One of Heidi Chan's first modular livestreams – and proud achievement – was performing a set for Johno Wells’ Modular World at the start of COVID:
Outside the modular world, though, a highlight was touring with Shakespeare’s Globe in 2014 for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
”I was hired as a multi-instrumentalist playing Asian instruments alongside UK musicians, performing across Asia and Russia. Being the only non-UK member on the tour made it a once-in-a-lifetime experience.“
However, modular and synthesis came later – traditional instruments came first:
“Like most kids, my parents put me through various music lessons, including piano and violin, neither of which I stuck with. My mother played the guzheng (a traditional Chinese zither), so I was exposed to traditional Chinese music from an early age and attended many community events with her. However, I wasn’t particularly interested at the time. My family is from Hong Kong, so I mostly listened to Cantopop growing up.” (Ed.: The Cantopop genre originated in the 1970s and became the predominant popular music, reaching its peak in the 1980s and 1990s.)
“In my late teens, we sold our piano, and one day my dad came home with a used DX7 and a Roland arranger keyboard – my first exposure to synthesizers. Soon after, he brought home a demo version of Cakewalk (no idea where he got it), and that’s when I started composing and arranging using the piano roll and Soundblaster MIDI sounds. I was prolific, creating a large number of songs in Cakewalk. Because it was a demo, I couldn’t save anything, so I had to leave the computer on for weeks while finishing tracks and then record them onto cassette from cheap Logitech speakers.
