Live & Hybrid Sets

variable_self Live Set @ Workshop Radio | 25.02.24

SWU FM Podcast

K-65 with Variable Self - 06 June 2024

Ontop of DJing, I layer extra drums and acid patterns from my TR-8S and TD-3-MO. 

Went for a blend of crying in the club electronic, spaced out progressive house, and squelchy electro, with a few other destinations too.

Hybrid Live DJ Mix

Roo with Variable_Self - 01 November 2024

Recording from my closing DJ slot at the hybrid set for the Haze: Sonic Embodiment event. Featuring lots of my fave deep progressive tracks, alongside live drums and acid from my hardware.

Haze: Sonic Embodiment - Hybrid Live Set

🗂️ CHANGELOG.md – BLOATWARE
Live Techno Band Repository
Version: v7.4.0-beta
Codename: "CPU_MELTDOWN"

🆕 Added
💥 New Track: boot_loop_lullaby()
Composed entirely during a locked-in jam session inside the RED ROOM of the Llandoger Trow.

🎛️ RED ROOM Mode
Engages dim lighting, detuned synths, and irreversible filter sweeps. Once triggered inside the Llandoger, exit is... unlikely.

🦴 Subsonic Kick Layering v2.0
Kicks now hit harder than your 2009 heartbreak.
Tuned to resonate with both ribcages and pub floorboards.

🌀 Tempo Morph Engine
Enables smooth glides from 90–150 BPM with AI-driven BPM warping.
Ideal for sunrise-to-sunset set transitions without tempo whiplash.

🎛️ Real-Time Modular Synth API
Now supports live hot-swapping of patch cables mid-performance. No undo. No regrets.

🔁 Sequencer Randomizer
Created a chaos engine for melodies that only makes sense at 4AM.

🌐 LAN-Based Crowd Feedback Module
Audience phone tilt controls the reverb decay of the next drop.
(Experimental. Likely to brick network.)


🔧 Changed
🔊 Upgraded all kick drums from "heavy" to "existential crisis."

🔄 Loop quantization adjusted to almost on beat, per artistic decision.

💽 Switched from Ableton to a self-written DAW named bloatOS (written in Bash, crashes gloriously).

💡 Lightshow protocol now syncs with MIDI CC chaos mode – no strobes, just seizures.


🐛 Fixed
🪲 Eliminated MIDI feedback loop that was summoning eldritch tones.

🎹 Resolved issue where synths would auto-trigger during soundcheck.

🧠 Memory leak in vocalist's vocoder now only affects 12% of lyrics.


⚠️ Known Issues
🔴 Activating RED ROOM Mode may cause audience-wide déjà vu, time dilation, or unexpected enlightenment.

🎭 Vocals processed live may include uninvited voices. Do not attempt to engage.

🔊 Bassline can corrupt venue foundations in low-EQ environments.

🖥️ Visual rig GPU overheats after third encore — fans recommended (PC or human).

🪫 Once the set starts, you cannot exit. There is no ESC key.


🧠 About BLOATWARE
BLOATWARE is a hardware-heavy, CPU-melting, live-coded techno collective born from a failed firmware update and a warehouse fire. Specializing in unstable builds, they perform fully improvised sets using overclocked synths, modular gear, and haunted drum machines.

Every gig is a cold boot. Every beat a stack overflow.
Install at your own risk.

BLOATWARE.V1 - RED ROOM

🚀 Launch Event: The Exchange Infiltration
Deployed BLOATWARE live instance at The Exchange, Bristol.
Initial boot sequence triggered via crowd feedback loop and haze density threshold.

🧑‍🎤 Raw Vocal Subsystem (Beta)
Activated punk processor.
Input: rage + echo chamber
Output: distorted broadcast from a lost rebel radio tower.

👾 Alien Presence Detector v1.0
Auditory anomalies reported in the smoking area.
Witnesses claim synth patches "spoke back" mid-set. Investigation ongoing.

⚙️ SET_START Protocol
Once initialized, triggers synchronized chaos across drum modules, LED rigs, and jaw control.
Includes failsafe: audience evacuation disables encore mode.

🌪️ Breakdown Cascade Engine
Break sections now cause spatial distortion in front-left speaker stack.
Effective range: 3 meters. Known to reverse lack of movement.

🌌 Reverb Intelligence AI ("REDZONE")
Developed new sentient reverb plugin. It now chooses when you deserve the drop.

🔧 Changed

🎛️ Synth Tuning Logic Overhaul
Replaced traditional scale system with alien tuning signatures intercepted from the imminent Exchange invasion.

🧨 Kick Drum Depth: Upgraded to "seismic event"
New kick profile calibrated using abandoned rave schematics and floorboard resonance tests.

⚡ Lighting Engine
Strobes now respond to shout intensity + trance gate levels.
Occasionally syncs with audience participation.

🛠️ Codebase Migration
Moved from bash-based bloatOS to experimental OS named V0CALFRACK.
Written entirely in breakdown.js and modular regret.

🐛 Fixed

🪲 Vocoder Bug: "Possession Mode"
Glitch causing spontaneous glossolalia has been reduced to rare chorus sections.

🎤 Phantom Mic Channel
Disabled rogue input source pulling live feeds from an unknown CB radio frequency.

🚬 Crowd Drift AI Overcorrection
Fixed issue where audience drifted into smoking area wormhole mid-track.

⚠️ Known Issues

🔴 Smoking Area Vortex Instability
Time dilation still active near back exit. Abduction likely.
Inhaling may lead to future knowledge or missing hours.

🧬 Vocal Layering may include unintended guests
Disembodied harmonies are not part of the show. Do not engage them.

🖥️ Visual System
Graphics card still overheating. Last test produced an accidental AI-generated rave cult sigil.

⛔ There is no encore button.
Once the loop locks, you ride it 'til shutdown.
No ESC. No mercy.

🧠 About BLOATWARE

BLOATWARE is a sentient techno collective, originally patched together from abandoned synths, corrupted firmware, and a dream someone had in a toilet queue at unfold.

Live-coded. Vocals screamed through ethernet cables.
Each set is an improvised attempted takeover of your nervous system.

Install update. Don't leave the club. Don't trust the voices.

BLOATWARE.V5.[LIVE]@_THE_EXCHANGE_18.04.25_řåŵ_řăț

RED ROOM LIVE B2B Thomas Ridley

Bristol Based DJ/Producer/Live Act:
Anything electronic and more. Shaping my sound one track at a time

Contact: variable.self@gmail.com