By Keith Walsh
Tim Brown, the man behind Britain’s Blurred Turtle, has taken an array of influences to create his own electronic progressive rock sound, featuring synthesizers and a Fender Stratocaster. And despite these many influences, Blurred Turtle’s sound is quite its own thing, ranging from energetic driving rock, to ambient soundscapes and imaginative tunes that employ strange modes and scales to evoke foreign places.
“In my youth,” Brown writes, “ I was into Deep Purple, Rainbow, Status Quo, Wishbone Ash, Whitesnake, Styx, Pink Floyd all the usual stuff, then into the big Hair Rock in the 80’s, then in the 90’s – 2000’s discovered Prog metal, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Nightwish, and such like. My keyboard heroes are Jon Lord, Tony Carey, Jordan Rudess, Derek Sherinian. The cinematic sounds probably come from Nightwish and Jordan Rudess.”
It’s a musical sense of curiosity that seems to drive Brown, whose debut album, the eponymous “Blurred Turtle,” from September 2018, features raging synth leads, moody piano tracks, and lots of chromatic twists that trick the ear. From childhood days tinkering on a Hammond, to piano lessons and playing in bands in the 80s and 90s, this largely self-taught artist offers a variety of tones and melodies in his prog rock creations.
Brown has cycled through a list of keyboards that should make any synth enthusiast envious. “My dad had an Hammond organ and I just doodled around on that, I did have classical piano lessons in the early ‘90s,” he writes. “My first keyboard was a Vox Continental going through some nondescript combo amp, then added a Roland string machine RS-09, Moog Prodigy, Roland Vk1 drawbar organ, Roland Juno 6, Wurlitzer electric piano, sold all these in the mid ‘80s and bought a Roland Alpha Juno 2 and a Roland D-50, I don’t own these anymore either. “
Brown recently made an exciting acquisition – the fabulous Moog Grandmother, and looks forward to putting it to good use very soon. I thought I heard a Moog on his debut release, but was mistaken. “No Moog on the first ‘Blurred Turtle’ album,” he writes. “Those sounds came from a Korg Triton Extreme, 88 note with weighted keys synth’, and a Waldorf Blofeld synth’ module. Yes I have a Moog Grandmother now, and will be on my next release.”
Perhaps the most unexpected piece of gear in Blurred Turtle’s arsenal is a vintage personal computer, an Atari STE, which drives occasional MIDI sequences. Brown explains: “To record I use a Tascam 2488 Digital Portastudio 24 track, a Mackie 12 channel mixer, Korg Triton Extreme, Roland JV880 synth module, Waldorf Blofeld synth module, Akia S2000 sampler(I use this mainly for overdriven Hammond sounds), and an Atari STE running Breakthru for any sequencing duties.”
Breakthru is a 64 track MIDI sequencer for the Atari STE, a personal computer first released nearly three decades ago. A Rode microphone I assume is used to mic up the Strat, plus for the occasional spoken word vocal on the tunes. The Korg Triton provides drums tracks, both sequenced and played by hand.
In early July, Blurred Turtle released a new single, “Silhouette”, which develops from a simple guitar figure into an instrumental rock tune that relies on, then transcends Brown’s many influences. I’m looking forward to hearing what he – and his Grandmother – do next.
finis
https://blurredturtle.bandcamp.com/
