- William Orbit
Infobox musical artist
Name = William Orbit
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = William Mark Wainwright
Alias = William Orbit
Born = birth date and age|1956|12|15|df=y
Died =
Origin =Shoreditch , Hackney, East London
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Occupation =Electronic musician and composer
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URL = http://www.williamorbit.comWilliam Orbit (born on
15 December 1956 as William Mark Wainwright inShoreditch , Hackney) is an Englishmusician composer andrecord producer , perhaps best known to most for his work on Madonna's album "Ray of Light ", which received fourGrammy Award s, sold 4 million copies in the US [ [http://www.discogs.com/artist/William+Orbit William Orbit ] ] , and sold 20 million copies worldwide. He has also co-produced several unreleased Madonna songs originally recorded for other albums that were never used. In addition, he produced "13" by Blur, and remixed some of the songs on the album. More recently he has turned to orchestral compositions. He has three Grammy Awards.Biography
In addition to being a producer, William is also a composer and multi-instrumentalist who has specialised in keyboard electronica and much of his work also features accomplished
guitar and bass guitar playing. He has also recorded several largely instrumental solo albums under the nameStrange Cargo which features vocals byBeth Orton ,Laurie Mayer andJoe Frank , among others. "Water from a Vine Leaf" was a chart success from the album "Strange Cargo 3". Prior to that he formed the groupTorch Song , with Laurie Mayer, in the 1980s. At that time the band first developed Guerilla Studios in an abandoned school on the Harrow Road. They shared the premises with a group of Spanish anarchists and it became known as El Centro Iberico. They were later joined by a third member,Rico Conning .Orbit was the musical force behind Bassomatic in the early 1990s. Their hit in 1990 was "Fascinating Rhythm".
He has also produced and remixed songs by numerous other artists, such as French pop star
Étienne Daho . Along with producer Rico Conning they produced the Pop Satori album, Scottish actOne Dove , and Seal. He also remixed Prince's #1 hit song movie tie-in, "Batdance ", from "Batman" in 1989. Orbit's remixes carry his signature electronic sounds and techniques, making them sought after by fans of his solo work.Orbit also produced a version of
Samuel Barber 's "Adagio for Strings " (the original arrangement of which features as the main theme of the soundtrack to "Platoon"). Adagio was lifted from the successful album "Pieces in a Modern Style " which was a compilation of classical re-workings. Orbit's version of the track was itself remixed in 1999 byFerry Corsten and became a big club music hit as well as reaching #4 in theUK Singles Chart .He has worked with
girl group s All Saints ("Pure Shores ", "Black Coffee") andSugababes andPink ("Feel Good Time " from "Charlie's Angels 2 "). He produced "Dice" forFinley Quaye in collaboration with Beth Orton; Quaye also played guitar and sang on Orbit's tracks including the unreleased 'Arioso' featuring Madonna.Some of Orbit's remixes include the song "
Electrical Storm " byU2 in the album "The Best of 1990-2000 ". His remix is called "Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix) ." He has also worked with Swedish duoRoxette in the song "Entering Your Heart."He founded
Guerilla Records in 1989.Orbit has also created several radio shows. In the late 1990s, he had a series on Los Angeles-based
KCRW , called "Stereo Odyssey".Orbit's song, "Time To Get Wise" was used in the 2004 film
What the Bleep Do We Know!? , and the song's title was used as a tag line for the film.In 2005, Orbit's most recent album, "
Hello Waveforms " was released on the Sanctuary label. Subsequently he produced two tracks — "Louise" and "Summertime" — forRobbie Williams ' 2006 album, "Rudebox ". At this time, he also mixed several tracks onLaurie Mayer 's most recent album, "Black Lining ".In the fall of 2006, "Purdy," a track Orbit co-composed with Laurie Mayer and Rico Conning, was used as the soundtrack in a television ad campaign for
H&M which starred Madonna and was directed by her and Dan Cadan.In 2007, Orbit composed his first orchestral suite for a full orchestra. The composition was performed for the first time on July 8, 2007, by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in the Bridgewater Hall at the Manchester International Festival.
He sometimes deejays at Circus at the Soho Revue Bar in Central London.He lives in North London and LA and has his office and studio in Hoxton Square, London.
Discography
More complete discographies can be found when exploring external links.
Torch Song
* "
Wish Thing "
* "Ecstasy"
* "Exhibit A"
* "Toward the Unknown Region"Bassomatic
* "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass"
* "Science & Melody"olo
* "Orbit"
* "Strange Cargo"
* "Strange Cargo II "
* "Superpinkymandy "
** Released in Japan only as a "Beth Orton " album, but the sound was characteristically Orbit, making this possibly his most sought after rarity.
* "Strange Cargo III "
* "Strange Cargo Hinterland "
* "The Best of Strange Cargos "
** A compilation from Orbit's first three "Strange Cargo" albums, highlighted by two versions of "Water From A Vine Leaf", another collaboration with Beth Orton
* "Pieces in a Modern Style "
** Original release, withdrawn
* "Pieces in a Modern Style"
** Altered re-release, minus uncleared tracks from first release, although with additional tracks in their place
* "Hello Waveforms " (released on Sanctuary records, 20th February in UK, and February 21st 2006 for USA).
* "Cellcloud "
** Working title to a Strange Cargo album due to be released on 2008 on the Theomorph label.Equipment Used
Used on Madonna's "Ray of Light":
*Waldorf Wave
*Roland Juno-106
*Roland JD-800
*Roland JP-8000
*Yamaha DX7
*Novation BassStation
*Korg MS-20
*Akai S3200 sampler
*Sherman Filterbank
*Atari ST Computer running Cubase II
*Pro Tools TDMUses/Has Used:
*Trident 80B Mixing Desk
*Roland Dimension D Chorus
*Yamaha SY-99 (on Torch Song's Into The Unknown Region)
*Roland SH-101
*Roland D-50 orRoland D-10 (has either used or used samples from; various jam loops are heard in Strange Cargo 2 and 3)Used with Torch Song/Guerilla Studio in the 1980s:
*AMS Digital Reverb
*AMS Digital Delay
*LinnLinnDrum
*Minimoog
*Movement II Drum Computer
*Otari 24-track recorder
*Roland CSQ600 Sequencer
*Roland Jupiter-8
*Roland SH-2
*Roland TR-808
*Roland TR-909
*Roland RE-201 Space Echo
*Sequential Circuits Prophet-5
*Simmons SD5 Drum Brain
*Yamaha DX7 Used in Torch Song's live performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1995:
*Yamaha SY-99 (played by William Orbit)
*Roland Juno-106 (played by William Orbit)
*Roland JD-800 (played by William Orbit)
*Akai S1000 series samplersvariousRoland drum-pads
*Atari ST computer
*Yamaha KX88 (controller played by Laurie Mayer)
*Yamaha SY77 (played by Rico Conning)
*Unknown 76-key keyboard, most likely *Roland MKB-300 or *Yamaha KX-76 (controller keyboard played by Rico Conning)
*Unknown 61-key keyboard, possibly a *Roland JV80 (3rd keyboard played by Rico Conning)External links
* [http://www.williamorbit.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/William+Orbit Discography]
* [http://www.myspace.com/williamorbit Official Myspace]
* [http://www.torchsongonline.com TorchSong Online]
* [http://www.lauriemayer.com Laurie Mayer Official Website]
* [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/williamorbit William Orbit] at Rolling Stone Recent Interview Links
* [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/89920928-20be-11dc-8d50-000b5df10621.html Financial Times, June 22nd 2007]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2007/06/08/080607_mif_orbit_feature.shtml BBC, June 2007]
* [http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/story/0,,2086196,00.html Guardian, May 23rd 2007]References
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