Martin Swan (musician)
Encyclopedia
Martin Swan is a Scottish
multi-instrumentalist, songwriter
, composer
, record producer
, recording engineer and instrument designer.
Swan is best known as the leader of the Mouth Music
project, whose combination of traditional Gaelic songs and music with contemporary instrumental and technological settings led them to international fame and number 1 placings in world music
sales charts in the early 1990s. His multi-instrumental skills and his approach towards the making of folk music
(eclectic, restless and frequently non-purist) has seen him compared to a folk music version of Prince
.
Since 2008, Swan has been involved in the restoration, manufacture and design of string instrument
s.
Though born in England, Swan is of Scottish descent and identifies as Scottish.
Swan also sings (mostly backing vocals, but more recently lead vocals) and whistles, and is a skilled musical arranger.
since its inception in 1988. Initially an equal partner with singer Talitha MacKenzie
, he asserted control over the project following disagreements with MacKenzie and her subsequent departure in 1991 (MacKenzie has continued to challenge Swan's view of the "Mouth Music" concept). Since then Swan has presided over a variety of lineups, working with musicians including Capercaillie
/Shooglenifty
drummer James Mackintosh, pipe/flute/fiddle player Martyn Bennett
, fiddler Alison Crawford and singers Jackie Joyce (aka Helicopter Girl
), Martin Furey, Mairi McInnes, Ishbel MacAskill
and Michaela Rowan. Over the course of six albums and one EP, Mouth Music’s music has spanned a wide variety of styles from traditional Celtic music to worldbeat, funk, electronic dance, "fiddle fusion" and more.
and darabuka, mashing up Scottish/Irish tune playing with the virtuoso traditions of eastern Europe and the Balkans.” The band’s line-up is Martin Swan (fiddle), Lewis Powell-Reid (accordion, guitar), Ross Ainslie (whistle, pipes, cittern
), James Mackintosh (percussion) and Fraser Watson (percussion), Mackintosh has previously worked with Swan in Mouth Music.
The band made their public debut on January 16, 2008 (at the Celtic Connections concert series in Glasgow
) and have continued to play ceilidh
s around the Scottish Borders region.
music" and which includes "Ramones tempos and Hajduk
virtuoso nonsense." The group's stated aim is to "achieve a state of rabbit-ness and to infect others with equal rabbit-ness." Swan plays violin in the band, which is fronted by Lidija Dokuzovic and also features hip-hoppers Erol Zejnilovic and Konrad Lovrencic, along with "a random crew of percussionists, beatboxers and physical therapists" including Nenad Kovacic and Ante
Prgin-Surka.
's Bothy Culture
album.
In 2003, Swan produced and engineered Martin Furey's debut solo album Howl (on which he also played guitar using Furey’s invention, the Varichord capo).
In 2006, Swan produced and engineered Nuru Kane
's widely-admired Sigil album (on which he also played violin and accordion).
In 2007, Swan produced and mixed the second Kries album Kocijani (released in 2008).
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
multi-instrumentalist, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, recording engineer and instrument designer.
Swan is best known as the leader of the Mouth Music
Mouth Music (band)
Mouth Music is a Scottish inspired musical project founded in 1988, whose combination of traditional Gaelic songs and music with contemporary instrumental and technological settings led them to international fame in the early 1990s....
project, whose combination of traditional Gaelic songs and music with contemporary instrumental and technological settings led them to international fame and number 1 placings in world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
sales charts in the early 1990s. His multi-instrumental skills and his approach towards the making of folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
(eclectic, restless and frequently non-purist) has seen him compared to a folk music version of Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
.
Since 2008, Swan has been involved in the restoration, manufacture and design of string instrument
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
s.
Though born in England, Swan is of Scottish descent and identifies as Scottish.
Musical abilities
Martin Swan is known to play the following instruments:- Stringed instruments: fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, acousticAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, dulcimerAppalachian dulcimerThe Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
, hammered dulcimerHammered dulcimerThe hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the hammered dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings...
, bowed psalteryBowed psalteryA bowed psaltery is a psaltery that is played with a bow.-Violin Zither:In 1925 a German patent was issued to the Clemens Neuber Company for a bowed psaltery which also included a set of strings arranged in chords, so that one could play the melody on the bowed psaltery strings, and strum...
, berimbauBerimbauThe berimbau is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. The berimbau's origins are not entirely clear, but there is not much doubt about its African origin, as no Indigenous Brazilian or European people use musical bows, and very similar instruments are played in the...
, erhuErhuThe erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles... - Keyboard instruments: keyboardsElectronic keyboardAn electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
/synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist.... - Wind instruments: concert flute, low whistleLow whistleThe low whistle, or concert whistle, is a variation of the traditional tin whistle/pennywhistle, distinguished by its lower pitch and larger size. It is most closely associated with the performances of modern Irish musicians and groups such as Riverdance and Davy Spillane, and is increasingly...
, block flute, bamboo fluteBamboo fluteFlutes made of bamboo are found in many musical traditions.Some bamboo flutes include:Flute Country of Origin Atenteben Bashi Bansuri Chi Dizi Daegeum...
, shawmShawmThe shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the 12th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood,... - Acoustic percussion: drum kitDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, bass drumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, maracasMaracásMaracás is a town and municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil.-References:...
, congaCongaThe conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
, tablaTablaThe tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
, timbalesTimbalesTimbales are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing, invented in Cuba. They are shallower in shape than single-headed tom-toms, and usually much higher tuned...
, triangleTriangleA triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....
, darbouka, djembeDjembeA djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....
, cowbell, xylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
, bellsBell (instrument)A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
, calabashCalabashLagenaria siceraria , bottle gourd, opo squash or long melon is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable, or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. For this reason, the calabash is widely known as the bottle gourd...
, mbiraMbiraIn African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
, shaker, cabassa, cuicaCuícaCuíca , or "kweeca", is a Brazilian friction drum often used in samba music. The tone it produces has a high-pitched squeaky timbre. It has been called a 'laughing gourd' due to this sound.... - Electronics: electronic percussion, synthesizer programming, rhythm programming.
Swan also sings (mostly backing vocals, but more recently lead vocals) and whistles, and is a skilled musical arranger.
Mouth Music
Swan has been the only consistent member of the musical project Mouth MusicMouth Music (band)
Mouth Music is a Scottish inspired musical project founded in 1988, whose combination of traditional Gaelic songs and music with contemporary instrumental and technological settings led them to international fame in the early 1990s....
since its inception in 1988. Initially an equal partner with singer Talitha MacKenzie
Talitha MacKenzie
Talitha MacKenzie is an American world music recording artist, teacher and ethnomusicologist. Initially known for her work as the singing half of the original Mouth Music lineup, she has gone on to follow a highly-respected solo career...
, he asserted control over the project following disagreements with MacKenzie and her subsequent departure in 1991 (MacKenzie has continued to challenge Swan's view of the "Mouth Music" concept). Since then Swan has presided over a variety of lineups, working with musicians including Capercaillie
Capercaillie (band)
Capercaillie is a Scottish folk band, founded in the 1980s by Donald Shaw and fronted by Karen Matheson. They have seen four of their albums placed in the UK Albums Chart, and continue to perform and record to the present day.-History:...
/Shooglenifty
Shooglenifty
Shooglenifty are an Edinburgh-based six-piece Celtic fusion band that tours internationally. The band blends Scottish traditional music with influences ranging from electronica to alternative rock...
drummer James Mackintosh, pipe/flute/fiddle player Martyn Bennett
Martyn Bennett
Martyn Bennett was a Scottish musician who was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...
, fiddler Alison Crawford and singers Jackie Joyce (aka Helicopter Girl
Helicopter Girl
Helicopter Girl is the stage name of Jackie Joyce, a musician from Perth, Scotland. Her first album was 2000's How to Steal the World, which was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize...
), Martin Furey, Mairi McInnes, Ishbel MacAskill
Ishbel MacAskill
Ishbel MacAskill was a singer of traditional Scottish Gaelic music. She was often referred to as the "Gaelic diva". She was also a heritage activist....
and Michaela Rowan. Over the course of six albums and one EP, Mouth Music’s music has spanned a wide variety of styles from traditional Celtic music to worldbeat, funk, electronic dance, "fiddle fusion" and more.
Ambisonic
Swan was half of the electronic pop duo Ambisonic (alongside singer Jackie Joyce), who released one album, Ecohero on Nation Records in 1997. The project was a spin-off from the third Mouth Music lineup, in which Joyce was lead singer and Swan's main co-writer and creative foil.Kries
Swan plays fiddle for the Croatian band Kries (led by ex-Legen frontman Mojmir Novakovic). He appears on the band’s second album Kocijani (which he also produced and mixed).Stobo Village Band
In 2008, Swan began working with the Stobo Village Band, which is described as playing “fast hypnotic acoustic dance music with fiddle, pipes, accordion, tapanTapan
Tapan can refer to:* Tapan, Azerbaijan* Tapan , an administrative district in West Bengal, India* Tapan, Homalin, Burma* Geghasar, Armenia, formerly known as Tapan...
and darabuka, mashing up Scottish/Irish tune playing with the virtuoso traditions of eastern Europe and the Balkans.” The band’s line-up is Martin Swan (fiddle), Lewis Powell-Reid (accordion, guitar), Ross Ainslie (whistle, pipes, cittern
Cittern
The cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...
), James Mackintosh (percussion) and Fraser Watson (percussion), Mackintosh has previously worked with Swan in Mouth Music.
The band made their public debut on January 16, 2008 (at the Celtic Connections concert series in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
) and have continued to play ceilidh
Céilidh
In modern usage, a céilidh or ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing. It originated in Ireland, but is now common throughout the Irish and Scottish diasporas...
s around the Scottish Borders region.
Zykopops
In 2010, Martin Swan started a "trash folk" band called Zykopops, based in Croatia. Their first live performance was in Zagreb, in October 2010. The band's slogan ("Zykopops... worse than Turbofolk!") is apparently already gaining them notoriety throughout the Balkans. Zykopops rework classic and obscure traditional songs from Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Hungary using a punk- and hip-hop-inflected style which they call "rakijaRakia
Rakia is an alcoholic beverage that is produced by distillation of fermented fruit; it is a popular beverage throughout the Balkans. Its alcohol content is normally 40% ABV, but home-produced rakia can be stronger . Prepečenica is double-distilled rakia which has an alcohol content that may...
music" and which includes "Ramones tempos and Hajduk
Hajduk
Hajduk is a term most commonly referring to outlaws, highwaymen or freedom fighters in the Balkans, Central- and Eastern Europe....
virtuoso nonsense." The group's stated aim is to "achieve a state of rabbit-ness and to infect others with equal rabbit-ness." Swan plays violin in the band, which is fronted by Lidija Dokuzovic and also features hip-hoppers Erol Zejnilovic and Konrad Lovrencic, along with "a random crew of percussionists, beatboxers and physical therapists" including Nenad Kovacic and Ante
Prgin-Surka.
Selected work as producer and engineer
In 1998, Swan remixed Martyn BennettMartyn Bennett
Martyn Bennett was a Scottish musician who was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...
's Bothy Culture
Bothy Culture (album)
Bothy Culture is the second studio album by Scottish celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett. It was released in 1998 on the Rykodisc label.Track four, Hallaig, features a performance by Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean of his poem of the same name....
album.
In 2003, Swan produced and engineered Martin Furey's debut solo album Howl (on which he also played guitar using Furey’s invention, the Varichord capo).
In 2006, Swan produced and engineered Nuru Kane
Nuru Kane
Nuru Kane is a Senegalese singer/songwriter who plays guitar, bass and guimbri, a three-stringed Moroccan bass in the band Bayefall Gnawa....
's widely-admired Sigil album (on which he also played violin and accordion).
In 2007, Swan produced and mixed the second Kries album Kocijani (released in 2008).
Work in instrument restoration and design
Between the late 1990s and 2008, Swan had a second career as carpenter and cabinet maker. After cutting off the top of a finger with a woodworking machine in 2008, he decided to give up the large-scale carpentry and began restoring old violins instead. He soon became fascinated and exasperated by the variations in tonal quality of old violins and started researching the methods of Eastern European violin makers. This led to him designing a range of handmade violins, violas and cellos, travelling to Transylvania to choose tonewood and developing friendships with the Hungarian luthiers who now make the instruments for him.with Mouth Music
- Mouth Music (1991) 1990 (Triple Earth/Rykodisc
- Blue Door Green Sea EP (1992)
- Mo-Di (1993) Triple Earth/Rykodisc
- Move On EP (1994)
- Shorelife (1995) Triple Earth
- Seafaring Man (2001) (Meta 4/Nettwerk)
- The Scrape (2003) (Skitteesh)
- The Order of Things (2005) (Skitteesh)