Graham Blyth
Encyclopedia
Graham Blyth is a British audio engineer who is known for designing mixing console
s. He is a co-founder of Soundcraft
, a manufacturer which Blyth helped form into a world leader in sound reinforcement
and recording
mixers, establishing the "British sound"
. After succeeding in electrical engineering
he became a professional organist
, performing on pipe organ
s around the world. Blyth is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts
(RSA) and the Audio Engineering Society
(AES).
to a family living in Chessington
; his father was an architect and his mother a teacher and painter. He was schooled from an early age in Epsom
, Surrey, England. He began studying the piano at four years old, and in his teens worked to gain a scholarship to Trinity College of Music
in London. There, he learned the play the organ, then transferred to the University of Bristol
in 1966 to study electronic engineering
, a decision made easier because he was "hopelessly infatuated with an astonishingly pretty girl from my social group at home who'd gone up the year before." At Bristol, Blyth founded the Student Music Society, and studied orchestra conducting
; as a senior he conducted a performance of Bach's complex masterpiece St Matthew Passion. After college, he obtained a position with the Compton Organ Company in their research department where he met Bill Kelsey, his early mentor, who showed him how to lay out circuits on printed circuit board
s. Compton was "on its last legs", according to Blyth, and he left to join Graseby Instruments where he designed electronic filter
s for underwater weapons to satisfy Admiralty
contracts. Blyth spent evenings at Kelsey's Notting Hill
flat helping him assemble a large mixing desk, one used by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
at the "legendary" Isle of Wight Festival 1970
. With this success, Kelsey left Compton to form with a business partner the professional audio
equipment company Kelsey & Morris.
s for bands such as T. Rex
, Ten Years After
and King Crimson
. After learning the basics of mixing console electronics, he joined Paul Dobson and Phil Dudderidge
who had formed Rotary Speaker Developments (RSD), a company that built custom public address
systems for bands such as Roy Wood
's Wizzard
, and Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
. RSD made their own mixing consoles derived from a design by Bill Kelsey. In September 1973, Dudderidge and Blyth formed Soundcraft
Electronics, Ltd., based at Fender Soundhouse on Tottenham Court Road in London, "right in the middle of everything." Soundcraft was the first company to build a mixing console into a road case
: the Series 1S which was built by Blyth and the musicians in the band Rinky Dink and the Crystal Set, who brought Blyth into the band as keyboardist. The mixer debuted in 1974 and soon became a "hit" with UK bands, establishing the "British sound"
of audio equipment.
In 2004 Dudderidge described Blyth as being focused on customer needs through the 1970s and '80s, interested in designing mixing consoles to fit: "I vividly remember lunch meetings with Albert Leccese of Audio Analysts where Graham would start designing stuff with Albert on cocktail napkins; there was a terrific synergy between them ... and the things we worked on with Tom Schlum and Mick Whelan of Electrotec prior to that were just as exciting. We produced a custom board (in a light blue frame with shiny aluminium end cheeks!) for them that eventually went on to join our inventory as the Series 4."
Beginning in 1972, Blyth and Dudderidge teamed with Roger Lindsay to form Europa Concert Systems, a live sound company that catered to American bands touring Europe. In 1991, Soundcraft debuted the Europa mixing console, a large-format desk for concert halls and tours.
Blyth's leadership was significant in the design of a wide variety of Soundcraft mixers which established the British EQ sound, including the Series 1S and the 1624 which became the 2400 in 1982, one of Blyth's favourite projects. In 1988, Soundcraft was sold to Harman International Industries
. Dudderidge left within the year, but Blyth stayed to serve Harman as product designer and was responsible in 1991 for creating the "affordable" Spirit-by-Soundcraft line of mixers which sold more than 120,000 units by 1995. An estimated six million of Blyth's microphone preamplifier circuits were produced by Soundcraft from 1973 to 1997.
At Soundcraft, Blyth lead the design of the Series 4 mixing console, the Series 5, the S8000, the MH4 and MH2, the Series Two, and the GB series (named for Blyth's initials, not "Great Britain") which carries his signature on the optional meter bridge. He designed the Soundcraft Notepad, "a bit of a cult product" which is a small and "elegant" mixer. The Soundcraft GB30 microphone preamplifier circuit is a successful Blyth design used on many of Soundcraft's mixers, including the FX model lines which include digital reverberation effects
by Lexicon
, a sister company within Harman.
As early as 1982 when the Compact Disc
was being introduced, Blyth researched the possibilities of creating a digital mixing console
. He told Billboard magazine that Soundcraft would not be "leaping into digital
in the way that Neve has done. I think they have gone too far, too quickly. ... We are looking at the digital control of analog functions as the first step in that direction." Picking up the pace in the 2000s, Blyth created the Soundcraft Vi6, a digital mixer intended for sound reinforcement applications, released mid-2006. Its interface was a development of Vistonics, a broadcast and studio mixing concept from Harman-owned Studer
combined with a digital effects package from Lexicon. Regarding digital audio equipment, Blyth is of the opinion that "companies that take great care over their analog stages, use the best internal digital format and write the best DSP code end up with the best sounding product." He said that he has "strong views on the whole subject of digital consoles, which could fill an article with mostly purple prose", but he notes that "best-in-class analog product these days is truly excellent, but so is digital." Blyth continues today as technical director at Soundcraft Studer's design offices at Potters Bar
, 29 km (18 mi) north of London.
In 2006, Blyth became a Fellow in the RSA. In October 2007, Blyth was named a Fellow of the AES. Blyth reported that he was "surprised and delighted" upon learning that he was to be so honored, especially considering that he had "never presented any papers on my subject". He said his success in designing mixing consoles stemmed more from "having green fingers and a very inquiring mind than any structured research process".
. Also a rock music
ian, he played electronic keyboards with Rinky Dink and the Crystal Set, a band signed to EMI Harvest Records
in 1973. With its synthesizer- and drum machine-based texture, the band was recorded by John Leckie
at Abbey Road Studios
in 1975, releasing an LP record
(Cameo Roles) and a 45 rpm single ("Can't Get Used To Losing You"), but they did not sell well. Focusing on his career as an electrical engineer and company founder, Blyth set public performing aside.
At age 38, Blyth revived his interest in keyboard performance, returning to school to pick up performance diplomas from the Royal College of Music
, and his former alma mater, Trinity College of Music. He performed a piano recital at Whitfield Street Studios in 1988 for his 40th birthday. He joined the Royal College of Organists
, an organisation for the promotion of organ and choral
music. Since his pipe organ concert given for AES convention-goers in New York City in 1993 at St. Thomas Church, Blyth has played regularly for the AES. He has played at the Brick Presbyterian Church, the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin
and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, the Église de la Madeleine
in Paris, the Jesuit Church, Vienna, the Dom zu unserer lieben Frau
in Munich, the Temple Church
in London, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
in Los Angeles, and at Grace Cathedral and the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption
in San Francisco.
Blyth consults for organ builders such as Saville Organ Company and helps tune organ installations. In the 2000s he picked up an interest in "classical" digital electronic organs, using the Musicom system. He is president and tonal director of the Veritas Organ Company.
Based at his home in Challow Park just west of Wantage
, Oxfordshire
, where he has lived since 1984, he directs local concerts and music festivals. In 1996 as an addition to his house, he built the Challow Park Recital Hall, a venue for organ recitals or chamber ensembles, suitable for public performances or recording. The 80-seat hall uses a LARES
electro-acoustic enhancement system to supply pre-programmed room acoustics
settings, a "technology that allows it to be an acoustical chameleon."
The father of three grown children, Blyth plays organ, piano and harpsichord, and he conducts musical ensembles. He owns a Fazioli
piano, a Veritas electronic organ of his own design, and a harpsichord built by John Horniblow.
Mixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
s. He is a co-founder of Soundcraft
Soundcraft
Soundcraft is a British manufacturer of mixing consoles and other professional audio equipment. It was founded by sound engineer Phil Dudderidge and electronics designer Graham Blyth in 1973.-History:...
, a manufacturer which Blyth helped form into a world leader in sound reinforcement
Sound reinforcement system
A sound reinforcement system is the combination of microphones, signal processors, amplifiers, and loudspeakers that makes live or pre-recorded sounds louder and may also distribute those sounds to a larger or more distant audience...
and recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
mixers, establishing the "British sound"
British EQ
A British EQ or British style equalizer is one with simlar properties to those on consoles made in the UK by companies such as Amek and Neve and Soundcraft in the 1950s through the 1970s. Later on as other manufacturers started to market their products those British companies began touting their...
. After succeeding in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
he became a professional organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
, performing on pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
s around the world. Blyth is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts
Royal Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...
(RSA) and the Audio Engineering Society
Audio Engineering Society
Established in 1948, the Audio Engineering Society draws its membership from amongst engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or products for audio, and persons working...
(AES).
Early life
Blyth was born 22 March 1948 in the Municipal Borough of SurbitonMunicipal Borough of Surbiton
Surbiton was a local government district in north east Surrey, United Kingdom from 1855 to 1965.Until 1855 Surbiton was administered as part of the parish of Kingston upon Thames. In that year a body of improvement commissioners was formed by a local act of parliament to govern the area...
to a family living in Chessington
Chessington
Chessington is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in Greater London, England. The Hogsmill river runs through it. Neighbouring settlements include: Tolworth, Ewell, Surbiton, Claygate, Epsom, Oxshott, Leatherhead, Esher, Kingston upon Thames and Worcester Park.-History:Its name...
; his father was an architect and his mother a teacher and painter. He was schooled from an early age in Epsom
Epsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...
, Surrey, England. He began studying the piano at four years old, and in his teens worked to gain a scholarship to Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
in London. There, he learned the play the organ, then transferred to the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
in 1966 to study electronic engineering
Electronic engineering
Electronics engineering, also referred to as electronic engineering, is an engineering discipline where non-linear and active electrical components such as electron tubes, and semiconductor devices, especially transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, are utilized to design electronic...
, a decision made easier because he was "hopelessly infatuated with an astonishingly pretty girl from my social group at home who'd gone up the year before." At Bristol, Blyth founded the Student Music Society, and studied orchestra conducting
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
; as a senior he conducted a performance of Bach's complex masterpiece St Matthew Passion. After college, he obtained a position with the Compton Organ Company in their research department where he met Bill Kelsey, his early mentor, who showed him how to lay out circuits on printed circuit board
Printed circuit board
A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
s. Compton was "on its last legs", according to Blyth, and he left to join Graseby Instruments where he designed electronic filter
Electronic filter
Electronic filters are electronic circuits which perform signal processing functions, specifically to remove unwanted frequency components from the signal, to enhance wanted ones, or both...
s for underwater weapons to satisfy Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
contracts. Blyth spent evenings at Kelsey's Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
flat helping him assemble a large mixing desk, one used by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
at the "legendary" Isle of Wight Festival 1970
Isle of Wight Festival 1970
The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival was held between 26 and 31 August 1970 at East Afton Farm an area on the western side of the Isle of Wight. It was the last of three consecutive music festivals to take place on the island between 1968 and 1970 and widely acknowledged as the largest musical event of...
. With this success, Kelsey left Compton to form with a business partner the professional audio
Professional audio
Professional audio, also 'pro audio', refers to both an activity and a type of audio equipment. Typically it encompasses the production or reproduction of sound for an audience, by individuals who do such work as an occupation like live event support, using sound reinforcement systems designed for...
equipment company Kelsey & Morris.
Audio engineering
In early 1971, Blyth formally joined Kelsey & Morris where he assisted in designing and fabricating mixing consoles and loudspeakerLoudspeaker
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
s for bands such as T. Rex
T. Rex (band)
T. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
, Ten Years After
Ten Years After
Ten Years After is an English blues-rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, Ten Years After scored eight Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart...
and King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
. After learning the basics of mixing console electronics, he joined Paul Dobson and Phil Dudderidge
Phil Dudderidge
Phil Dudderidge, born February 6, 1949 in Hertfordshire, England, is a notable figure in the professional audio industry, having worked as Led Zeppelin's first dedicated live sound engineer, and later co-founding Soundcraft Electronics before serving as Chairman of Focusrite Audio Engineering,...
who had formed Rotary Speaker Developments (RSD), a company that built custom public address
Public address
A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
systems for bands such as Roy Wood
Roy Wood
Roy Adrian Wood is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the bands The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a number of hits to the repertoire of these bands.-Career:Wood...
's Wizzard
Wizzard
Wizzard was a Birmingham-based band formed by Roy Wood, former member of The Move and co-founder of Electric Light Orchestra. The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings were Paul McCartney."-Biography:...
, and Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel are an English rock band from the early 1970s. Their music covers a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years they have had five albums in the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles in the UK Singles Chart.-Career:...
. RSD made their own mixing consoles derived from a design by Bill Kelsey. In September 1973, Dudderidge and Blyth formed Soundcraft
Soundcraft
Soundcraft is a British manufacturer of mixing consoles and other professional audio equipment. It was founded by sound engineer Phil Dudderidge and electronics designer Graham Blyth in 1973.-History:...
Electronics, Ltd., based at Fender Soundhouse on Tottenham Court Road in London, "right in the middle of everything." Soundcraft was the first company to build a mixing console into a road case
Road case
A road case, commonly referred to as a roadie case, is a shipping container specifically built to protect musical instruments, motion picture equipment, audio and lighting production equipment, properties, or other sensitive equipment when it must be moved between locations, or frequently thrown...
: the Series 1S which was built by Blyth and the musicians in the band Rinky Dink and the Crystal Set, who brought Blyth into the band as keyboardist. The mixer debuted in 1974 and soon became a "hit" with UK bands, establishing the "British sound"
British EQ
A British EQ or British style equalizer is one with simlar properties to those on consoles made in the UK by companies such as Amek and Neve and Soundcraft in the 1950s through the 1970s. Later on as other manufacturers started to market their products those British companies began touting their...
of audio equipment.
In 2004 Dudderidge described Blyth as being focused on customer needs through the 1970s and '80s, interested in designing mixing consoles to fit: "I vividly remember lunch meetings with Albert Leccese of Audio Analysts where Graham would start designing stuff with Albert on cocktail napkins; there was a terrific synergy between them ... and the things we worked on with Tom Schlum and Mick Whelan of Electrotec prior to that were just as exciting. We produced a custom board (in a light blue frame with shiny aluminium end cheeks!) for them that eventually went on to join our inventory as the Series 4."
Beginning in 1972, Blyth and Dudderidge teamed with Roger Lindsay to form Europa Concert Systems, a live sound company that catered to American bands touring Europe. In 1991, Soundcraft debuted the Europa mixing console, a large-format desk for concert halls and tours.
Blyth's leadership was significant in the design of a wide variety of Soundcraft mixers which established the British EQ sound, including the Series 1S and the 1624 which became the 2400 in 1982, one of Blyth's favourite projects. In 1988, Soundcraft was sold to Harman International Industries
Harman International Industries
Harman International Industries is an American-based international audio and infotainment equipment company. The company designs, manufactures and markets audio and infotainment products for the car, the home, theatres and venues, as well as electronics for audio professionals...
. Dudderidge left within the year, but Blyth stayed to serve Harman as product designer and was responsible in 1991 for creating the "affordable" Spirit-by-Soundcraft line of mixers which sold more than 120,000 units by 1995. An estimated six million of Blyth's microphone preamplifier circuits were produced by Soundcraft from 1973 to 1997.
At Soundcraft, Blyth lead the design of the Series 4 mixing console, the Series 5, the S8000, the MH4 and MH2, the Series Two, and the GB series (named for Blyth's initials, not "Great Britain") which carries his signature on the optional meter bridge. He designed the Soundcraft Notepad, "a bit of a cult product" which is a small and "elegant" mixer. The Soundcraft GB30 microphone preamplifier circuit is a successful Blyth design used on many of Soundcraft's mixers, including the FX model lines which include digital reverberation effects
Delay (audio effect)
Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.-Early delay...
by Lexicon
Lexicon (company)
Lexicon is an American audio equipment manufacturing company founded in 1971 and owned by Harman International Industries. Lexicon's roots began in 1969 with the founding of American Data Sciences by MIT professor Dr...
, a sister company within Harman.
As early as 1982 when the Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
was being introduced, Blyth researched the possibilities of creating a digital mixing console
Digital mixing console
In professional audio, a Digital Mixing Console , is an electronic device for combining, routing, and changing the dynamics of digital audio samples. The digital audio samples are summed to produce a combined output. A professional digital mixing console is a dedicated desk or control surface...
. He told Billboard magazine that Soundcraft would not be "leaping into digital
Digital audio
Digital audio is sound reproduction using pulse-code modulation and digital signals. Digital audio systems include analog-to-digital conversion , digital-to-analog conversion , digital storage, processing and transmission components...
in the way that Neve has done. I think they have gone too far, too quickly. ... We are looking at the digital control of analog functions as the first step in that direction." Picking up the pace in the 2000s, Blyth created the Soundcraft Vi6, a digital mixer intended for sound reinforcement applications, released mid-2006. Its interface was a development of Vistonics, a broadcast and studio mixing concept from Harman-owned Studer
Studer
Studer is a Swiss manufacturer of professional audio equipment, founded in Zurich in 1948 by Willi Studer. It is known primarily for the design and manufacture of analog tape recorders and mixing consoles. Studer also produce other technology solutions, such as telephony management systems and...
combined with a digital effects package from Lexicon. Regarding digital audio equipment, Blyth is of the opinion that "companies that take great care over their analog stages, use the best internal digital format and write the best DSP code end up with the best sounding product." He said that he has "strong views on the whole subject of digital consoles, which could fill an article with mostly purple prose", but he notes that "best-in-class analog product these days is truly excellent, but so is digital." Blyth continues today as technical director at Soundcraft Studer's design offices at Potters Bar
Potters Bar
Potters Bar is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England, located north of Central London. In 2001 it had a population of 21,618....
, 29 km (18 mi) north of London.
In 2006, Blyth became a Fellow in the RSA. In October 2007, Blyth was named a Fellow of the AES. Blyth reported that he was "surprised and delighted" upon learning that he was to be so honored, especially considering that he had "never presented any papers on my subject". He said his success in designing mixing consoles stemmed more from "having green fingers and a very inquiring mind than any structured research process".
Organist
Blyth worked off-hours as a keyboardist in the early 1970s. While with Kelsey, he played pipe organ during a break in a Quintessence Christmas show at the Royal Albert HallRoyal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
. Also a rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
ian, he played electronic keyboards with Rinky Dink and the Crystal Set, a band signed to EMI Harvest Records
Harvest Records
-References:* Harvest Records collectors guide ISBN 978-5-9622-0021-7...
in 1973. With its synthesizer- and drum machine-based texture, the band was recorded by John Leckie
John Leckie
John Leckie is a British music producer, notable for producing many high-profile albums such as The Stone Roses's debut and Radiohead's The Bends...
at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
in 1975, releasing an LP record
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
(Cameo Roles) and a 45 rpm single ("Can't Get Used To Losing You"), but they did not sell well. Focusing on his career as an electrical engineer and company founder, Blyth set public performing aside.
At age 38, Blyth revived his interest in keyboard performance, returning to school to pick up performance diplomas from the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
, and his former alma mater, Trinity College of Music. He performed a piano recital at Whitfield Street Studios in 1988 for his 40th birthday. He joined the Royal College of Organists
Royal College of Organists
The Royal College of Organists or RCO, is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, but with members around the world...
, an organisation for the promotion of organ and choral
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
music. Since his pipe organ concert given for AES convention-goers in New York City in 1993 at St. Thomas Church, Blyth has played regularly for the AES. He has played at the Brick Presbyterian Church, the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin
Church of Saint Mary the Virgin (Times Square, New York)
The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin is an Episcopal Anglo-Catholic church within the Episcopal Diocese of New York and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The church complex is located in the heart of Times Square on West 46th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in the borough of...
and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, the Église de la Madeleine
Église de la Madeleine
L'église de la Madeleine is a Roman Catholic church occupying a commanding position in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It was designed in its present form as a temple to the glory of Napoleon's army...
in Paris, the Jesuit Church, Vienna, the Dom zu unserer lieben Frau
Munich Frauenkirche
The Frauenkirche is a church in the Bavarian city of Munich that serves as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising and seat of its Archbishop. It is a landmark and is considered a symbol of the Bavarian capital city.The church towers are widely visible because of local height...
in Munich, the Temple Church
Temple Church
The Temple Church is a late-12th-century church in London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built for and by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. In modern times, two Inns of Court both use the church. It is famous for its effigy tombs and for being a round church...
in London, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, also called "COLA" and the Los Angeles Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California, United States...
in Los Angeles, and at Grace Cathedral and the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, also known locally as Saint Mary's Cathedral, is the principal church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco in San Francisco, California...
in San Francisco.
Blyth consults for organ builders such as Saville Organ Company and helps tune organ installations. In the 2000s he picked up an interest in "classical" digital electronic organs, using the Musicom system. He is president and tonal director of the Veritas Organ Company.
Based at his home in Challow Park just west of Wantage
Wantage
Wantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about south-west of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot....
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, where he has lived since 1984, he directs local concerts and music festivals. In 1996 as an addition to his house, he built the Challow Park Recital Hall, a venue for organ recitals or chamber ensembles, suitable for public performances or recording. The 80-seat hall uses a LARES
LARES
LARES is an electronic sound enhancement system that uses microprocessors to control multiple loudspeakers and microphones placed around a performance space for the purpose of providing active acoustic treatment. LARES was invented in Massachusetts in 1988, by engineers working at Lexicon,...
electro-acoustic enhancement system to supply pre-programmed room acoustics
Room acoustics
Room acoustics describes how sound behaves in an enclosed space.The way that sound behaves in a room can be broken up into roughly four different frequency zones:...
settings, a "technology that allows it to be an acoustical chameleon."
The father of three grown children, Blyth plays organ, piano and harpsichord, and he conducts musical ensembles. He owns a Fazioli
Fazioli
Fazioli Pianoforti is a piano manufacturing company based in Sacile, Italy.Fazioli currently produces 110 pianos a year from its single factory, and has annual revenues of €6 million.- History :...
piano, a Veritas electronic organ of his own design, and a harpsichord built by John Horniblow.
External links
- Video and binaural audio of Graham Blyth at the pipe organ 9 June 2009, in Munich FrauenkircheMunich FrauenkircheThe Frauenkirche is a church in the Bavarian city of Munich that serves as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising and seat of its Archbishop. It is a landmark and is considered a symbol of the Bavarian capital city.The church towers are widely visible because of local height...
playing No. 1 of the Organ Sonatas, Op. 65 (Mendelssohn)Organ Sonatas, Op. 65 (Mendelssohn)Felix Mendelssohn's six Organ Sonatas, Op. 65, were published in 1845. Mendelssohn's biographer Eric Werner has written of them, 'next to Bach's works, Mendelssohn's Organ Sonatas belong to the required repertory of all organists'.-Background:...
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