Andrew Curnock – Beat Therapy
It’s been an exciting few weeks- the “top secret” information that I’m a Catalyst is now out, the launch night was a roaring success, and The Edge space is gradually building a following of regular users. Word is spreading, though so far we don’t need bouncers at the front door, and that’s a relief.
Ok, maybe I’m jumping the gun a little here- where are my manners? My name’s Andrew Curnock and I’m one of the 6 people chosen to be a Catalyst at The Edge. (That was a secret until last Friday!) My background is in video game soundtracks and electronic music production, and I’m totally stoked about being a part of things here at The Edge and am really looking forward to seeing what’s possible. The high calibre of the other Catalysts, the world class facilities, and the staff here who just never say die, means there’s every reason to get excited about being a creative person in Brisbane right now.
The Edge is many things, but to me it’s all about collaboration. Get a bunch of people with skills, put them all in the same space for a while- and see what comes out. Last week I had a jam with fellow Audio Catalyst Ian Rogers in the studio and there were some very interesting sounds coming out already… Dark droning industrial atmospheres blending with my own cheesy synth-pop could be the beginning of a whole new musical genre. Or not. I’m looking forward to jamming with the other catalysts with their accomplished video/audio production & VJ skills as well… a simple keyboard riff could easily grow into a video-synched stage extravaganza being webcast to the world- it’s a little scary, but in a good way.
(FL Studio interface)
The workshop I ran on the weekend went pretty well too- despite the rain. Working With Loops was an intro to my favourite sequencing software, FL Studio, and talked people through the beginnings of step sequencing, pattern editing & building songs with loops. There wasn’t a huge turn-out, but I’m sure there’s an enclave of FL users out there in Brisbane- and I look forward to meeting you all soon! Remixing workshops, hip-hop or electronic music production workshops, and maybe even some “bedroom producer” music showcase nights are just some of the ideas I’m kicking about for future events at the moment- though hearing from other creatives will give me an idea of how much talent is out there & what Queensland music producers are interested in.
Other projects in the pipeline are focussing on the use of everyday vocal samples- people just saying whatever on a given subject, and using snippets of those samples in larger projects. A *preview of a draft might appear with this blog- it’s Stephen Stockwell (our Journalism Catalyst) just doing a mic test and talking about potential project ideas, and those samples have been warped and overlayed on top of one of my album tracks. (Red Clouds from the album Remote Control by Beat Therapy- out now on iTunes… how blatant a plug was that?)
The Edge is also really big on the use of Creative Commons. With copyright law an absolute mess around the world at the moment, and creative freedom being stifled by archaic copyrights, Creative Commons seems like the way to go in a collaborative creative space like this. To that end, we’re thinking of establishing different ways for people to contribute content to the `asset pool’… I had the idea of simply setting up a Skype messagebank for people to leave audio. It’s not studio quality obviously, but for poets, beatboxers, singers, or anyone with a voice and something to say- those audio files can take on a life of their own in a space like The Edge- who knows how they might be mashed & mixed? We’ll see how that pans out
Anyway- that’s enough from me for the moment, I might go have a play with Ableton Live in the studio upstairs. Feel free to get in touch via email or just come and say hi at The Edge some time- and I really want to hear from FL Studio users!!
Cheers,
Andrew =)
*Red Clouds – Preview track, listen here
Filed Under: Sound
