Part three of an ongoing series of experiments in modular synthesis. Each of these tracks is a live performance, one take, stereo-in recording. There was no multitrack editing, mixing afterwards, or added effects outside of Eurorack. These experiments were for my own education, and are all the epitome of ephemeral art….as every patch was immediately pulled apart and can never be recreated. For anyone that knows how meticulous of a producer I am, and how much it takes for me to let anyone even hear my unreleased creations, this is meant to be a personal lesson in letting go, as much as it is a piece of art to consume. I do hope you enjoy my attempted taming of the electrons….

All proceeds from this release support my dear friends at Black Land Ownership - www.instagram.com/blacklandownership

Bandcamp

San Clemente

A conversation between two prolific Black writers - James Baldwin & Nikki Giovanni - reflecting on the history of living in America while Black and what it means to be a person and an artist in the midst of it all.

Nikki Giovanni & James Baldwin: A Conversation (SOUL! 1971)

The Poets

Who's The NIGGER by BoyOdge Words From James Baldwin

https://ahmedsirour.com/album/1774401/black-sun

On Monday, August 21st, 2017, the United States of America, only, will witness its first total solar eclipse in nearly a century. On this same day, I am releasing my next album called Black Sun. It's a concept album based on the Past, Present, and Future of  people of African descent/the African Diaspora, and a call to action to humanity, in general. In this intro track, I'm calling out the history of the American empire, built on the backs, watered with the blood/sweat/tears, and made rich off the countless bodies of enslaved people whose descendants in the 21st century still live as second class citizens and now increasingly are facing what can only understood to be a racial genocide ethnic cleansing at the hands of police brutality killing Black people with impunity and getting away with it virtually every time (you see the news every day, so I don't need to cite the many names that have become hashtags), while politicians and civic leaders then call for peace right after when the community decides to react.

This particular story is obviously nothing new to many...hell, the James Baldwin speech I chose was from 52 years ago, in 1965, and it sounds as if he's speaking about today in 2017. But my contention is that the only way forward is sankofa...learn from the Past, ACT (not simply react) in the Present to bring about actual and positive changes in the immediate and distant Future. As for my album, I will be releasing a new snippet every Monday, starting from today, until the Monday of the album release/total eclipse. During that time each week, for those of you on this list, I will attempt to provide you with the full advance tracks (if/whenever available as I'm still in production as we speak).

This new moon eclipse marks a dramatic new beginning and revolution, I believe, and how appropriate that America will all stand still and stare up at the sky, in awe of the coming Black Sun.


Ahmed

Black Sun

"We Built This" (intro to BLACK SUN album)

Rap Song

The Stranger Within

That Stranger Within

AfriKlynn - Baldwins Nigger 1969
Mystery(My History), a collection of his favorite interviews, lectures & speeches mixed on top of his favorite instrumetals. Baldwins Nigga, a 45 min lecture given by James baldwin & Dick Gregory in London back in 1969, goes in depth about the race problem in Amercia & in the World.    
'"I'm doing this series for one reason and one reason only, and that's because I feel like it needs to be done! We can say all kinds of things but why try to say what has already been said?" - AfriKlynn 

Mixed by AfriKlynn
Produced by J. Thomas
Artwork by AfriKlynn & Jeremy "Smooth" Evans

JamesKlynn.com
FreedomHall.us

Mystery(My History) Series Issue: 1 - Baldwins Nigger 1969(James Baldwin & Dick Gregory)

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

Found this a couple years ago in Portland. 

Here Baldwin reads two excerpts from "Giovanni's Room" - first, "Giovanni and Guillaume" and then "Joey" (Part 1)

Copyright CMS Records.

Reading from Giovanni's Room and Another Country

James Baldwin Reads Giovanni's Room

music is a mirror made of magic. 
IG - @sahar.studios

THE OFFICIAL SOUNDCLOUD ACCOUNT FOR AHMED SIROUR

Well, after having many tracks on Soundcloud, include various remixes that were up for years without any issue, SC started throwing strikes at me left and right, even with those I had proof I had permission to post, but they decided to take down my former page: (at)22music, inclusive of the thousands of wonderful followers who've joined me over the years.

So now I start back from the very beginning, the ground up, and hopefully many of you will find me again as well as newcomers who are hearing my work for the first time--and this time it will only be MY original work (or remixes that are verified)! lol Either way, I hope you take yet another journey again with me as I push the envelope with even more music, more positive vibrations, and more influences from around the world as I infuse my travels into my sounds...

When I'm not at the dayjob, I'm probably at a record store. Pullin from the Stacks podcast most Wednesdays, available here, Apple Pods (please subscribe!) and elsewhere.

Sue-Doe-Nimz - https://soundcloud.com/subatomica

Ghetto Bass.  As in fish....or low tones.
Fuck your bio.
Cats are gangsta.

ambient synth music ... inspired by nature ... influenced by the power of words and stories

Popular tracks tagged #jamesbaldwin