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Brian Wayne Transeau (born October 4, 1971, in Rockville, Maryland) is an American music producer, composer, audio technician, singer and songwriter better known by his stage name, BT. He is an artist in the electronic genre. BT has produced and written for artists such as Peter Gabriel, 'N_Sync, Sting, Blake Lewis, Tori Amos and Tiesto. As a film composer he has worked on films such as The Fast and the Furious and Monster.

BT is known for using a technique he calls the stutter edit. This technique consists of taking a micro fragment of sound and then repeating it rhythmically. BT was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for his song Somnambulist. This song was recognized as using the largest number of vocal edits in a song (6,178 edits.)

In 2009, he launched his software company Sonik Architects with the company's first product for iPhone, named Sonifi.

Early years

At an early age, BT studied music at the Washington Conservatory of Music. He went on to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

Music career

In the early 1990s, BT moved back to Maryland and began collaborating with friends Ali ''Dubfire'' and Sharam of Deep Dish. BT's productions were not yet popular in the US, and he had no idea that he had become popular across the Atlantic, where UK DJs like Sasha and Paul Oakenfold were regularly spinning his music for crowds. Sasha bought BT a ticket to London, where BT witnessed his own success—several thousand clubbers responded enthusiastically when Sasha played his song.date=March 2010 He was soon signed to Oakenfold's record label, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers. BT's songs ''A Moment of Truth'' and ''Relativity'' became hits in the UK, and it was during this time in that BT met Tori Amos. BT has often appeared on the lists of the world's top DJs. In 2006, he ranked 73rd on DJ Mag's Top 100 DJ list. In 2005, he ranked 82nd, up from 92 in 2004. Additional rankings were 83rd in 2003 and 76 in 2001. More recently, in DJ Times, BT was ranked as America's second best DJ, as voted by fans.

BT has said of his musical background, ''I'm not the traditional type of dance music artist. I'm not a DJ. I come from a classical music background. I attended the Berklee College of Music, and I played in punk bands.'' The tone of the album is darker and less whimsical than ''Ima''. The album, as a whole, is much more diverse than BT's debut album. The LP was a hit in Britain, Australia, and Japan. The rest of the album fairly escapes genre labeling, from the dark guitar work of ''Circles'', to ''The Only Constant is Change'' which is reminiscent of ''Satellite'', the album blends genres and changes genres in mid-track. The single ''Somnabulist'' holds the Guinness World Record for most vocal edits in a single track, with 6,178 in the album version.

''This Binary Universe''

BT's fifth studio album, ''This Binary Universe'', released in 2006, is his second studio album released in 5.1 surround sound, the first being the soundtrack to the motion picture ''Monster''.

The album features a mix of many genres, including jazz, breakbeats, and classical music. Three songs feature a full 110-piece orchestra. BT has said that the album has a lullaby-like quality, inspired by his daughter, Kaia, who sat on his lap throughout most of the song writing processdate=January 2010. Animated videos were created to accompany each song. The videos are included in a DVD packaged along with the CD.

Keyboard Magazine declared of the album, “In a hundred years, it could well be studied as the first major electronic work of the new millennium.”

Unlike his last two albums, which featured vocals on almost every track, this album contains none. The tracks also change genres constantly throughout. A good example is ''The Antikythera Mechanism'', which starts off almost lullaby-like, complete with a piano, acoustic guitars and reversed beats. Halfway through the track, the song explodes with a 110-piece orchestra, followed by a section of breakbeats and ending with the de-construction of the orchestra.

Through the months of November and December 2006, BT toured the album with Thomas Dolby opening. This three-piece band set featured many instruments created by BT himselfdate=December 2009, as well as introduced his live Stutter Edit plug-in that was to be released in 2007. The concert also featured a live slideshow of images from the online website DeviantArt as a backdrop.

The Stutter Edit as well as Break Tweaker are both software plug-ins created by BT's company, ''Sonik Architects'' which will be made available in 2010date=January 2010.

''These Hopeful Machines''

BT's sixth studio album, ''These Hopeful Machines'', was released on February 2, 2010. The album featured guest vocalists/collaborators

Kirsty Hawkshaw, Jes Brieden, Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel and Charlotte Martin. Early official remixes were made by Armin van Buuren, and Chicane.

Collaborations

In addition to his ''BT Stutter'' edit, Time correction is a method by which a producer takes a series of samples with random occurrence (such as rain) and time corrects each individual hit according to a rhythmic and mathematical grid, much like the BT stutter. The result is that the seemingly random pulses take on a rhythmic form as well as a developing pattern, but retain their chaotic and unpredictable character.

Transeau has developed his own method of time-correcting which he calls ''nano-correcting,'' which is correcting any note shorter than a 64th note (he often edits to the 1,024th and 2,048th notes). He is writing a book on stutter editing and time correcting and has included a chapter on nano-correcting.

Sonik Architects also released a portable remixing application for iPhone and iPod Touch called Sonifi.

Personal life

BT has a daughter, Kaia Nui Transeau.

In early 2007 approximately $150,000 worth of recording equipment was stolen from his private home recording studio. BT confirmed through his page that he would give a reward for information leading to return of the equipment.

On January 11, 2008, ABC news reported that BT's daughter, had been abducted by her mother during a planned visit. The mother was arrested, but charges were withdrawn and the matter was settled in family court.

Scores

BT began scoring films in 1999 with ''Go''. Since then he has scored over ten films, including ''Stealth'' and ''The Fast and the Furious''. In addition, he produced the score for the 2001 film ''Zoolander,'' but had his name removed from the project. His tracks for the film were finished by composer David Arnold. He also produced the score for the 2003 film ''Monster'', earning him particular acclaim.

Transeau has scored the video games ''Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas'' (2000), ''Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions'' (2002) and ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005'' (2004).

BT has ventured into television, creating the scores for the TV series ''Kevin Hill'' in 2004 and for ''Tommy Lee Goes To College'' for NBC in 2005. He also executive-produced the Tommy Lee series, the idea for which he actually developed and sold to NBC.

Film appearances and scores

Video game appearances and scores

Discography

Albums

Singles and EPs