Practical Man Suite

Quadnic

As usual the .wav files crush these compressed versions.

SE-02

30 years later and here we are... glorious sound makes that possible. All honor and praise to the geniuses at R. A. Moog Co, especially Bill Hemsath, and Mr. Moog himself, a person with whom I (MSR) shared a lunch space at NAMM in the 1990s—it's something folks.

Some internal patching on "Registered Pulses", "Voo R U", and "1st Midimini V30", not that I can remember what went where. No FX however, with the exception of a wet channel on Rach of Ages 2 (and 8 brilliant Kyle Kilpatrick tracks: 1, 4, 7, 11, 15, 19, 22, 24, I couldn't resist crashing this party), no compression, limiting, only a touch of some spot normalizing on several  tracks (Ok, I took liberties with the final 4.061 seconds of Basslighting 1, and 3.854 in Moreover It 3, via Audition). Essentially, as I was saying, raw and un-pestered, synth and factory direct honesty—still such a lonely word, but not every synth is so untrue...

Oh yes, and I created a few stereo tracks from multiple takes; who could resist? I'm sure you can spot them, and some very strange SC audio compression artifacts, one being a robotic whining/ghosting. Eeew.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas,
Marc St Regis 12/24/19

Midimini V30

THE AMERICAN DREAM - I REALLY DON’T THINK

Main synth chords: SE3X in Paraphonic Mode

Supplemental synth chords (Chicago turnarounds): CODE Omega 8

Piano: Mid-‘70s Heirloom (Childhood): 87 Warren Drive, San Francisco, CA, Yamaha C7—which in the early '80s laughed off a dicey and punishing slide down a flight of concrete stairs (ours), reportedly generating (once bottom was rocked) a very non-joyful noise, louder than the re-creation of the the earth, this last time out; EMU Extreme Lead carves out Jazz-e-er changes

Primary synth bass & leads: SE-02, an indispensable sonic & EMOTIONAL tool BTW

Additional synth bass colors: SE-3X, Boomstar Modular Sensei System (glorious), Tonestar 8106, Midimini V30

Synth drums: Boomstar SE-80, Boomstar SEM, CODE Omega 8

Visceral ending analog: Midimini V30

Unconscious Matt Weinhold vocal channeling: Salvatore St. Regis
Additional Portugal boots-on-the ground imagery: Carlo St. Regis
-

Wanted to gather and connect all the SE kin. Did, with some needle-drop .wav surfing and repurposing (that’s how I include Monte Neuble in nearly everything now—talk about indispensable feel!)

The main ‘3X riff felt complete and vibrant in solo mode; pushed on until a diversity of unity was gained, and “gained honor”

Enjoy,
MSR

The American Dream - I Really Don't Think

MSR’s Needle Drops & Isos, Take 2

"I Think That Worked" (like most things until they don't)

Built on SE-3X extremely habit-forming, paraphonic chording throughout, and a legion of instant-grease 'n grind SE-02 basses. Why settle for just one (a question asked by men-y)?

SE-02 Chickin' Pickin' plays nice-nice with juicy bass figures (periodically staccato), which then feed into the faux multi-tracked '02 Wurli (right channel) and "the real thing" (left), punctuated by SE-02 Wormy Lead crew.

All of this happens in the 1st few bars, as you have now entered The Micro Musical Klymit Zone, potentially punishing with it's creative density and attention-to-detail demands, placed upon the listener.

Childhood Heirloom C7 processed piano 3 chord preach, births culminating paraphonic purpose and a frenetic '02 bass/Wurli combo orgone generation.

Enter vintage Grecco Burrato Modmax/Wolftone guitar magic (drips, drops & crunches), and absolutely adorable/incredible '02 LFO gate "Latino Tablino" electro percussion.

Additional miraculous SE-02 multi-tracked polyphony and SE-3X paraphony reveals and revels.

Percolating fake space ensues, interrupted by a booming' SE-80 kick to Super Hero soundtrack vibes—I did just get "Flashed."

Vintage St. Regis/Sembello/Neuble (Michael) 3rd Stone drop and you're almost home... "Groove" Campasso vox; easy with those dope chords.

Dreamy SE-3X surrenders to arpeggiated, mult-tracked SE-02 polyphony.
---

Addl. Boomin' Boomstar Kicks, rims and selected hats were not harmed in the making of...

Enjoy,
MSR 7-5-23

I Think That Worked

Came across this dope Ebm @MonteNeuble SE-3X  bassline, in my needle drop travels, which I had to revisit and enlist in a pulsed paraphonic exaltation in DMaj; silky chord changes from “Onward Upward UFO,” a song written & produced in the late 1970s for the St. Regis brothers, by wonderful friend and Parcourse/health food store mentor, Norman H. Landsberg, assisted that sneaky downward modulation. 

The great James Levi (Herbie Hancock fame) and strongman Gary Calvin (on bass) kept the groove going at Bear West Studios in San Francisco—1st 24 track baptism, where “UFO” was recorded—and we brothers have tried to keep the funk analog ever since. Clavinet D6 is still with us: the one Norman unveiled at St. Regis & Leuenberger and taught us to play; ‘cause he was nice with it, "Cry Baby" style.

Celebrating his remarkable life earlier this month—brilliantly and with panache, thanks to Bob Yount (Landsberg & Yount) and Socorro!—brought his lovely spirit, song, and surprising, vast accomplishments to mind:

Founding member of Mountain, featuring Leslie West; Pointer Sisters MD—“Yes We Can Can…”, Lenny Willams (Tower of Power); sampled by Jay-Z (99 Problems), Kanye West, Tribe Called Quest—heard in films like "Barbershop" and "The Taking of Pelham 123.”

His group Hammer opened up for Leon Russell AND Miles Davis at Fillmore West… Wut!?!

“When tears come, remember brighter smiles can then show."

Miss them when they are here; that’s the Power of Love—which evrybody needs.

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/san-francisco-ca/norman-landsberg-11515731

https://www.discogs.com/artist/860823-Norman-Landsberg

p.s. SE-02 stereo leads :14; ‘02 “Dorothy Ashby” harp :21; incredible SE-02 Paraphonic Preach: 24; SE-3X dual leads :25; Omega8 “Phat Fu” goodness: 31, :35 Norman’s (Manny Moka) piano :33; Manny Moka And The Band on Fire heavenly perc. break: 39

Boomstar Brotherhood drums assist.

Angel Grey ‘3X photos courtesy of @vcousa

Enjoy,
MSR

Monte Moka

Once Upon a Synthplex:

Tonestar 2600 kick thumps & '80s quality "Simmons" toms + @huston.singletary ’s groove merchant ways / heavy (he is my brother) harmonic vision + layers of SE-02 “split note” polyphony & monophonic bass ’n’ lead bravery + selfless SE3X accents—paraphonic and m-phonic + Boomstar Brotherhood claps, snares, shimmering addl. perc. (Boomstar SE-80 mainly) + a sprinkling of SurgeXT + Grecco Burrato crunch vault gems + Folktek visuals, made this story...

=

"Oh man. Sooooo good. A voyage into layers on layers."
 - Huston Singletary

Wait those MIDIMINI V30 "How do you beat that?" "quica" breakdowns. Nice.

Kingdom Inside—listen to it.

Enjoy,
MSR 5-18-24 / L1721
—

p.s. Medium mastering to preserve dynamic range & detail; so make your 🔊🔊work!!

Kingdom Inside

From https://www.instagram.com/p/BRm2swCj6xM/?taken-by=studioelectronics 

#CharcotCircles finally paired with its trusty #BBox8, in 8x16 mode: 8 tracks, 16 steps. I did record some alt passes and couldn't resist bringing the whole thing into my beloved DP9. The bass, a #Folktekd #Tonestar #3003 (too bloody gorgeous sounding), is double tracked in spots: very typically #tb303 for the 1st pass, and almost #DX7 -ish on the second; you're not gonna hear any thump over your phone sadly, but it's definitely still translates extremely well. I think it's my favorite filter… so sweet…

I also recorded some alt tracks of the main sequence (no bass) which consist of #quadnic on chords, filtered by the #SE88 low pass side, noise from our #SCIFI, #grainyclampit (absolutely gorgeous sounding paired with our Oscillation and #tonestar3003) warmed by a #4075, handling the chimey organy chores, and #oscillation brassing out the #MilesDavis -esque hipass SE88 lead.

Our #Ste16 LFOs were also resetting seemingly randomly; adding that uncertain, sometimes "out of work" feeling filter cutoff for the incessant jazz changes, being jacked somewhere into the 8 gate Matrix of the unsinkable #Bbox8. I will post some longform takes on the individual instruments on SoundCloud and maybe one or more joints up here. I recorded a completed Downtempo version all in one take after all. Across the great divide shout out to my old acquaintance Miles Davis for the "All Blues" transcendental inspiration. @eowave_modular @modularsquare

Breakout Box Blues

Charcot Circles/BBox 8 CVs and their many gates take aim at the Quadnic, which is warmed and pendulum-strafed by the Low Pass/Band Pass side of our SE88 filter. Max input level at times = "Dual Pendulum Chaos Generator" distortion on the '88.*

Ste. 16, Shapers, Level, VCA2 and Outs disturb and mollify the chain as well.

The STE. 16 (STE. pronounced as sweet, not stee; you know like the party for teen girls and the amount of waveforms on board the STE?) imparts that jumpy, jerky, luscious filtering flow, it's resets being triggered by the Charcot Circles reset or clock out (can't remember). Really a versatile and expressive dual LFO that Stee is—now you've got us calling it that!

p.s. No Folktek'd Tonestar were harmed or used for this performance.

Some copy and paste DAW-ing going on here too.

*Read more about the "Dual Pendulum Chaos Generator" of the SE88 @ 
http://www.studioelectronics.com/products/synths/boomstar-modular/se88/#modstar

http://www.studioelectronics.com/products/synths/boomstar-modular/quadnic/#modstar

Quadnic Chords - SE88 Warmth and Wrath

Bass and pad iso. featuring Folktek'd Tonestar 3003 (yes we make those) as transient as you like on bass - Quadnic/SE88/VCA2/Shapers/Levels/Outs on popup chords, until the Spinal Tap-ian county fair bass solo, somewhere near the extreme end of the middle.

Brother Greg and I call that the rubber band sound—seemingly only conjurable (yes it's a word) by the 3003 filter.

Ticki Tiki Quadstar 3003

Quadnic filtered by Rossum Evolution Variable Character Ladder Filter

Quadnic Evoluted

I just wanted to play that dirty synth bass like unto my man @buscrates, a fellow SE-02/Ext Box enthusiast, and funk/music savant. This was waaay back in August of 2018; and this is what I got myself into. Think I ended up with at least 20 tracks of bass (understatement). Good thing they aren't all playing at once.  Not sure when I happened upon the sumptuous, and highly melodious Nikki Giovanni/James Baldwin (disarming, wonderfully honest, and warm) interview, but it provided the conceptual, conversational glue & gumption. #wisdom #genius #charm

Initially this was just an SE-02/Ext Box offering, the focus being the usefulness, and potency of this surprising monosynth—as if it possessed the secret means of every instrument necessary—especially when multitracked, and the grit, push, and smooth cutoff sweeping the Ext Box gives. The SE-02 seemed to be more than enough analog; then the Midimini V30 crashed the party, and the piece I was near convinced (read panicked) I would never complete, got a fresh coat of paint & purpose—a rebirth of the cool, so to speak. And my, my... these two kissing cousins sure sound(ed) good together. One programmable, and CC-powerful, with that dope delay, feedback, and unique 3x crossmod, the other, a semi-modular, through-hole, complex gain-staging, fire-breathing 1980s-90s-2000s-strong bass beast of burden. The V30 is also delivering some gorgeous lead line moods, with the Ext Box (yes you read that right) drive boosting, bumping, and smoothly filtering it: hi pass too. I TOLD Greg St. Regis it would work wonders on our 30th anniversary Midimini! Takes a bit of extra cabling is all.

All of the Analog synth polyphony is SE-02, built using the indispensable "Split Notes" feature in Motu's DP10. The organy, dreamy, digital, sometimes hashy chording, features two tracks of free-ranging Quadnic (well it was at the time), which I gradually if reluctantly colored with redux ISO phrases, and some measure of harmonic awareness of its... er, intended direction.

A touch more eurorack organ-ish flair is of chopped-up Grainy Clampit origin, and Boomstar SE-80 hi hats, snares, clap, and kick accent the lifted traps.

It's best I pass the baton here.

The Gospel According to Carlo St. Regis:

"This is the most coherently incoherent meticulous madness I’ve heard. It seems to me like a love song to song, and to sound design. I’ll need to listen to it 30 more times to grasp 30% of its nuance, but on first impression I hear Stevie synth meanderings, funeral dirges and soaring cathedral snippets, interlaced by the unmistakable genius of James Baldwin and held together by a groove that reappears just when you begin to question if you’ve heard it for the last time. It’s a clinic on transition and variety and layering, and almost in spite of this, seems to culminate in a murderously funky and contrastingly bare base and drums section that makes you think yeah, this is why I use synthesizers."

Where most songs seek to build this one isn’t afraid to deconstruct and traverse a journey fitting of the time spent in creating and experiencing it. The impractical renaissance man is here and his background vocals have shown us the way."


MSR
41920

I just wanted to play that dirty synth bass like unto my man @buscrates, a fellow SE-02/Ext Box enthusiast, and funk savant. This was waaay back in August of 2018; and this is what I got myself into. Think I ended up with at least 20 tracks of bass (understatement). Good thing they aren't all playing at once. Not sure when I happened upon the sumptuous, and highly melodious Nikki Giovanni/James Baldwin (disarming, wonderfully honest, and warm) interview, but it provided the conceptual, conversational glue & gumption, and ultimately the energy and vibe to track, and capture a live Midimini V30 performance on top of the mountain of tracked SE-02, and V30 adventures.

Initially this was just an SE-02/Ext Box offering, the focus being the usefulness, and potency of this surprising monosynth—as if it possessed the secret means of every instrument necessary—especially when multitracked, and the grit, push, and smooth cutoff sweeping the Ext Box gives. The SE-02 seemed to be more than enough analog; then the Midimini V30 crashed the party, and the piece I was near convinced (read panicked) I would never complete, got a fresh coat of paint & purpose—a rebirth of the cool, so to speak. And my, my... these two kissing cousins sure sound(ed) good together. One programmable, and CC-powerful, with that dope delay, feedback, and unique 3x crossmod, the other, a semi-modular, through-hole, complex gain-staging, fire-breathing 1980s-90s-2000s-strong bass beast of burden. The V30 is also delivering some gorgeous lead line moods, with the Ext Box (yes you read that right) drive boosting, bumping, and smoothly filtering it: hi pass too. I TOLD Greg St. Regis it would work wonders on our 30th anniversary Midimini! Takes a bit of extra cabling is all.

All of the Analog synth polyphony is SE-02, built using the indispensable "Split Notes" feature in Motu's DP10. The organy, dreamy, digital, sometimes hashy chording, features two tracks of free-ranging Quadnic (well it was at the time), which I gradually if reluctantly colored with redux ISO phrases, and some measure of harmonic awareness of its... er, intended direction.

A touch more eurorack organ-ish flair is of chopped-up Grainy Clampit origin, and Boomstar SE-80 hi hats, snares, clap, and kick accent and propel the lifted traps.
It's best I pass the baton here.

The Gospel According to Carlo St. Regis:

"This is the most coherently incoherent meticulous madness I’ve heard. It seems to me like a love song to song, and to sound design. I’ll need to listen to it 30 more times to grasp 30% of its nuance, but on first impression I hear Stevie synth meanderings, funeral dirges and soaring cathedral snippets, interlaced by the unmistakable genius of James Baldwin and held together by a groove that reappears just when you begin to question if you’ve heard it for the last time. It’s a clinic on transition and variety and layering, and almost in spite of this, seems to culminate in a murderously funky and contrastingly bare base and drums section that makes you think yeah, this is why I use synthesizers."

Where most songs seek to build this one isn’t afraid to deconstruct and traverse a journey fitting of the time spent in creating and experiencing it. The impractical renaissance man is here and his background vocals have shown us the way."

MSR 5720

#studioelectronics#se02#synthbass#synthlead#midiminiv30#boomstarmodular#quadnic#grainyclampit#jamesbaldwin#nikkigiovanni#interview#akronohio#funk#ambient#groove#eurorack#boomstar#se80#synthdrums#analog#motu#digitalperformer#dp10@motutech

Practical Man Suite - Live V30

Once upon a drum machine, The Brothers St. Regis had to part with their beloved, stock TR-808; before it left the building, Greg St. Regis programmed this beat: "HE is The Rhythm Man, tapping at he backseat..." Several summers passed and it again found favor in their sight, after hundreds of cuts & creases and "Boomstar Brotherhood" SE-80 percussion pieces. Soon Rhodes chords followed the Rhythm-Man's-flow. It is commonly believed bass was next (30+ tracks): driving, testifying, border-defying Midimini V30, in the lead role, with wildly versatile and colorful programmable support from the SE-02. 10 or so passes of Omega 8—essentially MIDI Channel 1/1980’s style—broadened and brightened the Gospel of Chordal Excellence. The Oracle at Ableton/Atlanta spoke a Wayne Shorter spirit into the leads, so the SE-02 and Midimini began stacking up the solo flights, fighting and reuniting like play-cousin nights. Voices from the “Family Herrre” Chorus preached and ascended majestically—though soothingly prosaic at times—inspiring, shaping, begging, cajoling, demanding, elevating and refining the piece to unforeseen coherence and towering heights… feigning silence for moments, only to reanimate through & beyond fragmentation challenges with that magical dialect and love from The Lou.

"Consider all that."

FINIS

Captain’s log supplemental: 1182021:

Most if not all of the polyphonic detail work (apart from the Waves Morphoder vocoding), not tracing or amplifying the piano track MIDI, rather often clustering around spoken and sung WORD, like a gritty reverent glitter (WORD, arguably entirely too sacrosanct to digitally preserve… to orchestrate, yet now its dope message moves forward and out), was tracked note by Motu's brilliant “Split Notes” feature in DP10: Midimini V30 and SE-02 battling again for the muse’s attention/affection. There is no other DAW ;)

Original Midimini on the 1st and last conspicuous bass slides.

Additional Cameos: Modstar Sensei, Tonestar 8106, 2600.

Writers: Marc St. Regis, Greg St. Regis
Produced by MSR
Executive Producer Adrian Drummond

Special thx to Drummond, Sean Charles and Huston Singletary.

Practical Man Suite

STUDIO ELECTRONICS