Wrest of Whales by syncanonymous was performed/improvised live on April, 20, 1994 before a live audience at Cafe eSpace in San Francisco, California. This was the first piece in the first set:
Piki Chappell: Cello (Trace Elliot Amp; Alesis Quadraverb; Yamaha delay).
Kerry Garloff: Roland Drum Pad.
CT Reitzell: Guitar (Alternate Tuning Epiphone 12-string); Ibanez DMD2000 Delay Sample & Hold;  Alesis Quadraverb; ADA MP-1; Traynor power amp; Pacific cab with custom speakers. I think maybe I borrowed a Fender Deluxe too for stereo.

Recording: Radio Shack/Tandy Realistic PZM mic pair into>  into Sony DTC-690 consumer DAT machine (long play 32kHz) (Pulse convertors). & Digital Transfers (2001) via: DAT(32KHz/16?bit) toslink output> toslink into Midiman CO2 (optical to spdif convertor) spdif out>Delta66.

In 2014, this file has had Sonnox ReStore suite processing: De-Buzzer, De-Clicker and De-Noise was applied overall; R/L levels adjusted and Peak limited in WaveLab. This performance went to tape very quiet and in quieter passages, the noise floor rose to detrimental annoyance. De-Noise with different settings was applied a second time to spot clean the quieter passages.

Sync940420 - Wrest Of Whales - Xcerpt

(Loose Dance With) Lucifer-Xcerpt by syncanonymous was performed/improvised live on February, 1994 before a live audience at Cafe This in Santa Rosa, California. This was the last piece played at the end of what was a very dull night of music from syncanonymous, as I recollect. Suddenly, the universal channel suddenly flowed through our bodies and this popped out. The beginning of this track is unaltered, the end has been faded out early:

Piki Chappell: Cello (Trace Elliot Amp; Alesis Quadraverb; Yamaha delay).
Kerry Garloff: Roland Drum Pad.
CT Reitzell: Heartfield RR-8 Guitar; Digitech Whammy pedal; Ibanez DMD2000 Delay; ADA MP-1 preamp; Traynor power amp; Pacific cab with custom speakers.

Recording: Radio Shack/Tandy Realistic PZM mic pair into>  Tascam 202 MKII Cassette Deck (I think)>into Sony DAT machine  & Digital Transfers (Dec2012) via: DAT(48KHz/16bit) analog output> mbox2 (44/16). I do not have the original DAT recording, I only have an optical copy made by two DAT machines connected via toslink cable

In 2014, this file has had Sonnox ReStore suite processing: De-Buzzer, De-Clicker was applied overall; Peak limited in WaveLab.

There was an agenda to syncanonymous: no accident. When we felt our playing got stale, we would attempt to change. All syncanonymos music is completely first time, make it up on the spot improvisation. Piki & I have always had a telepathic connection musically. Now, the thing is is that we were all playing, writing rehearsing together in our Prog Rock band, Euphoria, 3 days per week, perfecting specific songs, often in complicated time sigs. That meant we all knew how to support one another when playing. For syncanonymous, We did not bring song ideas, remembered or scripted and and imrov to said "structures" a la Greatful Dead. I did try to lead the others at times, but it always failed. There is some 15hrs of material in total, and there are many less "structured" performances.

(Loose Dance With) Lucifer-Xcerpt

This recording is frightening at times. All hell is unleashed via the Electric Salad Bowl. The fearsome feedback that occurs at times does need forensic DeClipping repair which hasn't happened yet. In amongst the nightmare of the Electric Salad Bowl, there is relief and beauty.

Again, syncanonymous is live improvisation before a cafe audience recorded to DAT via two Radio Shack PZM microphones which are sitting on the floor. Cafe noises and chatter runs throughout. Some of the pieces are nearly 40 minutes long and I have cut them up to make navigation a little easier.

Thanks to daring who will listen to this melee. Much more to come. 

The sources uploaded to soundcloud are MP3, downconverted from 4816.
_todd

940507 03.3 - Respite 51m45s - 53m36s

Cello; Heartfield RR-8 guitar, whammy pedal, live sample and hold delay gtr, Roland Octapad Drums

This recording is frightening at times. All hell is unleashed via the Electric Salad Bowl. The fearsome feedback that occurs at times does need forensic DeClipping repair which hasn't happened yet. In amongst the nightmare of the Electric Salad Bowl, there is relief and beauty.

Again, syncanonymous is live improvisation before a cafe audience recorded to DAT via two Radio Shack PZM microphones which are sitting on the floor. Cafe noises and chatter runs throughout. Some of the pieces are nearly 40 minutes long and I have cut them up to make navigation a little easier.

Thanks to daring who will listen to this melee. Much more to come. 

The sources uploaded to soundcloud are MP3, downconverted from 4816.
_todd

940507 03.2 - Ensued 48m10s - 51m45s

Cello; Heartfield RR-8 guitar, whammy pedal, distortion & shredding , Octapad tuned perc  

This recording is frightening at times. All hell is unleashed via the Electric Salad Bowl. The fearsome feedback that occurs at times does need forensic DeClipping repair which hasn't happened yet. In amongst the nightmare of the Electric Salad Bowl, there is relief and beauty.

Again, syncanonymous is live improvisation before a cafe audience recorded to DAT via two Radio Shack PZM microphones which are sitting on the floor. Cafe noises and chatter runs throughout. Some of the pieces are nearly 40 minutes long and I have cut them up to make navigation a little easier.

Thanks to daring who will listen to this melee. Much more to come. 

The sources uploaded to soundcloud are MP3, downconverted from 4816.
_todd

940507 03.1 - Gigantus 42m40s - 48m10s

This recording is frightening at times. All hell is unleashed via the Electric Salad Bowl. The fearsome feedback that occurs at times does need forensic DeClipping repair which hasn't happened yet. In amongst the nightmare of the Electric Salad Bowl, there is relief and beauty.

Again, syncanonymous is live improvisation before a cafe audience recorded to DAT via two Radio Shack PZM microphones which are sitting on the floor. Cafe noises and chatter runs throughout. Some of the pieces are nearly 40 minutes long and I have cut them up to make navigation a little easier.

Thanks to the daring who listen to this melee. Much more to come. 

The sources uploaded to soundcloud are MP3, downconverted from 4816.
_todd

940507 03.4 - Trucension 53m36s - 61m17s

This recording is frightening at times. All hell is unleashed via the Electric Salad Bowl. The fearsome feedback that occurs at times does need forensic DeClipping repair which hasn't happened yet. In amongst the nightmare of the Electric Salad Bowl, there is relief and beauty.

Again, syncanonymous is live improvisation before a cafe audience recorded to DAT via two Radio Shack PZM microphones which are sitting on the floor. Cafe noises and chatter runs throughout. Some of the pieces are nearly 40 minutes long and I have cut them up to make navigation a little easier.

Thanks to daring who will listen to this melee. Much more to come. 

The sources uploaded to soundcloud are MP3, downconverted from 4816.
_todd

940507 10 - Its - Not - Hard 112m54s - 116m59s

Live syncanonymous from may, 7, 1994. This piece is features cello; all improvised.

940507 06 - Lovely 72m33s - 82m39s

This track was composed for the Electric Future Collective Music Challenge number 5. The brief for this song in "Summer". My idea of Summer is about sweltering heat and the emotional ups and downs when coping with unbearable heat. The heat of a desert, rather than a frolic on the beach.

This composition was written around banjo samples I recorded in the Salle De Fete at Craon Chateau in May 2014. The reverb was so impressive that I was compelled to record it. The banjo performance was of the moment; I just played something off the top of my head & recorded into a Zoom H1.

Extra special thanks to Jess Lemont as all of the drums are from her recent recording.

Jess' drums and banjo samples were cut down & normalized in WaveLab.

Samples' trigger points were sliced in Recycle.

The main sequencing was, again, Reason4. This sequence was much less complicated than previous my EFCMC songs. I used one preset: cello sample from reason FSB, I don't like doin it, but there it is, hrumph.... The main mixdown happened in Reason.

I also overdubbed 12 string slide, which was overdubbed in SawStudio after building the Reason mix to a soundfile.

Thanks again to Jess for providing some great raw material to work with.



Craoning Room (featuring Jess Lemont Drums) (EFCMC5)

This track, Rustalgia, is much simpler than my previous entries. The title was inspired by a conversation I was having with Michael Mooser (raelx2013@mdmooser) on soundcloud about nostalgia. This song is kind of long, and my excuse is that nostalgia is something that can take a person over with a feeling that one would like to savor.

I was also heavily influenced by Michael's latest recordings and also by the astounding Timothy McGaw whom I have recently discovered.

Rustalgia sound sources are only the sampled metal objects, there are no other sound sources. Absolutely no preset sounds were used. I did use a preset effect RV7000 starting point for the "squeak" solos, yet that has also been also highly modified. 

This song was created for The Electric Future Collective Music Challenge number 6. The brief was "Heavy Metal". Again, this piece is more composition than performance, altho, on this track I did play several parts in on keyboard.

Software: WaveLab LE7, ReCycle 2.1, Reason 4.0.1 build 973
Controller: mouse, Evolution MK-249C Keyboard.

Time to complete: Again, approx 5 days.

Details:
Found objects sampled with Zoom H1 on a tripod.
Samples cut down in wavelab. No samples were normalised before uploading in Reason. I used Reason MC Compressors to boost levels.

Samples:
-2meter x 1meter battered & rusty pice of sheet metal which was used for all of the drum "skin"-type sounds: bass drum, toms, snare. This was stuck with a hatchet and rubbed with a steel wool scouring pad.
-Stihl Brushcutter blade- this blade has exceptional resonance and the the main "organ sound" and delay shimmer in the choruses. This was struck with the spanner/wrench used to change the blades on the brushcutter.
-4 wood splitting wedges of various lengths: 175mm, 200mm, 225mm, 270mm. All struck with a large sledge hammer. These are fairly obvious as the piano/xylophone sound. The surprise for me was the bass in Rustalgia is the 270mm wedge tuned in an NNXT sampler.
-51cm spike chisel struck w/sledhammer. This sound is the overbearing modulation delay melody.
-Rusty coffee can with new screws- shaken- shaker and cowbell sounds.
-9 Tine Pitchfork- struck with sledge- cymbal bell
-Metal sawhorse hinge squeaks- the "guitar solo" parts

there were a lot of samples I did not use. 

Reason: This piece consists of 11 tracks.
The rack included:
8 NN-XT samplers;
3 Dr.Rex Loop players;
10 MClass Compressors;
2 MClass EQs;
1 thor synth (audio input only- used for modulation delay and one filter);
4 RV7000 Reverbs (3 with identical reverb presetfor the overall mix;
6 reMIX mixers (I could have used less, there is a full mixer of drum submix; 1 for output bus);
1 MClass Mastering Suite set to default;
1 PH-90 Phaser;
This song is much simpler than my typical automation, only (6 parameters automated, including time signature).

Compositionally, I usually think about what I want to do, especially where time signature is concerned, before a start. I came up with 2 measures of 3/4 & 1 measure of 4/4 as a starting point; I suppose it adds up to 10/4. Typically I lean towards difficult to count performances, but here I went 6/4 (12/8) in the choruses to simplify. The chord progressions are screwy enough. After my initial day of composing, I decided to sleep on it. Usually I begin writing music on guitar; not this time! I started on keyboard. After sleeping on it, listening the next day, I shouldn't write on keyboard. So I sat with guitar, playing along and further developed some better voicings.

Tuning the metal samples to "concert pitch" was vital to composing. It did take about 90 minutes. I used my trusty & very old Boss TU-12H held up to my nearfields, a crude solution, but seems to have worked.

I was gagging to track some guitar on this song, but the missus said she thought having the song be made up of only found sound metal samples was an interesting concept and I took her advice, altho, guitar would definitely add a welcome dimension.

I did play in some of the parts, the piano/xylo b5s part is a one take for one phrase. I got the feel for the bass playing keyboard, but ended up programming the bass part in the end. I am really surprised at how good the wedge sounds in the bass register. I was blown away by the sound of the Stihl saw blade from the moment I struck the blade, so I knew I wanted to lean on it extensively from my sampling session. 

The mixing is very, very limited, only one stereo track of mixer automation. All other volume scaling was handled on devices themselves (main volume) or compressor output. These metals were much harder to mix than I had expected. Volume differences from different keyboard registers was hard to control as nearly all of the samples were zoned way beyond their fundamental. Frankly, it was surprisingly difficult to get a nice balance without going crazy automating mixer channels. In Reason, it is easier to mix the specific parts as automation for a specific device, rather than adding mixers to the Reason sequencer.

On each EFCMC song, I have learned a new thing or two about Reason, this time I used NN-XT samplers to manipulate nearly every sound so I learned things I didn't know before, simple stuff like creating multiple zones and routing multiple outputs, but still things I didn't know well beforehand. 

Rustalgia (EFCMC6)

Jiffy Walk-EFC Music Challenge Aug-Sept 2014

What we have here is essentially the Three Stooges on acid writing and recording a TV theme.

Jiffy Walk was created for The Electric Future Collective Music Challenge number 7. The brief was to create your own cover of Popcorn by Gershon Kingsley, although, notoriously known from the version by Hot Butter. Personally, I have always really liked both of those versions. I used the Kingsley version as my main reference. For this EFCMC, I knew I wanted to feature my Gibson Byrdland as I have never before successfully recorded it amped.

I set out learning the original Popcorn song on guitar. The thing I noticed straight away is the bass part is essentially country. To me, the Kingsley version is very much an electronic surf song. Surf was the all the rage on the radio in 1969. The bouncing 4ths in the bass is the fulcrum of the famous Hot Butter version. This immediately brought Johnny Cash to mind and the entire traditional country genre.

Now, I really did not want to create a supersonic speed Popcorn copy, with synthetic beeps and boops slathered in delay. I originally conceived a overly awkward Sinatra-like swing version with long rests in considering direction before starting, but I found I didn't really have time to construct what was in my head.

What I ended up making is a mash up of Popcorn and Walk The Line by Johnny Cash. The key worked better with Walk The Line than would Ring Of Fire. Plus, Walk The Line was a hit partially due to the bass notes moving in 4ths and 5ths in a very ingenious way.

In the end, Jiffy Walk sounds more like a 60s or 70s TV theme with a Three Stooges trombone line and insane music box/toy piano.

I created the backing track in Reason (as usual). Compared to my other EFCMC songs, Jiffy Walk is much simpler in instrumentation. There is no automation, it is a straight mix. I have recycled some sounds from previous EFCMC songs and I used a few Reason presets. The piccolo sound is from EFCMC2/Wheegillerium which is mainly there to back up the flute preset. From Electric Future Collective Music Challenge number 6/Rustalgia I used a sample I made from a metal pot scrubber on a big rusty sheet of sheet metal as a brushes sound, but it sounds more like power-washing an automobile. The organ sound is also a preset Reason sample. The main drums are also a preset NN-XT kit.   

I put the backing track in SawStudio and overdubbed multiple guitar takes and comp(osited) the guitar performances. I did not cut guitar lines and move them around. I mainly muted and un-muted various tracks to get a comp. Take that back, the Walk The Line riffs at the end of the track are copy and paste, but those two instances are the only ones. Otherwise, it is old school comping.

I did have some issues when recording. On EFCMC3/Craoning Room I was able to record guitar using the spdif output on my Cyber Twin. All of the outputs on my Cyber Twin had a nasty ground/earth hum. This is usually due the ground/earth of my computer which is power my PreSonus Firestudio Mobile. As soon as the PreSonus FSM was patched, I get horrible ground/earth loop buzz. So, I mic'd the amp with one of the PreSonus SD7 mics that came with my PreSonus FSM Studio One, and it sounded surprisingly good and quiet.

Software: Reason 4.0.1 build 973, SAW Studio Lite (WaveLab LE7, ReCycle 2.1 indirectly).
Controller: mouse, Evolution MK-249C Keyboard.
Instruments: 1974-75 Gibson Byrdland (Kalamazoo), Fender Cuber Twin, PreSonus audio card and SD7 microphone

Time to complete: approx 7 days. A lot of time was spent learning the songs.

Samples: 

Reason: This piece consists of 12 tracks, of which the drums a 3 tracks.
The rack included:
6 NN-XT samplers(presets: flute, jazz drum kit (with single drum outputs routed to separate mixer channels, Organ (Blu Jay No Way). Trombone sound is extremely damaged on purpose, alternate "flute/piccolo" sound from EFCMC2/Wheegillerium) ;
1 Malstrom (music box/toy piano sound made from scratch);
4 MClass Compressors;
3 MClass EQs;
2 thor synths (bass and  made from scratch; "mellotron" modified from Thor Station preset);
5 RV7000 Reverbs (3 with identical preset, ;
4 reMIX mixers;
1 MClass Mastering Suite set to default;

Jiffy Walk has no Reason parameter automation.

Compositionally, this is the first EFCMC song I have written in 4/4 time. There are pick-up bars and half measures throughout the composition, tho, which lead to unpredictability. Drums and Bass are locked to time, but the melodies are highly syncopated in 1/8 note triplets. Popcorn melodies were written in midi editor with mouse. Walk The Line melodies were played in via midi keyboard (and copied and pasted).

I have been gagging to track guitars, so I did. Again, the missus got involved and pushed very hard for the Walk The Line mash-up. recording into SawStudio, I kept 5 takes of probably 15. Early takes were unusable with the spdif buzz & overloads. Once mice'd, takes happened pretty quickly. I kept one track of comping; 3 solos tracks ; 1 walk The Line single line track. For solos, the Cyber Twin is set to Tweed with Arena Reverb on at btwn 4-5. The comping track has the reverb off. There is VST reverb on every gtr track for an overall "room" sound. I matched the Reverb settings to the backing off the top of my head. All the mutes in the guitar composite collage are constantly cutting off the the long reverb tales, so the overall room sound returns some continuity to the composite collage. 

The main mixing is done in SawStudio, but is really only mutes and plenty of volume scaling. stereo track of mixer automation. Reverb here is quite short, with a very small room reverb for the overall "room sound". the instruments themselves have longer/more saturated reverb and delay levels in the spirit of popcorn.  

As far as learning something new with Reason, I really didn't. This exercise was more about learning these popular songs and smashing together genres. The main new experience here for me was tracking my byrdland via mic'd amp. plus, I have never really recorded the "jazz" that I play all the time and have been practicing guitar quite a bit lately.

Thanks to anyone other than me reading and listening , it is so greatly appreciated.


Jiffy Walk (EFCMC7)

This is a 4-track recording of Euphoria from 1993/94.  The band performance was a one-take performance recorded in the winter of 1993 the Euphoria rehearsal space which was an industrial unit off of North McDowell Blvd in Petaluma, California. 

The band played live to 2 tracks via a Mackie 16 channel mixer. 

Lead Vocal is recorded on track 3 and backing vocals are on the 4th track. Vocals were recorded in an apartment in San Rafael, CA in February 1994. The original 4-track mix was done by Piki Chappell and Todd Reitzell the next day on Yamaha NS10s and Sony Headphones in the same apartment; mixed to DAT.

The DAT was then transferred to computer 20 years later via PreSonus FireStudio. Compression, and EQ were adjusted in SawStudio.

Musicians:
Piki Chappell: fretless bass, vocals, backing vocals;
Kerry Garloff: drums;
Todd Reitzell: electric guitar (Heartfield RR-8, Digitech Whammy Pedal);
Tony Stoufer: electric guitar (Hamer)



Your Eyes (1994) by Euphoria

syncanonymous means "in time with the unknown". In this case, it is a trio of musicians recording spontaneous musical telepathy. Extemporized live performances
before Cafe audiences 
in 1993/4 in Northern California. 
musicians: 
piki chappell: Cello, Vox, Surrealistic Violin, Fretless Bass, Keyboards, Electric Salad Bowl; 
kerry garloff: Roland Drum Pad, 
todd reitzell: Guitar, Vox
This is todd's soundcloud page.
Todd "bio":
American.
Based in Cambridge, UK.
but I spend a lot of time in France;
and get to California as often as possible.
prog rock/
avant garde/
experimental
sound geek
barely aware of social media
facebook n/a

syncanonymousTODD

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