Nicky Ryan
Nicky Ryan | |
---|---|
Birth name | Nicholas Dominick Ryan |
Born | (1946-07-14) 14 July 1946 (age 78) Dublin, Ireland |
Occupation(s) | Music producer, recording engineer, manager |
Nicholas Dominick Ryan (born 14 July 1946[1]) is an Irish music producer, recording engineer, and manager. He is best known as the longtime business and recording partner for the singer, songwriter and musician Enya alongside his wife, poet and lyricist Roma Ryan. Born and raised in Dublin, Ryan gained initial recognition in the 1970s and 1980s for his work with several artists including Gary Moore, Planxty, Christy Moore and Clannad.
Early life
Nicholas Dominick Ryan was born in 1946 in Dublin, Ireland. As a youngster, he won a song contest with a rendition of "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller for which the prize was to meet the Beatles, one of his favourite bands. However, Ryan could not claim the prize as he could not afford the fare to England to see them.[2]
After finishing school, Ryan worked as a teacher at St. Mary's School for Deaf Girls in Dublin, where he experimented with sound engineering to create a way for the deaf children to "hear" music. He designed a speaker system based on the lower end of a pipe organ that allowed for considerable bass to travel across a spring floor in the school's dance room and in their chests, so they can detect the rhythm. "It was an upright speaker consisting of a 14in square box, about six feet tall, and about six inches from the floor – with a 12in speaker facing upwards, and a three inch port below that. And it worked very well. ... The floor shook – and the kids danced away, as they were entitled to."[3]
Career
In the 1970s and 1980s, Ryan gained recognition for his involvement with several artists including Gary Moore, Planxty, and Christy Moore.
Ryan was introduced to the family Celtic band Clannad by their manager Fachtna O'Kelly. In 1975, he became the sound engineer for the family band Clannad and from 1976, their new manager along with his wife Roma Ryan after O'Kelly left to manage The Boomtown Rats. In 1980, Ryan persuaded Enya, the younger sister of siblings Máire, Pól and Ciarán Brennan, to join the band with them and twin uncles, Noel and Pádraig Duggan. During her two-year stint in the group, Ryan and Enya often discussed his idea of recording many vocal tracks and layering them to create a sound effect inspired by the wall of sound technique developed by Phil Spector.
In 1982, the Ryans left Clannad and formed a partnership with Enya after the latter wished to pursue a solo career, with Ryan her producer and arranger and Roma her lyricist. For the next seven years,[4] Enya lived with the Ryans and their daughters in Artane, a northern Dublin suburb, while she practised her music skills and recorded a selection of demos. In September 1983, the three became directors of their music company Aigle Music,[5] with "aigle" being the French word for "eagle". Using a mixing board originally made for Clannad, the three constructed a home recording facility and named it Aigle Studio.
Discography
- 1978 — Clannad in Concert - Clannad
- 1978 — Live in Dublin — Christy Moore
- 1985 — The Frog Prince: The Original Soundtrack Recording — Enya and other artists
- 1987 — Stony Steps — Matt Molloy
- 1987 — Cosa Gan Bhróga - Eithne Ní Uallacháin, Gerry O'Connor & Desi Wilkinson
- 1987 — Enya — Enya
- 1988 — Watermark — Enya
- 1989 — Lead the Knave — Nollaig Casey
- 1991 — Shepherd Moons — Enya
- 1995 — Take the Air — Sean Ryan
- 1995 — The Memory of Trees — Enya
- 1997 — Paint the Sky with Stars — Enya
- 1999 — Across the Bridge of Hope
- 2000 — A Day Without Rain — Enya
- 2000 — Srenga Oir — John Feeley
- 2001 — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
- 2005 — Amarantine — Enya
- 2006 — Sounds of the Season: The Enya Holiday Collection — Enya
- 2008 — And Winter Came... — Enya
- 2009 — The Very Best of Enya — Enya
- 2015 — Dark Sky Island — Enya
References
- ^ Aigle Music Company Ltd. documents filed with the Irish Companies Registration Office. https://core.cro.ie
- ^ Ryan, Nicky. Liner notes in The Very Best of Enya – Collector's Edition (2009). Warner Music.
- ^ "Hi-Fi sound interview with Nicky Ryan". Enya Book of Days. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ^ "Enya: In Her Own Words (recorded 1989 interview) "Dreams Come True"".
- ^ "AIGLE MUSIC COMPANY LIMITED". Company Check. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
External links
- Official Website
- Nicky Ryan discography at MusicBrainz
- 2015 interview on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-210394598/nicky-ryan-unity-interview
- v
- t
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- "When You Believe" – Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (1998)
- "Music of My Heart" – Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren (1999)
- "My Funny Friend and Me" – Music by David Hartley and Sting; Lyrics by Sting (2000)
- "May It Be" – Music and Lyrics by Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan / "Vanilla Sky" – Music and Lyrics by Paul McCartney (2001)
- "Lose Yourself" – Music and Lyrics by Jeff Bass, Eminem and Luis Resto (2002)
- "A Mighty Wind" – Music and Lyrics by Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy and Michael McKean (2003)
- "Old Habits Die Hard" – Music and Lyrics by Mick Jagger and David Stewart (2004)
- "Hustle & Flow" – Music and Lyrics by Terrence Howard (2005)
- "Listen" – Music and Lyrics by Scott Cutler, Henry Krieger and Anne Preven (2006)
- "Falling Slowly" – Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (2007)
- "The Wrestler" – Music and Lyrics by Bruce Springsteen (2008)
- "The Weary Kind" – Music and Lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett (2009)
- "If I Rise" – Music and Lyrics by Rollo Armstrong, Dido and A. R. Rahman (2010)
- "Life's a Happy Song" – Music and Lyrics by Bret McKenzie (2011)
- "Skyfall" – Music and Lyrics by Adele and Paul Epworth (2012)
- "Let It Go" – Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (2013)
- "Glory" – Music and Lyrics by Common and John Legend (2014)
- "See You Again" – Music and Lyrics by Andrew Cedar, DJ Frank E, Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth (2015)
- "City of Stars" – Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (2016)
- "Remember Me" – Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (2017)
- "Shallow" – Music and Lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt (2018)
- "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" – Music and Lyrics by Mary Steenburgen / "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" – Music by Elton John; Lyrics by Bernie Taupin (2019)
- "Speak Now" – Music and Lyrics by Leslie Odom Jr. and Sam Ashworth (2020)
- "No Time to Die" – Music and Lyrics by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (2021)
- "Naatu Naatu" – Music by M. M. Keeravani; Lyrics by Chandrabose (2022)
- "I'm Just Ken" – Music and Lyrics by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (2023)