Sunday 24 April 2016

Shh!


"Oi! Keep that noise down" "NO! I'm trying out some new modifications on my synth!" This is my Roland Sh-3 which Keith modded to have CV & Gate inputs so it can be controlled externally. Its a really nice and unusual synth and this mod really brings it to life. He managed to use jack sockets that I never used on the synth (headphone out and foot pedal in) so no drilling was necessary and it can easily returned to standard original condition if required. The patch uses a clock signal out of the computer to run the Moog and Roland analog sequencers, and one of them is going to trigger the DR55 drum machine which Keith had also modded a while ago. There is also a Sequential Drumtraks in there for good measure

Oh yes and another thing - I made a new Memetune Video ident - inspired by those supercool branding tags you used to get at the start of dodgy horror film videos in the 80s. Hope you like it

Sunday 10 April 2016

Are You Listening To Me?


Every so often something comes along that is so awesome that it's scope defies the limitations of a simple blog post, but here goes anyway. I have just produced and co written a track called Talk (Are You Listening To Me?) that is a collaboration between John Foxx, Me (i.e. The Maths) and Gary Numan. Let me repeat that: I have just produced a track that is a collaboration between John Foxx & The Maths and Gary Numan!

Whats more, I'm not sure GN has been on a track featuring so many vintage synths since he recorded Cars! (well, maybe a bit later than that, but you get the point). I do know that he is a big fan of Foxxy, and is on record as saying John was a huge influence on his early synth-based work. So I guess it makes sense that he would want to get involved in this collaboration, which is essentially a reworking of our original track Talk from our Shape Of Things album. So I sent Gary the individual tracks from Talk, and he added a brand new vocal part and some synth drones and then I added some more synth parts and mixed it all at Memetune Central. It will be coming out in a little while on a new album of JF collaborations including some new JF&TM tracks on Metamatic Records. You can pro-order it here



Now for some detail about the track itself just in case there are any geeks reading this blog. Here is a list of the synths used and some pictures and a video:

MOOG MODULAR. Used for the initial low sequenced parts and some drones


MOOG POLYMOOG - Layered top lines and main melodies


LINN LM1 & EHX DRM16 DRUM MACHINES - DRM16 comes in first, then the Linn does the main drums half way through


PAIA MODULAR - The weird sequence that comes in half way through


ROLAND JX3P - Layered top lines and main melodies


OBERHEIM FOUR VOICE - Layered top lines and main melodies


GRATUITOUS STUDIO PIC


Here is a little video of me playing a top line on the Polymoog:

There were also a plethora of vintage delay, flanger and phaser units used, as well as vintage EMT Plate and Lexicons because as Gary said '..the vocals need a shit load of reverb on them!'. So there you have it, hope you like the track when it comes out!!



Award Winning


Remember I posted last October about Hugo's film Feral Mix, which I did the music for? Well its only gone and won a flippin' award for best original drama at Worldfest Houston! NICE ONE HUGO YOU DESERVE IT!!!! WOOOOO

Saturday 9 April 2016

Spark Up




Look here! You can pre-order the new Wrangler album which features 11 remixes of tracks from LA Spark. Its an epic release, especially if you go for the double gatefold vinyl, but I would recommend getting the vinyl AND the CD because they are both worth having in your collection (I hear CDs are coming back into fashion)