Maverick Producer, Genius and Musician

the man who set the template for the manchester sound. all tracks produced, engineered or performed by martin hannett. this cd set is issued twenty years since the sad departure of martin hannett, a biographical book and a film will follow. "rarely can there have been a man who so totally immersed himself in his own work and to such stunning effect" international musician obituary. somehow martin%u2019s interest in sharp sounding sunshine west coast acoustic and electric guitars metamorphosised into his fascination for electronic music from synthesisers and sampling. he talked about hearing beats within air conditioning units in factories when he worked for a while in industrial removals. the ams1560 delay built by former aerospace engineers in burnley which would be the basis for the joy division drum sound was built to encapsulate sounds that martin heard in his head. the marshall time modulator ( nicknamed by bands who worked with martin- the marshall time waster) and the ams1560 delay together with the arp omni and transcendent 2000 synths initially followed by the arp2600 became the staple studio control room toys for all hannett's late 70s & early 80's. martin was a true experimenter with sound, perhaps coming from his background obtaining a chemistry degree. the bands and the studio toys and the acoustics of the buildings were the chemical ingredients and what he hoped was that mixing all these up would result in some great chemical reaction.