Martin Eve (aka 4th Eden) is the man behind the recently released Atmospherik Mekanisms sound library that you can download for free on our website. He joined us for an interview in which we discussed his sound design techniques, his motives to create the Atmospherik Mekanisms library, and his plans. Enjoy!
99Sounds: Hi Martin, thanks so much for releasing Atmospherik Mekanisms on 99Sounds. It is a very inspirational sound library with some genuinely beautiful sound effects and field recordings. Can you please tell our audience more about this project? It is essentially a part of a project that you’re working on for your degree, correct?
Martin: Yes, it is. I had to come up with a major project for my final year degree course in Creative Music Technology at Falmouth University. The reasons for choosing this was partly as I did a smaller project last year, and I felt I had more possibilities for new sounds. The other reason for choosing this practice for my major project was my dissertation was based around the life of Delia Derbyshire. Delia, as people may know, worked at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the 1960s and 1970s and was the main catalyst behind the Dr. Who theme. She used to record sound objects in a ‘musique concrete’ style such as a metal lantern found within the studio, and with the pioneering techniques, she would reverse, pitch shift, and change tempo of recordings. All done on tape machines that could only be synchronized by her colleagues pressing the record button together! I went to the recycling center inspired by how Delia found objects that could have tonal qualities. I did find a brass vase, which made some great sounds that were used on the album.
99Sounds: What is your approach to sound design? Do you have a favorite technique for turning recorded sounds into something completely new? Do you enjoy using any particular tools for sound design?
Martin: I experimented with many software tools. A simple tool that can do many techniques is Audacity and its free, of course. Audacity now incorporates and basic version of the ‘Paulstretch’ time stretch software. I also created a library of patches within Omnisphere 2, which had some fantastic results, and I’m hoping that after some refinements that this could be a library soon. I’m also a fan of SoundMorph software. I decided to try SoundMorph’s Reaktor ensemble, Evil Twin. I replaced all the factory samples with my own, which lead to a fantastically chaotic and unique collection of sounds.
99Sounds: This release contains some very cool field recordings. How do you record sounds outside of your home?
Martin: For the project, I bought a Zoom H4n field recorder. The sounds it picks up are amazing with the cross-condenser microphones, but as I discovered, always take a windshield with you as these mics are so sensitive that the slightest breeze could ruin a recording! It was undoubtedly a challenge to get a perfect recording on the beaches of North Devon! I would often find the time-consuming part is listening to the tapes and making decisions about what’s good to keep and whats not.
99Sounds: You also have a new music album that features some of the sounds from Armospherik Mekanisms, where can our readers listen to it?
Martin: Yes, it is released digitally on Bandcamp under my artist name ‘4th Eden‘, along with my other releases. It’s also available on CD, but this is limited, and details of how to buy this are on my website.
99Sounds: What are your plans for the future? Will you devote yourself to more sound design work, or is producing music more relevant to you?
Martin: I would like to get involved in more sound design to compliment my music (maybe a second Atmospherik Mekanisns library as there is enough material for this), and as mentioned, there may be an Omnisphere 2 library of these samples coming out shortly. I have another album of material also lined up for release, probably by the end of the year. This is of my space music project and is titles ‘Dark Skies.’ I also plan to continue writing sync production music. I have had some music placed on British TVs Channel 5 and BBC1.
Check out “Atmospherik Mekanisms”: click here
