hess have some gigs coming up over the next few days:

Saturday 27th August - we are playing during the Grunliberale (The Green Liberal)'s summerparty which takes place near the KKL in Luzern. We're playing from 1pm - 4pm (with breaks of course) so if you're in or around Luzern, please come and support us.

More details here:

Wednesday 31st August - We're part of the Talent Show taking place at the Reberhaus in Bolligen, near Bern. We're going to be closing the show so we probably won't be on until almost 10pm, The show itself starts at 8pm and includes everything from bands to a choir as well as some short play excerpts. Entry is free so again, if you're in or around Bern, please come along and support us that evening.

Minimum price for albums on Bandcamp reduced, some are even free...

2011-08-20T03:40:00.001-07:00

I've now changed the minimum price for the pay-what-you-want releases on Bandcamp from $3 to $1; plus the older releases ( "Threads", "Disco Volante", "Feral", "Growing Up on Mars" and "Noisy Image"), which were previously available as free downloads are now, once again, free - with the only stipulation being, you need to give your email address - This purely so that I can get some idea of who's downloading my stuff; new fans, old ones, friends, family etc - they will NEVER be passed on to anyone else or used for anything else; you have my word on it...

So, having said all that; those of you who haven't gotten around to downloading and listening to my stuff up until now...what's stopping you?

Theatre Of Noise pt 3: "Star Pulpit"

2011-08-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Another new track, this one done using only Audio Damage's "Phosphor", which I bought just at the end of my work on " Body Synthetic". For those of you who don't know ( or haven't read the post I wrote about it, earlier in the year, just before it's release), "Phosphor" is a software emulation of the old Alpha Syntauri software/hardware hybrid that used to run on the Apple II computer, way back in the day... needless to say in creating this new emulation, developer Chris Randall his been very careful not only to keep the flavor of the original (Chris actually has a working Apple II with a Syntauri, which he uses regularly in his own music - under the alias "Micronaut", check out his bandcamp page here) but also improve on it giving the user the choice of having the aliasing additive oscillators of the original, or alias free versions; for example... He has also earned my undying gratitude by adding intelligent randomization features to "Phosphor" (one can choose to randomise all the parameters or just the oscillators)...something those of you who know me, will know I feel this feature should be available on EVERY softsynth - nothing aids creativity like productive surprises!...

EDIT: Chris just tweeted me to also give credit to Adam Schabtach who actually "made"/coded "Phosphor"; while Chris designed it - which I'm happy to do; seriously guys: Great work, the pair of you...

Anyway, having had the synth since April, I had long wanted to really try and get to grips with it and as with the previous track: "Atrocity Exhibition", which used Reaktor Prism almost exclusively; one of the interesting sidelines of this new project, due to it's slightly experimental nature, is that it's giving me a chance to explore software that I barely scratched the surface of previously.

So, here's the track; which to my ears sounds a little like "Apollo" era Brian Eno (no bad thing), hope you like...

The Star Pulpit by rupertlally

P.s. Oh and by the way I've now added a Soundcloud widget to the top of the page, so can instantly listen to the tracks with out having to scroll down to the individual post (and I have to keep re-embeding the player every time I post a new track ;-D)

Theatre Of Noise pt 2: 2 new tracks, plus a new mix of a previous one...

2011-08-17T04:16:00.000-07:00

Sessions for my new project (for the moment entitled "Theatre Of Noise") continue apace...

Here are 2 new tracks: the 1st: "The New Flesh" took forever for me to find the right structure for...It kept sounding droney and uninspiring and I tried taking it in a number of different directions before I finally found a solution last night...It was taking so long that I was seriously considering giving up on it, posting it anyway and inviting suggestions as to how to get it finished...

The 2nd piece, "Atrocity Exhibition" - was done, more or less, whilst my wife was watching the news...I'd just finished work on "New Flesh" and was ready to call it a night; but then i looked at the time and my wife sat down on the sofa, next to me, and began watching the news; and I thought I'd see if it would be possible to create a complete piece in the 20 mins it would take for her to finish watching it...The end result is very experimental ( I was thinking of those late 60s/early 70s experimental tape and electronic pieces) but I like it and it certainly seems worthy of the Ballard homage with the title; I'll probably do more pieces like that for this project. On a technical level it represents the first time I've really got to grips with creating sounds in Reaktor Prism; which even 6 months after I bought it remains one of my favorite soft synths...

I've also just done a second, more sensitive mix (at least in my opinion) of "A Collection Of Masks" - which I think now works better than it did before...

So that's you lot up to date again...now I can get on with some more work! ;-D

Theatre Of Noise by rupertlally

Theatre Of Noise: the new album begins here...

2011-08-13T04:29:00.001-07:00

I'll admit it: by publishing a picture of a new folder on my desktop; I was really trying to get my own arse in gear and start working on a new project - which I can now reveal, if you hadn't already guessed it, was to be a collection of unused film music I'd done; mostly in the time between "Feral" and "Threads"...

However, once I went through all the material yesterday evening, I was disappointed by much of it and whilst there were a couple of pieces that could benefit from some additional work...the vast majority are just not releasable, not to mention the fact that many have simply been lost; either through the transfer from PC to Mac, back to PC when Mac died, only for PC to then be replaced by new Mac; or just simply deleted, thinking I had a backup copy somewhere...

The upshot is the original idea of the album is a non-starter...

Needless to say, I found all of this fairly depressing and so to cheer myself I opened Ableton Live and one 2 hour session later have three new short pieces. Because of this I've decided to start on a new project, which I'll continue document the progress of here in this blog, Imogen Heap-style.

Tracks will be posted here, as soon as they're finished and you'll be able to hear the album "take shape"; I'd also welcome your feedback on the tracks...

The working title for the new cd is "Theatre Of Noise", which at one time was also a working title for "Threads", but one which seems to be more fitting for this project - which judging from these first 3 tracks, seems to be headed in a more ambient and experimental direction than my previous releases.

So, without further ado; here are the first 3 tracks:
Theatre Of Noise by rupertlally

3 Lost Poems...

2011-08-11T08:37:00.001-07:00

...circa 2004/2005, I think. Found in one of my notebooks, when I reopened it, just the other day to jot down ideas for something... in retrospect, I rather like them and so, in want of somewhere better to put them, I thought I'd post them here...

"We are flying in a fiery sphere..."
said the astronaut,
And I am inclined
To believe him.
These days
The fires between us
Burn brighter than ever;
Twice this week
We've seared the sky
With pulsing jets of napalm;
Viscous,
It slides over our appologies
Like oil on water.
Eventually,
We cool;
But,
The memory of our heat
Remains trapped;
And there we stay:
Two petrified figures
Locked in ash.

Here I Lie,
Silent;
Beneath my frozen sky
Of water.
I barely notice
The shadows,
Dancing beyond;
Fleeting moments,
In this hall of mirrors.
An Ice Age
Gone
In the blink of an eye;
Whilst my heart beats
To the rhythm
Of a sonambulist clock;
Waiting for the world
To dream of spring
Once more.

It had never occurred to me,
That happiness could be measured
To so small a degree:
The butterfly beat of your eyelashes
When I've said something stupid,
The clammy clasp of your skin-
creamed hand
When I turn to you in bed;
The heavy head, upon my lap
When tiredness sets in,
The playful pout of your full lips,
Hands tucked under chin;
A thousand things that I could write,
A thousand more I can't,
I cannot do your love justice with one
poem,
So until I can, I Shan't.

Where you been?: a story of resting, rehearsing and rasgueados

2011-07-29T05:38:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know; I've not posted for a while... Partly because I've actually been spending some time relaxing - which after scoring a 60 minute dance piece, plus writing a new album I think I deserved...

I also went on holiday and, due to first a bite or scratch on my leg, which turned nasty and from which I narrowly avoided contracting blood poisoning; and then an ingrown toenail, which got left too long and had to be operated on, have several weeks where I literally had to lie around doing nothing...

I've not just been resting however; I've been busy with a new project; a band in fact...

We're called Flöör (pronounced "Fleur", like the French for flower) and the group is a collaboration between myself and Fiona Hess, a very talented, young Swiss singer. It's very different from anything you've heard me do before, as there are no electronics involved whatsoever; just acoustic guitar and voice. We've already performed 1 gig and we have 1 or 2 coming up in August; we also have a myspace page:

www.myspace.com/floerband

Where you can find some tracks (all covers) which we recorded recently during a band rehearsal...the recordings are only rough, but at least you get the idea...

Due to playing in this band, most of my time during the last few months has been spent learning songs and attempting to get my guitar playing back up to scratch...it's getting better now I'm back in the habit of practicing regularly, I've even been trying to learn some classical pieces and obtain some new skills practicing Flamenco techniques ( which is where the Rasgueados come in - in case you were wondering what the hell that was) Right now, needless to say, I suck...but I intend to keep at it , so who knows...

Finally, I created a new folder on my desktop this morning - for a project I've been thinking about for a while; which, hopefully will see the light of day sometime before the end of the year...I think the title pretty much gives the game away, so I'll not say anything more for now...

A Few Days In Another Town

2011-04-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

A few photo impressions from my visit to my hometown last week...

New Album: The Body Synthetic out now on Bandcamp

2011-03-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's finally here: my new album, The Body Synthetic, is available as of today via Bandcamp.

Here's the direct link

As with my other stuff it's pay-what-you-want, with a minimum of $3.

I won't say anymore other than I'm glad I managed to finish it (those of you who've been following this blog lately will know there have been times when I had my doubts...) and I hope you enjoy it...

Do you know Tyler Duerden?

2011-03-25T03:10:00.001-07:00

Snapped whilst out and about in Bern - just couldn't resist... :-))

Setting up...

2011-03-18T01:16:00.001-07:00

Last two "Mobile" shows; today and tomorrow...

Changed the font for the blog posts...

2011-03-09T23:35:00.000-08:00

...Which I think makes it easier to read, don't you?...

Moog Filtatron Update: What's new and what's still missing...

2011-03-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

Moog have updated their fantastic Filtatron app; Which, as I've already mentioned, is , in my opinion, one of the best IPhone/IPad apps available for music. The update adds a bunch of new features, including Ipad compatibility, which it didn't have previously; However it's still not possible to manipulate the sampler's start and end points via either the x-y pads or the LFO... However in the photo of the IPad version shows some connectors at the back of the Filtatron which I had hoped would enable you to modulate some additional parameters on the app, like on the MoogerFooger pedals...but it seems they're just for show...
It's not that I'm not grateful for the update's numerous improvements, but does anyone else feel like there's a bit of a missed opportunity here?...

"Mobile" soundtrack out now on Bandcamp

2011-03-07T14:49:00.001-08:00

As with my other cd's, it's "pay what you want"; with a minimum price of $3.

It's an eclectic album, with tracks ranging in style from classical to Autechre-esque experimental electronica... You might love it, you might hate it, but it's certainly different from anything you've heard from me before...

Here's the direct link:

The Show opens in Bern, Switzerland; this Thursday and I'll be previewing tracks from "The Body Synthetic", plus some old favorites, before and after the show...Hope to see you there, if you can make it...

"The Body Synthetic" album is practically finished, just need to add the finishing touches to a couple of the tracks and finalize the artwork; so expect that to be up on Bandcamp within the next 2 weeks...

New Look

2011-03-03T23:33:00.001-08:00

Yes, I've changed the Look of this blog again... Got bored with the old Look, which I've only had since Xmas, and initially only meant to change the background design, but got a little carried away...

In other news: "Mobile" soundtrack is finished and I'm putting the cd together as we speak; "Body Synthetic" is progressing nicely and should definitely be finished by the end of March...

In the meantime, back to work...

The synthies are coming!...

2011-02-28T02:03:00.001-08:00

In the light of Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross' Oscar win for best score with "The Social Network" (congratulations by the way guys!) I thought I'd post a quick addendum to the post I wrote a year or so back entitled: (Dawn of the) Dead Synth score... The full post can be read here, but what it essentially amounted to was a lament for the fact that no-one seems to want or be capable of writing a decent synthesized score these days...

Thankfully, that situation seems to have changed a little during the past 12 months, aside from TSN, we also had Daft Punk's score for "Tron Legacy" which, while it did also use an orchestra, also prominently featured synthesizers rather than simply using them for additional colour, or weird fx.

The future looks bright(er) for next year as well with Reznor & Ross scoring David Fincher's next fim: "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", plus the Chemical Brothers scoring Joe Wright's new movie, "Hanna".

Admittedly a handful of releases using electronic scores does not really constitute a revival, but at least it proves there's still a place for non-traditional motion picture scores...and who knows? Perhaps the Oscar win for TSN will open up other Producers and Directors eyes (& ears) to the possibility of using something other than a symphony orchestra to score their next picture...

Here's hoping....

Hard to the touch?: Working with music apps on the iPod Touch

2011-02-17T04:49:00.001-08:00

I bought an iPod touch last week, partly to do all things one normally does with an iPod / iPhone, but also as an alternative device to playback music tracks and to sketch out musical ideas on.

Ok, I realise that I was probably hoping for too much, but I had hoped that I could find a dj app, that I could use to playback my soundtracks to theatre shows, if necessary; and perhaps a music app that would allow me to sketch out ideas on the move.

I ( eventually ) found "tap dj" , which did what I wanted (eg. Being able to dj properly from my IPod's music collection - but not without first paying out for Sonorosorus' more expensive dj app that looked very professional, but didn't let you dj from the mp3's on your IPod - seriously! why would anyone dj'ing from an ipod not want to be able to use the mp3's they already have?)

I have yet to find any DAW music app that I would realistically use on a regular basis; I've tried quite a few already and most of them feel like a waste of money. I've tried "Xenon", "Beat Maker 2" and "Akai Synthstation" and whilst they all have good points, they also all have weaknesses that, to me at any rate, make them less than perfect...

"Xenon", which is made by the same company that made "Argon", simply has too much going on for a small screen particularly in terms of navigating from one section to another ( It'd probably be just fine on an iPad); also a note to developers generally: giving your synth's presets generic names such as "Synth bass 1" etc does not inspire one to browse through all the presets in search of a sound...especially when one has to load a sound and then confirm that one wants to load sound before you can play it...

Akai Synthstation's preset loading system and the way one has to navigate around the app is even worse...Get this in: order to find a sound and record a part in synthstation, here's what you have to do: First go to the "Sounds" page, choose an existing preset or a blank one; then go to the performance page to hear what the preset sounds like; then if you don't like it go back to the sounds page and chose another preset or if you did like it, but want to edit the sound or chose a blank preset then you need to go to the "Sound Edit" page where you can navigate through an entire 3 Oscillator synth, one panel at a time but...you still need to navigate back to the "Performance" Page to be able to hear the changes you've made and then once you have the sound you like you can record it on the "Sequence" page...via step-time input, one bar at a time!!!
There is no realtime input and no abilty to extend a sequence for more than one bar...you have to chain sequences together as a "song"... If you're anything like me this is the point where you cry "enough" and close the app vowing never to reopen it...

The one good thing about Soundstation is the sounds, which are excellent; much better than those in Beatmaker 2. Beatmaker's sounds are sample-based, unlike Akai's mixture of synthesis and samples, and it can do realtime recording. It has a nice GUI which is very clear - though I had to download the manual to find the transport controls, which are tucked away behind an tiny icon to the far left hand side of the screen. My biggest grip with it though is that once installed it takes up almost 700mb of space inside the Ipod! If that doesn't seem like much then just remember that's compared to Xenon's 80 Mb and Akai's 122 Mb. Even with just under a gigabyte of space left on my Ipod, the app was telling me it was running out of system space...and that was before I'd recorded one note of music! Do it's developers really believe people will install this app on an empty Ipod or Iphone?... and sorry guys, but for it's much-vaunted MPC style workflow; Akai's app kicks Beatmaker's arse when it comes to factory drum sounds...

Not wishing to sound like a grumpy old curmudgeon, there are some music apps I downloaded that I did like. Ironically, they all dispense with a representation of a musical keyboard as the way of inputing notes.

Moog's Filtatron app uses touch pads for example. Of all the apps that I downloaded this is easily the most intuitive as well as being the most satisfying go use. It does only a handful of things but it does them very well and the whole package is wrapped up in a very nice GUI, reminiscent of their MoogerFooger pedals. My only wish is that the sampler module was more "connected" to the rest of the app. It would be great, for instance, if you could control the start and end points of a loop via the touch pads or you could use the LFO to modulate perameters on the sampler...who knows? Maybe in a future update?...

Brian Eno's Bloom app, where you tap the display, is more of a toy than a serious instrument, though by deleting the pattern you've created every so often and using the more user definable "free-style" mode you can expand the app's uses a little further. It's a shame though you can't change the sounds or the scale of the notes that you generate, these would require only minor adjustments to the program; but would extend it's usefulness immeasurably.

Reactable Mobile, which is based on the astronomically expensive Reactable System used by Bjork and others, has no such limitations; in fact, I'll wager it's the most open-ended music system available for iPod/iPhone. I've barely scratched the surface of what it can do yet and certainly whatever music I create with it will be different than I would come up with using the laptop.

Perhaps that is ultimately the point: should the iPod or even the IPad, with their touchscreen interfaces really strive to imitate existing hardware or should they instead aim for a more unique form of interaction?

After almost a week of using one of these devices my opinion is now swinging away from the former towards the latter and perhaps what we need now is the IPad generation's equivalent of a Don Buchla or a Bob Moog to create this totally new way of making music for us, just their hardware forefathers did...

A Tale Of Two Albums...

2011-02-15T05:00:00.001-08:00

Ok it's now relatively clear to me that I've actually got 2 albums to release...

How is that possible?

Well, simple really...as much as I like the work that I've done for "Mobile" I didn't think it was something I'd want to put out as an album...too diverse etc...

However, after watching a run-through of the complete show the other weekend, I'm now inclined to think otherwise...so that's album no.1 and that'll be up on Bandcamp in the next few weeks...

That leaves "Body Synthetic", which was originally supposed to feature tracks from "Mobile", but now, needless to say, won't...
At this point, I'm not sure whether to pick the best tracks that I've already finished and put it out as an e.p., or delay releasing it until I've got a full album...

On the one hand it definitely "feels" like it should be an album to me, on the other the momentum behind the project is beginning to flag and I don't want have a bunch of tracks sitting around whilst my attention is diverted away to other things...

What do you lot think?

Answers on postcard, please...

"Mobile" dates announced

2011-02-01T01:51:00.000-08:00

The official dates for "Mobile" - the new dance production I've scored for Swiss dance company Momentum Dance have been announced:

Thursday 10th -Saturday 12th March: Tojo Theater; Bern (show starts at 8.30pm)

and

Saturday 19th March: MZH Pöschen; Schwarzenburg (show starts at 8:00pm)

Tickets are between 25-20 CHF for adults and 15 CHF for kids.

More info on the show itself plus how to reserve tickets can be found on Momentum's website:
www.momentumdance.ch

If you in or around Bern or Schwarzenburg on these dates - please come and support us.

Hope to see you at the show...

Rupert

Bandcamp, Regime Change and an album update

2011-01-22T09:57:00.000-08:00

As of now I now have a Bandcamp page: http://rupertlally.bandcamp.com/; which is where you can now find all my albums, plus the track Disco Volante, that the Resonance Fm show Rhythm Incursions played and gave away as a free download. I've even revamped the cover art of "The Noisy Image", "Growing Up On Mars" and "Feral", so that all my releases have a similar look and typeface to one used on my last album: "Threads".

Bandcamp seemed the simplest, best and most elegant solution to the problem of getting my music out into the world - who knows I might even attract some new fans this way...plus instead of just downloading MP3s you can now download my stuff in whatever format you like: .WAV, 320kbs MP3, or .Aiff....

The bad news is it's no longer free...

The Mp3's of all my stuff have been available to download for a year now on Last FM; I figure anyone who wanted to download them has had ample opportunity by now - but few new listeners found my stuff there and so it's time to put the albums where they might (hopefully) by discovered by people...It's a pay what you want affair on all of the albums, with a minimum donation of 3 US Dollars...which I think is pretty fair for a album...

The reason for this change is to get ready for my new CD, entitled "the Body Synthetic" which will be released around the beginning of March. It'll include 2 tracks written for the "Mobile" soundtrack, plus new material that I'm working on right now and just to whet your appetite - here's a taster of what's coming...

Imsai by rupertlally

Picks from NAMM 2011

2011-01-22T04:10:00.000-08:00

It's been the NAMM show in California this past week and , as usual it's resulted in yet more gear lust on my part...

MUST BUYS:

Audio Damage Phosphor:

This remake of the Alpha Syntauri system that ran on the Apple 2e computer has been on my radar for a few weeks now, ever since I saw a screenshot and brief description on developer Chris Randall's Analog Industries blog. I love the sound of early digital synths and I'm using Audio Damage's Axon on my new album, so I'll be picking this up very soon.

BT & Izotope Stutter Edit:

Anybody who has listened to my music will know I love glitch fx and although I already have several this looks really good - like a much better version Native Instruments, "the Finger"...At 200 odd dollars it's a little pricey; but it's definitely something I want to get hold of at some point...

UPDATE: I downloaded a demo of this the other day and have been playing around with it ever since. My favourite preset is "basic stutters" which gives every type of stutter effect you could want, right at your fingertips...

INTERESTING, BUT I WANT TO KNOW MORE FIRST:

Arturia Spark:

A drum, beatbox hardware/software hybrid, much like my Analog Experience Player keyboard (see previous blog entry) It looks great and being more synth than samples based it should hopefully need a smaller harddrive footprint than something like Native Instruments Maschine; on the downside I'm wary of being an early adopter of anything by Arturia; whose products often have "more bugs than a bait store" when they're first released...

THING THAT I WOULD REALLY LOVE, BUT CAN'T AFFORD:

Dave Smith & Roger Linn Tempest:

100% analog drum machine beatbox/production centre that looks as sexy as it sounds - but it costs almost 2000 US Dollars, so I doubt I'll be getting my hands on one anytime soon...still I can't dream can't I? (sighs)...

OTHER NOTABLES:

Korg Kronos:

A new workstation from Korg, which looks lovely (albeit more than a little reminiscent of a Wavestation keyboard, with some extra knobs and sliders and a massive screen bolted on), and certainly is ahead of the competition in terms of what a workstation - however, it is still a workstation. Something I find very hard to get excited about these days; no matter how many bells and whistles they add on...

Fairlight CMI for iPad/iPhone:

Aside from their 30th anniversary Fairlight (for $20,000!!! - good luck on selling that!), they were also showing this fantastic app for the Ipad/iPhone - which essentially replicates a Fairlight inside an iPad... I'll be honest and say that this, along with Korg's iMS20 are only increasing my iPad lust; and I'm already beginning to wonder whether I'll soon be using an iPad or iPod touch to run shows...

A New Player enters the game...

2011-01-22T04:05:00.000-08:00

My Arturia Analog Factory player Keyboard/Software package arrived at the end of last week and , I must say, I really like it. I've been a great advocate of software/hardware hybrids for some years now - especially since even the most basic Macbook is capable of running most software straight out of the box these days. Like most working composers/musicians I use predominantly soft synths these days, simply because it's easier and more convenient. I'm often forced to work in a variety of conditions - on a train, in a rehearsal room, at someone else's flat and thanks to the wonders of software synthesis I can take my studio with me to all of these places...not to mention needing to be flexible as to where I work, at home with two small children running around...

I do miss the feel of dedicated hardware, however...I've bought and then sold any number of hardware controllers over the years because I've never been satisfied with them...however the Analog Player keyboard is different...firstly it mirrors the hardware exactly; so you if you close your eyes you might almost believe you're playing a hardware synth; secondly it's sturdly built by CME so it will withstand being thrown in rucksack with my laptop (in fact, it's so well built that I'd be more worried about it damaging the other stuff in the rucksack rather than vice versa!)

Yes, but you can't edit the sounds! I hear you cry - this doesn't really bother me though. My feeling with emulations of classic synths is that you tend to be after a few very specific sounds - a Moog bass is a Moog Bass, whether you use a preset or program it yourself, it amounts to much the same thing in the end. Most classic synths tended to do maybe 5 or 6 different types of sound - if you were lucky - before you got into variations of those sounds. Given 1000 or presets, chances are most of bases (no pun intended) will be covered and I refuse to be drawn into the whole "but it isn't the same unless you're programming all the sounds yourself, bullshit"...I like programming as much as the next nerdy synth bloke; but if there's a preset that already gives you the sound you want, then why bother programming it yourself? There's no shame in using a well-crafted preset - I won't tell if you won't...

The only downside is the normal complaint I have about Arturia products: that they are often a little buggy, at first...In this case, Analog Player causes Live to crash now and again - nothing too serious, you can always retrieve the thing you were working on without any problems, thanks to Live's "save/undo history"; but it's enough of an annoyance to have me contacting Arturia's tech support, hoping they can fix it in an update soon...

Xmas Letter 2010

2010-12-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

Yes...you’ve guessed it : It’s Xmas time once again and here comes Rupert with his yearly apology about how he’s been too busy to write any Xmas Cards and how you’ll just have to make do with a Xmas letter instead...

Sorry folks - it’s all true: once again, I’ve spectacularly failed to send out even one bloody xmas card! I’m going to save us all the disappointment next year and just not make any promises, whatsoever...

Anyway, at least this year I will actually take the time and write a proper xmas letter and not do what I did last year, dash one off at the last minute in between visits to see Heidi and Rebecca in hospital...

We had Becky’s christening in the March snow, which was lovely (albeit cold!) in the same local Catholic Church (and with the same priest) that Benji was christened at...

And how is Benji adjusting to the arrival of a little sister?

Surprisingly well, so far, actually... He’s got a little bit more whiny than usual and now she’s crawling around there are the predictable negotiations about whether she can play with his toys - though this is generally solved by him giving her one of his older toys to play with...generally speaking, however; he’s very sweet with her - and she, of course, adores her big brother and wants to copy everything he does; even if she’s not quite physically able to...yet!

So, what have we been up to?

Well, needless to say, a lot of the time has been spent adjusting to the fact that we are now a family of four (or five if you count the dog - I do...). Our daughter, Rebecca, who was born last December is lovely and, despite a few worries at first that she wasn’t drinking enough and was destined to be a very small, delicate, little thing - she has surprised us all by turning into a very robust, big and quite chubby little 1 year old! We get constant comments from everyone we meet about what an adorable, smiley, happy baby she is - if only they knew!!! She has quite a “dark side” to her when she wants, however; she’s already an accomplished enough actress to be able to “turn on the charm” when anyone else is around!

Aside from Daddy duties I’ve also had a fairly busy year work-wise (or at least busy enough for someone who is also a full-time Dad, I should say).

The beginning of the year was spent doing re-writes on a stage play I wrote over five years ago to prepare it for a read through with a cast...we did finally get to do the read through in March, but it hasn’t progressed any further than that, partly due to people’s availability, but also because other projects came up instead...Hopefully, it might actually see the light of day (or should that be “the light of the stage”) sometime soon...

I also spent the first few months of 2010, doing the final few shows of “Retro”, with Swiss modern dance company, Momentum Dance; The last show, especially, was quite emotional for all of us, despite the fact that many of us are working together on other projects and knew we would see each other again - there was something weird about saying “goodbye” (at least for the time being) to a show that you’d worked on (on and off) for the last 3 years...I can still vividly remember starting work on the sound for the 1st scene when Benji was just a few months old...

Momentum’s founder and choreographer, Anja, and I also began work on a school dance project, which ended up being performed in April at school near Burgdorf, which went surprisingly well, considering it meant organizing over 200 children and, at least,10 teachers...I can say, quite honestly, (perhaps Anja would disagree) that the kids were far easier to organize than the teachers...

At some point, during all this I found time to visit the UK, for a couple of days at the beginning of the year; to those of you I managed to see during that very short break, it was truly lovely to see you all again (some of you, due to the “modern miracle” that is facebook - speech marks, most definitely intentional - for the first time in many years; to those of you I didn’t get to see: I’m very sorry and I’m definitely intending to make over to the UK again in 2011... Heidi, the kids and I also managed to have 5 days holiday in Ticino (the Italian part of Switzerland) in spring, along with Anja, her husband and their son; unfortunately the weather was not that wonderful, but it was lovely nonetheless - even if Heidi and I did wonder, afterwards, whether if we really wanted a break, we’d be better off giving the kids to their grandparents for a week!

The summer was seemingly spent alternatively in the garden, typing away furiously away at a laptop; sitting on a train or in the Theatre space at the Swiss Musical Academy, in Bern - where my friend Sean had persuaded me to help with lights and sound for his students final show...the furious typing was the sound of me trying to write a new stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “...and then there were none” - that’s a 90 page script, in 2 weeks...

The reason for this insanity had nothing to do with me leaving things until the last minute (yes, I know that was what you were thinking)...It was actually more about helping my producer friend, Stefano, out of a difficult situation...

Last December, I did the lights and the sound for a show that Stefano was producing for a hotel up the mountains above Luzern, when it became clear that he wouldn’t be able to do the same show again this Xmas, we needed to come up with something else quickly - I mentioned having recently re-watched the 1970’s film version of ATTWN, with Oliver Reed and Richard Attenborough, set in a empty hotel in the desert, and why not do the same thing using the hotel room where we had staged the show the previous year as the set itself?... At first, the idea was simply to adapt and existing stage version of the story...however, one glance at the outdated dialogue, convinced Stefano and myself that we needed to create our own version...which is how I came to have just 2 weeks to write a complete script...I managed it, needless to say, however in the end the production was cancelled because a lack of available dates at the venue itself...we still have hopes to stage the production - maybe next year...in the meantime, if you or anyone you know is interested in modern stage adaptation of one of Christie’s finest novels...well...I happened to have one sitting around on my hard drive doing nothing...

As if writing a stage play in two weeks and frantically trying to find 10 cast members wasn’t enough excitement for one year; as soon as I’d finished I had to start work on the score for Momentum Dance’s new production, which I had to write all the music for...and that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing since October...

And that’s it really...a ll of the above plus, the usual round of nappy changing, cooking, shopping etc and that’s the whole 365 days...we’re looking forward to a moderately quiet Xmas and New Year before starting what will probably an equally busy 2011!!!

Merry Xmas and a happy New Year everybody,

Lots of Love,

Rupert & Family.

Status Update November 2010

2010-11-04T05:12:00.000-07:00

Once again, it’s been months since my last blog post - I’m really not “cut out” to be a blogger, frankly - it’s the cyberspace equivalent of keeping a diary, something I’ve always been useless at...

Anyway, this is more or less a status update - just in case any of you out there who read this, were getting worried that this blog had gone the way of the last...

The main reason why there have been no postings is because, as usual, I’m busy...both with the kids and work.

I have a new show that I’m scoring for momentum dance - it’s called “Mobile” - which will premiere in Bern in March 2011. If this seems like a long way away, just remember when writing for a dance company the music has to be finished ( or at least some version of it) before they can start choreographing it...that translates as: I will be hellishly busy from now until March writing and re-writing the score, as things get altered and changed around. As it is I’m approximately halfway through...I think...
As always, when I visited the rehearsals 2 weeks ago, I was impressed how much better my music sounded when put against their choreography...this isn’t false modesty, I still find it amazing to see how even the most insignificant musical moment can be transformed when it accompanies movement...
What does my score sound like - so far it’s fairly eclectic: the first scene, alone, encompasses a variety of styles from avant-garde classical; a melodic dance section, reminiscent of some of Thomas Newman’s soundtrack work; a “Tom & Jerry” style barrage of musical sound fx and ending with a parody of “Also Sprach Zarasthusla” from “2001”...Whether or not it ultimately works as a piece of music I have no idea - but it’s certainly fun to watch and listen to....

As for my own music, it’s now a year on from the release of “Threads”; which, looking back, I think I can now class it as a “failure” on most levels...Despite giving it away for free very few people listened to it, few of those that did seemed to like it and, ultimately, it’s forced me re-think how I release my music...I’ve been looking at various options (Bandcamp, itunes, local labels etc), weighing up the pros and cons of how best to release what I do next...I’m also aware that the clock is ticking and that the 2 and a half year gap between “Feral” and “Threads” was much too long (albeit unavoidable)...with luck I might having something new ready for the time “Mobile” premieres - which could capitalise on any momentum (pun only slightly intended) gained through the show...fingers crossed...but I will keep you posted...

Other than that there’s a possible film project and a collaboration with a well-known (at least in Switzerland) singer...but it’s still early days with both of them and I don’t want to jinx the projects...

Plus the usual stuff inherent with being a dad: watching my daughter learn to talk and crawl (in that order) and my son become steadily cheekier day by day...

Life is good...so good, in fact that I should go and get on with it instead of sitting here typing...

John Leonard on "Sample Blindness"

2010-06-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

Via Synthtopia I came across a very interesting article by sound designer and author John Leonard on "Live Design" talking about how he often cringes at the sounds composers sometimes use in an attempt to create an electronic orchestration.
As well as expressing his admiration for Delia Derbyshire and her colleagues at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, John raises some very interesting points including a plea (or at least that's how I interpreted it) for electronic composers to create more adventurous soundtracks rather than simply attempting to create cheap imitations of acoustic instruments. However, it seems a little unfair of him to put the blame for trying to create these sometimes painfully inadequate electronic orchestrations, solely on the composers themselves. What about the directors, who can't understand why "Gladiator" style music would sound ridiculous underscoring a battle scene which only has 5 people on stage, in a venue that only seats 75? Or the producers and media clients who want you to give them something similar to the London Symphony orchestra on a budget of 50p?
Most electronic composers that I know and I have heard interviewed, would love to create more experimental soundtracks; but never get the chance to. The simple reality is often that, in this business, you have to give the client (who are invariably non-musicians) what they want - and what they want is often what they've already heard somewhere else, except they want you to do it cheaper and quicker.

Anyway, here's the link to John's article, it's well worth reading:
John Leonard -Live design article

See what you think...

Benji on the uke!

2010-06-01T10:49:00.001-07:00

The end of "Retro" (at least for now)

2010-04-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

Appologies for the lack of postings recently, the combination of work and the new baby have kept me pretty busy of late, but I'll do my best to remedy that from now on.
On slightly sad note: yesterday marked the last performance (at least for the foreseeable future) of "Retro" - the dance theatre piece that I created the sound design for and have been touring around with, on & off, for the last 2 and half years. I'll soon be working on something new with the same company, Momentum Dance, so it's not as if I won't see any of the people again; but it's been a long time working on the same project: when we started my son was only 3 months old, he'll be 3 this year.
Yesterday, watching the show from the mixing position at the side of the stage, I was struck by the fact of how much fun it's been to work with the company and on the show these past few years; so I'd just like to take the opportunity to say thanks to Anja, Seani, Gabi, Steffi, Lisa, and the other members of the cast,past and present, for all the laughs we've had, whilst working together.

Album update: "Threads" now available for direct download from this blog.

2010-01-31T02:09:00.000-08:00

As you can see, my last album, "Threads" is now available for you all to listen to and download via the Soundcloud player on the right hand side of the page.

You can still download it and my previous albums for free via Last Fm, but the original rapidshare and megaupload links are now dead.

Dawn of the Dead Synth (or why no-one seems to write synth film scores anymore.)

2009-11-10T04:31:00.000-08:00

Last year I was asked to write a score for a romantic comedy short, set in L.A. The director had temped the film with music by Tangerine Dream, specifically their score to "Risky Business", and wanted something similar for the finished film. It was a chance to create the sort of soundtrack I grew up listening to, but which hardly anyone wants these days and whilst working on the score I realised two things:

1.) how hard it is to write a purely synthesized score
and 2.)How all the talented composers who used to create them have disappeared.

First of all, when I say "purely synthesized" score, I mean a score with synthesizers that sound like synthesizers, rather than trying to imitate other instruments. This is not to denegrate those type of scores or the composers who create them, especially as I myself am one of them. I simply want to make it clear that writing a score for a film using synths to imitate other instruments and writing a score actually for synths are two very different propositions.

So, why did I find harder to write this score than others where I've been asked to imitate acoustic instruments? several reasons.

1.) when you write a score for acoustic instruments,or their synthesized or sampled equivalents, you have certain frames of reference. In other words you know what a guitar, saxophone or an orchestra sounds like, and, like it or not, have amassed a lifetime's worth of opinions about what moods these respective instruments invoke in us. It equally true that unless you've spent your entire life so far in some sort of hermetically-sealed bunker with no contact with the outside world, many of your opinions will be the same as the vast majority of the population of the western hemisphere.

But that all disapears once you start composing for synthesizers. There are no frames of reference for how a synth should sound when the music is supposed to be sad or happy. In fact synths are often more adapt at conjouring up sounds that seem alien or disturbing to us.

2.) creating an arrangement of synth sounds, that doesn't dissolve into audio equivalent of that strange grey/brown colour that all kids paintings turn into eventually if you don't take the paintbrush away from them, is far tougher than with acoustic instruments because of the static nature of the original waveforms.

Add all this together and one begins to admire those composers that created all those great synthesizer soundtracks of the past even more.

So why are so few them still working today?...

Mostly it's because technology has changed (notice I used "changed" rather than "evolved") but also because tastes have changed with it.

Back in the day when synths didn't have presets and were largely incapable of producing a sound that genuinely resembled an existing instrument, synthesists had to be a lot more inventive as to how they chose to score something and the producers and directors who hired them chose a synth score because that was what they wanted, not just because they couldn't afford an orchestra. For the vast majority of those classic synth scores there were also no sequencers, which meant a level of variety and emotion in the performance of those scores that was almost on a par with one recorded with acoustic instruments.

However, once synths began to be seen as instruments that could imitate acoustic instruments then we began the slow descent into the hell we know have; where every producer of every film, no matter what the scale or budget, wants a score that sounds like it was recorded at Air lynhurst with the London Symphony Orchestra - and is severely non-plussed when you and your "box of tricks" are unable to provide that.

If you don't believe that the whole industry has changed, then consider this:

Do you really think that any of those films that feature those classic electronic scores we all know and love, would be allowed to be released with the same score today?

"Clockwork Orange" - would probably be scored with contemporary "industrial"or "new metal" music (because that's all Hollywood thinks disturbed teenagers listen to)

"Chariots Of Fire"/"Blade Runner" - would no doubt be scored by Hans Zimmer and feature a huge orchestra plus synths booming over every scene.

and remakes and sequels have already shown us how producers believe movies such as "Halloween", "Friday the 13th", "The Fog" and "the Terminator" should be scored nowadays...

However, truth be told, none of these so-called "improvements" have bettered the originals. The reality is that few films need the sort of score that "Star Wars", "Gladiator" or "the Dark Night" have and that the majority of films could be served by both composers and producers starting to think a little "outside of the box" again. Who knows maybe then you might see the names of some of those great electronic composers such as Vangelis, Wendy Carlos, Tangerine Dream etc gracing the screens of your local multiplex again. Who knows - but I fear that the day of the synth score is well and truely gone and such films will henceforth be viewed as quaint period pieces by future audiences.

In the meantime, do yourself a favor - watch one of the above mentioned films again, paying extra special attention to the score this time - It'll certainly be time well spent and, who knows, you might even learn something while you're at it.

Remix "Threads" part two

2009-10-29T02:28:00.000-07:00

ok that took a little longer than expected but here now are the remainder of the tracks from "Threads" as Ableton Live 8 files for you to download and remix:

7. Vermont Dropout

8. Sheetrock

9. They Go right On

10. 1st Second

11. More Time

12. Last words

as before please send me any remixes via the Soundcloud dropbox on this page.

Remix "Threads" part one

2009-10-01T13:41:00.001-07:00

As some of you may know I spent a long time working on my new album - 2 and a half years in fact. Part of the reason that it took so long was that most of the tracks got mixed and remixed several times over during that time. In some cases, certain tracks are the product of a tiny fragment of the original being "cut up" and re-arranged to create a new melody, that was then built on until an entirely new track emerged.

Now it's your turn...

I've uploaded the Ableton Live files from the first 6 tracks of "threads" (the other 6 will follow in a day or so) for you to remix, re-arrange and generally mutilate to your heart's content.

When you've finished please send me the result via the Soundcloud Dropbox on the right - I'd really like to hear what you've done.

The Ableton files are below. PLEASE NOTE: You'll need Ableton Live 8 or Live 8 Suite to be able to remix these files. You can download a free 14 day trial of Ableton Live here

1.) Intrada

2.) Ode To The Hippie

3.) This Was A Test

4.) Inspector 71

5.) We Can

6.) Fool's Errand

new album now also available via Last Fm

2009-09-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

The title says it all really; pleased to see that Last FM seem to have sorted their uploader issues and "Threads" is also now available to download free from their site along with the rest my back catalog.

here's the link.

A New Album and the inherent problems of giving it away for free!

2009-09-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome to the new blog.
Ok, important stuff first: I have a new album out called "Threads" and it's free!

You can download it here (megaupload mirror here)

Now let me tell you all the problems I had trying to do this...

It should be easy to give music away for free, right? It's not. Track limits on both myspace and soundcloud made it impossible for me to put the whole album on those sites for people to download.

Since I no longer had a website or a blog anymore my original plan was to upload the album to Last FM who have all my previous albums and make it a free download from there like my older ones now are. However, something seems to be seriously wrong with the uploader on Last FM's website and, judging by some of the angry forum postings I read, has been this way for some days now; without explanation or apology from Last Fm. Let's hope they get this sorted fast, it's certainly not a good business strategy to have artists wanting to upload tracks to your site and not being able to. We all know how little patience most of us artists have!

I then began searching for a netlabel that would let me release my album on their label for free. I soon gave up. Do you know how many labels are out there now? Hundreds, if not thousands. Most catering for specific genres of music and there lies the problem. This works fine if your music falls easily into a specific genre (and believe me it doesn't matter how obscure that genre is - if you make music by sticking a Kazoo up your arse and farting through it, there's probably a netlabel dedicated to just Kazoo farters who'd be only too happy to release your latest brown-tinged masterpiece.) I don't have that luxury though. My music doesn't fall easily into any specific genre - not because it's arty or avant garde, but because it falls into any number of categories, sometimes in the space of one song!

So I gave up on the netlabel idea and went back to releasing it myself. The end result is rapidshare is hosting the files ,which is not ideal, because files do get deleted if not downloaded for 90 days, and for the time being that's the solution I'm going with until I come up with a better one. If anyone has any suggestions let me know, also if the link doesn't work or goes dead - same thing.

In the meantime enjoy the album...

UPDATE: This is a Creative Commons release, by the way; which basically means you can do what you like with this music: share it, copy it, remix it etc as long as you don't try and make money out of it.