My first piece using the new generative sample player, "Petri" (http://www.sineqube.com/1/petri.html) created by Max/MSP developer and musician "sineqube" (Kevin Holland, whose music can be heard here on SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/sineqube). Though the software is designed primarily for the creation of glitchy, IDM-inspired randomized drum patterns, I (of course) used it as means to a completely different end, by slowing the generated patterns down quite a bit and using long non-drum samples. ;-)
This piece was recorded within Petri as a single unedited pass, with software parameters manipulated in real time. Beat-matched echo and some reverb were added in post.
Best enjoyed with headphones!


Petri One (generative electronic music)

PYXL8R raw recording from an on-stage Zoom H4n recorder. capturing their live performance in Philadelphia, headlining the Event Horizon concert series at The Rotunda on May 9, 2014. 

Though this was PYXL8R's second time at the Event Horizon, it was the first-ever live stage performance of the PYXL8R TRIO, featuring Ken Palmer, joined by son Kyle and daughter Sage.

Song list (recorded here as one continuous track):
1. Uncanny Valley
2. I Can Hear You There
3. Facts in the Feeling
4. Night Creepers
5. Rinkle Dinkle
6. Voices of Dusk
7. Voices of Dawn
8. Answered Prayers

Trio Live 2014

This is a rather dense track that delves into the Korg M50's many sequencer layers and controls, and I did a LOT of knob twiddling as I messed with a custom patch in real time. This was all played and recorded live with no overdubs, using only the internal M50 sounds and a few Kore Player soft-synth patches played using a Novation SL2 MkII controller. This was mixed in Cubase 6 with no edits; just a few volume adjustments and some compression and reverb were added.

Signal Of Unknown Origin

Daughter Anna is going to be doing some violin drones on one of the pieces during our live PYXL8R TRIO performance at the 2014 Electro-Music Festival... still playing with how to process her sounds! 
(This is only a test! I repeat...)

Violin Reverb Test

I have been busy dealing with some of the many distractions of life, so I have been totally off the SoundCloud grid. This is the first set of tracks that I've uploaded here in about eight months! That's waaaay too long, but I'm glad I'm back now, and making music again! 

All five tracks were written for the soundtrack of my friend's short film about World War I, which is why I've started recording again. This first piece was created using two Korg nanoKEY controllers hooked up to my MacBook running Cubase. Two tracks of soft-synths were recorded for the piece: both Kontakt 3 patches.

Defensive Strategies (Maginot Soundtrack)

First draft of a piece intended to debut at the 2012 Electro-Music 2012 Festival in September. This performance will be my second time playing a PYXL8R live gig at this event.

GEAR: 3 Kontakt 5 instruments recorded live into Cubase Artist 6.5 using a Korg MicroKEY controller and nanoKONTROL plugged into a MacBook. For my live setup, I will probably use a Novation SL25 MkII instead, for more control of the soft-synths' parameters.

I Can Hear You There

Field recording on Hurricane Sandy, captured from my front porch using a Zoom H4n recorder with a Azden SMX-10 stereo shotgun microphone (borrowed off of my video camera rig), and monitored  with Shure SRH440 headphones.

Hurricane Sandy 10-29-2012

Live recording of PYXL8R performing at the 2012 Electro-Music Festival in Huguenot, New York on September 7, 2012. This was the debut of the duo version of PYXL8R, featuring my son Kyle joining me on synths and iPad.

All music was recorded entirely live with a Korg M50 synth, an iPad running AniMoog, and a Novation SL-Mk2 controlling Kontakt 5 softsynth sets running on a MacBook, all recorded onto a Korg D888 digital mutitrack.

I Can Hear You There - Live at Electro-Music 2012

Harmonic Key - Live at Electro-Music 2012

So Deeply Felt - Live at Electro-Music 2012

Answered Prayers -  Live from Electro-Music 2012

I'm a graphic designer, artist and musician. PYXL8R is the name I use for my solo musical projects when I'm not performing with my band, Brainstatik. Often recorded in the middle of the night, each session usually is a spontaneous burst of electronic synthesizer-based long-form improvisation. Sometimes atmospheric and dense with unusual sonic textures, these pieces are usually recorded live with few overdubs and minimal post-production tweaking. Hardware-based synths and software-based sound sources are intermingled throughout, with Korg and Native Instrument products dominating as my favorite noise-makers. Listen with headphones in a dark room for maximum immersion! Enjoy!

SPECIAL NOTE: I don't want to discourage people from following my music here, but if your own style is so far removed from the genres I'm interested in, don't expect me to follow you in return. I only follow musicians whose work I honestly enjoy listening to, so don't take it personally if I don't reciprocate. I do listen to a sampling of every new follower's music. But I also notice when a person has a disproportionate ratio of follows to followers (like those of you with 2000 follows and 100 followers), and I do understand that your intention is to publicize your music. I totally get that! So continue to follow as many artists as you desire (including me if you wish)... maybe you're tastes ARE actually that diverse, and that's great! However, I can't realistically listen to such a huge flood of new music each day. So I limit my follows to those artists in whom I'm truly interested. Thanks for reading this, and keep creating wonderful and diverse music for the SoundCLoud community!

GEAR: Click on the song title to get a detailed description of the hardware and software used in the creation of each of the songs. I know that some of you are interested in the processes behind the music, so I'm happy to document how these tracks came together technically. There are a LOT of different tools and techniques applied in the creation of each song (I like to experiment), so drop me a line if you have a question!

PYXL8R

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