"Kick Variations" [mp3 removed]
A quiet, somewhat ambient piece where I process electronic kick drum sounds with the modular synth. No MIDI, but three separately recorded parts are overtracked, so it's not exactly live, either.
music - tm
"The Hammond Horror," "Wavetable Bagpipes"
"The Hammond Horror" [mp3 removed]
"Wavetable Bagpipes" [mp3 removed]
Both of these short "noise" works were integrated into an earlier-posted song, "B4 and 4fter (Bongos)."
Am presenting them straight here. These were made with the Doepfer A-112 sampler: a second or two of Hammond organ playing was sampled, and the module converts the sample data into a wavetable format. Then, an external control voltage is sweeping various parts of the table -- you get a very abstract (harsh) synth sound with stuttering as the voltage digs around in the table, moving from one "address" to another and triggering the waveforms. At the same time, this noise still carries the unmistakable Hammond "tonewheel" sound. In the bagpipe-like piece, the stuttering is rhythmic and reminiscent of trills played by that reed instrument. However "good" the finished works may be (and the sound is gnarly) the process still fascinates me.
"Hacker Fashion II"
"Hacker Fashion II" [mp3 removed]
This mini-techno wah-wah harpsichord dub thing does kind of bounce along in spite of the restraint exercised in writing riffs. You need full stereo since two "sessions" are hard-panned one to each channel.
Except for the drums, all sounds were made with the above modular synth (hardware work-in-process), although not necessarily with these patches.
Dynamic gear photo by Nullsleep, who came to my studio while this was being assembled.
The original Hacker Fashion track.
The original hacker fashion photo shoot that inspired the title(s). Just learned that Nullsleep is in this spread, wearing "ultra-wide UV glasses with wraparound lateral protection flaps."
"Skill Not Gamelan"
"Skill Not Gamelan" [mp3 removed -- later version is on bandcamp]
All sounds except the percussion were made with the modular synth, recording a few bars at a time and then overtracking them. (The percussion is from the Battery kit I made of samples from the Sidstation a while back.)
These are my self-made patches, ranging from bassoon sounds to bells to "fuzz bass." Once the sound is nailed down, MIDI parts are played in Reaktor or Cubase that attempt to exploit the best of each patch. Results are unpredictable once the MIDI lines start getting added, which makes writing the parts fun.
At this point many Eurorack-style modules are a mix of analog and digital sound generation. Most of the sounds here originated with a wavetable VCO, which uses digital waveforms. The bell-like sounds are analog, with some FM synthesis and filtering.
Update: As a bleeding-edge constituent of the cv/gate revival I should mention that those MIDI patterns trigger the synth with this.
"Blight Curvature (Trashcan Beats)"
"Blight Curvature (Trashcan Beats)" [mp3 removed]
Beats made with turntable sounds. Not too obvious until the halfway point when you start hearing definite scratchy sounds. Heavy reverb (the audio equivalent of Instagram filters?) reminds me of hearing a trashpail-drumkit banger from several blocks away (somewhere in lower Manhattan).