Michael Neil – Synthesist & Sound Artist

Michael Neil began composing as early as the late1970s, but it was the 1980s when he established his reputation and this was consolidated during the 1990s with a succession of albums on Cleve Littlewood’s ‘Electronical Dreams’ label, inspired by his adopted home of Cornwall in the far south west of Britain. Of these Cornubia was the most notable, earning for him a reputation for grand sweeping orchestral electronics and otherworldly ambience. In 2000 Neu Harmony Records released Towards the Unknown Region, demonstrating his growing interest in astronomical themes and a move towards more spacious textures and timbres in the synthesizer repertoire.

In 2004 Neil graduated from Dartington College of Arts helping to define the next stage in his compositional exploration using state of the art software. This led the composer to explore the world of Electroacoustic music where technology is used to manipulate and develop the subtle nuances of sound. However, Neil has also explored synthesis within these parameters adding a new depth to the palette of his sound world.

From 2005 Neil continued to explore this sound world and the presentation of his resulting work within the framework of a Masters Degree in Contemporary Music and Contemporary Arts Practice Theory at Dartington and whilst resident in Helsinki. Now, post MA, the composer resides in Berlin and is an active participant in the Berlin electronic music scene.

Technology is a cornerstone in his contemporary work and also the creation of new scales of pitch derived from extraneous data sourced from the locations that inspire a composition.

Presentation rather than “concert” performance is Neil’s major concern in one of the ways he disseminates his work. Utilizing the electroacoustic practice of sound diffusion, he has defined his own presentation style as “Static Sound Spatialisation”: a subtle manipulation of pre-recorded music designed to mould itself into site specific space.

Neil is also a member of the electronic/acoustic group The Logothetis Project – www.logothetisproject.co.uk