Composer Profiles

David Stevens

David Stevens

David Stevens

for RealAudio comments by the composer, 5:06

David Stevens ... Born in Leicester, England in November 1952, I was fortunate to grow up in a county that had an exceptional music education system. I played cornet and trumpet from an early age, later graduating to French Horn which I played in the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra up to the age of 19. While I was still at school I composed and recorded my first pieces for homemade electronics and tape.

I moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music, which I left within the year. I then worked for Peter Zinovief's company EMS demonstrating the VCS3 synth range, and also ran an evening class in tape/electronic music at the Cockpit theatre in London.

After a period in India, I eventually got a job as a broadcast sound engineer, and later as a music engineer/producer, at Capital Radio in London, where I stayed for nine years.

I then worked for a while as a freelance dubbing engineer in television, but then decided that I had to do something expressive again, or go mad. Which did I choose? The jury is still out on that one.....

Anyway - I ended up writing music for television, which I've been doing for about 8 years now.

About 2 years ago I decided that it was time to make some music for myself again. I long ago became frustrated at the static quality of most synthesised sounds, so I've been working with SoundMaker & SoundMagic, stretching and filtering (mostly) naturally occuring sounds to make long slowly evolving harmonic tones, which I weave together into long, slightly evolving pieces, of which I've made 2 so far. The intention is to create a trancelike altered state in the listener. It seems to work.

More recently I've been trying to find a way of creating live drone-like pieces, to which end I've been working with LiSa from STEIM, and have just started learning Max/MSP. I'm also a fan of antiorp's b!257+!2 software.

David Stevens in Bishop's Stortford

Representative musical compositions

Selected UK broadcast works:

Title music:
BBC:
- Compass
- Worlds of Belief
- Planet Islam
- Anxiety Attack
- London Lighthouse
C4:
- Europe Express
- Africa Express
- French Express
- Booked
- Europe on the Road
- In Your Dreams
- Encounters
- The Battle for Ideas
ITV network:
- Freescreen
- Cybercafe
Series (titles & incidental):
- Uncertainties
- Small Objects of Desire
- Obsessions
- Bosnia - an essential history
for BBC Schools:
- History File
- 20th Century Wrap
- Islam
- The Experimenter
- Investigating Europe
for BBC Continuing Education:
- Italianissimo
- Italy Means Business
- Inside English
Documentaries:
- Battle over the Okavanga
- Shark Wars
- Giants of Ningaloo
- Child Development
- Tobacco Wars
- Victim Support
- The Intelligent Island
- Remember, remember
- Strange Neighbours
- The Puzzle of HIV

altered states 1 & 2

altered states suspended

altered states: persistence of vision

music for television

To reach the composer:
On-line: [email protected]
By telephone: +44 1923 234887
By fax:
By physical mail: 23 Aldenham Road, Watford, Herts., WD1 4AB. UK