Interview with
Michael Bradford

When Michael Bradford's phone rang, the call was to work on the soundtrack to the motion picture The Fan. The Artist at the other end of the line was Terence Trent D'Arby. Terence had been asked to write a new song for the soundtrack, and wanted Michael to provide his programming, sequencing, and sampling skills for the project.

D'Arby is known to be a creative and imaginative artist, and this project would prove to be no exception. When Michael asked what tools to bring, Terence replied, "Be ready for anything." With The Fan being a major motion picture featuring an major musical talent, Michael took the advice to heart.

"I showed up for the session with my MIDI rig, which includes sampling with various types of synthesis, my computer with Studio Vision sequencing software, and a few guitars and bassess, while I was at it. I couldn't take the chance and leave the one thing at home that I needed. As a programmer, it's important to have a large range of sounds to work with. You may also have to create something on the spot. The artist may have a sound in his head, and he is counting on you to make it real.

Often, the most important skill to bring to a project is the ability to listen to the artist and then translate an abstract idea into a tangible concept. I think that if you demonstrate the ability to listen, put the project first and your ego last, you'll probably have a good chance of having the artist or producer open up to you. The artist has a vision, but that vision is very private and fragile. If you're coming into a project, and you're being asked to do more then just play a chart, then what you're really being asked to do is to collaborate and share in that vision. That requires trust, and there is only one way to create that atmosphere. You have to willing to listen. There will be time to show your playing or programming chops later, but if you can't make it into the artists comfort zone, you can't possibly get that special insight that is essential to make a truly great track."

The scope of Michael's involvement in a project can vary greatly or change during the course of a project. In some cases, he is simply asked to have a large palette of sounds from which the producer or artist can choose. In such a situation, organization and preparation skills are important to keep the session moving along. "After a while, you get to know the producer's style, and you can anticipate what they'll want. Having ready access to banks of sounds can be a real time-saver."

On sessions where sequencing and track building are involved, Michael often takes on the role as an arranger. " Many times, a songwriter has the melody, chords and lyrics, but the programmer is often given a lot of freedom to create rhythm patterns and select sounds for the tune. On a good day, you start to feel almost like a producer." In fact, Michael has recently made the successful transition to co-producer, with projects for Terence Trent D'Arby and Anita Baker for 1997 release.

Being ready for anything means being ready for album dates, film scoring, production assistance, and live work. It also means being able to adapt to different equipment configurations. Michael's career has brought him into contact with many systems, "from Casio to Synclavier. In fact, until recently I owned a PSMT Synclavier, but I eventually had to retire it, mainly because I move around a lot, and they really weren't made to be moved much. Besides, I'm now using an E-mu e-6400, an original Emax, and an Orbit, and they are infinitely more flexible and powerful than the old system."

Michael started at age six as a guitar prodigy, changing over to the bass at nine. By age eleven he was also playing drums. All of these experiences with different instruments have proven to be invaluable when the need to create authentic parts and sounds on the keyboard arises. Some of his heroes are Tricky, for his unconventional loops; Joe Zawinul, for his synthesis and composing skills; Stevie Wonder, for his innovative bass sounds; George Duke and Jan Hammer, for realistic guitar parts; and Thom Hall, of George Benson and Earl Klugh's touring bands, for his horn parts. "Its all in te phrasing. These guys get great sounds, but they phrase them authentically. Thom Hall is a phrasing master. He uses a breath controller on his keyboard, so the horn parts are awesome."

Being a multi-instrumentalist has especially given Michael an edge in creating rhythm tracks tat really groove.

"My first keyboard was a Minimoog, not a piano--no offense. I'm really more of a synthesist and a sample manipulator. My career has centered around electronic musical techniques and sound design. With sequenceing and sampling, I'm building rhythm tracks out of some rather unconventional sounds. I've got all of the usual drum libraries, as well as other comercially available sound-effect CD-ROMs, but I'm building a large array of other percussive sounds, such as the sound of a wrench striking a washing machine, door slams, and various other custom samples that I've made myself. I've also got a great sample of a chair being dragged across a linoleum floor. I know it sounds crazy, but when you put these things in a track and use them for texture, the results can be very musical. The idea is to build unique textures so that the project you work on can be unique."

"Using a powerful sampler like the e-6400 gives me the ability to load tons of sounds, access them from RAM, and spread them over the keyboard in zones, plus I can assign them to 16 different MIDI channels. Combined with my sequencing software, this makes for an awesome combination."

The multiplatinum Anita Baker release, Rhythm of Love gave Michael the chance to use sampling techniques to build a rhythm track from elements of musical bits that had been recorded in an all-star recording session, whichincluded keyboardist Greg Phillingaines.

"My job was to create a new intro for a tune tat had already been recorded, and make it fit seamlessly onto the front of the track. By sampling a few bars of the drum track, I was able to build a loop using a combination of samples and some new sequenced parts. The results were quite satisfying."

Michael uses a relatvely simple setup, including an E-mu Emax, e-6400 and Orbit, Clavia Nord Lead, AKAI S-1100, Korg M1 and N5SR, and an old Yamaha FB-01 tone module. He also keeps an old Casio RZ-1 drum machine, "for that really drum machine-y sound. It also has a built in sampler, with about 2 seconds of PCM sampling. Clips everything. You never know what you'll get it to do by accident."

"Also, I've found that R&B producers like having buttons to push, rater than a piano-style keyboard, when there making drum patterns. So I'll also use the Casio as a controller, so that while they're pushing buttons, they're actually triggering sounds on the e-6400 or something. I'll also use a Roland PAD-80 for the same reason."

Upcoming projects include working with producer Matt Hyde, providing textures for the new Sound Asylum album. Michael is currently working on yet another film, this time doing some musical sound design for score composer Paul Buckmaster, composer for film 12 Monkeys. The new film film is called Murder in Mind.

"All I can say is that I have to create some sounds that evoke the sensation of losing control of one's mind. I'll build a bundle composed of a bunch of short samples, and some long sustained sounds to tie it all together. It really should be a lot of fun, and Paul's a genius, so it's been a great gig."

Having finished 1996 by programming a remix of "2 Become 1" for the Spice Girls (their third #1 song in England, ad top 10 worldwide), Michael was next involved in a six-month project programming and playing various instruments on the new Terence Trent D'Arby album on Java/Capitol. He has just finished programming beats for the upcoming Madonna album, using his Orbit, e-6400, and a Planet Phatt. "I was able to do almost everything I needed with these boxes, because they have so many great sounds, yet editing is still a snap to customize things." In the spring, Michael worked on a film called The Maker, and is scheduling preproduction for the next Anita Baker album.

Add writing songs and doubling on guitar, bass and drums when necessary, and it's easy to see the value of being "ready for anything."

(Note: all projects are accurate as of this writing. Al schedule changes will be comnunicated as they occur.)