In mid 2020 I was given the opportunity to collaborate with 3 Swinburne Motion Design students. Each student was working on a ~90 second 3D animation, and had reached out to get music and sound supplied. 

The music and SFX for each was produced in tandem with the animation, so time syncing was done as the pieces developed. This led to a fair amount of 'back and forth' with different edits, but ultimately a great product was achieved.

Quan's animation features an abstract story of change, and he wanted the music to reflect this. Using sparse, synthesised chords in the dark, ambient introductory scenes I tried to evoke claustrophobia. This then breaks into an uplifting string and piano piece.

Link to animation: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeeiE3JqnXhP4gP3X8rfLfg?view_as=subscriber

Brave New World - Quan Duong Au

In mid 2020 I was given the opportunity to collaborate with 3 Swinburne Motion Design students. Each student was working on a ~90 second 3D animation, and had reached out to get music and sound supplied. 

The music and SFX for each was produced in tandem with the animation, so time syncing was done as the pieces developed. This led to a fair amount of 'back and forth' with different edits, but ultimately a great product was achieved.

Alex's animation advocates for change to environmental policy, in an ominous and intense style. To suit the electronic font and lighting, I drew inspiration from Lorn's Sega Sunset. I created patches from scratch with hardware synths, trying to keep Lorn's gritty, industrial and apocalyptic sounds in my minds ear to achieve an anxious atmosphere.

Link to animation: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeeiE3JqnXhP4gP3X8rfLfg?view_as=subscriber

Phase Change - Alex Weiner

In mid 2020 I was given the opportunity to collaborate with 3 Swinburne Motion Design students. Each student was working on a ~90 second 3D animation, and had reached out to get music and sound supplied. 

The music and SFX for each was produced in tandem with the animation, so time syncing was done as the pieces developed. This led to a fair amount of 'back and forth' with different edits, but ultimately a great product was achieved.

Harry had a clear idea of his musical style from the start, so my composition for this piece borrows from Ludovico's Primavera, and Rama Djawadi's Westworld Theme. Creating a convincing string ensemble sound with sampled instruments was a challenge and a learning experience, a learning experience that will continue.

Link to animation: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeeiE3JqnXhP4gP3X8rfLfg?view_as=subscriber

Pausefest 2021 - Harry Gravell

Ambient Ensemble Submission - Semester 2, 2020 

This piece was an experiment based on the idea of treating each ensemble member as a hardware sequencer loaded with a specific rhythm and a randomised collection of pitches. 
Working from the same Reaper session, members had markers dictating when to start and stop recording, akin to pressing play and pause on a hardware sequencer. 
Each member was given a specific rhythm, and instructed to improvise the pitches from either C Whole Tone or Db Whole Tone (half the ensemble was allocated to each). These pitch collections were chosen for their dissonance, and in the hope that for a moment or two, a glimmer of consonance would appear. If you look hard enough, you might find one. 


Sean Bennet - Piano
Aidan Black - Guitar
Caragh Chalker - Trombone
Lewis Gorham - Synthesizer
Judd Harley - Guitar
Callum Lee Gow - Spoken word, Arranger
Rosie Luby - Cello 
Callan Martin - Guitars

Whole Tone Layers

The premise of this piece was to focus on digital manipulation and modulation, in the vain of Music Concrete and Tape Music. Instruction was given to ensemble members to record themselves improvising over a randomised synthesizer drone, then to cut, reverse, effect, or otherwise manipulate the recording to their heart's content. The manipulated material was then arranged into the piece by Callum, in some cases undergoing further manipulation. 
For a common creative stimulus, three contrasting pictures were given to the ensemble for consideration prior/during recording. The first picture being a lithograph of Collins street, from 1840. The others, pictures of the current Metro Tunnel construction.

Musicians: Sean Bennett (synthesizer/keyboards), Aidan Black (guitar), Caragh Chalker (trombone), Lewis Gorham (piano), Judd Harley (guitar), Callum Lee Gow (percussion, synths, mixing), Rosie Luby (vocals), Callan Martin (synthesizers, keyboards).

Undermined

2020 

A composition modelled on Four Tet's piece 2017. 
All synth sounds were programmed by myself. 
A mixture of Ableton's Operator, an Arturia Microbrute and a Novation Bass Station.

Who Taught You That

This space serves as a collection of my work as a performer, engineer, and composer.