| Brian Transeau | |
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![]() BT performing "Simply Being Loved" at Ultra Music Festival '07
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Brian Wayne Transeau |
| Also known as | BT |
| Born | October 4, 1971 Rockville, Maryland, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Dance, Big Beat, Alternative, Experimental Electronica, House, Ambient, Film Score, Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Producer, Composer, Singer, DJ |
| Years active | 1995 - Present |
| Label(s) | Perfecto Records, Reprise Records, Headspace Recordings, Nettwerk, DTS Entertainment, Black Hole Recordings |
| Website | http://www.btmusic.com |
Brian Wayne Transeau (born October 4, 1971 in Rockville, Maryland) is an American music producer, composer, singer and songwriter, better known by his stage name, BT. Events 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. Rockville is the County seat of Montgomery County Maryland, United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other This article is about music for dancing in general You may also be looking for Electronic dance music. Big beat (sometimes called chemical breaks) is a term deployed in the mid 1990s by the British music press to describe the music of The Chemical Brothers, Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary Electronic music designed for a wide range House music is a style of Electronic dance music initially popularized in mid-1980s Discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino Ambient music is a Musical genre in which sound is more important than notes A film score is a broad term referring to the music in a film which is generally categorically separated from songs used within a film Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Perfecto Records is a United Kingdom based Trance Record label founded by famed trance DJ Paul Oakenfold in 1989 Reprise Records is an American Record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra, which is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated Nettwerk is a large Vancouver British Columbia based Record label and music management firm Black Hole Recordings BV is a Dutch Record label founded by one of the world's leading DJs Tijs Verwest ( Tiësto) and Arny Bink in 1997 Events 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. Rockville is the County seat of Montgomery County Maryland, United States. He is a pioneering artist in the trance genre and sometimes called the "Prince of Dance Music" for his multi-instrumentalist skills,[1] and in recent years he has gained additional fame for producing several Hollywood film scores and the 2001 NSync hit "Pop".
BT is known in production circles for his signature technique, the stutter edit, also known as the BT stutter. The stutter edit is a musical technique in which samples are reorganized broken down and spliced together then given a Rhythm and Time signature. [2][3] This technique consists of taking a small sample of a sound and then repeating it in a rhythmic way.
When recording with other artists, BT has used the aliases Kaistar, Libra, Dharma, Prana, Elastic Reality, Elastic Chakra, and GTB.
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Transeau showed an early interest in music, playing the piano from the age of two and enjoying classical music. The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers [4] As an adolescent, he heard electronic music such as New Order and Depeche Mode and began to love it. New Order are an English rock group formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner ( vocals, Guitars Synthesizers, Peter Hook Depeche Mode (dəˌpɛʃˈmoʊd are an English Electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, graduating in 1989[5] but dropped out after one or two semesters,[6] ". Berklee College of Music, founded in 1945 is an independent music College in Boston Massachusetts. . . " moving to Los Angeles, California, where he found himself largely an outsider in the closed Los Angeles electronica community. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary Electronic music designed for a wide range
BT then moved back to the Washington, DC area where he had grown up and collaborated there with his friends Ali "Dubfire" and Sharam of Deep Dish in the early 1990s. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Ali Shirazinia, more commonly known as Dubfire, is an Iranian-American Disc jockey. Sharam Tayebi (or known simply as Sharam) is an Iranian-American DJ & Producer, forming one half of the Grammy award-winning Deep Dish is a duo of DJ and House music producers consisting of Iranian-American members Ali " Dubfire " Shirazinia [7] Transeau's productions were not yet popular in the United States, and he had no idea that he had become a sensation across the Atlantic, where UK DJs like Sasha and Paul Oakenfold were regularly spinning his music for crowds. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Sasha (born Alexander Coe on 4 September 1969 is a Welsh DJ and record producer Paul Oakenfold (born 30 August, 1963 in Greenhithe, Kent, UK) is a Record producer and a popular trance Sasha bought Transeau a ticket to London, where BT witnessed his own massive success; several thousand clubbers responded enthusiastically when Sasha played his song. [8] He was soon signed to Oakenfold's record label, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers. [5] His British hits at this time were "A Moment of Truth" and "Relativity," and it was during this time in the UK that BT met Tori Amos. Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963) is a Pianist and Singer-songwriter of dual British and American [5]
In the early years of BT's career (roughly 1995-2000), he became a pioneering artist in the trance genre. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Despite the fact that he is not truly a DJ and doesn't claim to be,[9] BT has often appeared on the lists of the world's top DJs. In 2006, he ranked 73rd on DJ Mag's Top 100 DJ list. In 2005, he ranked 82nd,[10] up from 92 in 2004. [11] Additional rankings were 83rd in 2003 and 76 in 2001. [12][13] More recently, in DJ Times, BT was ranked as America's second best DJ, as voted by fans. [14]
BT has said of his musical background, "I'm not the traditional type of dance music artist. I'm not a DJ. I come from a classical music background. I attended the Berklee College of Music, and I played in punk bands. "[8]
Instantly popular, BT's 1996 album Ima helped shape the future of the burgeoning progressive house scene as it merged with, and later came to define, the trance music style. Trance is a style of Electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s Notable on Ima was its first single, which put the album on the map with a co-write and vocal by Vincent Covello on the break-out hit single for BT, "Loving You More. " Another prized collaboration with singer/songwriter Tori Amos, "Blue Skies," was subsequently released and helped the album to gain notice in America. Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963) is a Pianist and Singer-songwriter of dual British and American "Blue Skies" is a song by BT with featured vocals by Tori Amos. [5] The title, "Ima" ("今"), is the Japanese word for "now. "
While Ima was comprised solely of the "progressive" sound, 1997's ESCM was more experimental (although it still produced several big records for the electronic dance music scene). Events January January 9 - David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert ESCM is the second artist Album by Electronica artist Brian Transeau, also known as BT. The album featured more complex melodies and more traditional harmonies along with a heavier use of vocals. [15] The tone of the album is darker and less whimsical than Ima. The album, as a whole, is much more diverse than BT's debut album. The LP was a hit in Britain, Australia, and Japan. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. [8]
The biggest hit from ESCM was the trance classic, "Flaming June,"[15] a collaboration with German trance meister Paul Van Dyk. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Paul van Dyk (born Matthias Paul; in Eisenhüttenstadt, Brandenburg, Germany) is one of the world's leading electronic dance music DJs Van Dyk and BT would collaborate on a number of works including the unreleased "Namastai" as well as Van Dyk's remix of BT's "Blue Skies" and "Remember. " "Remember" featured Jan Johnston on vocals. BT and Van Dyk also remixed the Van Dyk classic "Forbidden Fruit. "
BT released his 1999 album Movement in Still Life and continued his previous experimentation outside of the trance genre. Movement in Still Life is the third Album by Electronica artist BT. The album, his third, features a strong element of nu skool breaks, a genre he helped define with the popular "Hip-Hop Phenomenon,"[16] in collaboration with Tsunami One. Nu skool breaks (often abbreviated to nuskool or breaks) is a term used to describe a sub-genre of Breakbeat. Tsunami One was an influential UK -based Nu skool breaks act composed of duo Adam Freeland and Kevin Beber. The LP moved into less experimental music and was somewhat worrying to some fans on the artist's message boards. The strong hip-hop influences on "Madskillz-Mic Chekka" and "Love on Haight Street" combined with pop flavors to cause doubt that BT was moving away from his roots. Hip hop music, also referred to as rap music, is a Music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure However, the album hits a spectrum of genre-work. "Smartbomb" is a mix of funky, heavy riffs from both synthesizers and guitars woven over a hip-hop break and includes a lyric sample from "Love on Haight Street". "Shame" and "Satellite" lean toward an alt-rock sound, while "Godspeed" and "Dreaming" fall into classic trance ranks. "Running Down the Way Up", a collaboration with fellow electronic act Hybrid, features sultry vocals heavily edited into a progressive breakbeat track. Hybrid is a British Electronic music group based in Swansea, formed around the duo of Mike Truman and Chris Healings "Never Gonna Come Back Down" (featuring vocals by Mike Doughty) was the most popular single from the album, and appeared on the Gone in 60 Seconds soundtrack in radio edited form. Mike Doughty (born June 10 1970) is an American singer and songwriter This is about the 1974 film For the 2000 remake see Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000 film Gone in 60 Seconds is a 1974 "Mercury and Solace", while failing to achieve the commercial success of "Never Gonna Come Back Down", is the most commercially remixed song from the album. [17] Jan Johnston sang vocals on this track and others, with Kirsty Hawkshaw also making significant vocal contributions to "Running Down the Way Up" and "Dreaming. Kirsty Hawkshaw (born 26 October 1969, London) is a British female dance / Electronica / house / trance "
The original versions of many tracks that were to be released on the follow up to Movement in Still Life were stolen from BT's studio during a burglary around Christmas of 2001. Movement in Still Life is the third Album by Electronica artist BT. $75,000 worth of equipment was stolen. The 11 lost tracks included collaborations with Sarah MacLachlan and Peter Gabriel which were never duplicated. Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Grammy -winning Canadian Musician, singer and Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950 in Chobham, Surrey, England) is an English Musician and Songwriter.
The album that replaced the lost tracks was Emotional Technology, released in 2003. Emotional Technology is the fourth artist Album by Electronica artist Brian Transeau, also known as BT. It featured more vocal tracks than BT's previous fare, including six with vocals by BT himself. Emotional Technology was BT's least experimental album to date, and many consider it the "poppiest" of all of his work. Emotional Technology is the fourth artist Album by Electronica artist Brian Transeau, also known as BT. The big single from the album, Somnambulist, draws heavily from the breakbeats and new wave dance of New Order and Depeche Mode, whom BT has cited as major influences. " Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved " is a song by Brian Transeau better known as BT, that was released as a single on March 20, 2003. New Wave is a Rock music genre that existed during the late 1970s and the 1980s New Order are an English rock group formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner ( vocals, Guitars Synthesizers, Peter Hook Depeche Mode (dəˌpɛʃˈmoʊd are an English Electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. [2] The rest of the album fairly escapes genre labeling. from the dark guitar work of Circles, to The Only Constant is Change which is reminiscent of Satellite, the album blends genres and changes genres in mid-track.
BT's fifth studio album, This Binary Universe, released in 2006, is his second studio album released in 5.1 surround sound, the first being the soundtrack to the motion picture Monster. This Binary Universe is the fifth studio album by Composer and Electronica artist BT (Brian Transeau, released on August 29, 51, Multichannel audio, Multichannel music Surround 3D Surround 5 Monster is a 2003 biographical - crime - drama - thriller about Serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a former
The album features a mix of many genres, including jazz, breakbeats, and classical music. Three songs feature a full 110-piece orchestra. BT has said that the album has a lullaby-like quality, inspired by his daughter, Kaia, who sat on his lap throughout most of the song writing process. Animated videos were created to accompany each song. [18] The videos are included in a DVD packaged along with the CD.
Keyboard Magazine declared of the album, “In a hundred years, it could well be studied as the first major electronic work of the new millennium. ”[19]
Unlike his last two albums, which featured vocals on almost every track, this album contains none. The tracks also change genres constantly throughout. A good example is "The Antikythera Mechanism", which starts off almost lullaby-like, complete with a piano, acoustic guitars and reversed beats. The Antikythera mechanism (ˌæntɪkɪˈθɪərə an-ti-ki- theer -uh is an ancient mechanical Calculator (also described as the first known " mechanical Halfway through the track, the song explodes with a 110-piece orchestra, followed by a section of breakbeats and ending with the de-construction of the orchestra.
Through the months of November and December of 2006, BT toured the album with Thomas Dolby opening. Thomas Dolby (born Thomas Morgan Robertson, on 14 October 1958) is an English Musician, producer and inventor This three-piece band set featured many instruments created by BT himself, as well as introduced his live stutter edit plug-in that was to be released in 2007. The concert also featured a live slideshow of images from the online website DeviantArt as a backdrop. [20][21]
The Stutter Edit as well as Break Tweaker are both software created by BT's company "Sonik Architects" which he began with several fellow Berklee College of Music alumni[5] and were to be released sometime in 2007; however, the company has not "gone live" as of yet. [22]
BT has remixed songs from Madonna, Sarah McLachlan, Sasha,[23] Diana Ross, and Seal. Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16 1958 known as Madonna, is an American Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Grammy -winning Canadian Musician, singer and Sasha (born Alexander Coe on 4 September 1969 is a Welsh DJ and record producer Diana Ross (born March 261944 is an American twelve-time Grammy and Oscar -nominated singer Record producer and actress whose musical repertoire Sealhenry Olusegun Olumide Adelo Samuel (born February 19, 1963 in Paddington, London) is a British soul Singer and [15]
Upcoming collaborations:
Unlike many fellow trance artists, Transeau frequently performs his music live. Blake Colin Lewis (born July 21, 1981) is an American Singer-songwriter, beatboxer and philanthropist who was the runner-up Trance is a style of Electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s In August 2000, he headlined the E-Pavilion at EndFest. KNDD (1077 FM) also known as "1077 The End" is an Alternative rock Radio station in Seattle Washington. For New Year's Eve 2001, he performed at a Los Angeles block party with Paul Oakenfold and Deep Dish. Paul Oakenfold (born 30 August, 1963 in Greenhithe, Kent, UK) is a Record producer and a popular trance Deep Dish is a duo of DJ and House music producers consisting of Iranian-American members Ali " Dubfire " Shirazinia [29]
In 2004, he did a very popular "last night of summer" concert at BT Tower (named for British Telecom). The BT Tower is a tall cylindrical building in London, England. BT Group plc (formerly British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (ˌbiːˈtiː bee tee) (previously known as British Telecom and still On August 6, 2006, BT performed at the Campus Bash for WWDC 2006, the last bash to actually be held at the Apple Inc. campus at 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, California. Events 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Apple Inc, ( formerly Apple Computer Inc, is an American Multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing Consumer electronics An infinite loop is a sequence of instructions in a computer program which loops endlessly either due to the loop having no terminating condition or having one that can Cupertino (ˌkuːpɚˈtiːnoʊ is a Suburban city in Santa Clara County, California, U California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.
On August 11, 2006 he performed the opening performance to a sold out show featuring DJ Tiësto at The Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Tiësto ( born Tijs Verwest ( on January 17 1969 is a Grammy -nominated Dutch trance DJ and Record producer. Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa is a Hotel, Casino, and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey owned by Marina District Development New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. [30][31]
BT in December 2006 toured in support of This Binary Universe in a dual-headliner tour with Thomas Dolby. This Binary Universe is the fifth studio album by Composer and Electronica artist BT (Brian Transeau, released on August 29,
BT performed at the second to last night at the AXIS nightclub in Boston on September 14, 2007. He opened with "Let it Be" by the Beatles and flowed into hard progressive trance. The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960
BT performed a charity event in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 15, 2007 called (Not so) Silent Night. Salt Lake City is the Capital and the most populous city of the U Mike Doughty (M. Doughty of Soul Coughing and BT's track "Never Gonna Come Back Down") opened with his debut house set, receiving a very positive response from the crowd. Soul Coughing was a New York -based Alternative rock band active in the 1990s
BT has written his own software called BreakTweaker for his latest album. He was intending to release it in 2007 under his software company, Sonik Architects. He plans to then come out with a line of tools and plugins specifically aimed at musicians and DJs, including his signature stutter edit. [32] He has a team of developers now working on delivering a feature-complete product leaving him free to focus on higher level architecture and development.
In addition to his "BT Stutter" edit,[5] BT's signature sound is also achieved by means of a method of sound manipulation called granular synthesis, where sounds are broken apart into tiny pieces and rearranged to create very chaotic and wild soundscapes. Granular synthesis is a basic sound synthesis method that operates on the Microsound time scale. [33] BT is one of the direct pioneers of time correction techniques. [34] Time correction is a method by which a producer takes a series of samples with random occurrence (such as rain) and time corrects each individual hit according to a rhythmic and mathematical grid, much like the BT stutter. The result is that the seemingly random pulses take on a rhythmic form as well as a developing pattern, but retain their chaotic and unpredictable character.
Transeau has developed his own method of time-correcting which he calls "nano-correcting," which is correcting any note shorter than a 64th note. He is writing a book on stutter editing and time correcting and has included a chapter on nano-correcting. [34]
Transeau has implied on occasion that he is a fan of the television series South Park, despite being against watching television. South Park is an animated American television comedy series created and written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for Comedy Central
In January 2007, Transeau lost items valued at a total of US $150,000 which included his personal computer containing the show display of This Binary Universe. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. This is the second noted robbery which has befallen Transeau. In response to this, Transeau had posted a US$20,000 reward (or his equivalent time as a producer) for information leading to the recovery of his music, and on his website has noted attempts to create a non-profit community subscription service where individuals can record details in an attempt to help track future stolen goods.
On December 23, 2007, news broke that BT's 3 1/2 year old daughter Kaia Nui Transeau had been abducted by her mother, Ashley Duffy, during a planned visit. The date of the abduction was not specified, but it was also reported that between the abduction and the public announcement, Kaia had spoken to her father over the phone at least once, saying that her mother was yelling at and hitting her. [35] On January 7th, 2008, a press release[36] was issued that stated Kaia still had not been located, was now listed in the NCIC missing persons database, and included a personal statement from BT:
I am diligently and delicately working to do everything possible to amend this tragic family situation. As a father my only goal is to get my daughter back home in a stable and safe environment. I appreciate your continued support and understanding in this desperate hour.
On January 15th, 2008, various media outlets began reporting that Kaia had been located in Santa Monica, California and was reunited with her father. Ashley Duffy was arrested and charged with one count of "out-of-state child abduction from the lawful custodian" and one count of "out-of-state child detention from the lawful custodian. "[37]
ABC News reported on January 18th that all charges against Ashley Duffy were dropped with officials claiming that the felony arrest warrant never should have been issued. This article is about the American news organization See also ABC News (disambiguation ABC News is a division of American Seth Zucker, spokesman for the Montgomery County State Attorney's office is quoted as saying, "The charges have been dropped, the warrant has been squashed [sic],It's a family law issue now for California. " Ashley's mother, is also stated as saying that the mother and father will share custody of Kaia with alternating 48 hour visits until a later California family court date occurs. [38]
In recent years, BT has moved into film scoring, creating the scores for various films. A film score is a broad term referring to the music in a film which is generally categorically separated from songs used within a film He produced the score for the 2001 film Zoolander, but then had his name pulled from the project. Zoolander is a 2001 Comedy film directed by Ben Stiller. The film is based on a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and His tracks for the film were finished by composer David Arnold. David Arnold (born January 23, 1962) is a Grammy Award -winning English film composer best known for scoring five James Bond films [39] His score for the film Monster (2003) has received particular acclaim. Monster is a 2003 biographical - crime - drama - thriller about Serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a former [2] He is now slated to work on a film titled The Possibility of Fireflies which stars Kelly Preston and will be released in 2008. Kelly Preston (born October 13, 1962) is an American actress and former model married to John Travolta since 1991 [40]
Transeau has scored the video games Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas (2000), Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions (2002) and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (2004).
BT has even ventured into television, creating the scores for the TV series Kevin Hill in 2004 and for Tommy Lee Goes To College for NBC in 2005. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's He also executive-produced the Tommy Lee series, the idea for which he actually developed and sold to NBC. Tommy Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American Musician. [9]
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