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I grew up in New Jersey, and during high school taught myself guitar and started learning keyboards (very badly). Early influences included Adrian Belew, whose sonic mayhem on guitar inspired me to look to using effects creatively to reach beyond what traditional guitar tones could do, especially with echo, flanging, and distortion.
I ended up going to Dartmouth, where I was an English major. I also got a DX7 keyboard my sophomore year, and started learning MIDI sequencing with Performer. Computer sequencing solved my issues with not being able to play keyboards well, as I could lay down separate left and right hand parts. I also got an Alesis Midiverb II, which became indispensible for both sequencing and also for guitar texturing. I was a member of a college Band, the Distractions, which I was a part of for three years. During my last year, I performed with my friend Ed Gray as Ed, Ned and the Mac, where we performed cover tunes sequenced by the Mac with both of us playing/singing in real time. It was usually a bit too weird for Dartmouth students ("Where's the drummer?") but it was a lot of fun. Throughout it all, I enjoyed using technology to create a new sound for myself, whether on keyboards or on guitar.
I took several music courses, including Music Theory, Jon Appleton's course, and Origins of American Music. In my final piece for Music 55, I used a lot of different samples, including guitar strrings transposed way below their normal pitch with new ADSR envelopes, working them into a music concrete piece. I learned how to loop on the Synclavier, as well as assigning different controllers to modify the sound while it was playing for nuances.
After I graduated Dartmouth in 1989, I moved to New York, where I worked for an investment bank (boring, bad) that helped support buying more music equipment (exciting, good). I stayed there for three years, and then went to Northwestern's Kellogg graduate school, where I majored in marketing and organizational behavior. I was still very interested in composing, and in addition to writing original soundtrack-type music, I started and led a new band, which was called the Distractions as well. Our website is at www.nedorama.com/distractions/index.html
For my summer internship in 1993, I worked for Opcode Systems in Palo Alto, CA as a marketing intern. It was a great internship, and I learned a great deal about music software, as well as becoming intimately familiar with Studio Vision, Galaxy and OMS. I worked for trade, so that I worked for Opcode products instead of a salary - it was a great deal!
After graduating from business school in 1994, I've been in toy marketing ever since, working predominantly for Mattel on action figure marketing but now back to Hot Wheels marketing, which again gives me room to be creative at work (while also funding more gear to be creative at home).
My current music projects include composing and recording new music, as well as mastering old 4-track tapes of my previous bands. While I've been a faithful Opcode supporter since 1993, the lack of support from Gibson has forced me to look in other places. Thankfully, I've found that in Pro Tools with the Digi 001 as well as Emagic's Logic Audio Gold. I'm intrigued by combining Western and non-Western music, and I'm always on the lookout for new sonic manglers, such as SoundHack, but also as realtime plug-ins -- I now have the luxury to mangle in real time and not commit to tape.
Equipment list -
Mac G4 DP500 w/ 1.4GB RAM, OS 9.2.1 and OSX
Que! Fire 16X CD Burner for reference CD's and backup
Digidesign Digi 001
Emagic AMT8 MIDI interface
Mackie LM3204 Mixer
Alesis RA100 Power amp
Alesis Point Seven Near field monitors
effects
ADA MP1 Guitar Pre-amp
Mesa V-Twin Guitar Pre-amp
Alesis Midiverb II
Lexicon LXP1
Lexicon MPX100 Lexicon Vortex
dbx 166A Compressors (2)
Joe Meek C2 Compressor
ART Dual Levelar tube compressor
ADA MicroCab (killer speaker cabinet emulator)
ADA MicroCab II (adds internal transformer, power amp support)
Yamaha SPX90
synths
Kurzweil K2000VP
Yamaha DX7 (the original)
E-my Proteus 1
Ensoniq ESQM
Yamaha TX802
Alesis D4
other controllers
Midiman Oxygen 8 USB keyboard
KAT Drumpad
Software:
Digidesign Pro Tools
Emagic Logic Audio Gold
bomb factory plugins - Classic Compressors, Pultec EQ, Joe Meek EQ
GRM Tools plugins
Native Instruments Pro 52 Prophet 5 soft synthesizer
Cycling 74 MAX
Bias Peak 3.0
Opcode Studio Vision Pro with Galaxy Pro
SoundHack
mics
Shure KMS44, SM58, SM57
Radio Shack PZM-41 (this is a $39 plate microphone that is fantastic! It is great for acoustic guitar, drum sets, vocals, and for a different sound than a condenser or dynamic mic. Pick one up - for that price you can't go wrong!)
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Copyright April 15, 2002 Ned Ward
Questions? Contact me,
nedorama@earthlink.net.