For this track I was experimenting with recording drones to a cassette player that I had modded with a potentiometer to control the playback speed. Since the tape player was really old, there was a lot of extra noise introduced in the recording which sounds like electrical interference which you can hear in the beginning before the drone starts. To change the pitch of the drone I would change the playback speed with the pot I soldered to the motor. During the outro of the song I used a combination of analog eurorack synths and some ambient stuff I recorded on my guitar. I layered in some noise throughout to give it more texture. The song ends with an analog delay feeding back.

Sticks And Bones

This track starts off with a beautiful phrase that I made in VCV Rack by sending the gate and pitch information through an elaborate series of gates that would open and close to let information through to play the sequence. It was very convoluted and I understood it better in the moment of creation then I do now. The modular spirits must have had a hold on me that day. The track transitions then into a dark forest of modular groans as the drum beat finds it's footing amongst the dirt and roots blocking the path ahead. The song finally resolves with a steady, forward moving guitar and drum pattern hinting at a brighter future to come.

Fool's Journey

This track was made with my brother Lucas. We shared some time on my modular synth to come up with the first layer and an insert and then I sent it over to him to work on by himself. He laid down some additional percussion bits and the killer acoustic guitar parts which really brought it up another level. He then sent it back to me and I added a bunch of bits here and there to flesh it out some more and removed some bits to let other parts take center stage. What came out was a beautiful mash up of mine and Lucas's musical abilities. I hope you find it as fun as it was to make.

WiFibrations

I have permission from the artist to share this in my portfolio.

Song by Robert Cissell
Recorded and Mixed by John Larson

John Larson

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