Andrew McPherson is a composer and Professor of Design Engineering and Music in the Dyson School of Design Engineering, based at Imperial College. Here he talks to Nick Rothwell about the Augmented Instruments Laboratory, a music technology research team that he leads, whose ongoing projects include the Magnetic Resonator Piano and the Bela open-source platform.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:30 - A Background In Composition And Electronic Engineering
01:57 - The Magnetic Resonator Piano
09:50 - TouchKeys USB Touch Sensor
13:05 - Developing Ideas Within A Community
15:47 - Using The Piano Within Different Genres
17:19 - Bela Open-Source Hardware Platform
22:15 - Augmented Instruments Laboratory
23:50 - Laurel Pardue / Augmented Violin
25:15 - Getting Nuanced Performances
26:22 - Overcoming Latency Issues
27:31 - Future Predictions

Andrew McPherson Biog
Andrew McPherson is a computing researcher, composer, electronic engineer, and musical instrument designer. He is Professor of Design Engineering and Music in the Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London, where he leads the Augmented Instruments Laboratory. Andrew holds undergraduate degrees in both engineering and music from MIT, an MEng in electrical engineering from MIT, and a PhD in music composition from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Imperial in 2023, he has been a professor in the Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary University of London.

Andrew’s musical instruments are widely used by performers and composers across many genres, and his research has led to three successful crowdfunding campaigns and the spinout of Augmented Instruments Ltd, which develops Bela, an open-source audio maker platform. He currently holds two fellowships: a Senior Research Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering on embedded hardware for audio and music, and an ERC/UKRI Consolidator Grant investigating the cultural implications of engineering decisions. He is deeply committed to teaching: Bela is used in the classroom by dozens of universities, and his online course on audio programming has been followed by learners around the globe.

https://andrewmcpherson.org/
https://instrumentslab.org/

Nick Rothwell Biog
Nick Rothwell is a composer, performer, software architect, coder and visual artist. He has built media performance systems for projects with Ballett Frankfurt and Vienna Volksoper, composed sound scores for Aydın Teker (Istanbul / Kapadokya), Shobana Jeyasingh, AWA Dance, Luz&Mannion Dance (Flamenco) and Undercurrent Theatre, programmed physical media sculptures with Simeon Nelson and Rob Godman, live coded in Mexico and in Berlin with sitar player Shama Rahman, collaborated with the body>data>space collective in Prague, Paris and Dresden, written software for Studio Wayne McGregor, Beinghuman in Kathmandu, the Pina Bausch Foundation and Nesta's FutureFest, consulted for Tate Modern, and developed algorithmic visuals for large-scale outdoor projections in Poland, Estonia, the Cambridge Music Festival and Lumiere (London / Durham). He has taught design at CODE Berlin and currently runs the Computer Science undergraduate course at University of the Arts London.

Nick Rothwell - Project Cassiel - https://cassiel.com

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Mix Engineer and Producer Caesar Edmunds talks to Kevin Paul about his route into the industry via formal education at LIPA, before gaining work experience with Alan Moulder at Battery Studios which earned him a permanent position as an Assistant Engineer. He now works out of his own Dolby Atmos approved studio in London.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:45 - Education And Work Experience
05:44 - Moving From LIPA To The Studio
09:02 - Working For Alan Moulder
13:00 - Moving To Own Studio Space
13:33 - How To Approach A Mix
16:17 - Enhancing Drums And Guitars
18:19 - Listening Carefully And Getting The Right Feel
21:04 - Mixbus Setup
22:50 - Favourite Hardware And Plug-ins
24:21 - Using Your Ears And Your Eyes To Mix
25:34 - Looking After Your Health In The Studio

Caesar Edmunds Biog
Caesar Edmunds is a Grammy Award winning mixer, engineer & record producer based in London. He trained at the Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts (LIPA), gained work experience at Battery Studios assisting Alan Moulder and won the MPG Breakthrough Engineer Of The Year award in 2020. He now works out of his own Dolby Atmos approved studio in London.

Caesar has worked with artists such as Beach House, Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey, The Killers, St Vincent, Ozzy Osbourne, Foals, Code Orange, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Wet Leg, Ride, Suede, Two Door Cinema Club, The Last Dinner Party and Hinds.

https://www.caesaredmunds.com/

Kevin Paul Biog
Kevin Paul started his career as a DJ but quickly found his passion was sound engineering. His first audio job was at Soho Studios in 1991, moving to Konk Studios six months later, where he worked alongside successful producers and engineers such as Bob Clearmountain, Adam Mosley, Pascal Gabriel and Gil Norton, as well as bands such as The Kinks, Galliano, Terrorvision, UFO and Elastica.

After working on archiving the Depeche Mode back catalogue in 1994, he was offered an engineering role at Mute Records’ in-house studio, which eventually lead to a position as Head Engineer, which gave him access to the entire Mute Records roster. Highlights include mixing Goldfrapp’s “Felt Mountain”, David Bowie’s “Hours” and Nick Cave’s “No More Shall We Part”. He also worked in 5:1, mixing Moby’s “Hotel”, Goldfrapp’s “Black Cherry“ and more for DVD.

In 2004 Kevin went freelance and re-mixed the entire Depeche Mode and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back catalogues for SACD/DVD. Since 2008, Kevin Paul has been in charge of mixing and remixing performances at the iTunes Festivals in the UK and Germany. He has mixed over 100 artists to date, including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The XX, Calvin Harris, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Linkin Park, Florence & The Machine, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Jessie J., Norah Jones, Oasis, Mumford & Sons, N.E.R.D., Lykke Li, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Hot Chip, Paul Weller and many more.

He continues to record, engineer, produce and mix many projects in music and film, runs the mixing and surround mixing modules for the Masters Degree course at UK’s Westminster University and divides his time between London and Berlin. Recent works include the International selling new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and mixing the latest album of Denmark’s “Dúné” with the first single premiering at the Danish Music Awards, plus the latest iTunes Music Festival.

http://www.kevin-paul.com/

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Music Producer and DJ Danny Briottet gives a fascinating insight into his formative years, including the global musical influences that shaped his career, being part of Rhythm Riders and organising warehouse parties across West London.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:30 - Rhythm Riders
03:15 - London Sound Systems
06:02 - Getting Into Music and Visiting Berlin
12:33 - DJing in New York
17:05 - Renegade Soundwave
22:28 - Warehouse Parties
24:20 - The First Singles on Mute
26:59 - Equipment Used in Early Recordings
30:03 - Creating A Unique Sound
35:50 - Releasing 'In Dub'
39:35 - Favourite Equipment and Workflow

Kevin Briottet Biog
Musician, DJ and producer. Founder member of Renegade Soundwave, UK electronic music pioneers at the forefront of the original dance / electronica explosion of the late 80s/ 90s with seminal tracks such as The Phantom, Women Respond To Bass and Probably A Robbery. RSW name-checked as a primary influence on artists such as The Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers, whist the 1988 release Ozone Breakdown is often cited as the first Jungle tune.

Danny’s production and remix credits include Depeche Mode, Cypress Hill, Grace Jones, Aswad, Radiohead, Moby and Orbital, together with a wealth of World Music artists such as Esma Redzepova (Macedonia), Amina Anabi (Tunisia) and Cheick Tidiane (Mali).

Danny Briottet continues to DJ globally playing his unique mix of dub-influenced sounds from bass and breaks, through dubbed-out deep house and downtempo electronica, and hosts The ElectroScope Show on London’s Soho Radio, mashing up electronic music from the 70s to the present.

Danny’s new full-length artist album is due for release next year.

https://www.dannybriottet.com/

Kevin Paul Biog
Kevin Paul started his career as a DJ but quickly found his passion was sound engineering. His first audio job was at Soho Studios in 1991, moving to Konk Studios six months later, where he worked alongside successful producers and engineers such as Bob Clearmountain, Adam Mosley, Pascal Gabriel and Gil Norton, as well as bands such as The Kinks, Galliano, Terrorvision, UFO and Elastica.

After working on archiving the Depeche Mode back catalogue in 1994, he was offered an engineering role at Mute Records’ in-house studio, which eventually lead to a position as Head Engineer, which gave him access to the entire Mute Records roster. Highlights include mixing Goldfrapp’s “Felt Mountain”, David Bowie’s “Hours” and Nick Cave’s “No More Shall We Part”. He also worked in 5:1, mixing Moby’s “Hotel”, Goldfrapp’s “Black Cherry“ and more for DVD.

In 2004 Kevin went freelance and re-mixed the entire Depeche Mode and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back catalogues for SACD/DVD. Since 2008, Kevin Paul has been in charge of mixing and remixing performances at the iTunes Festivals in the UK and Germany. He has mixed over 100 artists to date, including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The XX, Calvin Harris, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Linkin Park, Florence & The Machine, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Jessie J., Norah Jones, Oasis, Mumford & Sons, N.E.R.D., Lykke Li, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Hot Chip, Paul Weller and many more.

He continues to record, engineer, produce and mix many projects in music and film, runs the mixing and surround mixing modules for the Masters Degree course at UK’s Westminster University and divides his time between London and Berlin. Recent works include the International selling new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and mixing the latest album of Denmark’s “Dúné” with the first single premiering at the Danish Music Awards, plus the latest iTunes Music Festival.

http://www.kevin-paul.com/

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts