the 2014 studio diary is a project where i will be exploring sounds in my studio on a day-to-day basis (or whenever i'm not too busy to play.) typically i'll be making loops, phrases, sounds... experimenting with different equipment and techniques. no rules, no big goals, just exercising my creativity and hopefully learning a lot along the way.

i originally intended this to be a modular synthesis sound-a-day project, as i have fully  jumped back into eurorack after 10 years away from it, but the creation of a nice loop with some non-modular gear as i was setting up my new studio lead to the start of the project. i will always choose serendipity over most planned courses of action.

please check back to this diary on a regular basis. i will do my best to explain the sounds when i can and if you have any questions please leave them in the comments section.

may your 2014 be creative, productive, and peaceful.

2014 Studio Diary

klaar vine

calm

taylor

my favorite sounds in a playlist...no special order..newest additions at the end.
a new volume every 101 titles. this is the volume 8.

cloud.selector

cloud.selector vol.08

tonight's sound is definitely a process-driven affair. i had an idea in my head and wanted to see it out, regardless of the outcome. it wasn't terribly complex but something i've been meaning to try.

this is another modular sound and the patching goes something like this:

verbos harmonic oscillator
pitch being sequenced by a turing machine that's being clocked from a bubblesound uLFO
4 individual sine waves out to the 4 inputs of an intellijel planar
eowave lfo modulating x and y axes of planar to crossfade between the 4 sine waves
mix out of planar going into a make noise phonogene, being looped
dry and loop output going into an intellijel uVCF bandpass filter being modulated by an e355 LFO which in turn is having it's speed being modulated by a sine wave following the clock rate.
everything is going through an ALM SBG which feeds an eventide H9 reverb.

some interesting things i think. it's sounding too harsh for me. i wonder what it would be like with some intellijel sine waves, from a dixie or a rubicon (neither of which i have, yet) which are really beautiful. i find the verbos sines to be a bit aggressive sometimes. i haven't fully explored why or a way around it.

May 30, 2014 (Pale Sinewaves)

ARTIST: POSTHUMAN
T’ITLE: DECOMPRESSION’ EP
LABEL: BODY WORK
FORMAT: 4 track 12” and 5 track Digital EP
RELEASED: June 2nd, 2014

It feels strange to say that an act who have been around for over a decade releasing more than half a dozen albums should be ‘Ones To Watch’ in 2014, but cousins Josh Doherty and Rich Bevan aka Posthuman’s career has never exactly followed the rules.

Originally part of the, then, thriving UK Electronica scene at the start of the new millennium Posthuman instantly made an impression with a series of releases on their own Seed Records imprint, Manchester’s Skam and legendary UK techno label B12 Records, with their debut album picking up plaudits from Pitchfork as "one of the best IDM-oriented albums of 2001" Over the course of the ‘00s the cousins would go on to release several albums experimenting with everything from pure ambience and techno to post-rock, ‘The People’s Republic’ being hailed by DJ Mag as "joining the dots between early Autechre and Mogwai”, and 'Syn Emergence' being hailed by LFO as "one of the best techno albums ever".

All the time though Posthuman still kept at least one foot on the dancefloor throwing the now-near legendary parties such as the series of raves in Aldwych’s disused tube station that featured everyone from Aphex Twin and Luke Vibert to Goldfrapp and S’Express’ Mark Moore - and since 2007 both promoting and holding down a monthly residency at I Love Acid (Corsica Studios).

The past 18 months though has seen Doherty and Bevan fully turn their attention back to the dancefloor releasing a series of 12”s on labels such as Tusk Wax, Balkan Vinyl, and RSI that have caught the attention of DJs like Daniel Avery, Ben Sims, and Disco Bloodbath’s Damon Martin, combining grinding Detroit inspired Techno and bubbling Acid House basslines with icy precision.

Which brings us to the ‘Decompression’ EP - the soundtrack to a corrupted AI system’s final moments, corroded circuits firing and misfiring to produce 4 new tracks of hypnotically dark acid plus a remix from Houndstooth artist House of Black Lanterns. From the abyssal ‘Decompression’ through to the percussive ‘So Cruel’, ‘Back to Acid’s snake like bleeps and onto HOBL’s elegiac remix, this is an EP sure to dominate dance floors from underground bunkers to warehouse raves alike.

The first of two new 12”s to be released on the Bruxelles-via-London imprint Body Work (Waze & Odyssey, LPZ, CVNT and more), the ‘Decompression’ EP arrives hot on the heels on the heels of their remix of Bohemian Groove for New York’s Throne of Blood, and ahead of their upcoming "30 years of Acid" Solid Steel show in April marks another important milestone of this act’s ever evolving career.

"Full support, will definitely play these. Excellent acid tracks, my favourite being the HOBL remix, I love his work."
Maelstrom, ZONE Records, Paris

"A downtempo acid funk-fest. A great EP, albeit slightly demented by nature."
Mixmag, Worldwide

"Played ‘So Cruel’ in Paris last night - sounded great, went down a treat!"
Ewan Pearson

"Well good, really strong acid, just like black microdots back in the day...will be playing for sure! 10/10"
Keith Tenniswood, Radioactive Man

"These are PURE FIRE!!! So Cruel is the one!"
Kiwi, Need/Want

"Another proper acid belter from Posthuman - loving acid before it becomes cool (again)"
Mark Archer, Altern 8

"LOVE Decompression. Great work!"
Damon Martin, Disco Bloodbath

"Super duper dope as usual"
Hrdvision, Rinse / Wagon Repair

"This is wicked, serious production - proper club business!"
YoungTee, Joy Boys / Southern Fried

"Step back is great..."
Severino, Horse Meat Disco

www.posthumanmusic.com
www.bodyworkmusic.com

Posthuman - Back To Acid

After its release 12 years ago, 12k is very happy to welcome Shuttle358's beautiful Understanding Wildlife album to the catalog as a download-only re-release.

"What really makes Dan Abrams special is the sounds he uses and his approach which separates him from the school of clinical reduction and makes him reflect true human emotion in his music. An excellent follow up to 'Frame'. Gorgeous." - Boomkat

"Abrams uses a particular formula because it suits him and allows him to focus on other, more important things--namely, creating emotionally resonant music out of the residue of electronic noise." - Haunted Ink

(Original Press Release, Mille Plateaux, 2002)

Dan Abrams, aka Shuttle358, has made an unforgettable mark on the American electronic music community. His highly revered releases on the legendary label 12k and his release as Dan Abrams on Mille Plateaux (EFA 08099), have established Shuttle358 as a premier standout due to his wonderful ability to create fluent, natural sounding music in a category where clinical approaches to making music has dominated much of the clicks & cuts / minimalist aesthetic out there. Earning critical acclaim and a fanbase that has not forgiven him for taking almost 2 years to release this album, Mille Plateaux is proud to give this anticipated third installment in the Shuttle358 cycle the exposure that it deserves.

Truly magnificent in all means, Shuttle358 expresses his personal experiences and musical ideals about objects and forms that have carried through his whole life. Understanding Wildlife finds deeper meaning and attempts to contemplate the alienating way many perceive the world and act to it as strangers. The sounds of harps, bells, strings and synths give the listener the ability to relate more to the natural affirmation that strikes through Understanding Wildlife. Shuttle358’s makes melodies move and twist amongst unpretentious beats, relaxing and moving the listener in its emotional swell. Captivating.

Understanding Wildlife

Models Of My Life

BUY ALBUM NOW

Made this song for my grandfather who recently passed away.



Archangel

You Saw It Coming

Praah - Thank You Satan (M.RUX REMIX)

today's sound started as an experiment in using the make noise wogglebug as a sample rate reducer... a trick of the module, which generally isn't known for doing that... where you can sample an incoming single based on the rate of a 2nd signal going in.

in this case i plugged the qubit nebulae into the wogglebug and sampled it with a waveform from the e350 oscillator. the pitch of the oscillator effectively becomes the same rate of the incoming sound, in this case, the nebulae.

the nebulae is in freeze mode and the make noise rene sequencer is sequencing the start/scan point of the frozen sample.

the whole thing goes into an intellijel korgasmatron filter to filter out some, but not all, of the harsher sample-rate-reduction effect. the signal is also being fed into a serge resonant EQ and a make noise erbe verb.

i play a bit with the pitch of the e350 to make those sweeping and bending sounds, which is basically turning the sample rate of the nebulae sample down and up.

the patch started as a simple experiment to try this use of the wogglebug out but i ended up being able to work out a nice looping sound by the end.

thank you to the excellent tutorial on this process by collin russell music on youtube, which is where i learned to do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pws9rY9kUhw

July 22, 2014 (deep travel (wogglebug as sample reducer)

a sketch for music box and eurorack modular.

July 23, 2014 (a scarcity of objects)

when i came into the studio this morning i turned on the modular and patched this patch without the monitors on, without hearing it. i got it patched up then turned on the monitors and was pleasantly surprised by what came out. i had to retune the oscillators but everything else was patched blindly (or, deafly?)

i had the simple idea to control 4 oscillator levels, via the intellijel linix, by the vulcan modulator LFO spitting out strange wave shapes via the combined outputs. the LFOs don't repeat at the same times so there's a constant shifting of when each tone comes in and out.

a simple patch, but effective i think. 

July 24, 2014 (four oscillators)

i wanted to make a patch where the make noise rene sequencer just slowly played through various notes.. a slow wander... with something like a bell or an electric piano...

this is pretty simple.. the rene plays a synth tech e350... the phonogene captured a bit of a loop that plays in the background and the whole thing runs through a 12 second delay on an eventide h7600.

this isn't exactly as i envisioned (is it ever?) but it's close and i'll certainly keeping working in this theme to see if i can capture what's in my mind.

July 25, 2014 (a slow wander)

today i received a new oscillator for my modular... the (quite amazing) intellijel shapeshifter. i'm a sucker for wavetable oscillators and the shapeshifter, even though i've only given it under an hour of play, seems incredibly beautiful and deep.

the sound here is only two modules.. the shapeshifter and a make noise erbe verb.

the reverb shape CV out of the erbe verb is modulating the shapeshifter's SHAPE parameter while the shapeshifter drones in chord mode.

you basically get a modulation that's in time with the reverb and as the sound of the oscillator changes, and pushes itself into the reverb, the reverb responds as reverbs do and in turn alters the sound of the oscillator via the Shape parameter... so there's a bit of a cyclic/feedback modulation here which is really nice.

this is just one of my first sounds with the shapeshifter... just an experiment, really... nothing more.

July 28, 2014 (shapeshifter 001)

sound sources:
xylophone
intellijel shapeshifter

processors:
make noise phonogene
sound machines UL1
intellijel korgasmatron
make noise erbe verb
serge resonant eq
eowave zone b.f.
c3 knob recorder

July 31, 2014 (a morning rain)

looping xylophone and the voice of ichiko aoba from recordings we did together in japan.

sound sources:
xylophone
voice (courtesy of ichiko aoba)

processors:
qu-bit nebulae
mungo g0
make noise phonogene
modcan cv record
intellijel korgasmatron
intellijel dr. octature
pittsburgh filter
serge resonant eq
intellijel springray
make noise erbe verb

modulators:
flame c3
eowave zone b.f.
mutbale frames

december 18, 2014 (of xylophone and voice)

this is a very rough, first experiment with a process i've been meaning to try for a possible follow up and "sequel" album.... using the same concepts i used a long time ago, executed in a very different way.

this a rough tracking with little or no care taken to the mix. i am, however, encouraged...

december 19, 2014 (sti.ll experiment)

slow music... loops and modulations. don't listen to while driving.

sound sources:
xylophone recorded onto a cassette walkman looped by a make noise phonogene.
verbos harmonic oscillator
piano loop on qu-bit nebulae

modulation by a livewire vulcan modulator

reverb by tc m2000 and make noise erbe verb

december 23, 2014 (slow music)

recorded in florida over christmas. a recordable cassette walkman resting inside a cheap upright piano.

i tried to make long, 20-30 minute passages but the recorder kept failing.

december 25, 2014 (tape piano)

as dirty as the christmas tape piano....

testing out the synthrotek dirt filter (kindly gifted to me from marcus fischer for christmas) on a loop playing from the qubit nebulae.

resampled by the phonogene, filtered by an MMG and intellijel korgasmatron. various modulations, various signals, various hopes and dreams ground into the dirt.


december 30, 2014 (dirt loop)

Gas - Untitled #5

Minecraft Background Music

V.A - Davulun Sesi Vol.2
www.tektosag.com

Rumeli VS Balkanlar (Kosovali Erdi)

Granular

With over 100 physical releases since its inception by Taylor Deupree in 1997, New York-based music label 12k has decisively defined and developed the concept of minimalism in the realms of electronic music for more than a decade. Fusing elements from Ambient and Electro-Acoustic Composition with carefully arranged digital textures and associative micro-noises, the label's aesthetics revolve around a precisely-outlined, yet deeply emotional concoction of the technological and the organic. Eschewing the typical marketing mechanisms of the commercial music industry, Deupree has sculpted a platform whose influence today extends well beyond the confinements of the experimental community. 12k's integral approach, in which the label's instantly recognizable, elegantly spartan artwork enters into an inseparable symbiosis with the music, has created a timeless audiovisual language respected and appreciated all over the world.