Michael Denny is a composer, music producer, sound designer and multi-instrumentalist with an eclectic portfolio spanning multiple media.  Michael prides himself on creating emotive soundtracks blending traditional instrumentation with synths, self-recorded samples and field recordings.

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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.

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Michael regularly collaborates with award-winning writer and filmmaker Simon Sylvester.  Throughout August 2022 their latest work 'A Drift Of Swifts' features as part of the 'Incredible Journeys' exhibition at The Coro in Ulverston.  'A Drift Of Swifts' is an art installation combining 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.

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Their first piece ‘Imaginary Mountains’ was commissioned by Aerial Festival during the Covid pandemic. The piece combines musical compositions and experimental sound design with a narrative 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.  Michael also composed the score for Simon’s short film 'The Potter’s Field', funded by The Pitch Film Fund which will be released in 2022..

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His ever-growing production music repertoire is distributed by world-renowned labels including BMG, Warner Chappell, Gothic Storm and Lucky G.  His catalogue spans multiple genres from emotive and filmic to contemporary pop and indie with recent album concepts including ‘Cinematic Post-Rock’ in collaboration with Charlotte Hatherley, ‘Emotional Indie’, ‘Conspiracy’ and ‘Dark Wave Pop’.  Michael has seen a variety of placements globally with regular airings closer to home on BBC favourite Countryfile.  

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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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Michael has performed live on ITV to over 2 million people as a founding member of the Brett Domino Trio and currently plays guitar and keys for Celestial North and synths for Seven Seals.  Michael has also contributed articles to a number of publications including Sound on Sound, Red Dog Music Blog and the Sample Magic Journal.

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