Ed Wright (composer)
Encyclopedia
Biographical information
Edward Wright is a British composer known largely for electronic and mixed media sound artSound art
Sound art is a diverse group of art practices that considers wide notions of sound, listening and hearing as its predominant focus. There are often distinct relationships forged between the visual and aural domains of art and perception by sound artists....
. He studied at Bangor University
Bangor University
Bangor University is a university based in the city of Bangor in the county of Gwynedd in North Wales-United Kingdom.It was officially known for most of its history as the University College of North Wales...
under the supervision of Andrew Lewis
Andrew Lewis (composer)
Andrew Lewis is a British composer known mainly for his acousmatic music, that is, electroacoustic music heard only over loudspeakers, though he also composes some chamber and orchestral music....
completing a doctorate in mixed elctroacoustic and instrumental music in 2010 Edward Wright is actively composing and recording whilst holding positions lecturing for Bangor University and teaching the violin in a number of local schools. He lives in North Wales with his partner and daughter.
Performance and broadcast
Wright has performed widely thought the UK and abroad including performances in SARC (Belfast), Electroacoustic Cymru (Wales), St. James Piccadilly (London) and Art Forum (Antwerp). His work is characterised (although not exclusively) by the use of electronic resources especially surround and octophonic sound diffusion systems. Although his output remains somewhat melodic in comparison to many comparable acousmaticAcousmatic music
Acousmatic music is a form of electroacoustic music that deals specifically with acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The practice has a historical basis in musique concrète. It can be created using non-acoustic technology, exists only in a recorded format , and is composed for reception...
compositions, Wright's work has become increasingly driven by philosophical, rather than specifically musical content, as demonstrated in more recent pieces such as Thinking inside the Box and Crosswire; the emphasis is more on the multisensory experience of the music and the underlying discourse rather than a particular tune or melody.
During his time completing his thesis Wright worked on a number of broadcast projects including the tape part and realization of Stereo Type for Guto Puw
Guto Puw
Guto Pryderi Puw is a Welsh composer, university lecturer and conductor. He is considered to be one of the most promising Welsh composers of his generation and a key figure in current Welsh music. Puw's music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and been featured on television programmes for the...
broadcast on S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
television in 2005 as part of the Bangor New Music Festival, also appearing on S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
s Sioe Gelf with a workshop with pupils from Ysgol PendalarS4C television Sioe Gelf 15/4/08, and work being played on BBC Radio 1 Wales Introducing BBC Radio 1 Wales Introducing 5/6/09 . His work first achieved international recognition in the IMEB Prix Bourges 2008 for his piece 'Con-chords' IMEB Prix Bourges . He has since gone on to sign to the Blipfonica record label Blipfonica and has released two CDs in the past two years.
Software development
Wright initially developed software within the Max/Msp/JitterMax (software)
Max is a visual programming language for music and multimedia developed and maintained by San Francisco-based software company Cycling '74. During its 20-year history, it has been widely used by composers, performers, software designers, researchers, and artists for creating innovative recordings,...
and Csound
Csound
Csound is a computer programming language for dealing with sound, also known as a sound compiler or an audio programming language, or more precisely, a C-based audio DSL. It is called Csound because it is written in C, as opposed to some of its predecessors...
environments as a way of creating methods to perform otherwise impossible music, as in the case of the 8 channel audio/video mixer devised for 'Harp Set', and the sample/processing/difussion system of 'Polarities'. These have quickly become outmoded as live/electronic mixed music has become more mainstream.
Wright's approach to software design as a method of interfacing with the digital world during live performance brings software design (as in the case of 'Crosswire' and 'Sound games') closer to instrument building, focusing on methods of physical interaction e.g. mouse, wii remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
and motion tracking controls which provide a wide range of expression yet demand the precision of physical control expected by an instrumental performer.
As well as his performance software Wright has also released a number of composition tools Virtual440 Audio Machine VAM 1 which are available to download in the Max/MSP environment.
Collaborations
Wright has worked collaboratively with a number of artists, most especially the photographer and poet Morlo Bach under the title of Virtual Poetry for: 'Passage, In memory of Thomas/Celtic Cross' and 'Broken Glass', and with the author Graeme HarperGraeme Harper (writer)
Graeme Harper is a fiction writer, scriptwriter and cultural critic, who writes under his own name and under the pseudonym Brooke Biaz.He is founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal New Writing: the International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, Co-Editor Graeme Harper is a...
on 'Seasons'. He also worked on Stereo Type for Guto Puw
Guto Puw
Guto Pryderi Puw is a Welsh composer, university lecturer and conductor. He is considered to be one of the most promising Welsh composers of his generation and a key figure in current Welsh music. Puw's music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and been featured on television programmes for the...
see above.
Works to Jan. 2011
- 'Newborough Bluesky', electronic (2001)
- 'In Pace', harp, violin, cello and flute (2002)
- 'Triangulations', small orchestra (2002)
- 'Stereo Type' with Guto PuwGuto PuwGuto Pryderi Puw is a Welsh composer, university lecturer and conductor. He is considered to be one of the most promising Welsh composers of his generation and a key figure in current Welsh music. Puw's music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and been featured on television programmes for the...
(2005) - 'Passage', music and image installation (2005)
- 'The Way I Saw It', violin and tape (2005)
- 'Enough~?', clarinet and live electronics (2006)
- 'Botany', chorus (2006)
- 'En Masse', electronic (2006)
- 'In memory of Thomas/Celtic Cross', multi-media (2006)
- 'Postcards From Home', electronic (2007)
- 'Broken Glass', music with image installation (2007)
- 'Harp Set', 8 channel surround sound and moving image (2007)
- 'Seasons', chorus and live 4-channel electroacoustics (2008)
- 'Con-chords', 8-channel electroacoustics (2008)
- 'Castell' (with Ysgol Pendalar)
- 'Y Twr', multi-channel installation (2009)
- 'Polarities', orchestra and 8-channel surround live electronics (2009)
- 'Starlight Snowfall', String Ensemble and 4 channel electronics (2010)
- 'Thinking Inside the Box', Stereo fixed media installation (2010)
- 'Crosswire', for electric violin and live processing (2010)
- 'Anatomy of a Mountain Stream', 4 channel fixed media (2011)
- 'Sound Games', electronics and live controllers (2011)