So, following several years of doing various work and having my own website, things had become rather cluttered and confusing. So here is my welcome to a reworked website which is hopefully easier to use and navigate.
So, who am I and what do I do? First and foremost, composition. I work with a variety of styles and in a wide range of contexts; in general my music tends to be based in more traditional instrumental writing, but often with more modern, electronic sounds and textures layered in when they suit.
My musical background is quite varied, having learned to play flute and saxophone since the age of 7, I was always based in the classical tradition. Then along came the guitar as a teenager, and for a few years I played in rock bands performing both covers and originals before going to Leeds University in 2011 to study Music.
It was there that I was introduced to contemporary compositional styles, and I was encouraged to experiment with atonalism and more complex extended technique and compositional methods. I enjoyed the freedom of creating new and interesting sounds and textures with orchestral instruments, which is something that still allows me a great deal of freedom of expression. I retained a love of tonal music though, and could never quite choose between the two.
Following my music degree, I went into teaching 6th form music. Starting with the A-Level and the mostly traditional musical content which I was perfectly at home with, I found myself quickly also teaching the music theory and business aspects of music technology. I had investigated programming music technology software at University, but I’d only really spend a short amount of time using recording software, so the majority of this course was very new to me. However, very quickly I found myself getting more and more involved in DAW software, studio work and dipping my toes into synthesisers.
Following a brief spell teaching an odd combination of music, music technology and performing arts, I began experimenting more with my compositions. I had found that DAW software was extremely useful when composing to video, and was working more within my DAW than I was within my notation software, which I had been using since school. I found freedom in being able to use a variety of technology to compose, as well as incorporating synths and electric guitar to expand the palette of sound available to me. Teaching unfamiliar topics had given me flexibility which was not there previously.
Nowadays, I enjoy a huge range of music. Be it baroque chorales, romantic symphonies, Messiaen’s orchestral works (still a favourite of mine after discovering his work at University), or even a sprinkling of classic rock, there’s always something new taking my fancy. I still provide educational materials on this site as well as compositions, as I enjoy and find value in sharing my ways of doing things with people who are looking to learn how to do them.
Now when I compose, I particularly enjoy writing to a brief. If someone commissions work off me, they provide guidelines and direction for my work and then I can choose the sounds that suite the project. I have never lost my love of traditional composition, so that finds its way into almost all of my work, however every piece is now different and unique, and every job presents a new sound world for me to create and explore. That for me is half of the joy: creating new worlds in sound, however traditional or experimental they may be.
Enough about me. I hope you enjoy my music, I hope you enjoy the educational posts, and I hope to continue working with a variety of film makers, companies, artists and musicians to make music.
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