Manners McDade: My Music, with Tristan Hidalgo Hopson

Tristan joined Manners McDade in July for a one-year placement as Publishing Assistant, getting an insight into the world of music publishing and developing his understanding of copyright and royalties. Born in Gerona, Spain, Tristan is an Argentinian-Spanish university student studying Creative Music Technology at the University of Surrey. Having lived in a variety of places, Tristan speaks Spanish, English, French and German. Tristan became immersed in music from a very young age, beginning the piano at age 4. He has played with a variety of bands, artists and groups performing both original works and covers. He currently performs in an experimental digital improvisation group, creating live soundscapes. Tristan’s main interests include modular synthesis and digital improvisation.

"I enjoy repetition in music, I have a lazy brain that likes to seek patterns and predict rhythms. It likes to be spoon fed, to carve out a familiar path in my mind and to anticipate and be right. But foolish dogmatism aside, repetition makes me feel like I’m participating in the music; and that is the best you can hope for when listening to a recording. 

Of course, too much predictability can quickly become boring, but there are songs that walk the tightrope and make it through the whole way. Be it a pedal point or ostinato, this playlist holds a few of my favourite examples of repetition in music. Some newer than others, when my iPod is on shuffle, these are the songs I never skip."