Here’s a track from my recent album ‘Somewhere along the edge’
My friend the photographer Trey Ratcliff is a master of making poetry from light. His images are a constant source of inspiration for me. See his work here.
This track is dedicated to him.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/281390332″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/281054113″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
This is a track from my new album – Somewhere Along The Edge. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in September 2016 and is my first studio album away from a specific movies soundtrack for some time.
Each track is dedicated to someone who lives fully at the edge of life— whether explorers, artists, travellers, thinkers…
This is dedicated to the amazing artist, technologist, fellow cellist, drone pilot, underwater photographer and more importantly, great friend, Eric Cheng.
His photography is exquisite – echengphoto.com/index
If you would like a free review copy then please comment below and I’ll send you a code by return.
Philip Sheppard October 2016
Somewhere Along The Edge on iTunes
https://exit.sc/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fitun.es%2Fus%2F1S4Teb
Somewhere Along The Edge on Bandcamp
http://philipsheppard.bandcamp.com/…/somewhere-along-the-ed…
Somewhere Along The Edge On Spotify
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/53995543″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]Here’s a preview of my score for Human Universe featuring Professor Brian Cox, which debuts tonight on BBC2.
We’re going to release the soundtrack on iTunes, Spotify and many other digital music platforms shortly.
If you’d like to receive a one-off email when this is released, just leave us a short message below naming your favourite track.
You’ll get a free download of one of my other film scores by way of thanks.
And, you’ll really be helping us, as the most popular track will become the first track on the album.
Here’s a new track from my score for Brian Cox’s new series ‘The Human Universe'[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/163874307″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/154592059″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]So.. here’s the next extract from the set I played as support for UNKLE at the Royal Festival Hall – opening for James Lavelle’s Meltdown Festival. This is my live cello-looped version of my orchestral piece ‘Final Day’.
Here’s the bizarre gear that goes into my gig bag along with the cello.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/151169992″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
This is a live version of ‘Amazing Grace’ from my recent gig at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. It’s recorded using an 18th Century cello and a loop pedal. Hope you like it.
These are my favourite verses from the hymn.
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/150891804″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]This is my closing piece from my set at the NNFest on 22nd may 2014 playing support for Toumani Diabaté. It’s recorded using an 18th Century cello and a Boss RC300 loop pedal with a DPA cello mic. Hope you like it…
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/169148725″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]The Voyager Golden Discs are gramophone records which were attached to both Voyager spacecrafts, which were launched in 1977.
The discs contain a huge array of music and noises from Earth, as well as biometric information and scientific knowledge.
Inscribed on the discs are the words; ‘To the makers of music – all worlds, all times…’
Everything in my track is built from manipulated sounds from the gold discs attached to the Voyager space probes.
Hope you like it.
My writing & recording studio is a library. This is not only because I draw great inspiration & solace from books – I mean you’ve never seen so many wartime Penguin Orangebacks in a row – but also because a wall full of books has great acoustic properties – it dampens the sound and (to my ear at least) bounces back a lovely diffuse quality in the instrument being recorded.[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/102458411″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]I have a shelf in front of my music stand which has stacks of everything I’m currently reading.
I’ve recently become somewhat obsessed with the work of Chris Ware, and a copy of his Acme Novelty Yearbook is permanently open for inspiration.
Whilst much of his work deals with melancholia & failure, there’s a healthy dose of influence from the adverts in early American magazines, as well as repeated references to Ragtime
.
This piece is a concerto for a single chord on a ukelele written after reading a chunk of this amazing book. Hope you like it…
A piece of music dedicated to Trey Ratcliff whose work I’ve loved for years.[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/87240788″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
He is a master of HDR Photography and I met him for the first time last year in Monterey.
This piece is recorded using tuned glass instruments and is an attempt to play with refraction, colour and shade in music.
I’ve no idea if it’s successful but it’s a new direction for me…
Here’s a piece I’ve just written inspired by a fabulous photographer I know called Cole Rise. I love his air of magical realism… hyper-dreamy landscapes where gravity doesn’t quite work in the way it should…[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/86053920″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/82907257″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Here’s a cue from a film I wrote earlier in the year.
I’m using Pinterest to collate images to help me write and the above, haunting picture is on a board I’ve made to combat writer’s block (not something I’ve suffered from.. yet!). It seemed to chime with the mood of a piece I was remixing…
Or does it? Let me know what you think!
I’m on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row tonight to talk about music & journeys.
I’m with a total hero of mine – Adrian Utley from Portishead – both of us being interviewed by Mark Lawson.
Here’s a free track for you if you’d like to download it – click through to Soundcloud & it’s free.[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/5680720″ iframe=”true” /]
Last night saw the first ever collaboration between Impropera & Not so Silent Movies… at the wonderful Kings Place. We improvised a new score, and new operatic narrative to Nosferatu… well, it is nearly Halloween.
Our next event is on Sunday afternoon. Click here for more details.
Last month was great fun too – Jarvis Cocker, Dario Marianelli and John Etheridge joined our fabulous house band.
Here’s Gramophone magazine’s blog about it.
If you’d like to get more free tracks, or news of gigs – click here.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/63156732″ params=”auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=ff7700″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]Here’s a new track called ‘The Peak’. Hope you like it.
I just looked on Soundcloud to see that I’ve had quite a few plays recently. The track I wrote for the Launch sequence of In the Shadow of the Moon has had 100,000 plays! Thanks everyone…
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/74488″ params=”show_comments=true&auto_play=false&show_playcount=true&show_artwork=true&color=3585be” width=”100%” height=”305″ ]
Here’s an Easter present… for a little while only, these tracks are free downloads. All I ask is that you click the stumble button below, or retweet and recommend them to others if you like them!
[tweetmeme source= ‘@PhilipSheppard’ only_single=false]
[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/radiomovies/sets/easter-radiomovies”]
Stumble It!
Happy and peaceful Easter to you.
Philip Sheppard
The traditional spiritual ‘Steal Away’ played by an orchestra of cellos, followed by a postlude – solo viola James Boyd. Hope you like it..! This is to be broadcast on the soundtrack to ‘God in America’ – October 10th, 11th, 12th 2010.
[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/radiomovies/steal-away-postlude” params=”show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=be8735″ width=”100%” height=”81″ ]
Here’s a new track called The Soldiers’ Prayer. If you like this you might like this too…
[tweetmeme source= ‘@PhilipSheppard’ only_single=false]
This is going to feature on a BBC film called ‘Little Ships’. I’ve written the soundtrack for this beautiful, moving film. I only hope it gets somewhere near the quality of the film!
To mark the 70th anniversary of the ‘miracle of Dunkirk’, 50 of the surviving little ships which made the original perilous cross-channel voyage are returning to France.
The brilliant historian Dan Snow tells their extraordinary story: their role in the evacuation and the people who struggled to keep them afloat during those fateful days in 1940, when the future of Europe hung in the balance.
[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/radiomovies/the-soldiers-prayer” params=”show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=846d11″ width=”100%” height=”81″ ]
Online music promotion & why musicians should make their own record deals…
[This is a section of a talk I gave at the Royal Academy of Music]
[If you like this… then read the supporting article CLICK HERE]
During my lecture a student asked if they should send a huge dossier of references, biographies, programmes and recordings to prospective venues/employers.
Err.. nope!
A CD with a handwritten note – all nicely designed & personally directed is much better, especially if solicited via an initial email.
(The former package would in all likelihood end up in a recycling bin)
Harsh maybe.. but true!
Here are some simple steps to:
You want people to hear you, join you, and get excited about what you produce next (and hopefully turn up in droves to your next recital).
Getting it out there…
Let’s assume you’ve already recorded a really well thought-through programme of pieces/ songs… (This is a whole other massive subject, and something that classical musicians can often get very wrong…)
The obvious place to start a web presence is myspace, but it seems (at best) an inelegant way to present yourself as an artist, especially when there are so many other free hosted sites with beautiful templates out there.
I have a myspace page, (it’s so very ugly.. I won’t even link to it here) but its primary purpose is to redirect traffic to my own sites!
WordPress
I love WordPress (where you’re reading this).
It’s free – it has excellent templates, so even a klutz like me can make something look half – decent…
I can place a track like this
by entering a piece of simple code, and it looks professional.
It’s designed as a piece of blogging software, but rather than using it purely as an online diary, I find it is a great place to host your biography and showreel.
More importantly, it’s a great place to engage in regular chats with people who might like what you do.
The more people that comment and link to you, the higher you page goes in Google’s rankings, so make sure it’s appealing!!
Also, when people leave comments, good or bad, try to respond as soon as you can! This can be difficult if you’re busy, but shows that what you’re doing is artist led, not just a facade by a record company to ‘get down with the kids’…
You can get a WordPress blog here – highly recommended.
Mailing list
If you want to link with people who like what you do, then maybe use a company to administer a mailing list for you. I use Constant Contact and find them very effective. They have a good policy against spam and there are lots of safeguards in place to ensure you communicate properly in your (hopefully) mass emails.
I link my site to my signup page which is here.
Obviously Twitter links into this whole pattern very neatly too!
Getting a great look for your album
Sometimes technology creates more niggling work for us and leaves a big creative void in the heart of your soul… and then sometimes, it proves itself to be a thing of simple beauty.
I love Flikr.
I am a massive fan of specific photographers like Lucy Martin, Trey Radcliffe, TonTon Copte and many others. Something in their imagery and artistic sensitivities links with my music.
I found all of them through the site, and in fact recently licenced an image from Lucy Martin which was a perfect fit for my Henry VIII album. Have a look here and you can see why!
SoundCloud
A different way of grouping/ hosting your music for free is presented by SoundCloud.
What is neat about this is the way people can place comments along the timeline, and even better, anyone (if you like) can stream it to their own blog/site.
Here’s a recent piece of mine which is being streamed from the SoundCloud website.
[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/radiomovies/close-your-eyes-6″]
Listeners can add comments at specific points in the track – you can see them by hovering over the pictures.
I use SoundCloud to determine whether a track has ‘legs’ or not.
It’s very meritocratic – if something’s good – it’ll get lots of plays!
Now, if you’re feeling generous, you can make the tracks downloadable (although you should tag them in iTunes first so the mp3 has your web address in its code – google ‘iTunes metadata’ if you want to know more).
This track is a download track – again, it’s being streamed via a simple bit of code from SoundCloud:
[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/radiomovies/in-i-the-apotheosis-akram-khan-juliette-binoche”]
The downwards arrow on the right is a download link.
Here’s a site where someone’s placed a block of my tracks leading to free downloads.
Here’s my site hosted by SoundCloud.
Lastfm
A well-established streaming music service is lastfm.com. This is a curious amalgam of fansite and radio station. Personally I find it a bit disjointed, and also it concerns me that unreleased tracks often appear there from dubious sources. There are tracks of mine on there that I’ve never released!
The Sixty one
A completely different approach to new music streaming and downloads can be found at thesixtyone.com.
This is a really hard site to describe as it is as much about gameplay as it is about streaming music. There are two types of (free) account. Artists or Listeners. The Listeners get a higher ranking depending upon how they scout for new songs that the Artists place on there. They give ‘hearts’ to tracks they like, a little like buying shares in a stock that looks like it’s going to perform well.
Frankly, no-one really knows how it works.
Also, as with SoundCloud, you can tell pretty quickly if a track has merit as it will get voted onto the front page!
Players also give ‘tips’ which I hadn’t realized translate into Paypal dollars.
From my page here, I have enough for two cappuccinos already… hurrah!
However – it was a superb place to place your music, but following a recent makeover, users have expressed dismay at the frankly confusing navigation…
Setting up a label and generating paid downloads
Setting up a label appears at first to be an onerous and difficult task. This certainly used to be the case, when there was a baffling array of requirements; barcodes, encoding, registration and so forth.
This is no longer the case thanks to intermediary companies that have sprung up to help us confused and frustrated independent players and composers.
CDbaby
CDBaby was established by the very brilliant Derek Sivers (whose blog is essential reading). They distribute to a huge number of digital outlets, and have excellent accounting procedures for small labels. They started as a physical distributor of CDs but seem to have made a smooth transition to digital marketing. You can read about joining here.
Ditto Music
One of the most impressive of these new services is Ditto Music.
They have created a brilliant service where the tasks of creating a label for your releases is streamlined and organized for a one-off fee.
They also take 0% of your royalties when tracks are sold online, and they can distribute to 700 digital outlets.
The real icing on the cake is that they have created a means by which independent musicians can get their tracks loaded onto Spotify, and iTunes.
Whenever I have a soundtrack album for a film or concert project, they are my first port of call.
Here’s an album of mine they managed to get onto iTunes within a day and a half…
Spotify
There’s a widely held belief that as an independent artist, getting your tracks onto Spotify and iTunes is nigh on impossible unless you’re with a major label. This is happily untrue as discussed above. Spotify is an exciting way of streaming (and now temporarily downloading) tracks which has begun a seamless integration with phones and mp3 players.
Spotify are themselves trying to approach smaller, independent labels, and you can register interest as a future partner here.
What’s next..?
I’m going to write about physical CD production, as well as other merchandise… But I need a big mug of coffee first! Let me know if this is useful…
In the meantime, here’s an article I wrote about being a composer whilst keeping your head!
My Soundtrack to Sergio which premiered on HBO last night has been released on iTunes. Click here for the link, or preview some of the tracks below.
[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/radiomovies/sets/sergio-soundtrack-from-the-motion-picture” params=”show_comments=true&auto_play=false&show_playcount=true&show_artwork=true&color=ab741e” width=”100%” height=”225″ ]
This Thursday, Sergio premieres on HBO.
[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/radiomovies/always-just-sergio” params=”auto_play=false&player_type=artwork&color=ab741e” width=”425″ height=”425″ ]
(Soundtrack by Philip Sheppard)
From his birth in Rio de Janeiro in 1948 to his untimely and tragic death in Baghdad in 2003, Sergio Vieira de Mello led an extraordinary life.
Vieira de Mello joined the United Nations in 1969 and would devote his life to the organization and its ideals. Known to most as simply ‘Sergio’, Vieira de Mello worked in some of the world’s most volatile and distressed regions. His career spanned assignments in Lebanon, Peru, Bosnia, Sudan, Cambodia, Cyprus, Mozambique, East Timor and Iraq. Working mostly for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sergio achieved some astonishing successes. These achievements were not easily won. Sergio grew up with the UN, developing several guiding principles along the way.
When Sergio died he was serving as the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General to Iraq. He had managed to find a balance between pragmatism and idealism, principles and compromise. He was the UN’s ‘go to guy’, having spent decades refining his approach. In the words of his friend and colleague Dennis McNamara, Sergio was, “one of the bright stars, maybe the brightest. He was the master magician, mediator, manager, massager of egos.” This was the tragedy of August 19.
Here’s an extract of a track for solo cello, prepared piano and strings called close your eyes. This is my most played track on SoundCloud at the moment.[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/radiomovies/close-your-eyes-6″]If you like this then join my mailing list. (Details at top right)
Stumble It!
I play music for the sense of solace, and sometimes the texture of a sound is enough to make you feel everything could be ok.
Layers of sound can define an architectural place in your head through suggestion and perception. The bass note in this piece is more of a feeling than a real note – try and listen with headphones if you get the chance.
[tweetmeme source= ‘@PhilipSheppard’ only_single=false]
Download tracks like this for free when you join my mailing list:
Click the picture!
This is a section of a talk I gave at the Royal Academy of Music for music students
One of the sections was centered around some specific information concerning how simple it is to produce and circulate a debut recording. These days, a record deal maybe the last thing you need as a musician!!
One student asked if they should send a huge dossier of references, biographies, programmes and recordings to prospective venues/employers. Err.. nope! A CD with a handwritten note, nicely designed, personally directed is much better, especially if solicited via an initial email. The former package would in all likelihood end up in a recycling bin.
Harsh maybe.. but true!
Here are some simple steps to releasing tracks online and (even) getting income through sales (though this may not be the primary aim at this stage). You want people to hear you, join you, and get excited about what you produce next (and hopefully turn up in droves to your next recital).
Getting it out there…
Let’s assume you’ve already recorded a really well thought-through programme.
The obvious place to start a web presence is myspace, but it seems (at best) an inelegant way to present yourself as an artist, especially when there are so many other free hosted sites with beautiful templates out there. I have a myspace page, but its primary purpose is to redirect traffic to my own sites!
WordPress
I love WordPress (where you’re reading this). It’s free – I can place a track like this
by entering a piece of simple code, and it looks professional. It’s designed as a piece of blogging software, but rather than using it purely as an online diary, I find it is a great place to host your biography and showreel. Also, it’s a great place to engage in regular chats with people who might like what you do.
The more people comment and link to you, the higher you page goes in Google’s rankings, so make sure it’s appealing!!
You can get a WordPress blog here – highly recommended.
SoundCloud
A different way of grouping/ hosting your music for free is presented by SoundCloud. What is neat about this is the way people can place comments along the timeline, and even better, anyone (if you like) can stream it to their own blog/site. Here’s a recent piece of mine which is being streamed from the SoundCloud website.
[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/radiomovies/close-your-eyes-6″]
Listeners can add comments at specific points in the track – you can see them by hovering over the pictures. I use SoundCloud to determine whether a track has ‘legs’ or not. It’s very meritocratic – if something’s good – it’ll get lots of plays!
Now, if you’re feeling generous, you can make the tracks downloadable (although I would tag them in iTunes first so the mp3 has your web address in its code).
This track is a download track – again, being streamed via a simple bit of code from SoundCloud:
[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/radiomovies/in-i-the-apotheosis-akram-khan-juliette-binoche”]
The downwards arrow on the right is a download link. Here’s a site where someone’s placed a block of my tracks leading to free downloads.
Here’s my site hosted by SoundCloud.
Lastfm
A well-established streaming music service is lastfm.com. This is a curious amalgam of fansite and radio station. Personally I find it a bit disjointed, and also it concerns me that unreleased tracks often appear there from dubious sources. There are tracks of mine on there that I’ve never released!
The Sixty one
A completely different approach to new music streaming and downloads can be found at thesixtyone.com.
This is a really hard site to describe as it is as much about gameplay as it is about streaming music. There are two types of (free) account. Artists or Listeners. The Listeners get a higher ranking depending upon how they scout for new songs that the Artists place on there. They give ‘hearts’ to tracks they like, a little like buying shares in a stock that looks like it’s going to perform well.
Frankly, no-one really knows how it works but it’s a superb place to find new music in a quirky and vibrant community.
Also, as with SoundCloud, you can tell pretty quickly if a track has merit as it will get voted onto the front page!
Players also give ‘tips’ which I hadn’t realized translate into Paypal dollars.
From my page here, I have enough for two cappuccinos already… hurrah!
Setting up a label and generating paid downloads
Setting up a label appears at first to be an onerous and difficult task. This certainly used to be the case, when there was a baffling array of requirements,; barcodes, encoding, registration and so forth. This is no longer the case thanks to intermediary companies that have sprung up to help us confused and frustrated independent players and composers.
CDbaby
CDBaby was established by the very brilliant Derek Sivers (whose blog is essential reading). They distribute to a huge number of digital outlets, and have excellent accounting procedures for small labels. They started as a physical distributor of CDs but seem to have made a smooth transition to digital marketing. You can read about joining here.
Ditto Music
One of the most impressive of these new services is Ditto Music.
They have created a brilliant service where the tasks of creating a label for your releases is streamlined and organized for a one-off fee. They also take 0% of your royalties when tracks are sold online, and they can distribute to 700 digital outlets. The real icing on the cake is that they have created a means by which independent musicians can get their tracks loaded onto Spotify, and iTunes.
Spotify
There’s a widely held belief that as an independent artist, getting your tracks onto Spotify and iTunes is nigh on impossible unless you’re with a major label. This is happily untrue as discussed above. Spotify is an exciting way of streaming (and now temporarily downloading) tracks which has begun a seamless integration with phones and mp3 players.
Spotify are themselves trying to approach smaller, independent labels, and you can register interest as a future partner here.
What’s next..?
I’m going to write about physical CD production, as well as other merchandise… But I need a big mug of coffee first! Let me know if this is useful…
In the meantime, here’s an article I wrote about being a composer whilst keeping your head!