Simple breadboard test of a new crystal junction noise amplifier - sending sporadic electron bursts across a particularly decayed pyrite (+marcasite) specimen into the volca fm low pass gate.

This recording uses pyrite from Nangiles mine, in Gwennap, Cornwall - which is particularly decayed and dusty (partly altered to marcasite), and seems to make good noise bursts - controlled and mixed with a volca modular patch.

dusty nangiles pyrite beats

Penstruthal is an ancient mine, first recorded output is in 1825 but it was probably worked long before this. The ore (both copper and tin) here is found as veins within the Carnmenellis granite, not the country rock as elsewhere in the Gwennap mines just a few miles to the east. The dumps that remain are full of green dusty malachite and fine black tourmaline included in clear quartz crystals.

What may not be apparent in these tracks is the extent to which natural crystals essentially play themselves, their instability providing continuous change - whether to do with internal structures, electron charges, alteration in heat, light falling on them or passing traffic. Some changes are sudden, others can take a long time to play out. 

Here a calcocite point contact diode provides the internal feedback component to a sawtooth oscillator, which plays the role of some kind of dysfunctional roland 303, never settling - needing occasional tweaking to encourage the cat's whisker to continue operation.

penstruthal acid (chalcocite diode sawtooth)

The natural semiconductors used in this track are pieces from the same lump of solid chalcopyrite fossicked from minewaste at East Wheal Maid, Gwennap. Three shafts on a hilltop that overlook the "Wheal Maid Valley", site of the Great Consolidated Mines. The rubble falling down from the steep sides are full of mineralisation typical of these mines, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena - but also a lot of dark siderite. The names of the shafts and the lodes here have been forgotten to history.

New electronics have been built to provide enveloped gates to free up the ones I've been using on the volca modulars meaning they synth can be used more simply, or even standalone now - preparation for a workshop so we can test minerals we collect with family groups, to provide sonification of different crystals. They are being triggered by a binary counter which can be setup to provide polyrhythms.

from a forgotten lode (east wheal maid chalcopyrite trio)

I’ve tried out many different ways to make music, and this was another new method. The vocals mainly feature visual EQ, a channel strip, and delay. I like how I was able to shape the velocity of the beat, and the Hype Almighty plug synth gave a nice sheen to the mix. A freestyle and live mix, one that seemed to live in my head and worked its way out into the world. That doesn’t always happen easily.

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Sweet Melody (Rollin Away)

Löllingite is a silver metallic mineral in the orthorhombic crystal system containing arsenic, iron and sulphur. The specimen used in this track was not found by me - it was on display in a curiosity shop in Penzance and I purchased it for £12. The label said it was from Penlee Quarry, which is just outside of Newlyn and has been closed to the public for many years now. I wasn't actually sure if this mineral would exhibit semiconducting behaviour until I tested it - but it has very similar properties to arsenopyrite. The microscope photo in the image shows a well formed area of blue tarnished crystallisation.

This track is also the first to feature a new distortion circuit featuring a pair of chalcopyrite fragments from the same rock from East Wheal Maid, Gwennap. These provide clipping diode behaviour, and is being fed by a volca fm running a custom patch. You can hear this at the start and end of the track.

dance of the arsenides (penlee löllingite squarewaves)

I’m surprised this track ended up being finished first, as I had another one that was already completed—at least, I thought so. That track only had 6 tracks, but every time I tried to sync it to the DAW, the vocal glitched out. I tried everything, but it just would not sync, so I decided I’d have to retrack the vocal in the DAW before I could call it finished. After giving up on that for now, I switched over to this current project, which had 11 tracks. I’d already been working on it for a week and a half, building up the lyrics while learning the groovebox. For some reason, everything with this one synced perfectly the first try—no glitches at all. I was able to add guitars without any lag. I didn’t intend to make a super complex mix; I just followed where the song led. The result was a track with tons of elements, different genre influences, and a natural flow. I wouldn’t usually think I could fit this many styles into one song, but it came together effortlessly and was a joy to create. 

As the week went on, different lyrical themes and melodies came to mind. It’s something I try to explain often. It’s not about how many material things we get. It’s about shared time and making good memories. We learn this the hard way in life. We think the people in our lives will always be there. Because of that, we waste our time with them or don’t get along as well as we should. Then we end up regretting not spending more time. The other things we chased lose their value and become meaningless. We’d give anything for more moments. 

Musically, I used synths like Fabric XL, Hype, and Solina. I won’t go into all the mixing elements and bus processing, but there’s some involved. I felt like using wah guitar on this one, and will again when a song calls for it. Vocally, this mix has a much different sound than most of my others. Every mix seems to have a new vocal sound—I don’t stick with the same thing. I promise you this: I will never write music with AI. Everything I do has my human touch, and I will play it live for you. 

Hallucinodream is an only one 
in the memories
Only one so real 
Gotta make time
Keep priorities in line

You want the memories to last
I’ve tried to explain it’s finite
Want to make the most of 
Make the most of our limited time

You wanna live inside the past

Because the meat and heart of life
About the time we spend together
Always cheat and try to fight 
Aways focused on material

Meat and heart of life
Cheat and try to fight 

Focused on material
Oh oh oh oh 

Hallucinodream is an only one 
in the memories
Only one so real 
Gotta make time
Keep priorities in line

Wherever you go 
Right here you always have a home

You want the memories to last
I’ve tried to explain it’s finite
Want to make the most of 
Make the most of our limited time

Because the meat and heart of life
About the time we spend together
Always cheat and try to fight 
Aways focused on material

Meat and heart of life
Cheat and try to fight  (focused on material)

Hallucinodream

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