What Started My Interest I Audio

“Flume's rise aligned with the Soundcloud and Ableton generation - where being a bedroom producer was becoming increasingly mainstream. The accessibility to that technology and those sharing platforms dramatically changed the landscape.” - Chad Gillard, Co-founder of Future Classic

Harley Streten (flume) has been a huge part of my love of production and sound design, resulting in me wanting to study audio. It amazes me to think that someone so young can make such a large impact on the sound of electronic music. The main reason Flume has inspired me to study audio is the way he uses simple techniques to create something fresh that hasn’t really been heard before in electronic dance music. With Harley being only four years older than me and him having access to the same software and equipment that I do, makes me excited that a bedroom producer like myself can create something that is enjoyed by millions.

Harley makes music that doesn’t stick to the typical genre norms, he said in an interview that most of his music is not even in 4/4 time like most electronic dance tracks. The way that he makes music that sounds good rather than making music set against a list of rules makes me aspire to learn the rules, so I can break them. I would love to be able to create something new from experimenting with the way sound works and moves around a room or make clever use of the way our brains interoperate sound. Although flume doesn’t directly do this, I feel inspired by his willingness to experiment with everything from song structure to genre and even to the way he performs and uses lights in a way that is so simple, yet it has never been done commercially. Flumes production involves a lot of syncopation to create interest and rhythm in a track. For example in his remix of ‘Turning’ by Collarbones he uses syncopation at 1:39 (link attached) making the rhythm slightly off kilter. For me, the clever use of such a simple technique inspires me to experiment and find other techniques that give a song a certain signature or style. Flumes off center beat with minimal percussion and a large dynamic rage has become his trademark sound and I can see this style being replicated by other artists. Studying Audio is something I have wanted to do for a while but people like Harley make me really excited to push myself and learn how to create work that is unique and pushing the boundaries.

The quote at the start of this blog is by Chad Gillard, who signed Flume to his record label, Future Classic. He said this when he was talking about the future of music and what he thinks it will sound like. I completely agree that music is now being made in every garage, every bedroom and by people who have access to tools that weren’t around in the past. It makes me excited to think of the future of music and flume is a perfect example of what can be done if you are creative enough and willing to experiment. This is one of the many reasons why I am studying audio at SAE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjdvjcz9ssE