Tipper

David Tipper, or Tipper for short is a British composer and producer specializing in electronic music that ranges from ambient, through trip hop, to uptempo nu skool breaks. His live performances consist largely of his own unreleased compositions, and he is noted for scratching his own sounds over his music, creating a live element of turntablism stemming from prowess early in his career as a vinyl DJ.

Tipper is widely respected as a surround sound composer, releasing one of the first albums composed, produced, and intended for the DualDisc format, in addition to providing content for multi channel music industry leaders DTS, Inc.. His talents at sound design (his work is included in several of the major music making software programs), and in digital audio mastering, are also in great demand. His catalog has been consistently licensed for use as background in a variety of mainstream television programs, and also featured in commercials and cable television projects.

Tipper was "discovered" as a teenager DJing in a London nightclub by soon-to-be manager Richie Warren. Their earliest conversations centered on bass frequencies and rhythms underlying beats, and they began researching the science involved in creating the most effective dance music. Richie founded Fuel Records (UK), and Tipper released the first of several vinyl EP's in 1997. Renault licensed one of these, Twister, for a European ad campaign. Soon thereafter, Sony UK signed Tipper to their fledgling dance music label, Higher Ground.

2005 witnessed the establishment of his own imprint Tippermusic, and he embraced the digital music revolution for the freedom it gave musicians to finally determine their own path. No longer constrained by label requirements, Tipper set about releasing his music independently, mostly via online stores. Some investment was made in CDs and vinyl, but ultimately online sales figures showed their declining relevance for his style of output.

Tipper began releasing albums at an accelerated rate. First was the ground breaking Tip Hop, which focused on merging hip hop production with electronic trickery and helped usher in a new genre referred to as glitch hop. He immediately followed up with Relish The Trough, which was material consisting of compositions from his catalog used primarily for his performances on tour. Both albums found favor in Hollywood, and a number of tracks were used as background in prime-time television shows.

His second full down tempo release The Seamless Unspeakable Something debuted in 2006, with Tipper in full guise as an electronica trip hop artist. Tracks from this album also found favor as background music for TV shows. In 2007, he digitally remastered his old vinyl catalog and quietly released The Fuel Years and Higher Ground to the delight of DJ's globally who had been requesting the very same for years. In early 2008, he decided to make available more of his unreleased "performance catalog" and thus Tertiary Noise was ushered in.

His 9th studio album, Wobble Factor would be unveiled later in 2008, and solidified Tipper's influence on the burgeoning glitch hop musical movement, especially in the United States.

Shortly after its release, his health demanded his immediate focus, curtailing his studio time and forcing cancellation of all tour dates. While recuperating over time, he labored on his new ambient/down tempo LP, Broken Soul Jamboree. This album showcased many facets of Tipper's composition and production style, with striking artwork for the album cover and a limited edition poster accompanying the initial CD run.

After Broken Soul Jamboree, Tipper released a series of EPs. These included Snake Eyes, the Bubble Control/Puzzle Dust/Shatter Box trilogy, and an EP of three remixes from that trilogy, "Dusty Bubble Box", which was released to raise money for his medical expenses. In 2013, Tipper announced he would only participate in two festival appearances for health reasons. On 6 June, he underwent a successful mitral valve repair surgery. Shortly after his recovery, the full length album Forward Escape was released in 2014. It took on a darker, more electronically-driven tone than its predecessors, and marked the beginning of a new Tipper sound.

His notoriety has risen considerably in these years as well, and he is often featured as a headlining act at electronic music festivals spanning the entire continental US, with an extensive showing on the West Coast and occasional East Coast shows. Often, especially when he plays over multiple evenings, Tipper splits his sets into "uptempo" and "downtempo." His "uptempo" sets feature fast tempos and tend toward being a wild dance party. His downtempo sets feature slow to medium tempos and heavy use of melodies. He has also begun to play occasional ambient sets, which generally have limited seating and sell out quickly.

As of 2015, Tipper continues to play concerts a few times a year, and frequently appears at Burning Man. In April 2016, Tipper headlined his first ever appearance at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida, USA.