October 2012

remix explained, discarded, finally

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a-to-b-remix

"Remix" was already a well-worn DJ term by the mid-'90s but the internet's favorite generational solipsist Brad Troemel seems to think people started using it 5-6 years ago. The historical gaffes in his writing (such as pegging surf clubs as elitist when the biggest gripe about them at the time was they had no standards) make you wonder about his editors. The chart above (from his latest screed) seems to rather state the obvious and if you're going to call an essay "The Word 'Remix' Is Corny," you might give some thought to how "progressive versioning" rolls off the tongue.

Troemel cites Rauschenberg's Erased De Kooning Drawing as an example of an "A-to-B Remix." Retroactive continuity aside, that's really an excellent example because Aphex Twin and Omni Trio were so well known for turning other people's recordings into virtual silence.

"Mutator_uLFO_42+43"

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"Mutator_uLFO_42+43" [mp3 removed -- a revised version is on Bandcamp]

Same setup as the previous posts with the addition of filter sequencing for the Mutator and swapping out the Gamma Wave Source oscillator (instead of the Z3000 module I was using). MIDI notes from the computer are used as a gate and pitch-controller for the filter as it does its normal sweep (MIDI pitchbend curves are also effecting the cutoff frequency). The EXT input from the uLFO (described in the previous posts) is adding the syncopation. Lastly, 1V/Octave is being used to sweep several wavetable waves in the GWS, giving a little tooth to the signal. Two sessions were done - one with pitch in the oscillator and one without - and then overtracked. The detailed notes are in case I ever want to come back to this. (The Mutator is '96 gear; hence that analogue bubblebath sound. I'm trying to make it do everything the manual says it will. Am going to add drums to this at some point.)

optidisc 3D

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1350497836556-dumpfm-woodfloors-optibreak

woodfloors made this version of the venerable OptiDisc gif
Don't break it on my account, wf, but if you're going to mess with it might as well go all the way. (Looks great.)
Wf has a web app he's working on that enables you to jack with the disc in many other ways but until it's Windows-friendly it doesn't exist -- just kidding! Meaning I haven't played with it yet.
File under: anti-contemplative

"Mutator_uLFO_40+41"

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"Mutator_uLFO_40+41" [mp3 removed]

Same setup as the previous post but the "staccato" modular tune is played dry (without the Mutator) and wet, then the two parts are overtracked offset a fraction of a second apart to make a round. Kind of pretty - and short!

"Mutator_uLFO_38+39"

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"Mutator_uLFO_38+39" [mp3 removed]

MIDI notes trigger a modular synth patch. The monaural patch output is converted to stereo/autopan in the Mutator filter. The filter is in turn modulated by an envelope signal via the Mutator's "ext" input (the EG is triggered by an LFO from the uLFO module). This creates an echo sound but it's really just a pulsation as the wave diminishes. Two tunes were recorded and then overtracked.