Happy Vintage Holidays...

Proving that analog is much more than synths and psychedelic is much more than stoned guitars or TB303s I present a 15 year old recording that pushed the limits even for an underground band. Overdrive Date Master   was an indie rock/experimental psychedelic (that's what rock guys called Noise back then) band. we had a loud and sordid career throughout the 1990s playing the usual circuit of rock clubs in town and a few extra shows as here and there. We started with synths and guitars into a pile of effects along with some older drum machines and tape echos and usually ran everything into a wall of a half dozen or so tube amps we lined up onstage so we wouldn't have to use the pa. As we discovered more odd instruments (Casio saxophone, 8RPM record players, Library of Congress for the Blind pitch shifting tape recorders) we piled more delays and effects on the mix and kept pushing the reverb and vibrato on those Fender amps. 

Eventually we decided to just drop the guitars and any semblance of songs all together and did a show of just   playing and processing esoteric records, found tapes, and toys. We called this our "holiday party" and set up Christmas lights, put a Santa hat on the clapping monkey, and had Tomy robots running into the audience delivering Christmas cards and holiday treats. Perhaps it was because of the spectacle or maybe people just didn't mind the noise as much as we thought they might but the show caught on and eventually as other obligations and bands took hold Overdrive Date Master slept most of the year only to come alive for the one show a year which grew from small clubs to larger venues and eventually out of town festivals. 

Instruments would sometimes creep in but only if they didn't do anything musical. That wasn't too hard when the mandolin met stereo rack mount processors and more amps started showing up.

Vinyl played a big part in the proceedings and everything from "Songs of the Humpback Whale" to "How to Think by Steven Allen" and Chipmunks tunes played on 16 RPM (try it; the voices are "normal" and music is, well. appropriately possessed) had their turn. "Now Playing" placards adorned either side of the stage to announce to the audience what was being deconstructed before their very ears. Instruction records such as how to be an actor or even my favorite a "Do It Yourself Psychoanalytical Kit" fought with distorted and manipulated Holiday tunes while I hit the "Habanera" preset and we set our sites for the heart of the Sun. 

The mess always ended with various bleeps, bloops, echos, and holiday cheer balancing out ringing ears. It might not be what one expects from "Electronic" or ?Experimental" or even "music" but it always got us through another year.

Now for the first time in 15 years you can relieve the mayhem of the show that started it all. Free Download with inserts and additions for all.

"You can clap if you want to."

More "Live" with Dan Deacon...

I have a number of other more geeky and philosophical posts brewing but reaction to the last post on some off-the-beaten-bath live electronic music performers has promoted this quickie which I just HAD to share. Baltimore MD's own Dan Deacon has been a fixture for ages doing circuit bent opuses which build like a concerto in their emotion and intensity. With man handled Casios, 8bits, and wires Deacon is a true artist and he even writes with the same intensity. Here's his patriotic manifesto on America no less.

He's also been consistently dedicated to bringing the pings to the masses live as seen here in this 2012 SXSW concert set. Note TWO live acoustic drummers and vocals feature prominently (who says glitch can't meet human?).  Special note this was posted by NPR who does a LOT more than Big Bird folks.  NPR rocks as much as Deacon. They're both geeky, free wheeling, and magnificent. Bleep and Support on.

Kids Today!

I've been making electronic music and merging it with indie rock at various points since the late 80s.  Back then the divisions between genres and "Rock and Roll" VS  DJs or pre-recorded  parts were more of  a jumble. Hip Hop had made turntablism an art and of course the whole British synthpop movement brought out this new technology to the masses and bands evolved from "punk" to "new wave" and then some. As things crept on there was a merging of man and machine as bands started to incorporate drum machines or sequenced synthesizers into their live performances. In the late 70s we had groups like Suicide who somehow made dirty and frightening rock and roll with a Cha-Cha drum machine and cheesy organ. In the 80s technology hit top 40 radio with bands like the Cars and Devo and in the 90s the underground industrial movement with everyone from Psychic TV to Ministry  were pressing ""start" and then blasting onward.

Every step of the way there were vicious verbal battles by old school "musician" stalwarts who declared using prerecorded or sequenced backing tracks or arpeggiators and drum machines "cheating".  Jabs and diatribes were everywhere mocking hardware laden bands who "couldn't play an instrument" or "simply stood there". If  I had a dime for every time a self appointed manly guitar player made an effeminate reference about a synthesizer I could buy you a vintage Minimoog or '56 Les Paul.


Of course the evolution of mixing classic rock and punk with electronic instruments was much more nuanced and complex but if you'll forgive my gross simplification and go with me that sequencers, drum machines, and guitars, bass, and drums started to merge in live music more we can all proceed.

Still with me? Good.


For better or worse we have now grown into an age where complete live performances can (and are) done on a single laptop or with looping software and virtual instruments. I've attended Power Electronics as well as  techno shows where the "band" consisted of a singer and his ipod and in some cases, much to my surprise,  they rocked.  These required a certain suspension of the traditional view of what "Live music" is but you need not go further than current critical and indie darlings like "The Kills" or "The Submarines" to see what can be done with a guitar, macbook, and some feedback and good old reckless abandon.

I suppose I still hearken back to my roots of playing sweaty rock clubs with broken PAs and I like hearing live bass guitar and drums as much as I like to hear all the new things we get with wacky synths and samplers. What I find fascinating is when a young band who never knew about the past's arguments  mixes it all up and spits it out focusing entirely on what's been important throughout this technological revolution; the Music.

This past week I was flipping through internet TV channels on my Roku (how futuristic!) and came across a rebroadcast of a show that offered live in studio performances by various bands called "In the Basement".  I immediately went to one episode that demonstrates the ultimate in old school rock performance -  a concert with the reunited Iggy Pop and the Stooges. But in the best of the old school booking traditions this show mixed up bands and not only had the quintessential rock gods The Stooges,  it also had a younger band that played multiple synths, guitars, prerecorded percussion/sound, and live drums. And they had a dedicated charismatic live singer. And they rocked.

From Brasil of all places C.S.S.  (http://www.subpop.com/artists/css) blew the roof off the studio even after The Stooges.  The playing, arrangements, and songs were great but what got me was the feedback drenched 100% live transition between their two singles and the gleeful grande finale noise crescendo at the end. Seeing these younger musicians do that that reminded me what music is regardless of the instruments used. I first heard their album tracks on the GREAT indie phila. radio station WKDU a few years ago.  I liked what I heard but this performance took the recordings  and went to that *other* place where inspiration, groove, energy, and what makes us play music mix into a good sloppy and spicy stew. In other words, a LIVE performance.




The video clip is  about 9 minutes long and I highly recommend watching it in it's entirely to see the magic unfold right before your eyes. CSS would be the first to admit they aren't the most advanced players or tightest musicians but they are great at what they're doing and enjoying it which, in this case,  counts for just as much. The simple yet intriguingly intertwined guitar parts have that special something as do all the fun and creative synth and sound lines. And their unapologetically mined Disco beat turns what could be retro and stale into fresh and youthful again. Throw in some irreverent lyrics and almost a half dozen girls and boys swapping instruments and musical hooks and you've got a party that shows new can come from old. Especially if you remember why you're doing it in the first place.

Rock on.

Ridiculous...

I recently found an old cassette tape my friend Kent Williams had sent me back in the 1990s. You know when "tape trading" was all the rage and long before CDrs let alone digital recording. Well, to be fair I think DAT was the high end studio bees Knees.

Anyway those were the days when I'd pick up two cheesy analog pieces and do a "jam" twiddling knobs like a monkey not really knowing what I was doing and then declare I had written a "track". I guess in some ways not much has changed.

Anyway this is a silly two bit piece with the lowest of the low drum machines (a Boss DR55) and Roland SH101 monosynth I remember buying from a Pawn shop in south Philly during my lunch break from work. I set the drum machine to "Velveta" and threw a few note sequence into the SH101 and, well, recorded a track. And then promptly forgot about it forever. Until I found it on the ass end of a cassette tape this year.



What do we learn from all this? Perhaps a little about enthusiasm and youth and how friends make it all worthwhile. Or maybe just twiddling analog stuff is good clean stupid fun.

Either way, bleep on...

Meet Jim Coleman, Listen to Trees...

Every few months I tend to get restless and go internet surfing for posts or information on my many inspirations. Recently I was pleasantly surprised to find a new album and blog by one of my favorite musicians, Jim Coleman. Many of you may know him as the keyboard player in the seminal NY indie band Cop Shoot Cop  which combined unorthodox instrumentation (two bass guitars, scrap metal drum kit, and sampler) with  a driving raw energy focused into bursts. Their barrage of rhythmic noise often got them thrown into the "industrial" or "post punk" labels although they were always much more than that. Over the years the band honed this energy into surprising and coherent dramatic songs (still using the same instrumentation with occasional additions of horns or guitar) building dynamics and tension while still throwing the listener fresh shards of sound that were increasingly melodic and structured while never losing their edge. A big part of this  was the unconventional use of sound as an instrument and that's where Jim and his sampler came in.  Rarely loading in a "keyboard" sample he played sound effects, explosions, loops, and miscellaneous patterns as a noise virtuoso. Listen to the backwards building voices in "Seattle" or the clawing sirens and swooshes  in "Turning Inside Out" as just some examples.

On Coleman's latest release "Trees" the listener is treated to a gorgeous ambient electro-acoustic meditative journey. There are some darker edges but for the most part the album reads like an antidote to the tension and clamoring hyperactivity of the past. Is this the same artist who gave us the collage track  "Relief"  from an album titled White Noise?

It most certainly is.

I spoke with Jim recently and he has a great web page and blog where he gives a bio and some personal experiences and thoughts.  For this blogs sound obsessed purposes however highlights from our conversation were the moments where he emphasized his interest in sound going to back to when he was a child and used to play his dad's 45s on the wrong speed just to hear what would come out of the speakers. Classically trained in both piano and french horn he emphasized "what I wanted to be doing was sitting down at the piano and be making up my own stuff."  He eventually attended art school where he studied experimental film. In between creating new work from reels of found film and optical processors he started to make sound loops from stock footage films and would set up mics and a four track at parties and record the festivities for mixed playback later.

After Cop Shoot Cop ended Jim started working with other artists such as Italy's Teho Teardo and began what would seem like a perfectly fitted career in soundtrack work. His first piece ended up being used in the title credits of  US indie film guru Hal Hartley's "The Unbelievable Truth". He released two albums under the name Phylr with obvious synth and beat elements but as he himself describes his work "even when I do electronic music it's not what people consider to be electronic music". Amen to that.

His experiences and artistic experimentation lead to not only an obvious evolution but also a culmination which seemed to focus on, as he put it, "finding new ways looking at things we take for granted". It was in this mindset that Jim decided to mix things up again and challenge himself to work differently than he had in the past. Doing the basic track work on his laptop during morning and evening commutes Trees began to take shape. Once the structure was down he added other musicians and elements.

Trees is the first release on his new indie label Wax and Wane. It veers from gorgeous string laden modern classicism  to ambient percussive meditations and excursions into free floating sound sculptures. Moods shift and mutate and by the time it's over almost an hour later you feel both relaxed and rested.



Perhaps one of the most enjoyable aspects of the release is the variety of  tones and textures, sometimes all within the same song. The CD starts with what could easily be a classical ensemble piece "Sideways" but doesn't stay there wandering off  with short leads by horns and strings beckoning the listener to follow  until we arrive and the percussive raindrops of "Tracks". A guide vocal comes in on the next track "Dawn" with middle Eastern influences building until we arrive at a - dare I say it- culmination of all the pieces in "Closing". Trees ends with a coda track "Rain" which again revisits the sounds and textures used as though the listener were taking one short glance back before moving forward.

 

And speaking of moving forward Jim is already working on the follow up to Trees and has scheduled a live radio performance with the great Independent radio station WFMU December 18th at 9 pm

To me Trees and Jim's career serves as an inspiration to sound oriented musicians everywhere. When his indie band got big and imploded rather than going larger and moving to the West Coast machine he chose to focus on what made him happy and works both in the field he loves and outside it to maintain his independence and musical integrity. When distribution for seemed to stall he started his own label and has been doing publicity and online distribution and has lined up a physical CD release to be available soon via Cargo. He's made peace with the challenges of his life and has a comfortable perspective on where he's at and continues to do interesting and exciting work on his own terms. Trees is the organic and living proof.

But don't take my word for it. Here are a few links for further exploration into the world and music of Jim Coleman.

Enjoy!

Soundcloud with various projects: http://soundcloud.com/phylr

Trees Download from Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Trees/dp/B008FTC5PQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8

Trees Download from ITunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/trees/id540626631

Trees Download from EMusic: http://www.emusic.com/listen/#/album/jim-coleman/trees/13476270/

Jim Coleman Website:    http://www.jimcolemanmusic.com/

Jim Coleman's Blog:  http://jimcolemanmusic.wordpress.com/

Let Me Introduce You to the Devil ( or Noise on a Budget Part One)

This blog is about sound and synthesis. Along the way I've often talked about the tools available or certain instruments I use. Because of my niche using modular synthesis many of the tools I mention,  however interesting and cool, are difficult to obtain. Once you start building a system things can get quite expensive very quickly as well. Premium prices for highly desirable instruments are nothing new of course. Collectors have paid thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars for certain model guitars, amps, and yes, modular synthesizers for years.

The punk in me often feels the need to turn off the vintage machines and wall'o'modulars to sit down and do something immediate, simple, and satisfying. This could be a hand made noise box like my DAED Feedback Synth or something by Bugbrand  to a circuit bent gizmo or even stock toy that just does weird sounds.

But you hardly need to win the lottery or roll your own DIY noise boxes to make interesting affordable music. Those with  smart phones know you can download any number of apps that change your voice, make noises by waving your phone in the air, or even have complex touch screen synthesizers for 99 cents (or free). Yet you don't even have to go that far to find noise at your finger tips. If you're readying this blog on a computer happiness is only a mouse click away.

Both Macs and PCs will run Virtual Studio Technology or VST. You can download free host players and VST apps (they're called "plugins")  and load them on almost any computer from an old clunker to your office or school laptop. Future posts will explain the ins and outs of some of my favorite free downloads but for this first mention I'd like get right to the music and, in particular have you meet The Devil Inside.



VSTs come in all shapes and sizes but I am partial to the simple ones with easy to tweak interfaces. Easily accessible knobs or sliders- just like on a hardware synth- make playing with sound on a computer screen easy and fun. There are literally thousands of programs available from every type of company but one of my favorites is a small Spanish company called  ELOGOXA.

Their bio reads: "We offer our stuff for free, as we haven't any other interests more than learning and enjoy doing the plugins".  And Elogoxa doesn't just offer standard fare. Their plugins range from self generating ambient machines to dual tape loop simulators, odds synths, interesting twists on outboard recording gear, and, the inspiration for this post, an odd distortion laden feedback machine

Just like my handheld noise boxes you can sit down and tweak to your heart's content and just like modular synths you can get as complicated as you want or keep things dead simple. The Devil Inside starts it's synthesis with a multiple waveform distortion section featuring an inviting  graphical interface. It then adds  filter and waveshaper parameters, EQ, level, and envelope controls, and much more. But what makes this a stellar VST is it is much more than the sum of it's parts and the more you mess with it the more inspirational it becomes. With some practice you can make it wail, ping, crunch, or sweep evolving drones in real time.

Here is a track I did a few years ago to give an example of some of the tones and possibilities of this plugin:


Many hardware synthesists often lament the use of computers for music making. We like the tactile control and visual feedback from seeing a box with controls we can reach out and twist or press. And we don't  want to be tied to a computer which we use too much for email, work, or entertainment already. Music is the release from the day to day, not another reason to boot up the same machine we use all the time.

But some VSTs, like the Devil Inside, can bridge the gap between computer and hardware and capture the spirit of creative sound creation. Just as modular synthesis can offer endless possibilities for sound exploration, so too can these virtual tools.

As with any set of tools there are good ones and bad ones and the more experienced you are in using them the better your chances of getting a result you're satisfied with. That said The Devil Inside plugin lends itself to exploration right away and I believe even a beginner can get something unique and interesting right away. But don't take my word for it. You  can visit  ELOGOXA and download a copy of  at this link:
http://www.uv.es/~ruizcan/p_vst.htm for free. Go ahead, give the Devil his due.

Growl on.

Ok, Original Mellotron Demo here...

I've received a lot of great feedback on the last post based around my odd track using samples from a 1960s demo video.  For those curious on the original source (and anyone who'd like to see how that mutated into the track from the previous post) here it is in all it's cha-cha glory:




I suppose there are a lot of similarities between the participants here and my real life. I do have friends coming by and constantly asking me what the Hell I'm playing.  Especially when I have the weird "musical computers" running.  Chalk up another source of inspiration that leads to the odd music we call "electronica"

Enjoy!

Mellotron Demo Destroyed...

It's been a few weeks since I last posted and there are some exciting things coming up but rather than wait longer and longer I figured I'd at least post something in the meantime. This is a silly track I composed a few years ago.

The "musical" component of it comes from samples of a Zero Oscillator which is a particular analog oscillator capable of some extraordinary sounds. The Voice samples are taken from a 1960s video which demonstrate the famous Mellotron as a kind of home entertainment system. of course I destroyed both sources and messed with everything until it came out, well, like this:




The track was assembled bit-by-bit in Sony ACID incrementally moving and clipping loops here and there until everything made as much sense as, well, what you hear. It's a bit of a challenging track but if you can stick with it hopefully you'll get the sense of humor and pay off as well :)

Scratch on!

Modular Synthesizer Patch Demo #1

I started this blog to challenge myself to write about what interested me in Synthesis and explore some of the instruments I have. Along the way I've added many demo videos and tracks to help me clarify my artistic process and how I work. Some of these have served the dual purpose of also showing the tools themselves.

I'm thrilled to have the readers I do and recently received some positive feedback on my "process" demos. This has inspired me to start a new series called "Modular Synthesizer Patching". For some this may initially seem too basic but hang in, they will get more interesting. For beginners or those not entirely familiar with Modular Synthesizers hopefully they will demystify some of the geek speak you always hear me spouting on the blog and give a more basic approach to what these instruments can do. When possible I will try to include some examples of my creative process as well to wrap things up so it's not all shop talk. Let me know what you'd like to see, ideas, suggestions, etc. and I'll do my best to use your feedback as the series progresses.

Here is the first installment. I start from a "blank slate" with no sound or patching and build to a simple one oscillator patch with two different audio paths with some basic modulation, filtering, etc. At the end I show how this might start to turn into "music" :)

 Watch on :)

 

New Member to the Family and A lesson in Live Modular Mixing...

After a few year wait (well, over a decade if you count rumors, I received my Fenix II modular from Holland this week.  I'm sure she'll be making a lot of appearances on the blog in the future and I'll give a more complete description soon but for now here is a little ditty I patched up this morning after coffee.



This patch uses only one VCO and has five main elements going into Mixer1 and Mixer2 and is a good example of how I "play" a live patch by mixing the elements up and down in the master stereo out in real time and tweaking.

 1. Square Wave into Mixer 1 Input 1 having it's pitch modulated by the internal sequencer

 2. Square Wave going into Mixer 1 Input 2. The wave is being fed into the wave multiplier which is being controlled by the same clock (LFO4) as the sequencer

 3. Sawtooth wave into Mixer 1 Input 3. This waveform is being fed into VCF2 which is being modulated by a sine wave from LFO2. You can hear it self oscillating more as the track builds.

4. Digital noise going into Mixer 2, Input 1. The CV of the digital noise is being modulated by the sequencer out as well.

 5. Analog Noise being fed into Mixer 2, Input 2.


The basic structure starts with me mixing in the analog noise and then digital noise. I bring the Wave Multiplied Square up in the mix and shortly mix down the noise and move the Square wave sequence to the forefront. Then I add in the Filtered  sawtooth and tweak the filter, digital noise CV and levels until we work our way back down and abruptly end on the noise beat. All of that mess is then fed into the internal phaser with the + and - outputs going into the dual left and right outputs.

There is no additional reverb, compression, or any panning or volume change in the mix. This is 100% live as recorded directly from the Fenix to WAV.

Enjoy!