Demonstration Synthesis, aka Daniel Leznoff [Discogs], might hold a record for largest number of releases on different netlabels. In three years he put out 25 releases on 19 labels! (DS17 seems to have gone missing; depending on where that was recorded, the total might be 20 labels -- so far.)
The name "Demonstration Synthesis" is both evocative and understated; possibly it's contributed to the mobility and adaptability of the brand. Regardless of what type of music a label is offering -- new age, ambient, leftfield/techno -- which one doesn't want at least one "demonstration record" in its catalog? The release DS4 sticks closest to that ambiguous spirit, perhaps, with a low-key assortment of minimal sounds akin to scales and test-tones, emphasizing synth timbres or what Eno called "tints" over melody or song construction. This is not to say the work isn't musical -- it is, and like most DS offerings has a slightly wistful and melancholy cast. Rather, the emphasis is on sounds over songs. The structure is there, but hard to pin down.
"2007-2013 Beats" released on Bandcamp
Am pleased to announce my 29th Bandcamp release, 2007-2013 Beats, available for streaming or as a two-sided, one-hour audiocassette tape:
Liner notes:
National Audio Company's announcement that it was running out of chrome type II high bias tape was kind of a shock. Who knew there was a limited supply? Apparently no one is manufacturing it anymore -- the wisdom of the market. Possibly unrelated, many of the electronic music netlabels I've been following stopped releasing new music, or offering cassettes, around the same time.
I haven't lost interest in the medium but given my own limited supply of chrome blanks, my days of producing one-sided cassettes with only ten songs are clearly over!
With this release I "maxed out" a two-sided, one hour tape with beats I made in 2007-2013 (before coming to Bandcamp). Some of these percussion tracks were incorporated into later songs. Equipment/software used were Elektron Octatrack, Vermona DRM1 mk ii, LinPlug RMV, NI Battery/Kontakt, Reaktor grooveboxes, and MIDI sequencing in Cubase.
"SQP Beatslicer" is not shown on the "prototype" j-card depicted above; it has since been added to the card.
audiocassette j-card - preliminary (2)
I have a series of music releases on bandcamp, Generic PC (Vols 1-5) that I was thinking about condensing to a 60 minute cassette tape.
Am experimenting with what can be done with a home printer. The above packaging is a placeholder to test size and potential layout.
Probably the track listing will be in smaller type.
I bought tape supplies a few years ago from a US business, National Audio Company. They have since stopped offering blank cassettes with "Chrome Type ii High Bias" (the standard above-average tape sold by companies like Maxell before The Man killed analog).
Possibly quite a few indie musicians were surprised to learn that no company makes this chrome tape anymore. NAC had been buying it in bulk from pre-digital-era manufacturers and respooling it onto their blanks.
I still have a box of their chrome tapes left but I need to rethink my "marketing." I'd been offering 10-song releases on a single side of a 40 minute tape. This now feels (more) wasteful. So my next releases will be two-sided, which means I won't have room on the label to list the songs and track times, and I'll need to make j-cards (which I had been avoiding).
NAC's pre-scored j-card stock doesn't print very sharply, unfortunately. I will likely use Epson "Enhanced Matte" paper and hand trim the j-cards. See above for initial tests.
Update: Instead of the Generic PC release, have decided my first two-sided tape will be a collection of beats I made from 2007-2013. Am appropriating some of the packaging ideas and graphics above for that tape.
