Peter Simcoe is a designer, photographer and musician living in Chester, a small city in the Northwest of England known for its beautiful architecture and its Roman ruins. He has returned to his home city after 18 years away living in Leicester, Nottingham, Birmingham, Brighton, Wellington [New Zealand], Townsville [Australia]. He has been creating music for 22 years and has had a passion for visual media. Audio-Echo has been designed to share this passion.
Establishing A Sound Identity
I ve been playing guitar since I was 15 and my fascination with atmospheric guitar and synth music has led me to create a variety of soundtrack sequences over the years. I would say my main influences or inspiration came for many years from the spine-tingling sounds created by guitarists such as Charlie Burchill [Simple Minds], Dave Gilmour [Pink Floyd], Jimmy Page [Led Zeppelin] and more recently Jeff Beck. You start off trying to copy these guys when you’re young but after a few years you realise that whilst the influences are clearly there, you’re bringing your own style to the table too and thats what I ve been trying to develop. In terms of synths, they have been something I ve been using to add to my guitar tracks for around 15 years now and having used a Roland U-20 for a few years I upgraded to Reason 4.0 and an M-Audio Oxygen keyboard / interface.
Versatility And Refinement
One of the things I realised was that I m never going to be the next Hendrix, Gilmour or Page…..but I can put myself at an advantage in amongst my peers by being versatile in my style and so I have progressed my slide playing ability to a good standard and feature this in my music where appropriate. The other thing that makes you stand out when playing in a studio environment or live is to use effects confidently and tastefully. It amazes me how many people come up to me and compliment the guitar sound I have and ask about the make of guitar…..the funny thing is that my Schecter Diamond Series guitar looks stylish and sounds good, but most of the sound comes from pursuing a series of effects that allow the natural sound of the strings to ring whilst providing appropriate levels of overdrive or distortion and space through reverb and delay – I m not afraid to remove distortion altogether and I think that for many this is a suprise compared to many live musicians.
Film Reviews
In terms of film, I ve been very keen to see as many films as possible over the years and I do have a few favourites. My eyes were opened to a little more of the world when studying Media Production in Birmingham ( 1998 ) where many of the students on my course had vastly different tastes and collections of both audio and film. My ideas of what constituted good narrative, style and acting were changed through discussion with these students and the teaching at the University and I often see this particular time as a reference point for development of my ideas on both film and life in general.
My film reviews are designed as commentary from a perspective of having this previous experience and increased understanding in the way films are targeted at specific audiences. It is hoped that these interviews will provide insight or useful food for thought….or even just a measuring stick of whether it is worth watching or not.
Creating Soundtracks
There’s a few processes I go through when creating a soundtrack. The first stage is setting the basic theme of the track through either trying out chord progressions on the keyboard or guitar. Drums can be a crucial addition at this point as it sets a reference regarding the pace and energy associated with the track. Its then down to building up the layers in an appropriate order.
Some tracks are led by guitar chord sequences with additional synth and guitar added to emphasise and progress ideas. Other tracks seem to come from playing keyboards with guitars taking more of a minor role either in creating the momentum or literally, as a minor feature.
The equipment used is typically Propellerheads Reason 4.0 for programming drums, creating sequences and playing keyboard. Reason is an excellent sound creation tool and the ability to use MIDI input has boosted the control I have over the way tracks are structured as well as fine tuning small details. The guitars I use range from a Fender Strat to a Schecter Diamond Semi Electric with Duncan pickups, allowing for more versatile control over humbucker / single coil sounds]. The effects come from either an Ensoniq DP2 processor or a Line 6 POD X3 Live which really pushes the live sound to be the best it can. Mixing and production is then completed using the Line 6 POD X3 soundcard connected to a PC running Adobe Audition 3.0.
