Michael Whalen - Imaginary Trains

Electronic Music

Michael Whalen is a two-time Emmy Award winning, Grammy-nominated composer with over 30 years experience composing for film and television, as well as being a recording artist in his own right, with over 800 million streams since 2015. Here he talks to Rob Puricelli about performing his latest instrumental album ‘Imaginary Trains’ to a live audience at the EMEAPP museum, using their extensive collection of rare vintage synthesizers.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:47 - What was the inspiration behind the album, “Imaginary Trains”?
05:06 - How did you come up with the idea for the live broadcast?
10:51 - What instruments did you choose from the EMEAPP collection
20:10 - How did you go about replacing the studio parts with the gear you chose?
22:44 - Did any instrument daunt you?
27:07 - Behind the scenes...
30:19 - The choice between live and sequenced
34:01 - Rehearsal and preparation
35:42 - Gear Acquisition Syndrome! (G.A.S.)
39:10 - Did any of these old machines let you down?
39:50 - Would you do this again?
41:55 - Future projects

Michael Whalen Biog
After more than 30 years as one of the top television and film composers, an an internationally renown recording artist, a music supervisor, artist coach/client and former record label executive, his music has been heard by billions and billions of people. He has accumulated more than 800 million streams from all worldwide music platforms since 2015. His musical output is enormous and ranges from ambient/new age to jazz to soundtrack/theme music, world music, singer/songwriter, classical and crossover.

Michael is an expert on copyright law, music monetisation and digital rights. He consults with major technology and music companies and mentors artists around the world as part of his company Artist Expansion. As a teacher, he has been an adjunct professor at NYU, The Berklee College of Music, and The City College of NY. Michael is also an author, thought leader on the future on digital copyrights and panelist at dozens of major conferences and festivals.

https://www.michaelwhalen.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14ugFiMYlr0
https://emeapp.org/

Rob Puricelli Biog
Rob Puricelli is a Music Technologist and Instructional Designer who has a healthy obsession with classic synthesizers and their history. In conjunction with former Fairlight Studio Manager, Peter Wielk, he fixes and restores Fairlight CMI’s so that they can enjoy prolonged and productive lives with new owners. He also writes reviews and articles for Sound On Sound, his website Failed Muso, and other music-related publications, as well as hosting a weekly livestream on YouTube for the Pro Synth Network and guesting on numerous music technology podcasts and shows. He also works alongside a number of manufacturers, demonstrating their products and lecturing at various educational and vocational establishments about music technology.

www.failedmuso.com
Twitter: @failedmuso
Instagram: @failedmuso
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/failedmuso/