Atonal Ring Modulated Rhythms

YouTube via JeffreyPlaide

"The music for this work was created by feeding in an arpeggiated sequence from a Korg Mono/Poly synthesizer into the external inputs of a Korg R3 synthesizer and applying oscillator sync and ring modulation with another oscillator. Phase effects and stereo reverb was applied to the final output signal. These arpeggiated sequences were then cut and edited to fit a rhythm track created on the Hammerhead Rhythm Station. A total of five separate sequences were cut and arranged from the chorused rhythms. Some sequences were direct ring-modulated arpeggiated tones from the Korg R3 itself. The arrangement included only those sequences that could provide the most interesting atonal combination. At the conclusion of the piece, the whole mixed track was sped up at the end with sampled segments from itself to bring about an elevated climax. A different rhythm output from the Hammerhead Rhythm Station was added at the start and the end of the completed mixed track.

The visuals were created using the Wave Warp function of Adobe Premier video editing software to create various linear geometric transformations of a black and white striped image. Several orders of modulation were applied using pulse waves and extreme amounts of amplitude to distort the territory of the image greatly. The idea was to create pure electronic video synthesis forms in black and white and to generate moire geometric distortions that would complement an atonal ring-modulated music track. Minimal colour elements were added as an animation effect.

The inspiration for this work comes from the music produced by the EMS Synthi 100 analogue modular synthesizer, and the EMS Spectron video synthesizer. Inspiration was also gained from the work of Woody Vasulka and his scan-processed videos using the Rutt-Etra Scan Processor."