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Composer //
Music producer //
Sound designer //
A drift of Swifts // The Coro - UlveRston
'A Drift Of Swifts' is the latest in a series of collaborations with award-winning writer and filmmaker Simon Sylvester. Throughout August 2022 the installation features as part of the 'Incredible Journeys' exhibition at The Coro in Ulverston. 'A Drift Of Swifts' is an interactive art installation housed inside a shed within the main hall at The Coro and the work combines a narrative of Simons experiences of his favourite birds and their migration, interwoven with personal stories. The soundtrack combines musical atmospheres, melodic motifs and original field recordings to create a textural accompaniment.
Mindfulness // calm // Mental Health Awareness // MEYa
Michael is a specialist in music for mindfulness and he collaborated with Calm CEO Michael Acton Smith to compose music for focus, relaxation and sleep culminating in the launch of the Calm Music subsequently named Apple App of the year. His music can also be heard on the Meya and Brainwaves apps.
For Mental Health Awareness Week Michael was commissioned by Radio Cumbria presenter Tom Salmon to produce a new piece of music titled 'Magical Realism' to combine with audio from a range of interviews about the great outdoors. Michael has been a guest on the station on a number of occasions discussing music and wellbeing. His track ‘Aching Heart’ from the album ‘Noir’ features on BBC Sounds The Sleeping Forecast and his piece 'Mist on the Water : Music for Relaxation' is available on all the usual digital streaming sites.
Production // library music
His ever growing production music repertoire is distributed by world-renowned labels including BMG, Warner Chappell, Gothic Storm, Lucky G, Future Pop, Dynamic Music and Lovely Music. His catalogue spans multiple genres from emotive, filmic and atmospheric to contemporary rock, pop and indie.
Recent album concepts include ‘Cinematic Post-Rock’ in collaboration with Charlotte Hatherley ‘Emotional Indie’, ‘Conspiracy’, 'Mindfulness Soundscapes', ‘Dark Wave Pop’, 'Calm', Cinematic Ambiences’, and 'Frantic Indie'. Michael has seen a wide variety of placements globally with regular airings closer to home on BBC favourite Countryfile.
Imaginary Mountains // Aerial Festival
'Imaginary Mountains' is a soundtrack to a walk in the wilds of another Cumbria - commissioned and released online by Aerial Festival. The piece combines musical compositions and experimental sound design with a spoken word narrative from award-winning writer Simon Sylvester using crowd sourced responses exploring themes of loneliness, emptiness, departure, arrival and belonging. The work explores the shared experience of all citizens under lockdown — the fears and frustrations, the tragedies and triumphs. Imaginary Mountains is an immersive sonic map that explores the diverse landscapes of Cumbria, blending memories of what came before with questions of what happens next. Sounds of Silence: aerialfestival.com
Sound design // samples
With regards to sound design, production credits include content for Sample Magic, Native Instruments Sounds and regular cover DVDs for MusicTech Mag. Samples created range from atmospheric and ambient textures to field recordings and traditional instrumentation.
Michael has a particular interest in using original recordings to create sampled instruments processed through both hardware and software effects.
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