Biography
Awards
Award of Honorary Doctor of Music, University of Plymouth, 2009
The PRS Foundation New Music Award, 2008
BAFTA for 'The Dark House' BBC Interactive Radio Drama, 2004
Edinburgh Festival, Best Short Film for 'Spin', 2004
Milan Film Festival, Best Short Film for 'Starched', 2003
Canal Plus Creteil Festival, Best Short Film for 'Starched', 2003
D&AD Award, Nomination for MTV | M 2 Channel Idents, 2001
Design Week Awards, Best of Show for MTV|M 2 Idents, 2001
Promax Award for 'World Aids Day' TV Promo, 1995
BDA International Award for 'World Aids Day' TV Promo, 1995
Nick Ryan is an multi award winning sound designer, composer, artist and audio media specialist widely recognised for his unique approach to sound and music. He has worked extensively with Film, Motion Graphics, TV Drama and Documentary, Interactive Media and Orchestral Ensemble as well as acting as a consultant on the future of sound and music to many organisations including The BBC and The UK Government.
Whilst working with the BBC’s ‘Imagineering’ Department as a futurologist in 2004 he won a BAFTA for ‘The Dark House’, a groundbreaking interactive binaural (3D audio) Radio Drama which he co-devised, scored and mixed live on air on BBC Radio 4. During this time he co-authored two Government reports 'The Future of Music' and 'The Future of Radio' which predicted future global trends in the creation, distribution and consumption of music and radio in light of digital technology.
In 2007 Nick, and musician, physicist and long time collaborator John Matthias, released 'Cortical Songs' - a four-part ‘symphony’ for twenty-four piece string orchestra based on theoretical models developed in 1950s, which describe the rhythmic ‘firing’ of groups of neurons in the cortex of the brain. Described by The New York Times as ‘moody and lovely’ and voted as no.5 in the top 10 classical albums of 2009 by TimeOut Chicago, the album features remixes by Thom Yorke, Simon Tong, Gabriel Prokofiev, Jem Finer and others.
In 2008 Nick, with colleagues Jane Grant and John Matthias, won the prestigious £50,000 'PRS Foundation New Music Award' for the 'Fragmented Orchestra' project - a giant sound installation and ‘living’ musical instrument that captured fragments of sound from 24 locations across the UK and transmitted them in realtime to a central performance space at the F.A.C.T. Gallery in Liverpool, forming part of the programme of Liverpool's European Capital of Culture year, 2008. In September 2009 Nick became an Honorary Doctor of Music at The University of Plymouth.
Nick spent last year creating Papa Sangre - the first ever real-time 3D audio game implemented on a handheld device. Papa Sangre is a video game with no video - it’s a first-person thriller, created entirely in sound, for the iphone platform. Players navigate the 27 levels using only their sense of hearing.The game was awarded the ‘Most Innovative Game‘ at the International Mobile Gaming Awards in March. www.papasangre.com
Much of Nick’s sound design work, including The Dark House and Papa Sangre has involved creating complex and elaborate 3d audio worlds. He has become a world expert on the development of ‘binaural’ (or ‘3D’) audio in media. This year he was commissioned to interpret four chapters of Ken Follett’s latest Novel ‘Fall of Giants’ into 3D sound for Pan Macmillan’s enhanced iPad version of the book and to create a 3D mixes for Nike’s latest advertising campaign featuring the Spanish footballer Andrés Iniesta.
“At the forefront of the development is the sound designer Nick Ryan, who uses techniques in "binaural" recording and adapts them for digital media” [The Guardian 28th March 2011].