Ian Cleverdon: Music and Composition
Confusion Clear?
In addition to Ian’s work as a sound engineer, podcast producer and half of The Huers, he is also a recording artist in his own right. 2021 saw the release of his second solo ambient, instrumental album, Confusion Clear. This comes only 20 years after his first solo album, Night Visions, back in 2001! You can stream Night Visions on all streaming platforms - see below.
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Ian tells us how Confusion Clear came about:
‘2020 will always be known as the year that Covid-19 broke, launching us into a series of lockdowns. Sadly, many people lost their lives and lost their jobs. From my perspective, the educational day job became much busier, but working from home meant that I could dabble a bit more with my own musical ideas. ‘In December 2020, the online workload started to ease off, and I found myself spending more time on developing the musical ideas I had been capturing during lockdown to the degree that, by the end of the month, I not only had a body of work recorded and produced, but that it also echoed some of the feelings and emotions that we experienced during the lockdown and restrictions. |
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‘During this time, I also discovered the fabulous orchestral libraries produced by Spitfire Audio – BBC Symphony Orchestra Core and Abbey Road One – which allowed me to dabble with orchestral arrangements, something which I hadn’t done since A Level Music days. Subtle use of orchestration on the synth and guitar-based ideas seemed to lift the motifs, and I felt that the end result needed a wider audience.
‘On one synth-based, ethereal sounding track, I thought some narrative was called for. Enter my good friend and crime author, Malcolm Hollingdrake. I sent him the track and said “write whatever comes to mind”. You can hear the results of his writing, and indeed his narration, on the track, Confusion Clear, which just had to be the title of the album. His words are pivotal to the whole concept of what we’ve experienced, and when he sent me his narrated version, just captured on his phone, there was no need to ask anyone else to narrate it. Even the third party involvement was socially-distanced!
‘The musical suite is perfect for relaxation, whether that be dog walking, yoga, meditation, or something similar. If you enjoy music from the likes of Mike Oldfield, Jean-Michel Jarre, Brian Eno or Olafur Arnalds, then you should really enjoy this.’
You can order the album or stream it by following the links at the top of this page. Click on the button to view the track listing and the album artwork.
‘On one synth-based, ethereal sounding track, I thought some narrative was called for. Enter my good friend and crime author, Malcolm Hollingdrake. I sent him the track and said “write whatever comes to mind”. You can hear the results of his writing, and indeed his narration, on the track, Confusion Clear, which just had to be the title of the album. His words are pivotal to the whole concept of what we’ve experienced, and when he sent me his narrated version, just captured on his phone, there was no need to ask anyone else to narrate it. Even the third party involvement was socially-distanced!
‘The musical suite is perfect for relaxation, whether that be dog walking, yoga, meditation, or something similar. If you enjoy music from the likes of Mike Oldfield, Jean-Michel Jarre, Brian Eno or Olafur Arnalds, then you should really enjoy this.’
You can order the album or stream it by following the links at the top of this page. Click on the button to view the track listing and the album artwork.
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Night Visions (2001)
This is Ian's first ambient album, written and released in 2001 using mainly Roland XV-3080 and Korg 05-RW synthesisers, Surprisingly for Ian, no guitars were used in the making of this album! It was written to help a friend through a difficult time, and is the perfect ambient, relaxation album, ideal for meditation, yoga and just to have on in the background. Light a few candles, pour a glass of something nice, and drift away. It is best enjoyed on headphones, but beware...you may not get to the end awake if you do! It is available for streaming on the following platforms (follow the links): Spotify Apple Music YouTube Tidal Deezer |
Soundtrack Commission and Composition
If you are interested in licensing some of Ian's music for your video production, or would like to discuss commissioning an original composition, please contact Ian to discuss requirements via the Contact page.