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

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

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

President and co-founder of Arturia, Frédéric Brun, talks to Sam Inglis about the company's eventful history, taking in highlights such as the innovative MiniBrute, the epic PolyBrute and the company's first stage keyboard, the new AstroLab.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:52 - Storm & The Early Days Of Software Synthesis
02:53 - Emulating Classic Analogue Synths
07:23 - How To Approach An Emulation
08:24 - IRCAM And Physical Modelling
10:56 - Expanding Into Hardware
13:43 - The MiniBrute: Arturia's First Analogue Synth
18:16 - Synths For iPad & iOS
20:03 - The MatrixBrute
24:26 - The Importance Of User Feedback
26:48 - Development Time
28:53 - Moving Into Different Market Sectors
30:36 - Pigments: An Original Soft Synth
31:37 - The PolyBrute Morphing Analogue Polysynth
33:32 - AstroLab: Arturia's Stage Keyboard

Arturia Biog
Based in the French city of Grenoble, Arturia have built on their roots as pioneering developers of virtual instruments to become one of the world's leading manufacturers of analogue, digital and software synthesizers, controller keyboards and audio interfaces.

Launched in 1999 by college friends Frédéric Brun and Gilles Pommereuil, the company initially started out by developing software that could accurately emulate retro analogue synths. In 2003 they started to work with some of the major manufacturers, turning out virtual versions of classic Moog, Roland, Yamaha and Sequential Circuits synths.

In 2012 they launched their first analogue synth, the MiniBrute, later followed by the MicroBrute, MatrixBrute and PolyBrute.

Celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, the company continues to grow and their product line now includes a wide range of soft synths, apps, controllers, audio interfaces and hardware synths.

Sam Inglis Biog
Editor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).

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

Alan Moulder, 2024 recipient of the Icon Of The Year Award from the Music Producers Guild, talks to Kevin Paul about his early years at Trident Studios and finding his specialist areas, plus tips on how aspiring producers and engineers can get started in the industry today.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:30 - Starting Out In Indie Rock
02:28 - The Route Into Trident Studios
04:50 - Going Freelance With Dave Stewart
06:48 - Learning To Mix On An SSL Desk
09:03 - Developing The Studio With Flood
09:42 - Hiring Studio Assistants
13:14 - Structured Working Methods
14:27 - Actively Promoting Studio Assistants
16:48 - Deciding How To Handle A Mix
19:21 - MIDI Mapping With Battery
20:38 - Adding Intensity To The Mix
23:49 - Favourite Pieces Of Kit
25:43 - What's On The MixBus
26:08 - Method For Creating Stems
28:13 - Things To Avoid
30:31 - Making Use Of The Reference Mix

Alan Moulder Biog
Alan Moulder is a leading global Mixer/Producer and Engineer. Working mainly in the UK and USA since the 1980’s, Grammy award winning Alan Moulder has been at the helm of some of rock music’s most iconic records.

His production, engineering and mixing credits include Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, The Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Then Crooked Vultures, My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Arctic Monkeys, Led Zeppelin, Death Cab For Cutie, Ride, Queens of the Stone Age, Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes, Suede, Interpol, Iggy Pop, Simple Minds, Ozzy Osbourne and Wet Leg. Alan also received the prestigious ‘Icon of the Year’ award at the recent MPG Awards 2024.

https://www.alanmoulder.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

Producer and Engineer Tim Bran talks us through his early career at Island Records, being invited to tour as a session musician, recording London Grammar and setting up his own collaborative tech and studio projects.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction

01:22 - The Early Days At Island Records

04:58 - Musical Taste

06:33 - Informative Years In The Bunker

08:10 - Being Invited To Tour

10:40 - Rez Rocket Surfer - A Virtual Band

15:47 - Developing Artist Management Skills

21:17 - Being Diplomatic In A Team

24:20 - Taking Chances And Being Creative
26:10 - Working With Roy Kerr And London Grammar

31:42 - Collaborative Projects And Learning New Techniques
38:07 - Being Respectful Of Other Talent In The Room
41:07 - Mixing During The Recording Process
45:17 - Dealing With Demo Love
47:14 - Favourite Hardware And Software
52:54 - Avoiding Dither And Delay

Tim Bran Biog
Tim Bran began his production career in his own studio in Guernsey where he grew up. He then worked in the legendary Fallout Shelter Studios at Island Records in London where he collaborated with artists such as Julian Cope, Mica Paris, Omar and ex-Big Audio Dynamite band Screaming Target (with whom he formed an alliance and created the seminal dub/ambient band Dreadzone later on). He toured for ten years then decided he needed to be in his home from home- the studio - so gave up touring and dedicated himself to production and writing.

He co-produced London Grammar’s debut album If You Wait with his production partner Roy Kerr as MyRiot and has worked with artists such as Birdy, Paul McCartney, Rae Morris, La Roux, KT Tunstall, Halsey, The Verve, Imelda May and Primal Scream. Recently his work includes Haevn, Abby Sage, Axel Flovent and Wild Rivers.

Today, Tim Bran continues to make waves in the music scene, working with both established and up-and-coming artists. With each project, he brings a fresh perspective and a dedication to pushing musical boundaries, ensuring that his influence on the industry remains as vibrant as ever.

http://www.echobeachmanagement.com/artist/tim-bran/

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

Guy Massey talks about his training at Abbey Road, how this gave him the confidence and experience to become freelance and how he enjoys blending new technology with traditional recording spaces.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:28 - Getting Into The Industry
03:51 - Learning At Abbey Road
05:12 - Studio Etiquette
06:58 - Being Sensitive To Artist Needs
10:44 - Blending Modern Technology And Traditional Spaces
14:08 - Learning To Be A Good Engineer
16:40 - Working With Constrained Budgets
18:00 - The Curiosity Of Experimentation
19:07 - Confidence In Your Abilities
23:26 - What Makes A Good Producer
27:40 - Fixing Self-Produced Tracks
29:03 - Time Taken To Do A Mix
33:13 - Recommended Practices
35:30 - Preparing For A Session

Guy Massey Biog
Hailing from Merseyside, Guy’s love of music started at an early age, fuelled by his grandparents musical heritage and siblings record collections. He played guitar in various bands in and around New Brighton and Liverpool during the 80’s and 90’s, falling in love with Indie guitar music. His love of playing was soon superseded by the actual recording of the bands he was in and his time at The University Of Manchester studying Geology happened to coincide with the vibrant Madchester scene, re-igniting his love of music.

A move to Guildford to do a Diploma in Recording at The University of Surrey resulted in a placement at Abbey Road Studios in 1995, where he remained for 10 years, working with many great artists, engineers and producers. This experience gave him the confidence to go freelance in 2005 and set up his own room in North London in 2010.

Recent credits include the Kylie Minogue albums Tension including the song Padam Padam (which earned him a Grammy), Turin Brakes, the Score for Los Frikis, Lady Blackbird for Black Acid Soul, Rita Ora and The Divine Comedy.

https://www.guymmassey.co.uk/

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