Listen / Buy @ http://nilhartman.bandcamp.com
Also available in 24 bit / 96kHz hi-res files.

"[~] marks a stunning new beginning for French artist Nil Hartman. The record combines a warm sense of improvisation with a sleek computer music aesthetic.

Hartman created [~] through livecoding, an approach using text commands in a programming language to compose and perform music in realtime. What you hear on the record is raw, unedited, one-take recordings. Hartman explains: “These versions are unique, I’ll never be able (or willing!) to play them identically.” The astonishing result is not only a technical tour-de-force but a profoundly emotional journey.

The French artist previously enjoyed early success touring Europe festivals with melody-driven club bangers. Following a complete overhaul of his studio craft through a decade of secluded experiments, he now emerges with a deeply personal approach to electronic music.

[~] was recorded live on July 12th and July 30th, 2020. All tracks arranged and performed in realtime using algorithmic langage Tidal Cycle. All sounds generated in realtime using various types of synthesis. The record was mixed and mastered by the artist.

Infinite love and gratitude to LC, Emaël, Siam and familly, Géraud, Pierre, Kevin, Mondkopf, Jb Hanak, Melted Self and Nicolas Bougaïeff. 

[~] is dedicated to Louisiane."

Out via Editions Denkfabrik

[~] (extracts)

Unedited, fully generative jam.
Recorded 24092021.

Arch24092021 Raw

Taken from debut LP Ellipses.
Written, produced and mixed by Nil Hartman.
Mastered by Tony Ménétrier at Studio Polycarpe.

Ellipses

Sans titre 6

Diagonales

Yoctomètre

Peau de fleur

20102017 (jam)

24/02/2019, raw live-coding jam using TidalCycles.
Synths : AudioSpilage DrumSpillage 2 & u-he Bazille.

---
28/04/2020 :

Sharing knowledge is part of Tidal's DNA, so here's my humble contribution to a wonderful, super-generous community. Hopefully I've leveled up my coding chops since then hehe, but still it might be of interest to my fellow live-coders.

The "artwork" is a screenshot of the actual code, and as you can see it's quite simple.

d1 = drums (synthesized with AudioSpillage DrumSpillage 2) and d2 for the whole melody (u-he Bazille doing its FM wizardry into loads of reverb). 

Tidal is the most inspiring MIDI sequencer IMO, and Ableton Live is here used as a fantastic, deluxe plugin hub / audio recorder & mixer (and that’s pretty much my current set-up). 

The melody is the sum of super simple motifs, and its structure is reminiscent of a drum beat : the first part of the cycle (the altered euclidian pattern "[-23(3,8?)]" (n "-23’" = a low C#)) could totally work for a bass drum, its second part for a snare, and the last bit for a hi-hat. 

Give that block of code a try :

do
  setcps (160/60/4)
  d1 $
    s "[bd:1(3,8?) , [~ cp]*4? , hh*16?]"

... and you'll have a nicely syncopated footworkish groove going. 

? being a shortcut for "degradeBy 0.5", it injects a very nice dose of probability to the whole cycle, so that a pattern can evolve without too obvious repetition, and with very minimal code. 

Using commas (in the context of a cycle) in-between its subdivisions is here akin to using "stack" (if you’re yet to familiarize yourself with mini-notation, believe me it’s totally worth the effort), to layer these motifs together.  

''cat'' was used to chain variations of that first cycle, and as far as I remember, it was pretty much a « copy / paste / modify until it sounds good… rinse and repeat » process hehe. I’d do it differently today, in a less verbose way (using mini-notation), but it works ;)  

Now, I’ve quickly become a huge fan of the collision of various very simple functions (degradeBy, rev, slow etc…), conditioned by "every" so that they come and go as musically as possible. Pretty much a trial and error driven process. I believe that the combo of all this functions and ? works wonders here, creating this very organic, generative yet musically controlled feel.

I can’t remember what the midi CC (d8) was for. Nothing too complicated it seems :)  Once I had all my melodies and beats, I grouped them as logically as possible using ‘’do’’ blocks, and triggered each block on the fly to build my arrangement.  

Cheers !

240219 TidalAcid#2 (Live)

Wild, raw Digitone jam, unedited. Recorded minutes ago. Can't wait to livecode the shit out of the Digitone tbh :)

Not holding back any longer the tremendously huge influence Errorsmith, Gabor Lazar, Barker, Autechre and Rrose have on my music. Lets unleash the noise, lets unleash the techno, right ? yup.

Hope you'll enjoy the strangely cathartic yet meditative tone this bit has as much as I do. More polished, proper tunes will follow... soonish.

x,
n.

200719 RawDNjam001

Taken from debut EP Comme un (presque) printemps (2008)

Comme un printemps

Je tourne en carré

Taken from compilation Edges, a new French generation (2009)

La Datafunk

Audio taken from this video http://vimeo.com/2400341 (2008)

Ma Disconica (Monome Live Remix)

A DJ set I did in 2010 for online magazine Goute Mes Disques's "Goute Mes Mix" feature.

You can find it, along some very nice words (in french) about my music, here : http://www.goutemesdisques.com/dossiers/id/goute-mes-mix-5/

Tracklist

01 Few Nolder - Top
02 Bernard Fèvre - Polyester
03 Sutekh - The Diamond House
04 Ciara - Get In, Fit In
05 Soundhack - B1
06 Max Tundra - M.B.G.A.T.E. (Edit)
07 Dolby Anol - Cancer Linda
08 Anthony Shake Shakir - Plugged In
09 Derrick May - R-Theme
10 Aphex Twin - Fingerbib
11 µ-Ziq - µ-Ziq Theme
12 Hawerchuck - Camel Toe
13 Squarepusher - My Red Hot Car
14 G-Side - Run Thingz

Goûte Mes Mix vol. 5

A selection I did for radio show Deepline, aired on french FM on 06/05/2013.

I love the tunes in the set, hence my aim to keep them as un-mixed as possible.

116 / 140BPM

01 Man Parrish - Hip Hop Bee Bop (Don't Stop) (Remix)
02 Kuedo - Scissors
03 Aphex Twin - XMD 5a
04 Legowelt - Rave Till Dawn
05 EOD - Travellax Acid
06 Model 500 - OFI
07 The Tuss - Shiz Ko E
08 Egyptian Lover - I Cry (Night after Night)
09 Rasmus Folk - Coupé

Deepline 06/05/13

23022021 Raw performance, without overdubs nor edits.
Tidal Cycles x Live 11 x u-he Hive 2
As the tilte implies, that improv relies a lot on jux and iter (a combo of both actually). While usually applied to audio, they can alter MIDI sequences too, in their own unpredictable way.

Nil Hartman

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