Digital Echo..much more than just a pc and samples.

DIGITAL ECHO

I recently interviewed Liam White, who has contributed to The Cultural Thing by sending us a CD of his work to be loaned out by Newcastle Central Library, bringing the sounds of local talent into the homes of the general public.
Liam goes under the pseudonym of Digital Echo a very strong name that one would hope would live up to the music. I asked Liam to send me a comprehensive list of where I could see him and his music playing, where I could turn my review talents from theatre to live music gigging. He surprised me by saying that he is struggling to find a venue to play.
I wanted to know more, I wanted to find out the process from first thought to getting the song on a CD. I agreed to meet up with Liam at his home to find out more about him and his music.
I first noticed at his house that there wasn't a set aside room or studio for all the wires, the processors and the huge banks of computers that I thought would normally be needed to make music that would end up on a CD.

No! No big set up, all that was on show was a humble home computer, with a mountable rack of slidey buttons and midi in and out sockets.
I first asked Liam how he got into computerized music, it transpired that his first foray into this was through the Playstation and a piece of now primitave music software called Music 2000, this was an easy but effective way of making music from selections of saved samples. Drag and drop methods were used to create sound bytes that you could call your own.
Since the early days Liam has evolved into a fine musician, -yes I would go as far as saying Liam and the thousands of other computer music programmers are musicians, a lot of people though would disagree!- with vision for his music, he now uses his pc set up with Sony Creative Acid Pro series and downloads only free use samples. Liam has a very open style, which makes him very versatile. He swings from jazz through to Drum and Bass onto Rock When I was interviewing him he amazed me with all of the on screen button pressing and filters to get to the sound that he had in his vision. I myself have dabbled with Dance Ejay series on the pc and I go for the simple way out of getting the sound that I want. He often collaborates with his brother Ewan and in his collections online you will be able to hear his sibling's influences.
Some have tried to discredit him with the thoughts that sampling is just drag and drop musical laziness, but when you look into how well crafted this is, and how elaborate the layers are constructed, then a real skill is needed to come up with the standard that Liam produces.
Liam is looking at trying to get a spot in a pub or a club where he can show the audience his talents. Real time sampling from record decks would be used in his work. I would quite happily enjoy a meal and drinks with friends in a lazy pub with Liam in the corner doing his thing!

Yes anybody can do this but it takes a lot of composure skills to get to where Digital Echo is right now. From what I have heard of Liam's music, he can go a long way in this genre, his music is exciting and current..let them bass-lines contaminate you.

To listen to Digital Echo and his fantastic sounds then head over to Reverbnation and Soundcloud.

To contact Liam for bookings and more information, then please EMAIL or Facebook him.



See this LINK for further details and contact information about our cd loan scheme.