Tuesday 24 May 2011

Random Tones



I just got a lovely Ibanez AD150 analog delay unit on the bay, its a studio version of the AD80 which I rave on about all the time. So to test it I set up an 8 step sequence on the Doepfer modular, and triggered the notes with a slow random source and layered 3 passes up, via the Ibanez. So the music below is self-generating really

UPDATE: I made a little film to accompany my music, its based on a synesthesic clip from a film I was watching last night. I filmed it on the phone and then messed around with it a bit

Sunday 22 May 2011

My Little Putney






My friend Mike sent me a link to the marvellous Look Around You series, made by Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz
and in particular this episode on music. What he didn't realise, and what I had completely forgotten about, is that it was my EMS VCS3 Putney they used (and my Roland TR66 and little valve amp). I had forgotten about the mouse! They came round to my previous studio when I was based in Holbourn and borrowed some equipment. They even filmed a bit of the studio - I'm not sure that ever got used, maybe on the DVD extras... Anyway, the whole series is amazing and also I love the GELG music throughout




What is so amazing is that my VCS3 has taken on a life of its own as the Harrington 1200, it even gets a mention on the VCS3 wiki page. Incredibly, there is also now a VST clone of the Harrington 1200, click below for mor information

Lynch Cassette



OK, so I am still in love with Dune the movie, it never fails to amaze me, especially as everyone else seems to hate it so much (including it now seems David Lynch, although he seemed pretty happy with it at the time). I found this audio cassette of an interview with Lynch and Herbert, made just before the release of the film in 1984. I got it from egg city radio, a very cool music blog. Anyway, they talk about the film and then Lynch slopes off and Herbie goes on about sociopolitical stuff, but its still very interesting. I would love to see a proper HD directors cut of Dune, is that possible David?
Dune Cassette Part1
Dune Cassette Part2
Dune Cassette Part3
Dune Cassette Part4
Dune Cassette Part5
Dune Cassette Part6

Saturday 21 May 2011

Doepfer Delays

I set up a patch on the Doepfer using a random source to change the state of various settings such as pitch, phase, delay time etc. I was bored before I did this, due to a stomach ache. Now Ive got a headache! Im going to watch Dune

Friday 20 May 2011

Cover Up

Look at this great blog about minimal album covers: project thirty three. Here are my favorites













Dancing Lights

Me and Phil mixed the new Wrangler single yesterday, heres a bit of the b-side going through the MCI. Its fun mixing on that thing, especially with all the dancing lights. This track features Stephen Mallinder on vocals. Watch this space....

Thursday 19 May 2011

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Busch La La




Me and Foxxy had a great session here at the studio with Tara Busch, we made a song! Tara and Maf are really great people, here is a video Maf shot of us experimenting. Thats my Moog Modular going through her Mooger Fooger, and the Linn LM1 doing the drumming

Saturday 14 May 2011

Tragic Magic

I recorded this from BBC4 last night on my phone so its pretty lo-fi, but you can just make out the Bee Gees having fun in (I think) Criteria Studios Miami in 1978

Friday 13 May 2011

Non-Newtonian Monsters

Big Al told me about this phenomenon. Phenominal

Word of the Week #14


Tuesday 10 May 2011

New Forms of Musical Instruments

Here is a fantastic video of Jon Appleton, the creator of the NED Synclavier, playing some bonkers music on a Sync II in 1984

Monday 9 May 2011

Maximoog

The real predecessor to the Minimoog was of course the Moog Modular, and in a way the Studio System 15 which has just about the same feature set. And here is one on eBay today. The seller is asking $35000 for it, which would buy you ten vintage Minimoogs, or one hundred vintage Moog Prodigy synths.

UPDATE: I just checked and the modular does sound better and is much more flexible and is probably 100 times better than a Prodigy

UPDATE 2:  July 2011, price drop: now $25k...





Minimoog Concept Art

Alexei made a very interesting point in the comms to the previous post, because I had also noticed the pictures below (the first three are screen-grabs from the minimoog film) and love these space-age Minimoog design concepts. I found a few more which I have scanned from a book I've got called Vintage Synths. Google revealed one more picture from the Moog Foundation. Are there any more?







Sunday 8 May 2011

Corduroy Jacket

Saw this over on matrixsynth

Stringz 'n' Thingz

I had my first session in the new (half finished) live room this week. Me and John Foxx met up with the amazing violinist Diana Yukawa to try out some new ideas. We are very excited about it

Tuesday 3 May 2011

Wooly Weekend

Here are some pictures I took on holiday in Dorset. Me and Joe stayed in a Tipi. The village was called Wool. That was the name of the village, 'Wool'

Nearby were ancient ruins and amazing coves, secret military bases, and monkeys rescued from being tested on









Word of the Week #13

Looking at Sounds

Jonathan Barnbrook alerted me to this company who are making analog video modules that you can combine with analog sound synthesis modules. In fact they are eurorack format so they intergrate directly with, for example, Doepfer systems. They are called LZX (el-zee-ex) and have caused a major problem for people who thought they had spent enough money on building up their analog modular synths