MATRIXSYNTH: Asphodel and Recombinant Media Labs


Friday, February 08, 2008

Asphodel and Recombinant Media Labs


Episode 10 - In the Studio: Asphodel and Recombinant Media Labs

The Synth Room comes in at 2:33 and lasts for about a minute. There's some massive modular goodness in there along with some analog synths.

via Matia:
"It's a video profile of the studio I work for. I designed and curate the synth room (a lot of that stuff is my equipment configured for the purposes of the studio work) as well as being an in-house synthesist and producer (per needs of client)."

Update: some links via Matia:
"No website for the studio itself but there is a myspace for the performance room.

http://www.myspace.com/recombinantmedialabs

we use the facilities and in particular the synth room to create our music:

http://www.myspace.com/redyouth

on that particular song there is quiet a bit of serge and the serge sequencer sequencing the filter and oscillators of the moog.

Update via Wavedeform in the comments (be sure to check out the comments for more):
"Naut has perhaps the largest Salamander (SMS) synthesizer in existence. The black-faced wall to the left of the Serge wall is all SMS.

SMS info:
http://www.xfade.com/gear/Salamander/"

9 comments:

  1. Naut has perhaps the largest Salamander (SMS) synthesizer in existence. The black-faced wall to the left of the Serge wall is all SMS.

    SMS info:
    http://www.xfade.com/gear/Salamander/

    ReplyDelete
  2. the only problem with that box was trying to recase it from the touring rack to the wooden case you see it in....that was a nightmare...

    apart from that...tonally it is just stellar...does not sound like any other modular i have messed with

    -matia

    ReplyDelete
  3. Around the time that that system was made, the joke around the shop was: "SMS - for when you don't care how much it costs."

    There was no expense spared. I shudder to think how much such a system would cost if it was built today.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Naut Humon (Mark Sprague) has been building immense (and very expensive) "sound environments" in San Francisco for years. Legend has it he married the daughter of the guy who invented Botts Dots- the bumps on the freeways of the West- and this windfall pays for these huge facilities at a time when the venerable studios of Northern California like Saul Zaentz Film Center and Coppola's Zoetrope Studios have all gone out of business.

    His staff mostly are trust fund babies that work for free for the privilege of having access to all the gear.

    But don't let these mysterious funding and HR issues take away from the vast amount of amazing artistic output that Naut and his crew have put out for decades. Hes a very nice guy, makes great stuff, and really does maintain some of the finest gear in the world. And even though he rebuilt the visual environment of Disney's PeopleMover with that crazy video screen room, most would kill to spend some time on his amazing collection of equipment.

    Hats off to you Naut- I hope to someday channel industrial product revenues into art and build a great studio and make great musc too!

    P.S. There is a staff member on the website named Tana Sprague- I wonder if thats his daughter?

    ReplyDelete
  5. the RML site is here:
    http://recombinantmedia.net/

    the shows I've been to of theirs have been amazing. My fav was Deadbeat & Monolake. One of the best live audio/visual shows I've ever seen... and the best sound system.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have seen a website specifically for their studio, and Google tells me that it should be at www.asphodelstudios.com .

    ReplyDelete
  7. That site is no up any more. Tana is not his daughter, and I am most certainly not a trust fund baby. Nor is anyone that works there. I quiet resent such commentary and it is absolutely out of line. If you knew anything about the situation most of us who work there or have worked there are in with that studio you would not be saying that at all. The reason that place is what it is, stems from the brilliance and talent of those who have made absurdly large sacrifices to do it.

    -Matia Simovich

    ReplyDelete
  8. "Situation" being you don't get paid?

    I remember clearly the Faustian bargain of Naut Humon back in the days when the studio was in Hunters Point and heated with a wood pellet stove: "I won't pay you, but you can work here." This is typically called 'apprenticeship' and is part of any trade including sound engineering- nothing wrong with that- but I also clearly remember the staff there somehow could afford to "work" but not get "paid".

    Ones rent and health insurance funds must come from somewhere...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I also, as a staff member, resent the comments above.

    My income is made from the hours of freelance work I do for other artists and music technology ventures, not a trust fund.

    The reason we are there is because there is no way the place could survive otherwise. We love the environment and take great effort to ensure that every event there goes off perfectly.

    You would best stick to commenting about things you know.

    ReplyDelete

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