Observe, investigate, describe and explain all that is and happens around us.

Aim, hypothesise, experiment, conclude, evaluate.

Repeat.

Re-evaluate.

Repeatedly.

Science or art?

Science and art involve the same processes for explaining the lives we lead and the world we live in. The only difference is that the output of one is often intended to be more cryptic to it’s audience than the other.

There is no need for the “art of science” and the “science of art” if they are one and the same.

The world is mad; and one man’s yay is another man’s nay. Is the car I drive really an unnatural object which is destroying the planet? If you ask most people, then yes, yes it is. However, the car was made from completely natural matter - just re-arranged a little bit into more ‘useful’ materials by other machines which were controlled and created by man. The human brain is a true masterpiece of natural design/evolution. So, if humans (comprised of completely natural matter, of course) discovered ‘scientifically’ how to rearrange these natural elements into something that can transduce energy from one form into another, then how can we argue that the possessions we acquire and lives we lead are in anyway ‘unnatural’?

Sure - there is no doubt that the carbon emissions from the fuels we burn are causing global changes, but these changes are only environmental hazards for the current inhabitants of the planet. The earth itself can survive what will happen when it becomes uninhabitable for us. It will simply dive into another ice age and re-emerge ready for a fresh start and give birth to new inhabitants who can then evolve to be (or not be) self aware and able to manipulate the world again. And how selfish of us to endanger the lives of other non-human creatures through the habits of our own existence. Then again, the spider is indiscriminate of what creature might get trapped in it’s web whether edible or not. This problem boils down to the self awareness and empathy of what one does and how it affects others.

Damn the conscience.

To me, contemporary studio composition and production is essentially the same as the construction of the car I talked about earlier. The taming and rearrangement of the harmonic spectrum into quantifiable pitches and definable waveforms, along with the understanding of linear time measurements and division of said time are akin to the thought processes and experiments behind the eventual creation of cars (or indeed, any ‘hi-tech’ or ‘unnatural’ product). In the past, before musical performances could be captured and catalogued, the manuscript was the factory worker and the conductor and  performer ensemble was the final output in the same way that the bespoke car was. Now, the studio equipment itself demonstrates a similar mechanical construction as a modern car with the same fuels being used to power the  machinery behind the production of the parts and, in turn, these ‘machines’ are governed by human interaction in order to rearrange ‘natural’ materials (or sound, in the case of music) into a meaningful, useful (or entertaining) product - one that can be mass produced and enjoyed by many at any given instance.

Modern production is governed by a man-machine interface. Dexterity is no longer limited to the human body - the computer is an extension of human form and expression. What is impossible to achieve with a voice existing in linear time can be manipulated in ‘frozen’ time by capturing, computerising and post-producing, and, if the computer is allowed to be a ‘natural’ extension of our own existence, then what function does time itself have in the limiting of artistic and scientific (both of which are fundamentally the same) progress?

After releasing my second album ‘Akuma/Tenshi’ I began to realise the true potential of the studio as an instrument in itself. By accepting and embracing technology as an asset, rather than a hinderance to artistic expression, I decided to explore this so-called ‘man machine interface’ in a Master’s degree in Music Production; thus producing my third album ‘Liars, Charlatans, Jinxmongers (for voice and accompaniment)’ within an academic framework, celebrating the human voice and the endless possibilities of studio production.

Which brings me up to where I am now; a twentysomething year old Master’s graduate of Leeds College of Music with an over-active imagination and an unreasonable dependence on caffeine.

Please join me for a cup of tea and some music!