How a wonderful album started a new series
The story behind Tone Studies
Some years ago, I created a series of work called ‘Landscape Studies’. There were three EPs each with three pieces on that were based around the prominent use of some of myfield recordings. I’ve always liked the idea of work being organised into sub groups if they have a theme or narrative that unites them. The idea behind ‘Tone Studies’ came about as a result of being awarded an Arts Council grant. I wanted to explore more rhythmic themes and so I engaged my friend and fellow composer, Simon McCorry to mentor me for a few days. We explored various ideas around polyrhythms and armed with these references, I returned to my studio expecting to put these newly learned examples into practice. What came out was a complete surprise to me. I started to create much longer, more down out, tonal pieces! I obviously needed to go in this direction… so I surrendered to the muse and continued.
After a short time, I had enough material for three EPs and coined the term, ‘Tone Studies’. Fully expecting them to be solo releases at some point. However…
When Bruce and Paul sent me their demo for ‘Slowly Observed Horizons’ it quickly became apparent that here was an album that could kick start a ‘Tone Studies’ series as part of the Driftworks canon. And so it was, that this gorgeous album became ‘Tone Studies No. 1’
Paul Ridout and Bruce Magill (Elders) met at a Dyski residency in Cornwall. A creativeretreat centred on the use of graphical scores, modular synths and field recordings as compositional tools. This event, combined with their shared love of the natural world and musical machines, was the catalyst for their collaboration.
Elders - About Paul
Paul Ridout (RidArt) has worked in the music industry as producer, sound engineer & graphic designer over many decades. Constantly searching for new sounds since his introduction to tape loops in the early 60’s through sampling on Fairlight and Emulator and early experiments with MIDI and FX pedals. The ‘Slowly Observed Horizons’ collaboration has allowed him to reflect on previous explorations.
Credited by artists from Van Morrison to Van der Graaf Generator, Hammill to Hughes he has spent his time exploring the interface between sound and vision. Most notable being ‘Slow Motion Music’, an interpretation of the Steve Reich score of the same name released on the album Shift by Chris Hughes and as a video on YouTube, a cross-over piece that has been played on both BBC Radio 3 and 6 Music.
Elders - About Bruce
Bruce's musical journey spans over three decades. Starting out as a singer, progressing to solo electronic music, then deeper into synthesis and field recording.
Bruce's musical journey spans over three decades. He has written and performed music for short films, animations, released music with labels such as Criminal Communications, Skinny Dog Records, Supermarket Records, Mailbox Records, Whitelabrecs, and remixed the work of a diverse range of artists including Driftwork’s very own label owner Andrew Heath.
Bruce’s solo ambient work as ‘Low Altitude’ was recently voted as one of the Electronic Sound magazine’s 101 Favourite Underground Artists of 2025 on Bandcamp. His 2024 album ‘Boat’ and 2023 album ‘Waves’ were both featured on Bandcamp’s New & Notable.
