BT (musician)

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BT
BT (musician) performing at GearFest 2011.jpg
BT peforming in June 2011
Background information
Birth name Brian Wayne Transeau
Born (1971-10-04) October 4, 1971 (age 41)
Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
Genres Trance, electronica, IDM, ambient, breakbeat, glitch, film scores, orchestral
Occupations Producer, Composer, Singer
Instruments Computer, piano, bass, guitar
Years active Early 1990s - Present
Labels Perfecto Records, Vandit, Reprise Records, Headspace Recordings, Nettwerk, DTS Entertainment, 405 Recordings, Black Hole Recordings, New State Recordings, Armada Music, Binary Acoustics
Website www.BTMusic.com

Brian Wayne Transeau (born October 4, 1971), better known by his stage name, BT, is a Grammy-nominated American music producer, composer, audio technician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. He is an artist in the electronica genre – most often considered a composer of trance music, but known to work within several other styles. BT has also produced and written for artists such as Paul Van Dyk, Peter Gabriel, 'N Sync, Sting, Blake Lewis, Tori Amos, and Tiësto. As a film composer he has worked on films such as The Fast and the Furious and Monster.[1]

BT is known for pioneering a production technique he calls the stutter edit. This technique consists of taking a small fragment (or fragments) of sound and then repeating it rhythmically. BT was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for his song "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)". This song was recognized as using the largest number of vocal edits in a song (6,178 edits).[2] BT's work with stutter edit techniques led to the formation of software development company, Sonik Architects, and the development of the sound-processing software plug-in Stutter Edit. The company also released a music remix app for iPhone called Sonifi.

In 2010, BT was nominated for a Grammy Award for his studio album These Hopeful Machines under the category "Best Electronic/Dance Album".[3]

Contents

Early life and education [edit]

BT was born in Rockville, Maryland on October 4, 1971. At an early age, he studied music at the Washington Conservatory of Music.[4] He went on to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.[5][6]

Career [edit]

In the early 1990s, BT moved back to Maryland and began collaborating with friends Ali "Dubfire" and Sharam of Deep Dish.[7] BT's productions were not yet popular in the US, and he had no idea that he had become popular across the Atlantic, where UK DJs like Sasha and Paul Oakenfold were regularly spinning his music for crowds. Sasha bought BT a ticket to London, where BT witnessed his own success—several thousand clubbers responded enthusiastically when Sasha played his song.[8] He was soon signed to Oakenfold's record label, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers.[9] BT's songs "A Moment of Truth" and "Relativity" became hits in the UK, and it was during this time in which BT met Tori Amos.[9]

In the early years of BT's career (roughly 1995–2000), he became a pioneering artist in the trance genre, despite the fact that he is not truly a DJ, and does not claim to be one.[10] BT has said of his musical background, "I'm not the traditional type of dance music artist. I'm not a DJ. I come from a classical music background. I attended the Berklee College of Music, and I played in punk bands."[8]

Ima [edit]

BT's 1995 debut album Ima was a progressive house effort featuring collaborations with Vincent Covello & Tori Amos, as well as the opening track, "Nocturnal Transmission", being featured in The Fast and the Furious. The title, "Ima (今)", is the Japanese word for "now".

ESCM [edit]

BT's next album ESCM features more complex melodies and more traditional harmonies along with a heavier use of vocals.[11] The tone of the album is darker and less whimsical than Ima. The album, as a whole, is much more diverse than BT's debut album.

The biggest hit from ESCM was "Flaming June,"[11] a collaboration with German trance meister Paul Van Dyk. Van Dyk and BT would collaborate on a number of works including "Namistai" (found on the later album Movement In Still Life) as well as Van Dyk's remix of BT's "Blue Skies" and "Remember." "Remember" featured Jan Johnston on vocals. BT and Van Dyk also remixed the Van Dyk classic "Forbidden Fruit".

Movement in Still Life [edit]

BT playing an acoustic version of "Satellite" from his 1999 album, Movement in Still Life, in 2006

BT released his 1999 album Movement in Still Life and continued his previous experimentation outside of the trance genre. The album, his third, features a strong element of nu skool breaks, a genre he helped define with the popular "Hip-Hop Phenomenon,"[12] in collaboration with Tsunami One aka Adam Freeland & Kevin Beber.[13] The album hits a spectrum of genre-work. "Smartbomb" is a mix of funky, heavy riffs from both synthesizers and guitars woven over a hip-hop break and includes a lyric sample from "Love on Haight Street". "Shame" and "Satellite" lean toward an alt-rock sound, while "Godspeed" and "Dreaming" fall into classic trance ranks. "Running Down the Way Up", a collaboration with fellow electronic act Hybrid, features sultry vocals and acoustic guitars heavily edited into a progressive breakbeat track.

Emotional Technology [edit]

BT's fourth studio album released in 2003. It featured more vocal tracks than BT's previous fare, including six with vocals by BT himself. Emotional Technology was BT's least experimental album to date, and many consider it the "poppiest" of all of his work. The biggest single from the album, "Somnambulist", draws heavily from the breakbeats and new wave dance of New Order and Depeche Mode, whom BT has cited as major influences. The rest of the album fairly escapes genre labeling, from the dark guitar work of "Circles", to "The Only Constant is Change" which is reminiscent of "Satellite", the album blends genres and changes genres in mid-track. The single "Somnambulist" holds the Guinness World Record for most vocal edits in a single track, with 6,178 in the album version.[14]

This Binary Universe [edit]

BT's fifth studio album, This Binary Universe, released in 2006, is his second album released in 5.1 surround sound, the first being the soundtrack to the 2003 film Monster.

The album features a mix of many genres, including jazz, breakbeats, and classical music. Three songs feature a full 110-piece orchestra. Animated videos were created to accompany each song.[15] The videos are included in a DVD packaged along with the CD.

Keyboard Magazine declared of the album, “In a hundred years, it could well be studied as the first major electronic work of the new millennium.”[16]

Unlike his previous two albums, which featured vocals on almost every track, this album contains none. The tracks also change genres constantly throughout. A good example is "The Antikythera Mechanism", which starts off almost lullaby-like, complete with a piano, acoustic guitars and reversed beats. Halfway through the track, the song explodes with a 110-piece orchestra, followed by a section of breakbeats and ending with the de-construction of the orchestra.

During November and December 2006, BT toured the album with Thomas Dolby opening. The concert featured a live slideshow of images from the online website DeviantArt as a backdrop.[17][18]

These Hopeful Machines [edit]

BT's sixth studio album, These Hopeful Machines, was released on February 2, 2010. The album featured guest vocalists/collaborators Kirsty Hawkshaw, Jes Brieden, Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel and Christian Burns. The album also features collaborations with Andrew Bayer ("The Emergency") and Ulrich Schnauss ("A Million Stars"). To date, this album contains the most singles released from any BT album, with 8 of the 12 tracks released as singles. Early official remixes were made by Armin van Buuren and Chicane. These Hopeful Machines was nominated for a 2011 Grammy Award in the Best Electronic/Dance Album genre.[3] A remix album, titled These Re-Imagined Machines was released in 2011. These Humble Machines, an un-mixed album featuring shorter "radio edit" versions of the tracks (similar to the U.S. version of Movement in Still Life) was also released in 2011.

If the Stars are Eternal So are You and I and Morceau Subrosa [edit]

BT announced plans to release two solo albums, If the Stars are Eternal So are You and I and Morceau Subrosa.[19][20][21] It was announced through Twitter[22] that If the Stars are Eternal So are You and I would be released on June 12, 2012 and has been described by BT as a follow up to This Binary Universe. The album was finally released on June 19, along with Morceau Subrosa.[23]

If the Stars are Eternal So are You and I, like This Binary Universe before it, is an about-face from BT's previous album These Hopeful Machines, utilizing minimal beats, ambient soundscapes, and glitch music, as opposed to the EDM style of These Hopeful Machines. Morceau Subrosa is very different in style compared to most of BT's previous works, favoring ambient soundscapes and minimal beats.

Future Projects [edit]

It has been announced that BT's forthcoming EDM album entitled A Song Across Wires[24] has been signed to Dutch record label Armada Music for a worldwide release in the summer of 2013, following up These Hopeful Machines.[25] On the album, BT collaborates with Arty, Senadee, Andrew Bayer, Nadia Ali, Plumb, Aqualung, Adam K, Fractal, tyDi, K-pop singer Bada and more.[26] The first single off the album, "Must Be the Love", has showed up on BT's SoundCloud on September 8, 2012 and was released on September 17.[27] Three more songs for this album, "Tonight" (featuring tyDi and Jes Brieden), "Paralyzed" (featuring Tritonal and Christian Burns), and "Letting Go" (featuring Jes Brieden and Fractal), were revealed during his sets at Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas and A State of Trance 600 in Guatemala City.[28][29][30] There are also several new songs were revealed by BT through his Twitter, his Facebook page, live shows on Stickam and DJ sets ("Surrounded", "Tomahawk", "Catch Me", "Vervoeren" and "Skylarking") but it's still unknown if these (except for "Skylarking" and "Surrounded") are going to show up on his upcoming album. The second single from the album, "Skylarking", was released by Armada Music on February 14, 2013 on Armin van Buuren's A State of Trance 2013, and the music video for "Must Be the Love" was released on February 28, 2013.[31]

On March 7, 2012, it was announced that BT and Christian Burns have collaborated to form a band called "All Hail the Silence". The band is expected to release their debut album in 2013, and have already released their first single "Looking Glass" online.[32]

Collaborations [edit]

Software [edit]

During the production of This Binary Universe, Transeau wanted to program drums in surround sound, and found that software tools to accomplish this weren't readily available. He decided to develop his own, and formed his own software company, Sonik Achitects, and his own drum surround software called BreakTweaker. BreakTweaker was originally intended for release in 2007, with later plans to release additional tools and plugins specifically aimed at musicians and DJs, including his signature stutter edit.[36]

In 2009, he launched his software company Sonik Architects with Sonifi, the company's first product for iPhone and iPod Touch.[37]

In December 2010, Sonik Architects was acquired by software and music production company, iZotope.[38] and at the Winter NAMM Show in January 2011, the "Stutter Edit" plug-in, based on BT's patented technique of realtime manipulation of digital audio [39] was released by iZotope and BT.[40]

Personal life [edit]

BT performing "Flaming June" at Ultra Music Festival '08

BT has a daughter, Kaia Nui Transeau.

On January 11, 2008, ABC News reported that BT's daughter had been abducted by her mother, Ashley Duffy, during a planned visit.[41] The mother was arrested, but charges were withdrawn and the matter was settled in family court.[42][43]

Scores [edit]

BT began scoring films in 1999 with Go. Since then he has scored a dozen films, including Stealth and The Fast and the Furious. In addition, he produced the score for the 2001 film Zoolander, but had his name removed from the project. His tracks for the film were finished by composer David Arnold.[44] He also produced the score for the 2003 film Monster, earning him particular acclaim.[16]

Transeau has scored the video games Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas (2000), Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions (2002) and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (2004).

BT has ventured into television for Tommy Lee Goes To College for NBC in 2005. He executive-produced the Tommy Lee series, the idea for which he developed and sold to NBC.[10]

BT also composed music for the Pixar animated short film Partysaurus Rex, released on September 14, 2012 alongside the 3D release of Finding Nemo.[45]

Film scores [edit]

Songs appearing in films [edit]

Video game appearances and scores [edit]

Discography [edit]

Main article: BT discography

Albums [edit]

Singles and EPs [edit]

  • "Oneday" (1992) (vocals by Fawn)
  • "Anomaly" (1995) (as Libra, in collaboration with DJ Taylor)
  • "The Moment of Truth" (1995) (As Brian Transeau)
  • "Relativity" (1995) (As Brian Transeau)
  • "Embracing the Sunshine" #34 UK (1995)
  • "Loving You More" #14 UK (1996) (vocals by Vincent Covello)
  • "Blue Skies" #26 UK (1996) (vocals by Tori Amos)
  • "Flaming June" #19 UK (1997)
  • "Love, Peace and Grease" #41 UK (1997)
  • "Remember" #27 UK (1998) (vocals by Jan Johnston)
  • "Godspeed" #54 UK (1998)
  • "Mercury and Solace" #38 UK (1999) (vocals by Jan Johnston)
  • "Dreaming" #38 UK (2000) (vocals by Kirsty Hawkshaw)
  • "Smartbomb" (2000) (vocals by Rasco)
  • "Never Gonna Come Back Down" #51 UK (2000) (vocals by Mike Doughty)
  • "Flesh" (2001) (vocals by Jan Johnston)
  • "Shame" (2001) (vocals by BT)
  • "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" (2003) (vocals by BT and JC Chasez)
  • The Technology EP (2004)
  • Human Technology EP (2005)
  • "Force of Gravity" (2005) (vocals by BT and JC Chasez)
  • "The Rose of Jericho" (2009)
  • "Every Other Way" (2009) (vocals by JES and BT)
  • "Suddenly" (2010) (vocals by BT and Christian Burns)
  • "Forget Me" (2010) (vocals by BT and Christian Burns)
  • "The Emergency" (2010)
  • "Le Nocturne de Lumière" (2010)
  • "Always" (2011)
  • "A Million Stars" (2011) (vocals by Kirsty Hawkshaw)
  • "In the Air" (2011) (with Morgan Page & Sultan & Ned Shepard; vocals by Angela McCluskey)
  • "Tomahawk" (2011) (with Adam K)
  • "Looking Glass" (2012) (vocals by Christian Burns)
  • "Must Be the Love" (2012) (with Arty and Nadia Ali)
  • "Partysaurus Overflow" (2012) (with Au5)
  • "Vervoeren" (2013)
  • "Skylarking" (2013)
  • "Surrounded" (2013) (with Aqualung)

Compilations [edit]

  • R&R (Rare & Remixed) (2001) - A two disc mix album showcasing BT's remix work, rare songs from his early career and previously unreleased tracks, most notably "Sunblind".
  • Still Life in Motion (2001) - A collection of remixes and edits of songs off of Movement in Still Life.
  • 10 Years in the Life (2002) - Disc 1 is a collection of rare songs, remixes and edits of Transeau's songs, showcasing Transeau's progression as an artist over the span of a decade. It notably includes his first recorded track, "The Moment of Truth". Disc 2 is a mix album and features remixes and rare tracks done by BT, including remixes of Madonna, DJ Rap, The Crystal Method and Deep Dish. Most of the rare tracks by BT are under the names of his many aliases. The booklet that comes with the CD features stories by BT about the making of each track on both discs, as well as a series of comments about his early career, remixing, scoring films and producing music in general.
  • These Humble Machines (2011) (Radio-Edits of These Hopeful Machines on 1 Disc)
  • These Re-Imagined Machines (2011) - A 2-disc set containing 17 remixes of These Hopeful Machines.
  • These Re-Imagined Machines (Complete Limited Edition Signed Box Set) (2011) - A 4-disc box set personally autographed and serial-numbered by BT containing 3 CD's of 24 remixes, 1 DVD of all 59 remixes and 3 music videos, a 2.32-page, 12” hard bound book, a 3.12” × 72” poster and a BT logo sticker.[50]
  • Laptop Symphony (2012) - A 2-disc mix set by BT himself (Black Hole Recordings).

Remixes [edit]

Sample CDs [edit]

Aliases and pseudonyms [edit]

  • BT
  • Prana
  • Elastic Chakra
  • Elastic Reality
  • Libra
  • Dharma
  • Kaistar
  • GTB

Awards and nominations [edit]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ David Battino, Kelli Richards, The Art Of Digital Music, Backbeat Books, 2005, p. 10
  2. ^ BIAS Artist Profiles: BT
  3. ^ a b c "The Official Site of Music's Biggest Night". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved 2013-02-20. 
  4. ^ Small, Mark. "BERKLEE | Berklee Today". Berklee.edu. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  5. ^ [1][dead link]
  6. ^ "BT Wears His Lab Coat for These Hopeful Machines", Keyboard Magazine, Feb 2010
  7. ^ "Hyperreal.org". 
  8. ^ a b Chris Gill, "BT's New Skool Breakbeat Science", Remix, Mar 2000
  9. ^ a b c "Twenty-First-Century Prototype". 
  10. ^ a b Muther, Christopher (2004-10-02). "The world at his fingertips". The Boston Globe. 
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Miami New Times". 
  12. ^ "Lunar Magazine interview". 
  13. ^ "BT - Movement In Still Life (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs. 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-09. 
  14. ^ Somnambulist
  15. ^ "BTs' Last FM site". 
  16. ^ a b Stephen Fortner, "The Mind Of BT", Keyboard Magazine, Dec 2005
  17. ^ "DeviantArt Presents BT and Thomas Dolby". 
  18. ^ Images and accounts from the tour to date can be seen at dA Presents. dAPresents on deviantART
  19. ^ "Update on New Musical Releases (Part 1 of 2), BTMusic.com". 
  20. ^ "Update on New Musical Releases (Part 2 of 2), BTMusic.com". 
  21. ^ "Hello to All! Some...". Facebook. Retrieved 2013-02-20. 
  22. ^ "@BT". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-02-20. 
  23. ^ "If the Stars are eternal so are You and I & Morceau Subrosa released, facebook.com". 
  24. ^ "Armada Music Website: Armada 10 Years". Armada Music. Retrieved 2013-05-17. 
  25. ^ "Ten In One Talent Welcomes...". Ten In One Talent. Retrieved 2013-05-14. 
  26. ^ "Good summer for music fans". Retrieved May 1, 2013. 
  27. ^ BT and Arty feat. Nadia Ali-Must Be The Love
  28. ^ "BT - Live at Electric Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas)". 06-10-2012. Retrieved 2013-02-20. 
  29. ^ BT - Live @ A State of Trance 600 Guatemala City - 27.03.2013
  30. ^ BT to work with Tritonal
  31. ^ "BT “SKYLARKING” OUT ON ARMADA MUSIC". Retrieved March 11, 2013. 
  32. ^ "BT & Christian Burns announced their new band All Hail The Silence". Retrieved March 8, 2012. 
  33. ^ JIVEMagazine.com
  34. ^ "BT: 'King Of Dirty Pop'". MTV News. 2001-06-22. 
  35. ^ "Millennium Dome". 
  36. ^ "Progressive Sounds". 
  37. ^ BT’s Sonifi For The iPhone
  38. ^ "iZotope, Inc - Audio Processing Technology and Plug-Ins for Pro Tools, VST, MAS, Audio Unit, and DirectX". Izotope.com. Retrieved 2013-02-20. 
  39. ^ "Realtime editing and Performance of Digital Audio Tracks". 
  40. ^ "NAMM 2011: iZotope Stutter Edit". Mixonline.com. 2011-01-14. Retrieved 2013-02-20. 
  41. ^ Schoetz, David (January 2008). "His Daughter Gone, Artist Asks for Help". ABC News. 
  42. ^ Montes, Sebastian (January 2008). "3-year-old Boyds Girl Back With Her Father". Gazette.net. 
  43. ^ Schoetz, David (January 2008). "With Child Safe, Custody Battle Begins Anew". ABC News. 
  44. ^ "List of films scored by BT". 
  45. ^ Graff, Gary (March 1, 2012). "BT's Busy 2012: Mix Set, 'Quiet' EP & a Follow-Up to 'Machines'". Billboard.com. Retrieved April 11, 2012. 
  46. ^ The Coke Zero & Mentos Rocket Car
  47. ^ "Soundtracks for The Sorcerer's Apprentice". IMDb.vom. Retrieved January 14, 2011. 
  48. ^ "signs new BT album". Armada Music. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  49. ^ "Ten In One Talent Welcomes...". Ten In One Talent. Retrieved 2013-05-14. 
  50. ^ "2011 - These Re-Imagined Machines (Complete Limited Edition Signed Box Set)". Btmusic.com. 2011-11-30. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 

External links [edit]

BT
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Extended plays
Singles
  • "Embracing the Future"
  • "Embracing the Sunshine"
  • "Nocturnal Transmission"
  • "Divinity"
  • "Loving You More"
  • "Quark"
  • "Tripping the Light Fantastic"
  • "Blue Skies"
  • "Remember"
  • "Flaming June"
  • "Love, Peace and Grease"
  • "Godspeed"
  • "Dreaming"
  • "The Hip Hop Phenomenon"
  • "Mercury and Solace"
  • "Namistai"
  • "Fibonacci Sequence"
  • "Never Gonna Come Back Down"
  • "Shame"
  • "Smartbomb"
  • "Break on Through (To the Other Side)"
  • "The Force of Gravity"
  • "Superfabulous"
  • "The Great Escape"
  • "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)"
  • "Love in the Time of Thieves"
  • "The Rose of Jericho"
  • "Suddenly"
  • "Every Other Way"
  • "Forget Me"
  • "The Emergency"
  • "Le nocturne de lumière"
  • "Always"
  • "A Million Stars"
Related articles
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