“Concrete” #3-74 or the “Place Your Item in the Bagging Area Fugue” is a collage of four field recordings of the self-checkout register at CVS.  Recordings from two different CVS stores were recorded on an Olympus VN-7100 recorder.  Each recording is panned to a different area of the stereo field, so headphones are recommended.  I initially made these recordings in order to capture the little melody that the machine makes when the transaction is complete.  I found that I really liked the effect of the four transactions running at once (and overlapping, colliding, etc.) along with the fragments of ambient noise and conversation from the store.   Field recordings were transferred to a Tascam dp-006 for mixing and mastering.

“Concrete” by Prosper Lost is a series of Musique Concrete compositions.  According to Wikipedia, “Musique concrète is a type of music composition that utilizes recorded sounds as raw material. Sounds are often modified through the application of audio effects and tape manipulation techniques, and may be assembled into a form of montage.“

Concrete 3-74 or the “Place Your Item in the Bagging Area Fugue”

“Bits” by Prosper Lost is a series of recordings that use only the LittleBits synth kit.  All recordings are recorded live and direct to a Tascam dp-006 digital four track recorder with no post editing.

bits 3-81

Bits 12

Bits 13

Bits 16

Bits 20

An experiment in manipulating a favorite Alesis Airsynth sample with a computer.  I don't usually work this way, but I'm interested in trying different approaches.

SL Vega Experiment

“Concrete” # 3-91 is a simple cassette recording made on a “boombox.”  I set the boombox to “radio,” inserted a cassette and recorded a few seconds of scanning through various radio station frequencies from which I could not receive a clear transmission.  I then played that cassette on the boombox into a Tascam dp-006.  I also played it on a vintage Walkman.  I also looped parts of that recording on a looper pedal and recorded that at different speeds.

“Concrete” by Prosper Lost is a series of Musique Concrete compositions.  According to Wikipedia, “Musique concrète is a type of music composition that utilizes recorded sounds as raw material. Sounds are often modified through the application of audio effects and tape manipulation techniques, and may be assembled into a form of montage.“

Concrete #3-91

“Concrete” #3-92 is a collage of various field recordings.  I walked around a local university and recorded the sounds of various pieces of machinery outside of the academic buildings.  I collaged loops of the sounds (sometimes varying the speed of playback).

Concrete #3-92

“Concrete” #3-94.3 is a field recording of a small bit of metal being dropped onto concrete.  I looped part of it over and over on top of the original recording as it plays.  An airplane also flies overhead.

Concrete #3-94.3

“Concrete” #3-95 is a collage of various field recordings of pieces of metal being dropped.  Bits of the recordings are looped, sped up and pitch manipulated.  Sounds like percussion.

Concrete #3-95

According to dictionary.com, an opuscule is a small or minor literary or musical work.  Other online sources use the words “petty” or “insignificant”  or “unimportant” in their definitions.

“Opuscule” by Prosper Lost - a series of (usually) electronic recordings that:

1) Are roughly 90 seconds long
2) Employ simple instruments:  toy keyboards/drum machines, ribbon or stylus sound sources, LittleBits, basic online music creation apps
3) Are not edited by a computer
4) Do not employ midi or CV sequencing
5) Are recorded directly to a tascam dp-006 digital recorder

In the spirit of Brian Eno and the Dogme 95 movement, I’ve given myself limitations.  

In the spirit of Brian Eno and the Dogme 95 movement, I’ve given myself permission to break these rules.

In the spirit of Show Your Work! By Austin Kleon, I am committing myself to sharing these little doodles with the world.

“Opuscule” #44 is a Casio VL-tone and a Yamaha PSS-140 over a simple loop created on tonematrix.com

Opuscule 44

“Concrete” by Prosper Lost is a series of Musique Concrete compositions.  According to Wikipedia, “Musique concrète is a type of music composition that utilizes recorded sounds as raw material. Sounds are often modified through the application of audio effects and tape manipulation techniques, and may be assembled into a form of montage.“

“Concrete” #3-40 is assembled from sounds in a single accidental recording on an Olympus VN-7100.  I accidentally turned on the recorder in the waiting room of my dog’s veterinarian.  I ended up recording our departure from the office, our short car trip (Lou Reed on the car CD player) and our arrival at home.  The sounds in this piece are all from the last few seconds of the recording - a panting bulldog, a passing car and the neighborhood church bells.  Sounds are looped and manipulated by an Akai U40 Riff-O-Matic and recorded on a Tascam dp-006 digital multi-track recorder.

Concrete 3-40

Sharing musical experiments here.  Tracks are (generally) sorted by type into playlists, so I recommend starting there.  

I am interested in: toy keyboards and drum machines, musique concrete, minimalism, electro-acoustic, ambient, chiptune, glitch, modular and much more.

Prosper Lost

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