Two new releases from NYZ - FM60P composed w/ Kodamo's essenceFM, and ODT3 below, composed with GForce Software's Oddity3.
https://noyzelab.bandcamp.com/album/fm60p
"Appropriately, FM60P is the sixth NYZ release to focus directly on FM synthesis, and the first six-operator variant of the FMX0P releases (which was incidentally also the first conceptual iteration of the sub-series of FM synth works, despite being released this far down the line). Given this provenance, those familiar with FM synthesis might assume Burraston would begin a six-operator exploration with the ubiquitous Yamaha DX7 - perhaps the most iconic FM synthesizer of all time - but instead, he's taken a different tack entirely, and opted to use a modern machine - the Kodamo EssenceFM, a megalith of FM processing power with a mind-numbing 300 operators available within its outwardly unassuming racked interface - albeit acting in an ascetic sense by limiting himself deliberately to only six operators. Longtime Psoma listeners will also note a referential connection with PMFM, a prior release that also utilized the EssenceFM in its construction.
On a technical level, FM60P manifests itself through the arcane pathways of Burraston's cellular automata research, which informs both the sequencing information sent into the synthesizer, and the microtuning of the voices also. Beyond this initial working ethos, the designs and numerical relationships of the operators' ratios have been arranged with the use of three different sets of Fibonacci number sequences, as well as tuning dispositions referencing Alain Daniélou's Harmonic Division of the Octave. Fibonacci freaks will be pleased to know that this arrangement of operators will form intricate setups of Golden Ratio based FM timbres.
For many listening and reading, these points of reference may have no meaning whatsoever, and we here at Psoma would like to offer the consolation that there is no right or wrong way to listen to or interact with any sound matter found in our catalog, or anywhere else for that matter. It could even be said that part of our initiative in publishing works such as these is defined by a desire to simply introduce more challenging and concept-driven music into the world, in order to bring new and stimulating experiences to people who are both familiar and unfamiliar with the deeper details of sound itself.
So what does that leave us with then? The sound of FM60P could be described as a chiming din of glassy tones playing in serpentine unison with sub-bass hum - but this is only a small prologue of two minutes, quickly pulling back the curtain to reveal a massive hour-long drone wall, presented in Burraston's characteristic style of rippling heavily modulated swaths of energy, underpinned by a more midrange foundation of a pulsing alien plinth. Filter sweeps reveal many more dimensions to the layers that are not initially obvious, bringing incessant bass tones and arpeggiator-like sections into focus before the wavering sea reclaims them.
Burraston's music is unlike anything else in the space it is able to inhabit, simultaneously sounding artificial and unnatural to an almost impossible degree, while also functionally conveying itself in elemental and naturalistic ways. Everything is an object, an outline, a weather system or a color, each possessing a specific set of attributes that communicate synaesthetically with the listener, as temperatures and spatial indicators, rather than confining themselves to much more arbitrary traditional sensations.
NOTE: After some confusion from listeners, we'd like to make clear the fact that all NYZ/Noyzelab catalog releases at Psoma are available ONLY as abridged digital versions for name-your-price/free download, and in their full unabridged editions as physical CD-Rs. There is not an unabridged digital version of anything from NYZ at Psoma, and the physical editions do not ship with unabridged digital versions either (that is, if you do not count the digital music present on the compact discs). For listeners only interested in unabridged digital versions, we encourage you to visit noyzelab.bandcamp.com to purchase those directly from NYZ, or even better, subscribe to his Bandcamp output and just get everything."
https://noyzelab.bandcamp.com/album/odt3
"Continuing from SEM with his exploration of GForce software instruments, Burraston builds a wall with the Oddity3, an expansive modern iteration of the ARP Odyssey that includes several new additions and functions. ODT3 consists of two such instances of the Oddity3 to accomplish the wide stereo image, both focusing on the 4035 ladder filter from the short-lived Odyssey mark II (only one of three filter types present within the softsynth). Landing somewhere on the map between the Cell Meditations and the subharmonic hums of TESCO SYNFETIX, ODT3 pulses in shallow waves that betray the depth beneath their softened surfaces. Close listening yields wondrous results, especially in headphones, as the swirling mass of the frequency spectrum slowly rises like a shipwreck called back to shore. Almost imperceptibly, the true substance of this piece is revealed in microscopic increments, until it overtakes the senses and surrounds everything, filling the air with vibrating particulate and soporific electricity, glimmering like a portal to an adjacent dimension."
"The EssenceFM is a very powerful FM synthesizer combined with a modern and easy to use interface, offering studio-quality specs. Creating FM sounds has never been so fun and easy!
