#tom ridley

[soundrooms]

T O M   R I D L E Y   |   @looseforms

Reaching flow state in thirty seconds 🚀

[eddwardgold]

to,m my beloved <3 this is so messy <3 eddtober day 2

[soundrooms]

Soundrs: Tom Ridley

Photo credit: Connor Laws

Today we present Tom Ridley of Loose Forms & Poisonous Birds!

Photo credit: Connor Laws

➜ Twitter

➜ Instagram

Photo credit: Connor Laws

Why do you make music?

Firstly, it’s a fun feedback loop of input to output and round again that I suppose lights up my brain like nothing else. (I’ve stolen that description from my friend Finn who said that to me once).

I’ve also come to realise only recently that music has a more vital role for my wellbeing, allowing me to explore and express ideas that perhaps I don’t have the tools to digest or express any other way.

The community around music is also really important to me—most of my important friendships stem from music.

What are your inspiration sources?

Mostly not music. Art, books, people, environments. But live music performances are really powerful and I’m glad they’re back. I watched Crack Cloud earlier this week and it was awesome.

Artwork by Daniel Turtlei ➜ https://instagram.com/death.is.no.end

Tell us something about your workflow.

Explorative work, when I don’t know what I want, happens in hardware. As soon as I know what I want, I can usually do it fastest in the computer. I am trying to learn to be more explorative and playful within Ableton though—my friend Patrick (Delay Grounds) showed me some wild tricks.

How would creative rituals benefit your workflow?

I don’t really have many. I do tend to punctuate creative sessions with a cup of herbal tea, or coffee if it’s a morning session. There’s something about marking a new chapter of the day with a small ritual that resets my brain. (I used to do this with wine but a few glasses deep I write bad music).

How do you get in the zone?

Tidy my space.

How do you start a track?

Play, in the childish sense. Sometimes I grab an instrument and sit on the floor and follow my ears and interest.

Do you have a special template?

Nope!

What do you put on the master channel?

A Utility (Ableton) to mono the low end. Sometimes some saturation—Fabfilter Saturn 2. Sometimes a really aggressive compressor that I turn on just to see how stuff responds when it’s super squished, but that’s turned off when I export. That’s usually it. If I’m “mastering” (important inverted commas) myself I’ll do that in a fresh project.

How do you arrange and finish a track?

During writing / arranging I’ll usually dump out audio stems and start a fresh project a few times to commit to my choices and have a cleaner desk. I’ll usually do that again when I’m going for a final mixdown. Sometimes a piece of music has been through a three or four fresh projects.

Also, set a deadline.

How do you deal with unfinished projects?

Let them rot on my hard drive. I seldom go back to them. I have hundreds, maybe thousands.

Artwork by Tiph Fedor

How do you store and organize your projects?

I store them on my hard drive, and it’s all sync’d to iCloud drive. My current projects are organised-ish—like if I’m working on an EP or a film, but there is no organised archive—once the project is done I put that whole folder somewhere and move on. I don’t want to be burdened by digital information—it’s just not important.

How do you take care of studio ergonomics?

I don’t have too many things, and keep them within reach. Also a comfortable & supportive chair.

Tell us something about your daily routine, how is your day structured, how do you make room for creativity?

Since realising that music plays a role in me digesting and navigating life, I’m much more strict about carving out time for it, and defending that time.

Artwork to We Can Never Not Be All Of Us by Poisonous Birds

Share a quick producing tip.

Don’t sync delays.

Share a link to an interesting website (doesn’t have to be music related).

➜ https://llllllll.co

List ten sounds you are hearing right this moment : )

An espresso machine, a few conversations, a handdryer, a siren (I’m near the hospital), my keyboard, some background music, the guy next to me just coughed, the person in the bathroom opened the door, a car door slammed, my phone vibrated.

Thank you so much Tom! Keep flowin’ 🏄🏼‍♂️✨

[eddwardgold]

old sketch

[eddwardgold]

i opened firealpaca for thsi i fuckign love tom

[eddwardgold]

a kissaroo from me 2 u <3

[eddwardgold]

sometimes u danse in the kitchen with ur bf :]

[eddwardgold]

im getting out my backlog of eddsworld art, have these confused tomedds and this tord