Meet Seattle SoundCloud Hero: Alison Doyle

After profiling our first set of SoundCloud Heroes, we continue our profiles of our newest SoundCloud Heroes who joined us at our SoundCloud Community Heroes Summit in San Francisco last weekend on April 6-8. Read our recap here.

Alison Doyle is a composer who works in the tech industry in Seattle. She creates her own piano compositions but also uses the mobile app to record just about everything, from her compositions to found sounds. She will be organizing the Global Meetup Day in Seattle on May 17 so get in touch!

What do you do? How do you use SoundCloud in your life?
I work in downtown Seattle for a consulting firm in the tech industry. Outside of work, I write and record my own piano compositions which typically consist of random sounds I’ve recorded around the Pacific Northwest (though lately, as far as Richmond,VA and San Francisco). I’ve used SoundCloud for so many things; it’s a place to keep all of my music and find new music. The iPhone app has made recording literally anything possible. I’ve recorded piano sketches, pets being cute (woof/meow!), trains, planes, coyote howls, EVERYTHING. It’s also a makeshift directory of fellow music makers. I’m a big fan of a lot of the groups people have created. It’s the most accessible music + sound networking website (and in my opinion, the most artist friendly).

What are your aspirations for the SoundCloud community in your city?
I’d like people to rethink the way they use and appreciate sound. Ambiance, whether visual or audio, is important and I don’t think a lot of people realize that. Dabbling in sound art is also a way for people who have no musical training to make music. A lot of the folks on SoundCloud are extremely encouraging and it has a very large community feel. I’d like to see Seattle take on this philosophy within the city itself and become a hub for cross-genre collaborations. Seattle is already a large networking and tech friendly place filled with creative types, so it only makes sense. The SoundCloud community in Seattle should be (and could be) diverse and open to any demographic. Limiting it to one style of ________________, defeats the purpose of connecting and collaborating.

What is your favorite place in the city and why?
Simple- anywhere with a spanning view of mountains and water! I don’t like feeling landlocked and the ability to see miles and miles beyond the very place you’re standing is something I could never do in the South or the Mid-West. Seattle, for as much hype as it gets for being dreary and dismal, is actually a gorgeous city (when you can see it). Being near water is also an opportunity to record all sorts of sounds.

What is your favorite sound and why?
I can’t pick just one but around 2 am, I can hear the trains in Georgetown, planes flying, sea lions barking, and sometimes coyotes howling (or screaming in some cases). These sounds are usually accompanied by cars speeding down wet streets. I’m not sure why it’s my favorite as it sometimes disrupts my REM cycle but I could never fall asleep to no sound at all.

Where else can we find you on the web?
I’m pretty much everywhere:

facebook.com/slowyouroll
twitter.com/cascadiansounds
last.fm/user/slowyouroll
flickr.com/photos/slowyouroll
http://slowyouroll.tumblr.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonedoyle
alison-doyle.com
instagram: blackcascades

and of course soundcloud.com/alliedee

Interested in being part of this growing network of SoundCloud Heroes?
Read the program details here and apply at the link at the bottom of the post.