Context ☛
“Hi – it’s Mike.
Here you’ll find samples of my music and audio work including scores, instrumentation, and narration.
When it comes to voice over, I was born in the UK but I grew up all over the place so my natural speaking voice is a low baritone with a transatlantic accent. The beauty of my peripatetic upbringing is that I have a good ear for tone and inflection; I’m proficient in various Northern European, North American, and British regional accents – everything from received pronunciation to Georgian drawl. I also speak some German and have a basic understanding of Spanish.
As far as music goes, I started life as a bassist and went on to manage session players, musicians, and studios before starting my career in the publishing industry. My specialties are in composition and atmospherics and after a lifetime of making noise, I’ve gotten pretty good at dampening it too (take a look below for more on that).
So whether you’re looking for a distinctive voice, a score, or acoustic treatment, I’ve got you covered.
For now, thanks for listening.”
A note for English speakers: The majority of this piece is written in lowland Scots, a west-germanic language with similarities to English. Though somewhat mutually intelligble, its vocabulary and grammar are distinct.
A note for Scots speakers: Apologies for my pronunciation.
For more on this piece and the Scots language visit my substack.
“Tasmanian Devil by M.S. Marshall, first published in Lallans 93, yuil 2018.”
“Dear Sir,
I hope this letter finds you in good health. I wish this in part for it bears tidings of the gravest import and utmost gravity. I fear in my explanations that I would digress or muddle such details as I possess so I shall scrawl no further; the materials I have included shall speak for themselves, though it is a gruesome account I feel bound that the law must hear it. Know that these are the words of John Murdoch and that, though he writes as he speaks, he is a most honourable and pious man. He resides only a little to the east; it is a place of loneliness and mist and I fear it now plays host to more than grouse and crow.
*
I await her, I ken her scent an the air. This hoose is besiegit by the blackest o souls. I am compellit tae scrive this accoont lest the truth o the matter be kent only tae God as I am his honest witness. The deil conspires tae ruin this ferm an in his fashion he sends his servands as the unassumin an the obedient – that is hoo foolness cams an lives ithin the walls. She took ma bairn frae me.
The day the deil cam tae me – it wis a wretchit day o smirr an I wis crabbit frae saddle-soreness gien me by the ride tae Perth. In ma weakness, I took on that wretchit maid. The feein day hadna faurt me weell an Mrs. McNab naggit at a need tae fill the place o the Kyles lass, pregnant hoor. I gid ma nod for the hire just tae steel away that hoosekeeper’s lurid tongue. Sicna insidious exchange, tae tak advantage o ma distraction, I did nae fash tae see the girl for whit she was; no maid, no even just furrin scuff. Ay, she wis the only lass for feein that day an in ma haste I broucht Beelzebub into ma hame.
Twis nae lang afore ma dauchter lay, back archit, aneath the black alder. It wis me who heftit ma poor gilpey frae a gate post, impalit like the son o God himsel, tho it wisna a roman who drove iron through ma bairn’s fair flesh. It wis the fa frae her chamber windae – a fa is whit McNab widha haed me believe.
Ma bairn wis pusht frae the sill by that blackguard maid. As I stand crustit wi the blood o ma kin that accursit hoosekeeper spake in defense o the maid! She wid hae me ken that ma dauchter wis a cheap hoor, vaultin frae the sill tae lie wi the stable hand as I lay sleepin in ignorance – she in a bed o hay, moontit like the horses! I struck McNab tae the dirt for all her insolence, an sic did she deser it.
I should hae seen it, it wis lang by the first sign.”
“To hear or read more checkout Lallans 93 or visit my substack where you'll find it in full along with a breakdown of its strengths and weaknesses.”
These demonstrations are early tests for an ongoing video game project code named Project RWL; an ode to environmentalism and wildlife conservation set on a remote pastoral world in a sci-fi solarpunk future.
Each track of the score is intended to sit on a spectrum from lo-fi analogue to hi-fi digital, harmonious and ‘natural’ to dissonant and ‘unnatural,’ corresponding to the peaceful technopastoral setting and the intrusion of artificial ecological threats as the game’s intensity rises and falls.
As tracks still in development, Harry’s Reel and Poached represent the middle ground of either end of this spectrum.
These demonstrations are MIDI reference tracks to accompany sheet music for an arranger, conductor, and/or orchestra. They’re part of an orchestral suite called Night Terrors that explores dreams, European folklore, and the subconscious.
Composed in Edinburgh and inspired by the libretto and lyric composition workshop series at the Reid School of Music.
Presented here is an early version of When I Was Young, a single from The Peculiar’s first EP. It was recorded in The Tragically Hip’s Bathouse Studio and, among other contributions, features Mike on bass.
Ending, Again is a demo for a forthcoming record that Mike is (for now) prohibited from going into detail about. The track is slated to be the record’s closer, featuring a non-traditional song structure and a microtonal choral arrangement.
The track is entirely written, composed, and performed by him.
⚲ Toronto, Canada.
Do you know your diffusers from your absorbers? Your bass traps from your baffles?
If you’re looking for acoustic treatment for your office, home studio, or rehearsal room and you’re not sure where to start, get in touch. Mike can take the measurements, do the research, and make sure you get the right treatment for your needs – from basic panelling to custom builds and installations.
He works in partnership with some of Toronto's best millworkers, including Henry McGuire – industrial designer and former sound engineer; together they can make your space look and sound great.