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Specially Composed Music - Lost Kingdoms of South America

By: Terry Devine-King
Date:: 30 May 2013

Towards the end of last year, I was asked to compose music for the tv series " Lost Kingdoms of South America ". Ancient civilisations are a passion of mine, so you can imagine, I was rather excited about this project! Composing music Composing music for such a programme was never going to be straightforward. For a start, there’s no musical reference for ancient civilisations of South America, (or maybe there’s a bearded academic that can put me right on this?), so it was a case ...

Brand New Music For May

By: Jo Belcher
Date:: 13 May 2013

This month we have 14 brand new albums for you! There are some really fantastic and unusual tracks for you to enjoy - below are just a few of the highlights. French Hip Hop French Hip Hop - ANW1902 – is from Will Davies, Vincent Lepage, Dag Torgersbraten and French rapper Cécile Unia (also known as Pumpkin ). Pumpkin’s super cool and effortless French rapping over edgy hip hop beats blends perfectly with stuttering synths and orchestral textures. Trailer Remixes Our next ...

Cannes Lions Learnings Channel

By: Nick Bennett
Date:: 09 May 2013

With last year's introduction as official music partner, we are proud that Audio Network’s association with the Cannes Lions Advertising festival is continuing to expand and that we are working so closely with the advertising industry . Talent Anyone that has had the privilege of attending the festival will know that, along with sunshine and rosé, there has always been an abundance of extremely high caliber speakers from the advertising world and beyond ( Bill Clinton, Martin Sorrell, ...

Synaesthesia - A Union of the Senses

By: Carrie Russell
Date:: 01 May 2013

Synaesthesia – the notion of sounds and images, not as separate entities but interchangeable, overlapping senses that have very different effects on different people. We have explored this exciting phenomenon over 3 events now, bringing together luminaries such as QI Producer John Lloyd, profoundly deaf percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie and ‘the best darn pianist in the world’ Harry the Piano . Heaven 17, Human League and Cyborgs Fast forward April 25th 2013, (the ...

MIPTV – Cannes Bound

By: Nathan Leong
Date:: 22 Apr 2013

As March segues into April, and the UK is wrapped in thick, downy blankets peering at the snow-ridden vista outside their windows in a vain attempt to catch a glimpse of a daffodil, the great and the good of the global television production industry jet off to the Côte d’Azur for MIPTV. Picture the onslaught of Provençal rosé, sunglasses-heavy parties and chatter amidst the tranquil blue of the Mediterranean Sea (or pool). MIPTV – The ...

Latin Music and Vintage Instruments

By: Dave James
Date:: 11 Apr 2013

The inspiration for Quirky and Cheeky Latin came from the great Latin American big bands of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. Cuban bandleader Perez Prado composed quirky and infectious music that’s still popular today and the original recordings, like Mambo No.5 and Guaglione, have been used on many TV ads eg. Guinness, The Post Office and Pringles . The mambo rhythm originated from Cuba and is still a dance floor favourite. Vintage Latin American Music After taking nearly ...

Brand New Music For April

By: Jo Belcher
Date:: 04 Apr 2013

Keeping fingers crossed this month for the appearance of Spring – we have another delicious 15 albums for you, covering a diverse range of genres. And just in case the sun doesn’t shine – here’s some of our highlights for you to bask in… Swamp Rock & Country Funk ANW1885 - Swamp Rock & Country Funk is an album of southern inspired fusions of soul, blues, funk and country from Lincoln Grounds and Randall Breneman . Cinematic Orchestral ...

The Composer, the Orchestra and Abbey Road Studios: Part 2

By: Paul Mottram
Date:: 28 Mar 2013

In part 1 of this blog series, prolific composer and long-time Audio Network collaborator Paul Mottram explained how he brings his music to life. Now in part 2, he shares his insights running up to the actual recording. Play Orchestration With a piece for orchestra, such as ‘ Trailblazer ’ for example, it's rare to finalise the exact details as to which instrument plays what in the first draft of the work apart from in a broad brush sense. However, the ...

Top Tips for Creating Music at the BVE

By: Chris Blackwell
Date:: 14 Mar 2013

I’d been wanting to do something outside my comfort zone for some time but even so I was slightly surprised to hear myself asking the guys at Audio Network if I could speak at any events or seminars they had coming up. I guess it was either public speaking or hang gliding but it was too cold for hang gliding. Broadcast Video Expo (BVE) I’m pretty sure I was expecting them to say “no thanks” but instead, I heard, “Great. Would you like to speak at the upcoming ...

Brand New Music For March

By: Jo Belcher
Date:: 08 Mar 2013

As the sunshine makes a wonderfully welcome appearance this March, we welcome alongside it 14 brand new albums ! ANW1871 - Dreamy Chillout First up we have ANW1871 – Dreamy Chillout from composers Alex Arcoleo, Barrie Gledden, Steve Dymond, Jason Pedder, Tim Reilly and Ben Ziapour . Hypnotic and ethereal pads, lo-fi ambient electronic effects and vocal textures are used to create these super cool chill out tracks. ANW1875 - Urban Epic Our second album is ANW1875 – ...

Audio Network's Dance Music Mix

By: Amanda Mayo
Date:: 05 Mar 2013

Electronica, Rave and recently in the US, Electronic Dance Music (often shortened to EDM): these terms will mean different things to different people depending on location, history, and culture. For instance, in the UK the term “ Electronica ” is used to encompass many subgenres of electronic music. In the US, this word is associated with alternative electronic music, usually downtempo or ambient . “ Rave ” is understood all around the world to describe popular dance ...

Paul Clarvis Plays Percussion

By: Paul Clarvis
Date:: 14 Feb 2013

Paul Clarvis is an extremely talented percussionist in high demand. As one of the most requested session percussionists in the country, he has played on numerous films including the James Bond franchise, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and The Bourne Ultimatum. Paul is also known for bringing his unique style of music to many genres and can be heard on recordings from Mick Jagger, Elvis Costello, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Sting, Bryan Ferry to John Williams. ...

Tinnitus - Can You Hear Us?

By: Oli Godfrey
Date:: 06 Feb 2013

As a music publisher, you could say we’re in the ear business! Music genres are pushing more frequency boundaries nowadays and with the increase in digital music platforms and audio products like celebrity endorsed headphones, we should really be making sure we look after our ears. Most people have regular health checks but how many of us get hearing tests? Drumming I used to think I had tinnitus because I played the drums from an early age and the high pitched cymbals ...

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Brand New Music for February

By: Jo Belcher
Date:: 05 Feb 2013

February sees the release of 15 fantastic new albums for you. It’s a really diverse release including some really exciting and varied music as well as our informative podcast, featuring composer interviews and album highlights. See what you think! ANW1857 - Cinematic Orchestral ANW1857 – Cinematic Orchestral is an accomplished album of epic orchestral and choral cinematic tracks from Luke Richards, Oliver Ledbury and Nik Kershaw . These tracks are quite simply stunning. ...

Trance Music turns Orchestral: Part 1

By: John 00 Fleming
Date:: 30 Jan 2013

John 00 Fleming is an artist who has achieved international success in a career spanning over 20 years. With over 10 million album sales and 30 produced mix compilations, John’s a proven musical pioneer whose essence lies in what his fans call, ‘The JOOF sound’. This sound is as unpretentious as the artist and is best described as deep and textured progressively edged trance, in an electronic dance music style that is an antithesis to what is normally produced within this genre. ...

Does imperfection make music great?

By: Lincoln Grounds
Date:: 24 Jan 2013

Technology is impressive isn't it? It has brought a world of creative tools to the people enabling the production of good sounding music with just a laptop & a pair of headphones. Music Apps and Plugs Ins Consumers have apps and studio folk have plug-ins. Both, little nuggets of nicely presented code that enable us to find every fish & chip shop in Bognor Regis or make a double bass sound like it's being played in a bucket. An infinite variety of equally noble & useful software ...

My Royal College of Music Scholarship

By: Andrew Howes
Date:: 16 Jan 2013

One Wednesday morning in October, I was introduced to Andrew Sunnucks and learnt to my delight that I was the recipient of the first Audio Network music scholarship here at the Royal College of Music. It was felt that I might be best suited to fulfil this role, given the extent of what I could learn and gain from any potential experiences. In the brief time I have been associated with Audio Network, I have already been introduced to many fascinating and influential people, as well as ...

Brand New Music for January

By: Jo Belcher
Date:: 10 Jan 2013

Happy New Year everyone! We’ve got some great brand new albums for you at the start of what I hope will be a great new year for us all. The first album is .. ANW1845 - Teen Rock Pop ANW1845 – Teen Rock Pop by Chris Bussey - also featuring a track by Pete Masitti and John Andrew Barrow . The album is jam packed with energetic pop metal and rock tracks with cool riffs, loud drums and razor sharp lead guitars. ANW1847 - UK RnB Hip Hop Next up is ANW1847 ...

The Composer, the Orchestra and Abbey Road Studios: Part 1

By: Paul Mottram
Date:: 07 Jan 2013

How does a piece of music go from being an inspired thought in a composer’s head, to being part of the extensive music library here at Audio Network? In this two-part blog series, prolific composer and long-time Audio Network collaborator Paul Mottram explains his process in bringing his music to life. Recording Orchestral Music At the beginning of October in 2012, I recorded some new music with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios for Audio Network. Orchestral music has ...

Sex, Sex, Sex...

By: Andrew Sunnucks
Date:: 27 Dec 2012

Now that I have your attention, let me explain the premise for this blog. There are those who will tell you that writing a blog is a science not an art. The trick, so they say, is to stuff prose with judicious and clever key words to drive the casually curious to your content. Well I’m very sorry, but I (and my fellow Audio Networkers) refuse to be so duplicitous. What happened to just being interesting? By trying to shoe-horn artificial phrases you lose any hope of elegance or passion in ...

A Composer's Success Story: Max Brodie

By: Max Brodie
Date:: 18 Dec 2012

Audio Network are always looking for new composers and to support this, launched their ‘ Undiscovered ’ project. Like many others no doubt, I decided to apply. Submitting the Music I put a lot of time and effort into hopefully making my submission as easy as I could for the Audio Network music team. I created a private setlist on SoundCloud including full, 30 and 60 second versions of my tracks. I set up a hidden domain on my site, which included the SoundCloud player with just ...

What Makes the Perfect Christmas Song?

By: Fred Kisielewski
Date:: 12 Dec 2012

Snow, Santa and Sleigh Bells Here at Audio Network, we’ve been wondering exactly what are the vital ingredients that go into making the perfect Christmas song ? Writing a Christmas hit can set you up for life, so it is no surprise that in recent years everyone from Justin Bieber to Michael Buble have tried to release the next everlasting Christmas song. But what does it take to match the success of Slade and Wizzard in the December charts? Festive Season Before the days of the inevitable ...

Brand New Music For December

By: Jo Belcher
Date:: 10 Dec 2012

This December, we have released another whopping 17 new albums . They cover a really diverse range of genres and some great music fusions – below are just some of the highlights... ANW1830 - Retro Cop Shows ANW1830 – Retro Cop Shows will take you on a great nostalgic TV trip. It’s an album of classic 70s and 80s TV themes from the talented David Tobin and Jeff Meegan, also featuring Malcolm Edmonstone and Freddie Gavita . This is the final album from recordings that took place ...

Top TV Theme Tunes Infographic

By: Simon Marett
Date:: 06 Dec 2012

TV Theme Tunes Infographic The marketing team here at Audio Network are huge fans of Infographics and we regularly discover and share them amongst our teams on a wide variety of subjects from SEO to Music Marketing, Social Media to the use of music for video . This led to a conversation a few weeks ago about Audio Network creating our own series of infographics and the subjects we could cover. As most of you probably know, Audio Network provides authentic production music for some of ...

Dame Evelyn Glennie, Terry Devine-King and the Waterphone

By: Dame Evelyn Glennie DBE
Date:: 27 Nov 2012

Dame Evelyn Glennie’s Recording Studio "My studio is often described as an 'Aladdin's Cave' and I love taking composers and other musicians through the myriad of instruments I have accumulated over the years. Terry Devine-King kindly agreed to indulge me and we had an incredible time exploring the sound colours of instruments big and small. The Waterphone During the session, I introduced Terry to one of my favourite instruments, the Waterphone. Each waterphone is unique by its size, tuning, ...

BBC Count of Monte Cristo Project: A Pair of Briefs... - Part 1

By: David Tobin
Date:: 19 Nov 2012

Background A client within a client… The BBC came to Audio Network wanting music for a new radio production for their forthcoming drama series on Radio 4, A Count of Monte Cristo and I’m delighted to say that Audio Network asked Jeff Meegan and I to do it. The music was written specifically to the Beeb’s brief, although it’s now available in the amazing Audio Network library. Conversations with the BBC and Temp Tracks Jeremy Mortimer, Head of Radio ...

BBC Count of Monte Cristo Project: A Pair of Briefs... - Part 2

By: Jeff Meegan
Date:: 19 Nov 2012

The Specifics Audio Network get involved with some pretty exciting projects, producing the highest quality stock music for some of the biggest companies in television, film and radio. Writing production music for the radio – for BBC Radio 4’s Count of Monte Cristo was a special treat for David and myself. David has setup how we started writing it in his blog (Part 1), and this is my story. The brief was flexible when it came ...

Synaesthesia: An Evening of Sensory Crossover

By: Andrew Sunnucks
Date:: 15 Nov 2012

To us at Audio Network, Synaesthesia is our little indulgence. It is the event we organise a couple of times a year where we smother ourselves in musical chocolate, as well as titillate ourselves aurally and generally thrill to the sensory wonders of the world around us. Making Sense It’s simple really, we book a theatre or gorgeous room somewhere and invite a couple of amazing people to come and talk about what makes them tick. It doesn’t have to be about music, certainly not library ...

Brand New Music for November

By: Jo Belcher
Date:: 05 Nov 2012

This month we have a huge release of 18 new albums . It features some really fantastic tracks that we’re very proud of, and we’re sure they’ll be perfect for all your production needs. There are so many highlights to tell you about, here we go! ANW1811 - Acoustic Roots ANW1811 – Acoustic Roots is an album of uplifting folk pop and rock from Tom Peters, Greg McDonald, Tom Rosenthal, Tom Quick, Sue Verran, Richard Kimmings, Ben Ziapour and Jason Pedder . ANW1813 ...

A Global Music Collaboration - Part 2

By: Jason Pedder
Date:: 02 Nov 2012

Tim's story told you about how our new album came to be with a truly international collaboration between us in Yorkshire, Ben Ziapour in London, with Andreas Georgallis in Cyprus. After Andreas had taken our 8 existing tracks, and injected some real energy with real piano, bass, drums and authentic Greek lyre, we started work on them back in the UK. Recording Session in the UK We re-worked the string and brass arrangements and prepared for a recording session. We went to Blueprint Studios in Manchester ...

A Global Music Collaboration - Part 1

By: Tim Reilly
Date:: 30 Oct 2012

What do you get if you connect two composers in West Yorkshire ( Tim Reilly, Jason Pedder ), one in London ( Ben Ziapour ) and another in Cyprus ( Andreas Georgallis )? Answer: Great Music ! Why should we let distances between geographical locations stifle us in this day and age? Great music tracks - how to make them better. Jay, Ben and I had an album of 8 good tracks nearly ready for submission. We asked ourselves the same question we always ask, "Can we make this album better, and ...

Recording a concept album: How to begin (Pt 2)

By: Barrie Gledden
Date:: 25 Oct 2012

In part 1 of this blog, I shared how the concept of EARTH TONES came about and the preparation involved before, Evelyn Glennie, Chris Bussey and I could even begin to record the music. Read on to see how the recording went… The hotel off the A1 I like to set up a makeshift studio in a hotel room close to Evelyn’s recording studio and really immerse myself in the project the night before we record. However, on this occasion total immersion ...

Recording a concept album: How to begin (Pt 1)

By: Barrie Gledden
Date:: 18 Oct 2012

The ‘C’ Word When pitching for an album project, whether to a publisher or fellow composers, it's probably best not to use the ‘c’ word. Don’t get me wrong - you can mention it (the ‘c’ word) without causing alarm, however, when used in a musical context, it can bring unequalled outrage. The c word I am circumnavigating is, of course, 'concept'. There: I've said it. In the beginning I had just been invited to compose & produce with Dame Evelyn Glennie ...

Brand New Music For October

By: Jo Belcher
Date:: 15 Oct 2012

We’re very excited to be able to bring you 15 brand new exciting albums for your listening pleasure this October. Which one will be your favourite? . ANW 1795 – Big Band & Crooners We have 5 featured albums this month, and to start us off is our Big Band & Crooners Album. This is an incredibly authentic album of smooth and swinging big band sounds from David Tobin and Jeff Meegan. It also features co-writers Mark Armstrong, Tim Garland, Curtis McKonly, ...

Tim Garland at Abbey Road

By: Tim Garland
Date:: 27 Sep 2012

Working with Ray Davies Walking into Studio 2 at Abbey Road, I get the same feeling of confidence and excitement about the music soon to be raising its roof. Partly because of the unquestionable talents of the tech team here and partly due to the familiar musicians I see as I run between their music stands with compositions hot off the printer. Two pieces are by the legendary Ray Davies, who seems to know everyone I know and everyone I’ve just met. Ray is a top recording trumpet player, turned ...

Scoring it Big: Music in Film

By: Film Director: Jack Jewers
Date:: 19 Sep 2012

IT STARTS WITH A PLAYLIST . . . For me, a film starts with the music. Literally. A soundtrack is like a creative hotwire into my brain. Even if a film is still just some scribbled notes and a blank sheet of paper, it needs music to grow. I’ll start by making a playlist. I cherry pick music from anywhere – TV and film soundtracks, production music , classical pieces – anything that speaks to me in some way about what I’m trying to achieve. (That’s one reason ...

From Poo to Who: The Annual Media Guardian International TV Festival

By: Anne Booty
Date:: 03 Sep 2012

A confession: I’ve never actually been to Edinburgh. A fair enough excuse given that I am from Australia, but a bit lame given I’ve been living in the UK for fifteen years now. Either way, my colleague and I found ourselves on the train zooming past majestic Scottish countryside looking forward to attending the world of TV production at the Annual Media Guardian International TV Festival. Celebrity Juice: Bang Tidy Edinburgh Special A brief dabble in the wonderfully murky-circus-world ...

Big Band Music for the BBC Proms

By: Tim Garland
Date:: 25 Aug 2012

Staring out at 5000 people with a big band behind you, making something up on the spot might not be everyone’s idea of fun! Jazz Musicians There is no doubt something about the mind-set of jazz musicians that seeks out what you could call, the "precipice" of a situation. My new piece, 'Agro Alegria' was played at the Proms last week by the excellent and extremely youthful National Youth Jazz orchestra (in which I was soloist). It was a reminder to me as to why ...

Audio Network and Daytona Lights - Music Video Shoot

By: Carrie Russell
Date:: 29 Mar 2012

Audio Network & Daytona Lights Video Shoot On a recent cold Saturday, upcoming band Daytona Lights were shooting their debut music video in the country - and Audio Network were along for the ride. This Modern Landscape The track is ‘My Place’ from the Daytona Lights debut album ‘ This Modern Landscape ’. Audio Network started working with the band and record producer Steve Levine in early 2011 when Lime Pictures, an Audio Network client, were looking for ...

Recording at Abbey Road Studios with the RPO: Part Two

By: Chris Egan
Date:: 13 Dec 2011

Chris Egan has just finished recording a Cinematic Blockbuster Movie Extravaganza with the full Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (all ninety of them) at Abbey Road Studio One. Audio Network talks to the man behind the music to find out how he does such a thing… What inspired you to create this type of score? The inspiration is drawn from the wonderful old-school ‘Popcorn Movies’ that I’ve watched since I was a child. I’ve always written from a media composer point ...

The Scoop from the Virgin Media Shorts Awards

By: Carrie Russell
Date:: 11 Nov 2011

Tweet The Virgin Media Shorts Awards Last night the Audio Network team attended the Virgin Media Shorts Awards. This is the first year we have been involved with the awards, offering all of the film producers and directors’ who are entering use of our production music library for their shorts, meaning they can have a high quality, multi platform cleared soundtrack – made really simple. On arrival we were greeted with champagne and canapés before being led into the auditorium ...

Audio Network's New Website - Music Anytime, Anywhere!

By: Kristen Harold
Date:: 20 Oct 2011

We live in an era of portability. From your iPad, iPhone, Tablet or Smart Phone you can access anything from anywhere as you need it. The production world is no exception. Post-production is no longer tied to an edit suite, footage can be viewed anywhere, editing can begin on-set and decisions can be made on the go. We kept all of this in mind when creating the new Audio Network website. Music Anywhere When we began production of our new site, we knew we had to shift ...

Power to the Pixel

By: Katie Motion
Date:: 17 Oct 2011

Power to the Pixel – The Cross Media Forum. I always get a little nervous going to these events on my own for Audio Network, but the Power to the Pixel crowd is always a friendly and inviting one. People Watching Sitting at the Riverside Café at the BFI sipping my skinny latte, I looked around to see if I recognised anyone. I love people watching at the best of times but watching a huge group of ‘creatives’ excitedly greeting each other and chatting about their next digital ...

Audio Network's New Music Website

By: Simon Marett
Date:: 12 Oct 2011

The new and improved music website from Audio Network It’s been over 12 months in the making but today, Wednesday 12th October, we’re delighted to unveil our new music website at beta.audionetwork.com . We’ve listened to our customers’ feedback from around the world and we hope we’ve created a website that provides a better music and customer experience right across the site. ‘Easier, Quicker, Simpler’ is what you asked for so that is where’s we’ve ...

Audio Network, the first 10 years

By: Andrew Sunnucks
Date:: 19 Jul 2011

I’m often asked where Audio Network comes from and how it got going. Since we are now 10 years’ old, now seems to be as good a time as any to try and tell our story. In the beginning It all started in the summer of 1999 when Robert Hurst and I were in LA. We were both working for a major music publisher – me as the Media Director and Robert as the Finance Director. At one meeting with a well known producer, we were given a particularly hard time about how difficult and complicated ...