TENORI-ON

MARK BARROTT – FUTURE LOOP FOUNDATION

Interview

Mark Barrott’s Future Loop Foundation have been creating leading-edge electronic music for over a decade now with Barrott embracing the latest technology every step of the way. With a new album due this Spring Mark recently took delivery of a Tenori-on and concludes: “It makes you think differently about what music actually is and really opens your mind to new possibilities. It’s Steve Reich for the modern age…”

A 1981 Kraftwerk concert propelled Mark Barrott into the world of music making and by 1996 he was playing around the world as Future Loop Foundation, exploring the complex and dynamic rhythms of the then cutting-edge drum n bass scene. Albums like Conditions For Living earned him respect, critical acclaim and a following that has grown with him, even though his style is now very much more down tempo. He now focuses his time on what he calls ‘Aural History’, using his music and composition to soundtrack spoken word samples and stories from around the world that showcase different aspects of life from a social and historical perspective. His last album, Memories From A Fading Room was the second release in this style (the first being 2004’s A Very English Summer) as it featured vocal samples describing family life in the North of England in the 1970’s. It had enough highlights to earn it ‘album of 2007’ in some quarters and a couple of uplifting tracks that became the sound of last summer, sound-tracking both the BBC’s Wimbledon tennis coverage and Sky TV’s Movie trailers.

“I love to sit in the studio and conceptualise about the music I am making,” says Mark on his working ethos. “I plot and scheme as well as make the actual music itself. There’s absolutely nothing like that 3am feeling when you’ve got the red light on and you create that perfect 8 bar loop. In many ways, everything after that – like finishing a song and then releasing and promoting it – is an anti climax!”

Mark has been a keen follower of music technology developments and was an early adopter of many hardware trends and, latterly, the all-in one laptop approach. Understandably Yamaha’s Tenori-on, with its unique way of creating music by light and touch, was always going to appeal to appeal to him.

“The new-ness of it in terms of working methods,” was a deciding influence to Mark but, like others, he has fallen under the spell of the unit’s great looks and says: “As Chris Lowe from the Pet Shop Boys once said: ‘If something looks good, it normally is’!”

It was also Tenori-on’s unique way of inputting notes that excited Mark…
“As a musician,” he says, “I’m always looking for different ways to input music and from stopping my hands forming certain note or chord patterns on a keyboard. At one point I even started learning guitar to get around this and the Tenori-on is the perfect alternative – all of a sudden you are not looking at black or white notes (and therefore thinking in a certain way) just anonymous lights and dots. This is a totally different method and approach that is much more centered around visuals and imagery and a ‘Maths’ approach where you can use number patterns and formulae to create music.”

Like many musicians surrounded by a mountain of technology, Mark uses Tenori-on almost as a break from that. With no need to boot up, Tenori-on is an instant fix, almost a relaxing tool in a sea of tech that, as a great side effect, also enables great music to be produced!

“In a studio environment I am using it as an inspiration tool, even if the material I make on it is not always used in a final piece,” says Mark. “It’s a great piece of equipment to put you in a very creative mood very, very quickly and open up new methods of composition and thought processes that lead to new methods of making music. It makes you think differently about music and what music actually is. In practical terms, I’m using it to jam along to tracks made in Logic and Live by playing it through a soundcard. I’m also using it as a input device to totally change how I input music into a computer, as well as using it in conjunction with a circuit bent Yamaha VSS30 and a Korg Kaoss Pad to screw things up a bit!”

Well, you can’t argue with a bit of experimentation! And, as Mark adds, he’s also finding the unit useful in another sphere of his music making, that of production…

“The Tenori-on is in daily use as an input device and creative ‘kick start’ in the studio and I’ve also been using it with a new project I’m producing called The Young Gentlemen's Adventure Society, a band from Baton Rouge. They make what they call Math-Hop and the Tenori-on is perfect for this as it works in numerical structures and really opens your mind to new possibilities. They recently came to Berlin [Mark’s home city now] to work on their first EP and I met them at the airport and showed them the Tenori-on. In the 30 minute taxi ride home they had created a new piece from scratch that will definitely be on their album – it’s Steve Reich for the modern age.”

“The fact that Tenori-on is truly portable is a big advantage too – no USB dongles, mother keyboards and so on. I’m just starting work on a new Future Loop Foundation live set and plan to incorporate it into that as a musical and visual tool.”

“It’s really freed up the way I think about music and what is possible in terms of multi layering and composition,” continues Mark, “so even the idea of a Tenori-on and what it can achieve is very liberating and creative because the days of a piano keyboard being the main way to enter music have gone.”

So it’s already clear that Tenori-on is both inspiring Mark and moving him in totally new directions. So, does he have any favourite features?

“The whole thing!” he says. “Normally with equipment you pick up the basics from playing around with it and then consult the manual when you get stuck (always at the most frustrating times in terms of creativity). With the Tenori-on I actually spent 30 minutes with the manual at the beginning and have NEVER needed to refer back to it – it’s that easy and intuitive. I also love the different input modes. As a synthesiser kid from the early 80s, I have a life long love affair with step sequencers anyway, but in addition to the standard score mode, I LOVE THE BOUNCING BALL MODE!”

After all the Tenori-on chat there is just enough room for Mark to plug himself and his future plans…!

“I am just preparing for a new Future Loop Foundation tour,” he says. “We are starting in April in my home town of Sheffield at the new Sensoria Festival (http://www.sensoria.org.uk). Also in April, there’s a new album out on Just Music called The Fading Room: Memories and Remixes, and I’ve just finished a new FLF track to close the live set that I’m really happy with and will post on MySpace soon. The other major news is that I’m just starting work on a follow up to A Very English Summer for release this summer.

NEWS

TENORI-ON HELPS OVERCOME BARRIERS TO CREATIVITY

Tenori-on captures the imagination of so many different people. From the creative and professional media artist to non-musicians alike, this new form of musical interface is opening many new avenues of musical exploration and creativity.

A recent independent dissertation by UK-based Graham Wynne is a fascinating document as he explores the extent to which instruments such as Electroplankton and Tenori-on are overcoming barriers to creativity in modern music production. With related quotes from Toshio Iwai, Brian Eno, Steve Reich and Norman Fairbanks you can read Graham's dissertation HERE

TENORI-ON WOWS AUDIENCES DURING BJÖRK TOUR

Björk's current world tour utilises some of the most cutting edge on-stage technology out there, so it's no surprise to find at least one Tenori-on in the thick of it...

Read the full story HERE

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION FOR OWNERS OF TENORI-ON

Please click here to read this important announcement about Tenori-On

IMPORTANT UK TENORI-ON PRICING NEWS

Due to the current exchange rate situation its become necessary for us to increase the UK price of Tenori-on. This advance warning of this pending increase gives you a few days to take advantage of the current price before it goes up!

The tenori-on uk online store price will be increased on 1st April 2008 from the current £599 to £629 inc VAT.

THE YAMAHA TENORI-ON REVOLUTION CONTINUES WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF GLOBAL LAUNCH EVENTS

Following the hugely successful media and public launch of the critically acclaimed Tenori-on in the UK, we are excited to announce Tenori-on Global Launch events and a new multi-language website.

Read the full story HERE

Tenori-on really is about the Future of Loops

Future Loop Foundation join the list of high profile Tenori-on users…

Tenori-on fever continues! As demand for this most innovative light and sound sequencer continues to grow, the word is also out in the artist community that this is one must-have, must-play gadget. Mark Barrott, Future Loop Foundation’s technology-loving front man, has been after one since launch and recently finally got his hands on one…

“It really opens your mind to new possibilities,” he says. “It’s Steve Reich for the modern age…” And Mark knows all about new possibilities. A decade ago he was leading the way on the drum n bass scene before turning chillout. Last year’s ‘Album Of The Year’ Memories From A Fading Room spawned a couple of summer soundtrack classics (appearing all over the BBC and Sky TV) and he’s currently gearing up for a ground-breaking audio and visual spectacular tour.

Read the full interview HERE

The list of high profile artists queuing up to get their hands on Yamaha’s Tenori-on is staggering. Many, in fact, have been left disappointed due to short supplies of the innovative light and sound sequencing tone module. So far Björk has been spotted on tour with one in South America and Peter Gabriel is known to be experimenting with one at Real World, but another cutting edge artist lucky enough to get his hands on an early unit was Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet.

MARK BARROTT – FUTURE LOOP FOUNDATION

NEWS

TENORI-ON HELPS OVERCOME BARRIERS TO CREATIVITY

TENORI-ON WOWS AUDIENCES DURING BJÖRK TOUR

IMPORTANT UK TENORI-ON PRICING NEWS

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