Martyn Ware
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Martyn Ware | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 19 May 1956 |
| Origin | Sheffield, England |
| Genres | Electronic, synthpop, new wave |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, record producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, keyboards |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | Fast Product, Virgin Records, Mute Records |
Martyn Ware (born 19 May 1956) is a British musician and music producer. As a founder member of both The Human League and Heaven 17,[1] he was partly responsible for hit records such as "Being Boiled" and "Temptation". He has also worked as a record producer, notably helping to revitalise Tina Turner's career in 1983 with "Let's Stay Together", kick starting Terence Trent D'Arby's career by co-producing his solo debut, Introducing the Hardline According to... in 1987 and producing Erasure's I Say I Say I Say album in 1994.
More recently, he has collaborated with Vince Clarke (as The Clarke & Ware Experiment) on two music projects; the Pretentious album (1999), and Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle (2001).[2] He has also contributed programmes to internet radio stations.
He is a Visiting Professor at Queen Mary College, University of London, a member of BAFTA, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a founder of 5D – the future of immersive design. He has also received an Honorary Doctorate in Science from University of London.
Surround Sound Technology
Ware created a 3D surround sound auditorium for the National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield - a museum of contemporary music and culture, launched with £15 million of National Lottery money, which opened in March 1999 and closed in July 2000. BBC News described the centre as having been "shunned" by visitors, and, despite a £2 million relaunch, the Centre closed. Despite this, Ware later used the surround sound technology to launch an Arts Council subsidised touring project called "The Future of Sound".
Ware’s 3D music has also been used in an unusual noise suppression experiment undertaken in Brighton in 2011 on behalf of the Noise Abatement Society (NAS).[3]
During this experiment, which was an entry for the John Connell Technology Award, a six-point sound field was created using ethereal sound textures. This was played in the main shopping street in the city, West Street, with the intention of distracting people from the traffic noise.
In the meantime, film made of the street during the time the sound was being produced was analysed by the psychobiologist Harry Witchel to assess whether the ambient sound made any difference to their behaviour.
Early results suggested that it did have a beneficial effect for the public both during the day and anecdotal evidence suggested it served as a calming influence during the "clubbers rush" in the evening. Suggestions have been made that the experiment could be rolled out more widely in the future.
He is a Visiting Professor at Queen Mary College, University of London, a member of BAFTA, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a founder of 5D – the future of immersive design. He has also just received an Honorary Doctorate in Science from University of London.
Public speaking
He speaks regularly on music policy from the perspective of a creative person. Previous speaking engagements include: 11 February 2011 at the British Library for Copyright for Creativity, a June 2011 dinner at the European Parliament, and events in May 2012 in the Library of the European Parliament.
He was also a keynote speaker at the Silicon Dreams festival in Leicestershire on 6 July 2013, where he performed with Heaven 17 [1].
References
- ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Heaven 17: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
- ^ DiGravina, Tim. "Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle: Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
- ^ Lester, Ahren. "Noise Abatement Society experiment uses d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers". Audio Pro International. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
External links
- Heaven17
- Human League
- National Centre for Popular Music
- Illustrious Company Illustrious Company is Ware's current ongoing project into 3D audio
- Martyn Ware RBMA lecture
- Twitter feed
- Facebook Page
- Audio interview with Martyn Ware and Glenn Gregory on the Sodajerker On Songwriting podcast
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