Peter Chilvers (musician)
Encyclopedia
Peter Chilvers is a Cambridgeshire
-based British musician and composer best known as a collaborator with Brian Eno
and Tim Bowness
.
Chilvers is one of the three co-founders of the Burning Shed
online record label, with Tim Bowness
and Pete Morgan.
, laptop computer, assorted keyboards and fretless bass guitar but also playing Chapman Stick
, double bass
, acoustic guitar
and electric guitar. He is also a programmer
, extending this skill to electronic percussion parts and extensive electronic orchestrations.
's fantasy novel of the same name), Free (a virally-marketed
CD-R
release of mostly ambient pieces) and Piano (a collection of solo piano pieces).
In addition to his solo career, Chilvers is also the leader of A Marble Calm – an ambient-inclined music collective centred around himself and reclusive marimba
/vibraphone
player Jon Hart. Other participants have included Theo Travis
, Tim Bowness
, Sandra O'Neill, Steve Adey
and Cambridge experimental-country guitarist Rob Jackson. This project has released two albums – Surfacing and Blue Turns To Grey.
, and is credited as "Digital Archaeologist" on the 2008 David Byrne and Brian Eno album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
. He has also worked with Eno
on an iPhone
and iPod touch
generative music application entitled Bloom
(available on the iTunes Store
).
Chilvers is a frequent musical partner of Tim Bowness
(the singer of No-Man
). As Tim Bowness/Peter Chilvers, they released an album of dark reflective ballad songs – California, Norfolk – and an online only remix CDR, Overstrand. The two have also worked together as part of the ambient folk band Samuel Smiles
(with Chilvers focussing mostly on piano) and the experimental rock band Henry Fool
(with Chilvers concentrating on bass guitar and electric piano).
Chilvers is the instrumental half of the ambient-folk duo Alias Grace, with singer Sandra O'Neill. The duo have released two albums – Embers and Storm Blue Evening – plus the Griosach download EP.
Chilvers has also collaborated with No-Man
(playing piano for their brief comeback appearance at the Burning Shed Evening in June 2006, and contributing "space bass" to the album Together We're Stranger) and with songwriter Paul Goodwin.
soundtracks for the Creatures
computer games released by Creature Labs
.
Collaboration
Guest musician
Other
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
-based British musician and composer best known as a collaborator with Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
and Tim Bowness
Tim Bowness
Tim Bowness is a singer/songwriter primarily known for his work as part of the band No-Man, a long-term project formed in 1987 with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson.-Music career:...
.
Chilvers is one of the three co-founders of the Burning Shed
Burning Shed
Burning Shed is an independent record label established in April 2001 by musicians Tim Bowness and Peter Chilvers, in association with duplication company manager and former Noisebox Records boss, Pete Morgan....
online record label, with Tim Bowness
Tim Bowness
Tim Bowness is a singer/songwriter primarily known for his work as part of the band No-Man, a long-term project formed in 1987 with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson.-Music career:...
and Pete Morgan.
Musical skills
Chilvers is a multi-instrumentalist favouring acoustic piano, electric pianoElectric piano
An electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
, laptop computer, assorted keyboards and fretless bass guitar but also playing Chapman Stick
Chapman Stick
The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and has been used on music recordings to play bass lines, melody lines, chords or textures...
, double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An 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 guitar. He is also a programmer
Programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
, extending this skill to electronic percussion parts and extensive electronic orchestrations.
Projects as leader
Chilvers has released four albums under his own name – He Wrote This (a selection of mostly instrumental pieces played on basses and Chapman Stick), Stormwatcher (the soundtrack to an "imaginary film version" of Graham JoyceGraham Joyce
Graham Joyce is an English writer of speculative fiction and the recipient of numerous awards for both his novels and short stories. He grew up in a small mining village just outside of Coventry to a working class family. After receiving a B.Ed. from Bishop Lonsdale College in 1977 and a M.A. from...
's fantasy novel of the same name), Free (a virally-marketed
Viral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
CD-R
CD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
release of mostly ambient pieces) and Piano (a collection of solo piano pieces).
In addition to his solo career, Chilvers is also the leader of A Marble Calm – an ambient-inclined music collective centred around himself and reclusive marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
/vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
player Jon Hart. Other participants have included Theo Travis
Theo Travis
Theo Travis is a British saxophonist and flautist.Travis received his degree in flute and saxophone from the University of Manchester and has worked among others with Robert Fripp, Gong, Porcupine Tree, The Tangent, Bill Nelson, Bass Communion, No-Man, Steven Wilson, David Sylvian, Harold Budd,...
, Tim Bowness
Tim Bowness
Tim Bowness is a singer/songwriter primarily known for his work as part of the band No-Man, a long-term project formed in 1987 with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson.-Music career:...
, Sandra O'Neill, Steve Adey
Steve Adey
Steve Adey is a musician and singer-songwriter. His music is characterised by slow tempos, minimalist arrangements, underpinned by a rich baritone vocal and chordal piano playing...
and Cambridge experimental-country guitarist Rob Jackson. This project has released two albums – Surfacing and Blue Turns To Grey.
Projects as collaborator
Chilvers is a collaborator with Brian EnoBrian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, and is credited as "Digital Archaeologist" on the 2008 David Byrne and Brian Eno album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today is the second album made in collaboration between David Byrne and Brian Eno, released on August 18, 2008, by Todo Mundo. The album explores themes of humanity versus technology and optimism in spite of bleak circumstance through the blending of electronic...
. He has also worked with Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
on an iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and iPod touch
IPod touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
generative music application entitled Bloom
Bloom (software)
Bloom is a generative music application for the iPhone OS created by Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers. The software plays a low drone, and touching the screen produces different tones, which play in a loop. If the screen is left untouched, the software will create its own music.Eno and Chilvers have...
(available on the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
).
Chilvers is a frequent musical partner of Tim Bowness
Tim Bowness
Tim Bowness is a singer/songwriter primarily known for his work as part of the band No-Man, a long-term project formed in 1987 with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson.-Music career:...
(the singer of No-Man
No-Man
No-Man are a British art-pop duo formed in 1987 as No Man Is An Island by singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson . The band has so far produced six studio albums and a number of singles/outtakes collections...
). As Tim Bowness/Peter Chilvers, they released an album of dark reflective ballad songs – California, Norfolk – and an online only remix CDR, Overstrand. The two have also worked together as part of the ambient folk band Samuel Smiles
Samuel Smiles (band)
Samuel Smiles were an intermittently active English ambient-folk band...
(with Chilvers focussing mostly on piano) and the experimental rock band Henry Fool
Henry Fool (band)
Henry Fool are an English progressive rock band that use elements of jazz and post-rock in their music.The core members of the band are Tim Bowness and Stephen Bennett...
(with Chilvers concentrating on bass guitar and electric piano).
Chilvers is the instrumental half of the ambient-folk duo Alias Grace, with singer Sandra O'Neill. The duo have released two albums – Embers and Storm Blue Evening – plus the Griosach download EP.
Chilvers has also collaborated with No-Man
No-Man
No-Man are a British art-pop duo formed in 1987 as No Man Is An Island by singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson . The band has so far produced six studio albums and a number of singles/outtakes collections...
(playing piano for their brief comeback appearance at the Burning Shed Evening in June 2006, and contributing "space bass" to the album Together We're Stranger) and with songwriter Paul Goodwin.
Other projects
Chilvers has written a number of generative musicGenerative music
Generative music is a term popularized by Brian Eno to describe music that is ever-different and changing, and that is created by a system.- Theory :There are four primary perspectives on "Generative Music" Generative music is a term popularized by Brian Eno to describe music that is ever-different...
soundtracks for the Creatures
Creatures (artificial life program)
Creatures is an artificial life computer program series, created in the mid-1990s by English computer scientist Steve Grand whilst working for the Cambridge computer games developer Millennium Interactive...
computer games released by Creature Labs
Creature Labs
Creature Labs was a company based in Cambridge, England which was set up to develop the artificial life technology created by Steve Grand...
.
Selected discography
Solo- He Wrote This (Burning Shed, 2001)
- Stormwatcher (Burning Shed, 2002)
- Free (viral web release, 2002)
- Piano (Burning Shed, 2006)
Collaboration
- Alias Grace, Embers (self-released, 1998 – reissued on Burning Shed)
- Tim Bowness/Samuel Smiles, World Of Bright Futures (Hidden Art/Voiceprint, 1999)
- Tim Bowness/Samuel Smiles, How We Used To Live (Hidden Art/Voiceprint, 2000)
- Tim Bowness/Samuel Smiles, Live Archive One (Burning Shed, 2001)
- Tim Bowness/Samuel Smiles, Live Archive Two (Burning Shed, 2001)
- Alias Grace, Storm Blue Evening (Burning Shed, 2001)
- Tim Bowness/Peter Chilvers, California, Norfolk (Burning Shed, 2001)
- Tim Bowness/Peter Chilvers, Overstrand (Burning Shed, 2003)
- A Marble Calm, Surfacing (Burning Shed, 2004)
- A Marble Calm, Blue Turns To Grey (ToneFloat, 2006)
Guest musician
- Darkroom, Daylight (3rd Stone Ltd., 1998)
- No-ManNo-ManNo-Man are a British art-pop duo formed in 1987 as No Man Is An Island by singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson . The band has so far produced six studio albums and a number of singles/outtakes collections...
, Together We're StrangerTogether We're Stranger- Two disc Snapper edition :The two disc edition comes with the original stereo mix on CD and a DVD featuring the album in 5.1 DVD-A surround sound and in high resolution 24 bit stereo, with bonus tracks "Bluecoda" and "The Break-up for Real – drum mix" as well as the video for "Things I Want to...
(KScope/Snapper Music, 2003) - Tim BownessTim BownessTim Bowness is a singer/songwriter primarily known for his work as part of the band No-Man, a long-term project formed in 1987 with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson.-Music career:...
, My Hotel Year (One Little Indian, 2004)
Other
- David ByrneDavid ByrneDavid Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...
and Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
– Everything That Happens Will Happen TodayEverything That Happens Will Happen TodayEverything That Happens Will Happen Today is the second album made in collaboration between David Byrne and Brian Eno, released on August 18, 2008, by Todo Mundo. The album explores themes of humanity versus technology and optimism in spite of bleak circumstance through the blending of electronic...
(2008)