Artwork by Natalie Toms (myspace.com/natalietomsart)
Album – Nymh: Realms of Detachment
Year – 2008
Genre – Ambient, Experimental, Piano, Drone
Length – ‘53:48′
Information on the recording
Ever since i began my degree in 2005 i’ve been making sonic pieces and contributing to sound art pieces in and around Plymouth. I had started to develop a catalog of sounds and experiments that i had carried out and in the summer break 2008 i sat and started to piece some of it together. ‘Nymh’ (the first half of the album title) represents the first in the series of a selection of Ambient/Experimental/Drone albums that i hope to make in the future. The title of this particular ‘Nymh’ album is ‘Realms of Detachment’.
This album was the most fun I’ve had when recording music. The sounds on some of the tracks were achieved by playing (what was originally recorded as a piano piece) in a hall or large room, in which i would record the reaction that the room had on the track and repeat the process untill the piece was transformed into just a wave of reverberant sounds. Much like Alvin Lucier’s ‘I’m sitting in a room’. The album is very different from my previous releases but it is actually my personal favorite. By witnessing the growth and development of all the individual sounds in each track let alone how the tracks themselves grew in time lead to a fascinating and eye opening experience.
This album was again for the most part recorded using MIDI but features the addition of some real piano recordings as i have just started to learn how to mic a piano effectively (listen out in ‘Flying Over Remnants’ for the real piano).
Photography Credits – Ben Browning
The creation of this album, the feedback and encouragement by certain people has inspired me to take a dive – yet again – in a totally different direction. I have just this weekend started work on what will be another release that will feature the addition of a lot more real instrumentation and development. I will be spending a lot more time developing the ideas and using the last few months of my degree course in the new year to achieve the best sound as possible. This release should see light mid 2009 and will probably be my last for a number of years until i manage to buy my own equipment, keep checking back for updates and maybe the odd clip here and there to hear how things are working out.
EP – Liaise in Silence
Year – 2008
Genre – Modern, Piano, Instrumental
Length – ‘34:16′
Tracklist
01 Approaching Lights
02 Leaning on Atrophy
03 An Abbreviated Lifeline
04 We Remembered
05 As I Wonder
06 Welcoming Change
07 Rebuild In Silence
”Ben’s signature brooding melodies evolve and explore new territory with acoustic guitars and heavy use of strings.”- Wise Owl Records
Information on the recording.
My second release is an EP of work which i continued to make after the release of A Collection of Thoughts, hence such close release dates between the two. This EP shows a development in arrangment and has a larger helping of strings to back up writen piano driven melodies. This release was writen in the exact same way and with the same equipment, the only difference being that i used a much larger MIDI keyboard to make switching between octaves much easier.
Photography credits - Jamie Giles
This EP also features the first application of acoustic guitar in any of my releases up untill that point. After experimenting with just that one track i will defintely be using the acoustic guitar in future works.
You can download this release free here: www.wiseowlrecords.com
Album – A Collection Of Thoughts
Year – 2008
Genre – Modern, Ambient, Piano, Instrumental
Length – ‘38:21′
Tracklist
01 Taking Small Steps Pt.1
02 A Calm Yet Determind Wind
03 Left At Sea
04 A Crowded Corridor
05 About To Fall
06 Running After Clouds
07 Walking Away Unwillingly
08 Waking Up With Stories Of You To Tell Nobody
09 A List Of Things I Said I Would Do
10 Taking Small Steps Pt.2
”Moving piano-based ambience and melodies. Absolutely incredible debut album from Ben Woods.”- Wise Owl Records
Information on the recording.
This album was writen in the Easter break of my second year on the Media Arts course at Plymouth University. I decided to stay around the campus for the duration of the holiday to work on a few film pieces that i hadn’t finished during term time and i stumbled across a room full of keyboards. Before this time i hadn’t ever played an instrument with keys before but had always been in various different rock and metal bands on instruments such as bass guitar and drums. In these bands i would take on more of an arranging role rather than actually writing music itself but i would sometimes come up with some material that we would use.
After the first day of playing i came up with the foundations for what was to be the track ‘A List of Things..’ and continued to use the room almost everyday during the three week break from term. The entire album is made using MIDI Keyboards M-Audio to be exact, Logic Pro and a the amazing Sample Tank which i used to emulate the instruments. At first i tried to aim for the most ‘realistic’ instrument sounds but after a while of collecting track ideas i enjoyed the way the limitations of the software shaped the final outcome, i just went with the sounds as they came. With the Sample Tank plugin you are able to edit in fine detail into your sound and EQ as well as adding effects such as reverb and delay.
Photography credits – Jamie Giles
After a couple of weeks coming up with some track ideas i sent a demo into Wise Owl Records (a free net label) with the intention of feedback and opinions, it then turned out that i would write more and develop a body of work to release with them. After significant response we then decided to make hard copies of the album avalible for people to buy which have three bonus tracks and original artwork.
www.wiseowlrecords.com
