NYZ DRNH Limited Cassette Release on Gamma Mine Featuring Hinton Instruments Modular

Dave Burraston aka NYZ/noyzelab has a new release out titled DRNH soon available on cassette and digital download. You'll find some info on the gear used exclusively for MATRIXSYNTH further below, but first, here is some info on the release via noyzelab:

"Launching Gamma Mine's explorations into electronic systems music is 'DRNH', a new release from award winning artist Dave Burraston. “DRNH” continues 2016's releases from the ever-prolific artist, who has released works on labels including .MEDS, Feral Tapes, Computer Club and ALKU, this year alone.

Under his NYZ alias, Burraston studies modulation-based synthesis techniques from his Noyzelab studio, NSW, Australia. As an extension to the activities captured on 'DRN4' (.MEDS, 2016), the systems utilised on “DRNH” have been broadened to include additive synthesis, ring modulation and non-linear waveshaping alongside Burraston's staple frequency modulation synthesis techniques. The following is a declassified listing of equipment used in this research:

Hinton Instruments Music Lab modular prototype
Yamaha SY99 & TG77 with cellular automata generated microtunings
MANIAC/Ulamizer-II cellular automata sequencing
Tiptop Z-DSP & Numberz with custom programs

The result is a collection of recordings which take the listener from sci-fi atmospheres (“NYZ-1_HI-SIN”) to whirring electronics (“NYZ_Z-DSP+NUMBERZ-DRN1”), playful FM studies (“FM80Pcellular”, “FM60Pcellular”) to meditative drones (“CSN2-excerpt1-mono”, “DRNH”). “DRNH” releases on 9th December 2016 on white C90 cassette and digital formats:

A1. NYZ-1_SHPR_mono (01:40)
A2. NYZ-1_HI-SIN (07:17)
A3. NYZ-1_FM20Pcellular (02:04)
A4. NYZ_Z-DSP+NUMBERZ-DRN1 (06:42)
A5. FM80Pcellular (05:08)
A6. CSN2 excerpt1-mono (14:29)
A7. FM60Pcellular (05:42)
B1. DRNH (44:44)"

MATRIXSYNTH - NYZ - DRNH synth info leak

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Matrixsynth asked NYZ for some extra info on this release, so this extra bonus snippet is provided exclusively!

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Thanks for asking for some more info on the NYZ - DRNH release, this tape has been great fun to put together. Finlay Shakespeare (Moog Sound Lab UK engineer/tech & also the guy who runs Future Sound Systems eurorack modular) has done a great mastering job on it for his new Gamma Mine label.

The equipment I listed up on Noyzelab is not everything that was used.. but covers a fair bit of ground. I can give you a few extra bits of info though :

NYZ_Z-DSP+NUMBERZ-DRN1 - Made using the Intellijel/Cylonix Cyclebox-II+Expander going into a Tiptop Z-DSP with some custom programs I've written. A big thanks to Richard D James for giving me my first blank Z-DSP cartridge.. "ere u go, get on with summat" or words to that effect :) In this case it was using various ring modulation schemes. For a great reference I highly recommend Graham Hinton's ModMix application pages which details a range of ringmod/wave shaping algorithms :

applications.htm

moreapplications.htm

CSN2 excerpt1-mono - This is from some Hinton Instruments Music Lab modular sessions in 2013, and the methodology is pretty much the same as discussed in 'NYZ DRN4 Declassified' on Matrixsynth. A type of FM/additive/RM switched synthesis controlled via a cellular automata network (MANIAC cellular automata sequencer). The CSN is referred to in my notes as "Complicated Switching Network" so using complex systems to re-route sounds, a bit like a telephone network, imagine a bunch of ants running around repatching a modular synth and thats probably something like what's happening.. I often set these up and run them for days, take a few recordings here and there, it was nice just to listen sometimes as well, not to take a recording. I end up doing that a lot with these realtime generative/algorithmic systems because (depending on the parameters) they can take a long time to unfold, and sometimes you might just want the bit that happens after a few days, just let the system run till then..

FM60Pcellular - This was all done on a TG77 sequenced by the MANIAC cellular automata sequencer, with the original programming done using the SY99. I like to program on the SY99, but these days the outputs are getting very scratchy, so I transfer stuff over MIDI to the TG77 and do the final setup/mix with that + its got 8 individual outputs so little bit extra mixing scope. The voicing on this is a simple mix of FM/AWM voices, the bassline sound is the AWM voice. There's a great resource on SY99/TG77 programming written by Herbert Janssen, which also includes a section on waveshaping :

http://www.herbert-janssen.de/sy.html

Oooh, I am already hearing Bryen Telko shouting from the back workshop that this is about all the info he's managed to dig up from my hazy notes.. but this just fell out the notebook, some info from my cellular automata microtuning notes :

These are done with what I would call a "Lambdoma matrix cellular automata transform" where I generate an attractor basin (which will form of group of numbers to make the scale, e.g. a 21 note tuning from an attractor basin containing 21 automata states), transform it (using a little bit of simple math) into a subset of a Lambdoma matrix, then convert that subset into a Scala file to make the tuning. I was initially introduced to Barbara Hero's Lambdoma Matrix by Warren Burt sometime around 2006 or so, and just a few years after that Richard D James also started up a conversation with me about it. It took me quite a while to really get into reading Barbara's research, but it properly clicked with me in 2013 so I wrote to her. Amazing stuff once you get your head round it.. I did a whole bunch of programs and Lambdoma oscillators. I sent Barbara some of my Lissajous figures layouts too. She was very encouraging about my work. At the time she was scanning all her writings and now she's put them up on-line, essential reading!

http://www.lambdoma.com/

Here's an example of one of the Lissajous figures I sent Barbara. So you can see on the matrix all the frequencies that get generated, ratios, wavelengths and the Lissajous representation. I did this visual layout in Processing, I'll have to dig the code out and put it up on my research page at some point!

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