🎙 Just had a lovely chat with BBC Radio Suffolk about something a bit different — not trumpeting, shells or composing this time, but whale earwax, underwater microphones, and how sound travels in the sea. Turns out, underwater, sound is everything. It travels much further than light, so for many marine animals, it’s how they communicate, navigate, and survive. At this year’s @firstlightlowestoft I’ll be diving into all of this (sometimes almost literally) with Richard Sabin from the @natural_history_museum He’s bringing along a cast of whale earwax, I’m bringing a tank of water, an underwater microphone underwater speakers, and some specially-composed music — and we’ll explore what the ocean really sounds like, and how that’s changing. It’s one of seven gigs and events I’m part of at First Light this year — and this one will also be recorded live for my podcast Steve Pretty On The Origin of the Pieces. Shaping up to be something pretty special. #FirstLightFestival #OriginOfThePieces #UnderwaterSound #WhaleSong #MarineLife #SonicCuriosity #BBCSuffolk

Knitting in the front row 🧶—then cheering like it’s a rave. In this week’s episode, I chat with @jeremydeller about Acid Brass, where brass bands swap bandstands for acid‑house euphoria. Tonight it’s live at @earthackney ! But first, dive into the podcast to hear why that old lady knitting was the inspiration for this nearly 30-year long project! 🎧 Full episode linked in bio. @jackjonescurates @thelisteningprojectofficial #AcidBrass #Podcast #LiveTonight #MusicStorytelling #originofthepieces

Very excited to be working with incredible musicians @nic.pendlebury @colinriley_composer @goatgirlofficial on this fascinating and ambitious project of ocean-themed music, all held together by the amazing logistical support of @kate.dornan1 Premiering @firstlightlowestoft on 22nd June, then heading to the brand new Ocean Court at the @royalmuseumsgreenwich National Maritime Museum on 11th July. It’s been a joy to work on so far, and can’t wait to share this new music with you. Roll up! #ocean #worldoceansday #nationalmaritimemuseum #newmusic

Very happy to be doing a FREE family friendly show at the @britishlibrary this Saturday afternoon. See you there! And good luck shushing us, librarians…

It’s that time of year again when I make a heartfelt (and slightly wheezy) plea to festivals: please, please, please site your generators further from the stage. On stage last night the diesel fumes were intense—proper headache territory—and I was only up there for 90 minutes. Imagine the sound and lights crew next to it for 12 hours straight. I know site layouts are complicated, but this feels like a pretty basic ask for the health of everyone working hard to make the magic happen. #festivalproduction #musicianhealth #dieselfumes #stagemanager #crewlife #livemusicindustry #festivalsetup #livemusic

Exactly a month to go til @firstlightlowestoft and I couldn’t be more delighted to be back — something of an artist-in-residence again, doing about 10 things across the weekend 😅 Highlights include: 🎺 Main stage sets with my @vortexjazzclub World Music Big Band and the incredible @molotovjukeboxofficial 🐚 A new dawn performance featuring conch shells and ambient electronics 🌊 A world premiere from @soniccollaborations with me, @colinriley_composer, @nic.pendlebury and Lottie P 🎤 A podcast interview with @natural_history_museum about underwater sound ⛪️ A late-night ambient set with @veeralummi in the beautiful St Peter’s Church …plus the opening parade, spontaneous moments and probably a few things I’ve forgotten. And best of all: it’s all FREE. Last year’s festival was one of my highlights of the year, and this time it’s even bigger and better. Come say hi! #originofthepieces #firstlightfestival #lowestoft #worldmusic #ambientmusic #livemusic #creativeweekend #freefestival #musicaladventures #podcastlive

I am beyond excited to be a part of @thelisteningproject_ as they take on Acid Brass by @jeremydeller This work was a huge influence when I co-founded @hackneycolliery and I continue to be fascinated by the social history of both brass bands and acid house (and the unusual ways they cross over). I’ll be exploring this a lot on the podcast over the coming months, and I can’t wait to share! Meanwhile, roll up! The show @earthackney on 13th June should be a TREAT, and the after party with @aguycalledgerald is going to go off… Tickets via @dicefm including low income tickets for those who need them. See you there! #acidbrass #brassband #originofthepieces

Up at 4am to record some shells on the beach at dawn, using this massive driftwood tree as my studio desk. All for our @soniccollaborations record, the live iteration of which you can catch @firstlightlowestoft on the beach — just a couple of miles north of this spot — at dawn on 22nd June, and then again at the National Maritime Museum on 11th July @royalmuseumsgreenwich. Not quite the perfect sunrise I was hoping for, but an extremely evocative morning nonetheless. I had a fascinating time jamming with shells and the @beetlecrab.audio Tempera, which I was up til 1:30am learning to use. 😴😵‍💫 Honestly, my career baffles even me sometimes. Dropped a podcast about Eurovision and musical theatre with @francesruffelle yesterday. This morning, beach-based ambient shellectronica. Tonight, a jazz gig at @vortexjazzclub. Ridiculous. Amazing. Very lucky. #shellectronica #dawnrecording #ambientmusic #fieldrecording #originofthepieces #experimentalmusic #beetlecrabtempera #firstlightfestival #lowestoft #nationalmaritimemuseumgreenwich

It’s Eurovision weekend! @francesruffelle was the UK’s 1994 Eurovision entry — though at the time, she didn’t think Eurovision was cool. Or musicals, for that matter (despite having won a Tony award). In this clip, she talks about how she nearly turned it down, the odd job perks (hello BBC car park space), and how much fun it turned out to be. 🎧 Full episode out now — link in bio #eurovision #eurovision2025 #francesruffelle #musicpodcast #originofthepieces #eurovisionweekend #musicaltheatre

🎺 Had fun contributing allllll the trumpets to a couple of tracks on the new Brass-Infused Pop production music album from Future Pop — big thanks to Edward Haydon for getting me involved. There’s no substitute for a full live section, but I’ve built up a pretty solid remote workflow for smaller scale or lower budget stuff that still feels like a full brass section — different horns, mouthpieces, mic models, room simulation… the works. I do loads of remote sessions these days and genuinely love doing them — so if you need brass (or indeed, “alllllll the brass”), hit me up 🎺 📀 https://harmony.sourceaudio.com/album/11896896 #brassyPop #futurepop #productionmusic #remoterecording #sessionmusician #trumpetplayer #composerlife #musicproduction #brasssection

Continuing the slow, slightly absurd process of building a live rig for a sea-themed show. Latest addition: a contact mic. In the shape of a crab. Not just a gimmick (though… obviously it is that too) — it’s part of a wider experiment in turning natural acoustic sounds (like conch shells) into expressive musical tools, paired with some fairly futuristic processing like the appropriately-named @beetlecrab.audio Tempera. #originofthepieces #shellectronica #composerlife #sounddesign #crabmic

Bank holiday weekend: campervan, sleeping bag, child asleep in the pop-top. I took the chance to start learning the @beetlecrab.audio Tempera—a fascinating granular processor and sampler that I’ll be using in a few upcoming pieces and live shows. It’s not a studio environment, but these scrappy, quiet moments often end up being unexpectedly useful. Also: I’ve now read the same paragraph of the manual five times, so I definitely understand it. #composerlife #sounddesign #creativepractice #granularsynthesis #beetlecrabtempera #vanlifecomposer #originofthepieces

Last night’s show @wiltonsmusichall was I think the best yet! Such a lot of brilliant musicians of all ages and experience levels on stage. Wonderful singing from @filament_theatre choir, probably the best I’ve ever heard the World Music Big Band play since I took over MDing it last year, and some utterly extraordinary Carnatic percussion from R N Prakash. Plus lots of fascinating chat, me evangelising about lifelong learning and musical curiosity, duetting with my 13 year old self and embarrassing myself performing a freshly written piece of Dirty Rap, as dictated by the cruel mistress that is the Genre Tombola. These live shows, just as the podcast itself, are a labour of love and take a lot of putting together, but I am so energised and excited by the mad combination of music, chat, silliness and music education that happens, and the feedback from the audiences is always really inspiring and helps me to keep going. More to come, including some festival dates. Onwards to musical curiosity! #originofthepieces #musiceducation #livemusic #wiltonsmusichall

TONIGHT 🎶 A glimpse from the last time the brilliant @filamenttheatre choir performed at @wiltonsmusichall… This evening, they’re back — and for the first time, they’ll be collaborating live with the World Music Big Band, under my musical direction. We’ll also be joined by the phenomenal R N Prakash, bringing the deep grooves of South Indian percussion into the mix. Expect beautiful harmony, global rhythms — and a few playful surprises along the way. (Not too many conch shells, promise.) 📍 Wilton’s Music Hall 🕖 30th April, 7pm 🎟️ Final tickets: [link in bio] #FilamentChoir #WorldMusicBigBand #WiltonsMusicHall #LiveMusicLondon #OriginOfThePieces #ChoirLife #MusicalJourneys #LondonGig

🧹 Dirty Rap fans — this one’s for you. And for anyone who ever wondered what a 40-something trumpet player rapping about the history of music might look like. Back at November’s Wilton’s Music Hall show, we played Genre Tombola — probably my favourite bit of the podcast, where a random genre gets picked for me and I go away, dig into it properly, and sometimes (very cautiously) try to make music in that style. This time the Tombola gods handed me Dirty Rap. I genuinely love the genre — Roots Manuva, Missy Elliott, all that good stuff — so I tried to honour it with a family-friendly yet somehow still pretty filthy rap about the evolution of music. You can see me attempt it live this Wednesday at Wilton’s Music Hall. PLUS I’ll be drawing another random genre live on stage, because clearly I haven’t learned anything. 🎟️ 30th April – link in bio! #livemusic #podcastlive #genrechallenge #comedymusic #originofthepieces #wiltonsmusichall #londonshows #musicadventure #musicallycurious

After I drop the kids at school I almost always head to the pond to hang out for a while (sometimes as much as 60-90 mins) before I have a little run. I catch up on admin and messages on my phone, plan my day and week, and try to do a few useful bits. But really this isn’t about that - it’s a chance to just be quiet, to be in, observe and feel part of nature. It’s definitely an inefficient way of starting my work day, but over the last couple of years I’ve hung out with herons, observed the life cycle of newts, watched as a stalking fox failed to outsmart a pair of wary ducks, enjoyed what I think are reed warblers flitting about in the rushes, and today have spent an hour in the company of a female blackbird building her nest. She’s got very used to my presence, and every minute or two goes down to the pond to get a mouthful of leaves and twigs, then comes up, lands about a foot away from me, looks me in the eye then takes her haul to her nest. I know it’s a cliché, but in these difficult times, with the world going mad and the rollercoaster of being a professional musician ever more whiplash-inducing, this little slice of urban nature several times a week is so satisfying and important. I live in what I think is one of the most interesting, vibrant places in the world, but I’m as grateful for the refreshing focus on rewilding our parks and urban green spaces as I am the nightlife and amazing cultural landscape these days I think. #nature #urbanwildlife #morningroutine #inefficiency

This is happening THIS WEDNESDAY! It’s going to be a really fun, varied show with a lot of great musicians on stage, tonnes of great music and chat, and some very silly bits too. If you can make it down, please do! A lot of hard work goes into these shows and audience feedback is always super positive. Think that I’m genuinely doing something quite unusual and original with them (there may be a reason for that 🤣) and if you’ve not checked one out, I urge you to do so. Roll up!

At a recent Steve Pretty (and friends) On the Origin of the Pieces – Live show, @guyprattofficial told this brilliant story about playing bass on Like a Prayer. (And about being called a dummy by Madonna…) These shows are full of music, stories, and moments that hit differently when you’re there in the room. 🎙️ Next one: 📅 30th April 📍 Wilton’s Music Hall 🎟️ Ticket link in bio #originofthepieces #guypratt #madonna #musicstories #wiltonsmusichall #livemusiclondon #musiceducation #learnmusic

Happy Earth Day — or as I’m calling it… solar studio launch day ☀️🔋 I’ve just started powering my studio (or at least the bits I use most) with a small solar setup. Bit scrappy for now — a flexible panel out the back, cable through the window, very messy studio — but today I’ve been working for hours on sunlight alone. Which feels… pretty great. The plan is to scale it up and eventually run most of my core rig this way. One small step towards carbon-neutral silly noises in a shed 🎶 #SolarStudio #EarthDay #ComposerLife #StudioRig #OriginOfThePieces #MusicTechnology #AbletonLive #MusicProducer #CarbonNeutralish

Having a delightful time in Suffolk. Out on a run today found this derelict windmill, so of course had to pop in to test the acoustics. Not as lively as I expected! Very lovely though. #windmill #nicelittleslapback #acoustics #suffolk

Hello. I am Steve Pretty.