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14th December 2022

Earlier this year myself and recording engineer and producer Alex Miller set up a binaural recording session using the Neumann KU100 Dummy Head Microphone, alongside a more standardised microphone set up. The aim was to explore whether or not we could reproduce the experience of sitting behind the piano and playing the music yourself, i.e. a “birds ear view” of the pianist!

The notion of recording from the pianist’s perspective is an interesting one, as invariably the pianist is not sitting in the most objectively opportunistic position in order to hear the instrument in its most undiluted form. In a traditional classical concert the piano lid would be on full stand, and the sound would be bouncing off of the lid towards the audience. The pianist will hear a combination of sound directly from the strings bouncing off of various parts of the piano before reaching the ears, combined with the natural acoustic qualities of the room which have travelled some distance already.

For the purposes of recording we removed the piano lid to gain more control over the direction of the sound into the microphones. We also tried to nullify completely the acoustics of the studio room by using acoustic panels all around the piano, as you can see above. This would give us more control over the final product when it came to mixing. The KU100 was placed directly above my head and was leaning forward slightly. The microphone itself is shaped and weighted precisely as the average human head and features microphones in the ear positions. In theory the bass of the piano should be picked up more strongly in the left ear whilst the soprano lines should sit more towards the right hand side.

The final list of recordings included two Chopin nocturnes, Ravel’s ‘Pavane pour une infante défunte’ and Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar theme amongst other classical and contemporary works. You can listen to the effects of binaural recording on Chopin’s Nocturne in E minor below. Headphones must be worn!

21st February 2021

The extract below was written for publication in the first edition of ‘Secrets of Reality.’ Brought to you by two Polish printmakers based in Porto, Portugal, Marta Bełkot, and Kasia Harciarek. The publication talks of a diverse array of topics, including printmaking, short stories, recipes and testimonials. As you can see the final product was a very beautifully put together.

How Music Shaped Me

For as long as I can remember, I have loved music. I remember myself aged 5 standing on a miniature bandstand in the middle of a country park with my family and singing Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ with as much gusto as I could garner. My mum and I would often go to see Queen tribute bands together when I was still living at home. I hold these memories very dear. I still remember so many of the words to Queen’s iconic songs; to me the greatest band of all time! Onwards into my adolescent early teenage years and my brother became my main source of inspiration. I developed a deep affinity to the warped, weird, dark and wonderful world of Radiohead, which then lead me towards a multitude of varying genres including Hip-Hop, Trip Hop, Indie and alternative electronic music in later years; all styles of music that I still listen to today. Having an older brother with (what I considered to be) a fine, well informed and eclectic taste in music gave me the edge when it came to recommending artists to my peers at school. It was confidence and character building to be considered a sound port of call for musical recommendations by my school friends.

Now I consider myself much less of a tastemaker or trend follower, and much more of a general connoisseur and practitioner of music. I have enjoyed playing instruments throughout my life, starting piano lessons just before my sixth birthday with my local teacher Peggy Hooper. Each week I would journey 5 minutes around the corner with mum for my half hour lesson. We maintained this weekly custom for the next 8-9 years, without any significant moments to speak of. One moment I do remember very precisely though is my teacher giving me a certain piece of music when I was about 14 years old. It was the second movement (Adagio cantabile) of Beethoven’s Sonata ‘Pathetique;’ one of his most famous piano melodies, and used extensively in TV and film.  For some reason this piece struck a chord with me, and I practised like never before, putting in far more effort than my daily 30-minute parentally prescribed quota demanded. I learned the whole thing in a week or two. My dad, who is a great lover of classical music, particularly Beethoven, encouraged me to learn more. He even waved the tantalising offer of thirty English pounds under my nose if I were to learn the two movements which formed the outer layers of this sonata. These movements were well beyond me at the time, but I had no concept of this and so learned them anyway, claiming my prize with a great sense of accomplishment!

After learning this sonata, I soon became aware that it was just one of 32 piano sonatas written by the great German composer, and that it was one of the easier ones at that! Immediately my curiosity peaked, and I began feverishly working on his ‘Moonlight’, and eventually ‘Waldstein’ and ‘Appassionata’ Sonatas. In hindsight, progress was dismally slow and accuracy was poor, but my musical impulses seemed to be aimed in the right direction. The scale and technique of these works was so much greater and more grandiose in character than anything I had looked at previously, it was a giant leap from the music I was used to. This didn’t deter me though; I really felt that for the first time I had found something I was prepared to work hard for; and it was just the beginning. The treasure trove of music written for the piano is inexorably deep, and I had barely dipped my toes in.

I will always remember this baptism of fire, and how it shaped me for better and worse into the man and musician I am today. It was clear to me that this passion was something I should follow, and nearly 19 years later I can say that the journey it has taken me on has been a transformative one.

I remember several years into this folly, when I was 18 or 19 my only goal was to be able to travel, and pay my way in life doing what I love. 14 years later, I can say that I have lived from my art, and I have travelled the world from it too. Conversely it has thrown down some tricky life lessons, and more than one moment of painful discomfort. I have learned my own limitations, and have had to adapt my ambitions. My life, outlook and goals have most certainly changed with age; but one thing I can say remains consistent, is that when all else fails, music is always there to remind me of how sweet life really is, and how we should cherish each day we get to spend learning, loving and living.