Name any recent BBC smash TV show and the chances are Ty Unwin produced the music. He’s scored Ancient Rome, Supervolcano, Blackbeard, Hannibal, Space Race, Killer Dinosaurs and Genghis Khan among many others. You could say he’s driven in what he does, so it won’t surprise you to know that he’s been passionate about music from a very early age…
“I started learning piano aged 10 or 11 and knew immediately that I preferred writing my own music than playing other people’s!” he says. “I had unbelievably supportive parents who gave up a lot to help me and realised that this wasn’t a fad… I really was going to make a living when I grew up writing some kind of music!”
“When I heard the theme from [seminal German U Boat drama] Das Boot that was it – I was going to write music for TV! My parents bought me my first synths, both mono analogues and a Roland TR-606 drum machine.”
“In my head, within a couple of years, I was going to be rich and famous – I was 13 or 14! I did all of the piano grades, music A level and won the BBC Song For Christmas competition. Little did I know that winning this would indirectly eventually lead to my career taking off…”
“I then did a music degree specialising in composition and did a few themes for kids TV while there – the normal thing: meeting the right people at the right time – which still make me money today!”
“By this time I had a small home studio set-up which was fairly sophisticated for the time, when a couple of the BBC guys that I’d met through the Song For Christmas competition moved on from engineering into TV directing. They needed music and in typical TV style they needed it quickly and cheaply! I was quick… and cheap!”
Ty reveals that this is very much how you get work as a composer. It’s all about trust between directors and the team they work with so if he makes a good job as a composer, the loyalty is strong and the director takes him on their ride as they progress up their career ladder.
“I was a good parasite and held on well!” he says. “As their careers took off they recommended me to other directors who, in turn, took me with them, and soon your contacts and credits become bigger.”
After doing lots of nature-based programs, Ty had a lucky break doing the high profile Space documentary (fronted by Sam Neill).
“I was bought in at the last moment to replace a composer that was sacked,” he says. “By this stage I was well known for being able to compose quickly (but not cheap!). Space was a hit and that was it – I haven’t stopped since. I’ve done some quite big BBC series and seem to be doing a lot of the docu-drama series at the moment.”
The EDIROL Connection
Ty is a big fan of EDIROL gear and uses a PCR-1, PCR-50 and PCR-M keyboards along with the R-09 field recorder and FA-66 interface.
“I tend to use it with one of my laptop systems,” Ty reveals. “I have a really well specified main studio and also a quite sophisticated Mac laptop system for long sessions away. I then have a really portable system which I can take anywhere, anytime in one single laptop bag! This contains the PCR-1, FA-66, and R-09 and a minute VAIO laptop running SONAR 6.”
“In the studio I use Nuendo but cannot be bothered with dongles when I’m out and about, and SONAR is just great for sketching on with an instant gratification! I haven’t really tried all of the new features in V6 but they look great. I think the big thing is versatility, which is a big thing for TV composers. We don’t want software that presumes that every project you work on is 4/4, one tempo, and using a few loops and a couple of analogue plug-ins!”
“The FA-66 is just a great and versatile interface,” continues Ty. “More to the point it sounds good and is so small for the amount of in and outs it’s got.”
“The PCR-1 is the only keyboard that thin that still has usable keys. No one is pretending that you can play a Rachmaninov piano concerto on it but the keys have enough travel for you still feel you can control the velocity and I’ve programmed many a convincing performance on it! You can never have enough knobs on a controller and to have them on such a thin, portable keyboard is great – a tweaker’s dream! The other two PCR keyboards are placed at different points around the studio in front of rack gear to audition/program from.”
“The R-09 just makes life so much easier for doing field recordings, grabbing sounds for samples, noting down ideas or even mastering from my little set-up. It’s a bit like a mobile phone or an iPod – you never know how you lived without it! Wherever I go, it goes. You never know when inspiration’s going to strike and it’s so small, it lives in my jacket pocket.”
Ty chose the EDIROL gear as he needed as compact a set-up as possible, but still one that could produce professional results…
“For me it was simply the versatility and the portability that were the big issues, plus build quality, reliability and obviously size! I’ve had loads of tracks written, programmed, recorded and mastered on this system that have been broadcast without ever seeing my full studio!”
“Before I had this set-up I had to use my bigger laptop system which is great but I don’t really call two large bags and a 2U case portable! This [EDIROL-BASED] set-up goes with me to most production or edit meetings. It really impresses when you can supply the music in an edit suite as the director is watching!”
After completing so many projects, how does Ty look at the world of composing for TV?
“Lots of composers for TV take themselves far too seriously,” he claims. “At the end of the day we have the best job in the world: we sit on our arses, writing tunes, playing with loads of hi-tech stuff and get paid great money for it! The only problem is that directors always want miracles… yesterday!”
And what does he have planned for the future?
“A break!” he laughs.“I haven’t had a holiday for years so I’m planning on taking it easy in 2007 and writing some music for ME! It’s great writing for TV but obviously you’re always limited or lead by the picture. I just want to write some music to stand on its own!”
“If this happens to be on a beach somewhere, even better!”
The Digital Village (Birmingham) Connection
“I've always had a great relationship with DV Birmingham over the years. Their wealth of experience and knowledge are second to none, so whenever I get a new commission I know who to call!!”