Q&A Part Two, and a word on mastering services now open to everyone

Hi friends - hope all good :)

Huge thanks again for the support for in your hands, we’ve raised an amazing sum for the hospital - we’re so incredibly lucky to have the National Health Service in the UK, they saved my life and do wonderful work every single day - we need to stand up and protect them, sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

OK - here’s the second part of the Q&A.

Please can you give an overview of your studio and favourite instruments?

My studio has been evolving for many years - starting from first steps with a cassette four-track (which I still have), an electric bass, a drum machine and a microphone where we made lo-fi bedroom recordings.

I was introduced to electronic music production through Akai samplers sequenced with Cubase on an Atari, then to PCs with later versions of Cubase and Logic, later Ableton and Logic on a Mac.

Over the years I started adding bits of hardware - synths, samplers, various outboard - until modular got my attention and I gradually started building a small system.

As my musical tastes grew to including a far wider breath of influences - early electronic music, Musique concrète, minimalism and experimental music in many forms - the modular grew to be the instrument that represented and facilitated the music I wanted to make.

It allows deep exploration of the fundamentals of sound - an elemental approach to electronic music creation in a completely tactile way. Each module is a source of constant discovery, within a wider system the possibilities are limitless. The Serge-inspired idea of patch-programmability, where a module can be set-up to do many different things depending on the need of the music, is central to this and the open-ended approached to sonic realisation.

So that is the core of my music.

Additionally, the mixing desk is essential. Everything runs to here and it’s an instrument in itself. Between here and the other machines is where I perform all my music.

Then effects are the last major element - again, these are instruments that I play during each performance and recording - delays, reverbs, various pedals - they’re a huge part of each final track and provide much texture and movement.

This is all recorded to 1/4” tape in single takes - a process I love because it means complete concentration on the music and performance, to make the best version of this music I can. It’s an imprint of a moment in time, and I often have a memory of the precise moment it happened.

There are some other pieces too - some other synths, samplers, fix, tape machines - most of which I used heavily in the past, particularly tape machines for loops and old samplers for their beautiful lo-fi quality. I’m focused on the modular for now, but undoubtedly they’ll come back into the equation in the future.

Immediacy is key - I start with a single oscillator, tuned to a frequency that feels right at that time. From there it builds and goes in the direction most intuitively leading.

As a musician you need to trust your taste above all - if it’s there, follow it until it’s finished.

Please can you give a quick breakdown of how you made each track?

The tracks were made in a broadly similar way - the tonal sounds came from the modular, a mix of analogue and digital oscillators; and the field recordings, from all my family and friends, were processed and collaged.

The tracks were made chronologically and show the progression of my musical thinking and process. Initially influenced and inspired by the idea of having a specific framework behind the work, it got progressively freer as the process revealed itself more and more, and I discovered more about the direction I was going.

part one and two were sequenced via MIDI-CV from the computer. I was working with just intonation and interaction of very precise frequencies, and also with specific prime numerical values on the linear timeline - software control of hardware instruments was by far the best way to achieve this - structures are carefully arranged, performance is live.

part three is the true transitional point of the album. I no longer used any traditional sequencing and focused entirely on tonal and textural evolution over time. Minimal in composition - multiple layers interacting and coalescing with each other to elicit new overtones and density.

part four and five continue and expand on this. Completely free tuning, deep harmonic layering and instinctive performance. I also used touch-based modular sequencers to change frequencies, playing the instrument by hand.

The field recordings took a similar path - being collages and processed digitally in the computer, then walls of sound build up via sound-on-sound tape loops run into the modular.

There are tens of different recordings across the album, rather than present them in an obviously recognisable way, I wanted them to provide an atmosphere, a presence to the music. They came from people that mean a great deal to me who supported me through my illness, but most of whom I didn’t see in real life during that time.

So them being an essential part of the music, in an ephemeral way, seemed to be an honest representation of their part in my life.

Thank you for reading, please do get in touch if you want to know more.

Now to mastering.

This is a big part of my daily life - I dearly love helping musicians finalise their work and release it out into the world. Working closely with them to get to the sound in their head is hugely rewarding.

I put it a bit on the back-burner last year when I was ill but right back into it now.

So if you or anyone you know needs help with your music, please feel free to get in touch.

I run a hybrid analogue and digital studio - with carefully chosen hardware to impart its unique dimensional qualities and glow; and precision digital tools to allow the surgical adjustments often required.

Every project is different so the tools are chosen on an individual basis - the most important thing is getting it right for you.

We chat in-depth first, so I know exactly what you want for your music - I can be as transparent or creative as you like to get it where you need it to be.

Any genre or for any format, good rates and quick turnaround - I work with lots of artists and of course do most of the quiet details releases - so check out the back-catalogue for examples of my work.

Anything you need - let me know - get in touch here https://quietdetails.com

https://quietdetails.bandcamp.com/