Nicholas Dominick Ryan (born 14 July 1946) 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 Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (born 17 May 1961; anglicised as Enya Patricia Brennan) known mononymously as Enya, is an Irish singer and composer. With an estimated equivalent of over 80 million albums sold worldwide, Enya is the best-selli ...

alongside his wife, poet and lyricist

Roma Ryan Roma Shane Ryan (born 20 January 1950) is an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist, who lives in Killiney, Ireland, with her husband Nicky Ryan. She is the primary lyricist for the singer Enya, who has stated that the importance of the Ryans' cont ...

. Born and raised in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ryan gained initial recognition in the 1970s and 1980s for his work with several artists including

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, gu ...

Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was one of the founding members of the bands Planxty and Moving Hearts and has had significant success as a solo artist. His first albu ...

and

Clannad Clannad () were an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal, by siblings , and (Moya) (in English, Brennan) and their twin uncles Noel and (Duggan). They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history. Beginn ...

Early life

Nicholas Dominick Ryan was born in 1946 in

, Ireland. As a youngster, he won a song contest with a rendition of "

In the Mood "In the Mood" is a popular big band-era jazz standard recorded by Americans, American bandleader Glenn Miller. "In the Mood" is based on the composition "Tar Paper Stomp" by Wingy Manone. The first recording under the name "In the Mood" was re ...

" by

Glenn Miller Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...

for which the prize was to meet

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, one of his favourite bands. However, Ryan could not claim the prize as he could not afford the fare to England to see them. 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 The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

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."

Career

In the 1970s and 1980s, Ryan gained recognition for his involvement with several artists including

, and

. Ryan was introduced to the family Celtic band

by their manager Fachtna O'Kelly. In 1975, he became the sound engineer for the family band

and from 1976, their new manager along with his wife

after O'Kelly left to manage

The Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock/ new wave band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hits including " Like Clockwork", " Rat Trap", " I Don't Like Mondays" and " Banana Republic". T ...

. In 1980, Ryan persuaded

, the younger sister of siblings

Máire () is a feminine given name. It is the Irish language form of Maria (given name), Maria, which was in turn a Latin form of the Greek names Μαριαμ (Mariam), and Μαρια (Maria), found in the New Testament. Both New Testament names were f ...

Pól Pól is a masculine given name in both the Irish and Faroese languages. Persons with the name * Pól Brennan, (born 1956), Irish, musician. * Pól Callaghan, Northern Irish, politician. * Pól Ó Foighil, (1928–2005), Irish, politician and acti ...

and

Ciarán Brennan Clannad () were an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal, by siblings , and (Moya) (in English, Brennan) and their twin uncles Noel and (Duggan). They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history. Beginni ...

, to join the band with them and twin uncles,

Noel Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places * Noel, Missouri, United States, a city *Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community *Noel Park, a suburb in Greater London, Engla ...

and

Pádraig Duggan The Duggans () were an Irish musical duo from County Donegal, Ireland. They were founder members of the Irish folk group Clannad. Early life Twin brothers Noel Duggan and Pádraig (Patrick) Duggan () were born on 23 January 1949 in Gweedore, C ...

. 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 The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...

technique developed by

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

. 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, 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, 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 in Concert'' is the first live album by Irish folk band Clannad, released in 1979 by Ogham Records. It was recorded at unknown location during their 1978 tour of Switzerland, during which the group decided to continue with the band f ...

'' -

*1978 — ''Live in Dublin'' —

*1985 — '' The Frog Prince: The Original Soundtrack Recording'' —

and other artists *1987 — ''Stony Steps'' —

Matt Molloy Matt Molloy (born 12 January 1947) is an Irish musician, from a region known for producing talented flautists. As a child, he began playing the flute and won the All-Ireland Flute Championship at nineteen. Considered one of the most brilliant ...

*1987 — ''

Cosa Gan Bhróga Cosa was an ancient Roman city near the present Ansedonia in southwestern Tuscany, Italy. It is sited on a hill 113 m above sea level and 140 km northwest of Rome on the Tyrrhenian Sea coast. It has assumed a position of prominence in Rom ...

'' -

Eithne Ní Uallacháin Eithne Ní Uallacháin (1 January 1957 – 19 May 1999) was an Irish singer, songwriter, and former teacher from County Louth, Ireland. Early life Eithne was born in an Irish-speaking household to Pádraig Ó hUallacháin (1912-1974) and Eit ...

, Gerry O'Connor & Desi Wilkinson *1987 — ''

'' — Enya *1988 — ''

Watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations i ...

'' — Enya *1989 — ''Lead the Knave'' —

Nollaig Casey Nollaig Casey () is an Irish fiddle player, and has an international reputation as one of Ireland's finest fiddle players. By the time she was eleven years old she could play violin, piano, tin whistle and uilleann pipes. During her teenage year ...

*1991 — ''

Shepherd Moons ''Shepherd Moons'' is the third studio album by Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 4 November 1991 by WEA. After the unexpected critical and commercial success of her previous album ''Watermark'' (1988), Enya embarked on a ...

'' — Enya *1995 — ''Take the Air'' — Sean Ryan *1995 — ''

The Memory of Trees ''The Memory of Trees'' is the fourth studio album by Irish singer, songwriter, and musician Enya, released on 20 November 1995 by Warner Music Group, WEA. After travelling worldwide to promote her previous album ''Shepherd Moons'' (1991), and c ...

'' — Enya *1997 — '' Paint the Sky with Stars'' — Enya *1999 — ''Across the Bridge of Hope'' *2000 — ''

A Day Without Rain ''A Day Without Rain'' is the fifth studio album by Irish singer-songwriter and musician Enya, released on 20 November 2000 by WEA in Europe and on 21 November 2000 by Reprise Records in the US. Following a promotional tour in support of her co ...

'' — Enya *2000 — ''Srenga Oir'' — John Feeley *2001 — '' The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' riginal 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

External links

Official Website
* *2015 interview on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-210394598/nicky-ryan-unity-interview {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Nicky Grammy Award winners People from Artane, Dublin Living people 1946 births 1970s in Irish music 1980s in Irish music 1990s in Irish music 2000s in Irish music 2010s in Irish music Irish record producers Irish audio engineers Enya