My first live performance in 12 years made me re-think my studio -- here's how I'm making my studio time more performance-oriented. (This one's for the gear-heads.)
I spotted @laamaa's post about his new album 'M8 II' on Friday but only just now had a chance to listen -- it's incredible. If you like chiptune or synthwave at ALL, this is a MUST hear (and his other stuff too). The melodies, and the dynamics, the tracks all flow so well. 🎹 🔥
I got a new toy over the weekend: the Pittsburgh Modular Taiga! It's a bit like if you took the Cre8audio East Beast and West Pest and combined them, then threw in a bunch of extra things, like a preamp, a delay, and a third oscillator. I wasn't really planning on buying this, but I couldn't resist at the price I got it, so I guess I'm going to sell off the East Beast and West Pest.
I want to write a digital delay. Does anyone know of good info on how to use all-pass filters in delay lines for phase weirdness effects? Or any filters, really.
I'm planning on using a Teensy 4.x (Cortex-M7), so I won't have a lot of compute power.
I found a Yamaha PortaSound PSS-80 at Goodwill the other day for just a couple bucks and it can do all the amazing stuff THIS dude does with it in this video. 🤯
Gary Numan released Telekon, my favorite of his records, in 1980. It was the first vinyl I bought as a teen in the 90s. Hearing this intro track and the album that followed was mindblowing. Definitely listen to this whole record if you get a chance.
Here's "This Wreckage", the first song on Telekon, one of the best album opening tracks EVER:
Hung out with a friend on Sunday. We played around with his #synthesizer collection and my Korg SQ-64 sequencer. I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing with any of this stuff, but I'm having fun with it, at least! :cat_music: 🎶
The first way I heard Joe is back in the 90s, because Anthrax covered "Got the Time" (a KILLER cover) in 1990 and as Scott Ian of Anthrax pointed out, Joe's version is FASTER than theirs! This is a PUNK song, man.
And then there's "Steppin' Out". This song is magical and that MELODY, I mean, what even is this song. Was reminded of it again the other day when we were watching 'School Spirits' and it was playing. The synths - MASTERFUL song.
I've started systematic album listening with The Knife and Fever Ray. I'm interested in their balance between #electronica and #pop, volume and flexibility of lyrics, effects on #synths and vocals, #music mainstream and not.
There are some amazingly complex and sophisticated synthesisers which allow powerful in-depth synthesis which other synths simply cannot do
But the more the years go on, the more I’m of the opinion that the more complicated synths simply don’t afford the making of better music, and in many cases they fight against good sound and good music because the more complex detailed heroically-synthesised sounds become either the focus, or have too much importance attached, or worse, they have too much importance attached as far as the person making the sound is concerned, but nobody else really gives a crap or even notices that it’s such a complex and deliciously synthesised sound, they just don’t notice, but in the meantime, all the hard work in the composition has gone into these complex wonderfully created sounds that no other synthesiser could do
I know, you’re saying that as I own a Korg Opsix, isn’t that one of the most complex synths out there? Well, yes it is, but for one thing I’m completely at home with FM synthesis (having started on the Yamaha CX5M as my first actual synth that wasn’t a modular that I’d built myself (Digisound 80)) but that’s how I’m spotting this tendency – I’m now starting to not want to spend time on my own patches, which up to now was where most of the fun was, and starting to explore the much less capable and far simpler and more direct synths which are ‘just’ synthesisers, and not be afraid to put forward just basic synth sounds which almost any synth and any synthesist could have done #Synths
I think I've narrowed the sequencers I am interested in down to:
Erica Synths Black Sequencer
Frap Tools Usta
Squarp Hermod+
No one seems to have a Hermod+ because it just came out, and their docs seem pretty sparse, so I'm hesitant. At a minimum it does seem to be a really great midi to CV controller.
I also can't find much information out about the Usta, other than (very thorough) videos from the manufacturer.
The ES Black seems really powerful and quite playable
Y'all know I'm not big on black metal, but being that it's Monday and I keep coming back to this one, it's probably a good one for #BlackMetalMonday.
LUST HAG is a solo project of Eleanor Harper - it's one woman feral black metal from Montana and it's pretty cool. There's some great synths and dynamics and interesting lyrics, etc.
Black metal fans, this is probably worth checking out.
This morning I glanced at a list of albums Brooklyn Vegan posted about for 2024 records so far this year, and there's a new FOUR TET record from March I feel like I would've missed had I not seen it there-- I hadn't heard about it.
Four Tet is of course Kieran Hebden from London and is some wild, weird and beautiful electronic stuff. There's some great synth and ambient sounds (and beats!) on this one.
'Three' will most likely be among my favorite albums of 2024.