User:Somadrone

Somadrone is Irish Composer / Musician / Filmaker Neil O Connor. Neil has studied with Roger Doyle, Jurgen Simpson and is currently finishing a PhD in Composition (specializing in graphical notation) with Donnacha Dennehy at Trinity College Dublin. Beginning his career as a filmmaker, Neil has been involved in a diverse range of musical activities including folk, jazz, rock, electronic and electro-acoustic music. His work was been shown/performed at the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival, Fringe Festival, Resonances Festival @ IRCAM Paris, 60 X 60 NYC, and Klangstadtstille, Berlin. involved with the YCC (Young Composers Committee). Incepted in 1995, Somadrone began as a project to document some home recordings on 4-track recorders. This was released in 1999 as a 10” e.p limited to 100 copies. The latter years involved playing, recording and touring in Europe and America with Irish Acts: Redneck Manifesto, Connect Four Orchestra, Goodtime John, David Kitt, Si Schroeder and Jape. Instruments such as Vibraphone, Harp, Theremin, Indian Drone Machines and Moog synthesizers feature on 2005’s “Fuzzing Away To A Whisper” released Sept 05 on Trust Me I’m a Thief records. These collections of recordings are 2 CDS from six years of producing. They range from electro-acoustic pieces to pop music and incorporate elements of early Kraftwerk, Broadcast, Brian Eno and Steve Reich. While pursuing a PhD in Music, and finishing work in the US with New York’s Bang On a Can Ensemble, Somadrone’s third album (2007) “Of Pattern and Purpose” was assembled. The first to incorporate vocal accompaniment, it is composed mostly of miniature symphonies and electronic interludes. Recent projects include a featuring on Wire Magazine’s Wire Tapper CD and a residency at the Institute of Electro-Acoustic Music, Stockholm.