Instruments Microphone Spouse Maggie Watson Name Chris Watson | ||
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Role Musician · chriswatson.net Albums Outside the Circle of Fire, Stepping Into the Dark, Red Mecca, Three Mantras, East African Nocturne Profiles | ||
Chris watson the colour of sound
Christopher Richard Watson (born 10 December 1952 in Sheffield) is an English musician and sound recordist specialising in natural history. He was a founding member of the musical group Cabaret Voltaire, and Watson's work as a wildlife sound recordist has covered television documentaries and experimental musical collaborations.
Contents
- Chris watson the colour of sound
- 01 chris watson winter touch
- Music
- Sound recording
- Radio programmes
- Personal life
- Solo
- Collaborations
- References
01 chris watson winter touch
Music
Watson was a founding member of two influential experimental music groups, Cabaret Voltaire and The Hafler Trio.
He has released four solo albums of field recordings: Outside the Circle of Fire, Stepping into the Dark (which won an Award of Distinction at the 2000 Prix Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria), Weather Report, and El Tren Fantasma. He has also released a variety of works in collaboration with other artists, including Star Switch On, a collaboration with Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic, Philip Jeck, Hazard, Fennesz, AER (Jon Wozencroft, aka "Alpha Echo Romeo"), and Biosphere. In 2007 he released Storm with BJNilsen, and in 2011 he released "Cross-Pollination" with Marcus Davidson. All of these recordings were released on Touch.
The Weather Report album from 2003 was named as "One of the thousand albums you should hear before you die" in The Guardian.
Sound recording
His sound recording career began in 1981 when he joined Tyne Tees Television. His television work includes Bill Oddie Back in the USA and Springwatch.
In 2006 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Technology degree by the University of the West of England "in recognition of his outstanding contribution to sound recording technology, especially in the field of natural history and documentary location sound".
In 2010 he devised an art project at Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital, using sound recordings made by children to calm other young patients as they received injections and other treatments.
Radio programmes
Watson has made and been featured in a number of BBC radio programmes:
Personal life
Watson attended Rowlinson School and Stannington College (now part of Sheffield College), both in Sheffield. He is married to Maggie, who appeared momentarily on-screen with him in episode 3 of Autumnwatch 2010.
He is a Policy & Enterprise Fellow at Durham University's Institute of Advanced Study.