Steevio - "Primes" (Modular Synthesis)

Published on Apr 6, 2016 XLR8R

Eurorack & Moog Voyager RME

"Freerotator Steevio guides us through the minefield that is his Eurorack.
More info: https://www.xlr8r.com/features/2016/0..."

And one more from Resident Advisor

RA Sessions: Steevio | Resident Advisor

Published on Jun 24, 2016 Resident Advisor

The Rise of Listening Bars: Barcelona | Resident Advisor x Asahi Super Dry

Published on Dec 19, 2019 Resident Advisor

Anyone ID what that is at 3:16? One pitch wheel and a few knobs on the right. Shape reminds me of an SH-101, Teisco 110f, original Novation BassStation, or Access Virus. It's clearly not any of them. MIDI controller? That's the only synth content in this one, but cool idea and cool video. Giving this one the Mystery Synths label.

"The past few years have seen a wave of listening bars opening across Europe. Taking inspiration from Japan's culture of audiophile venues, these spots put a unique twist on a long-standing tradition, creating an environment for discovering music that appeals to hi-fi obsessives and casual listeners alike.

The Rise of Listening Bars: Barcelona

"We are in a Mediterranean city—at some point people want to chat." Guille De Juan, owner of Barcelona venue Curtis, knows it's impossible to replicate a Japanese-style, no-talking-allowed listening bar in his home city. Instead, he's built a space inspired by Japan's audiophile venues but adapted to Barcelona's buzzy atmosphere.
Curtis, which opened in 2018, also takes inspiration from a source closer to home: Nica, a Barcelona audiophile venue with an impressive programme of DJs and live acts.

Barcelona isn't the only city where listening bar culture is taking root. You will find them in Stockholm, Amsterdam, Istanbul and London. (The previous film in this series told the story of London's influential Brilliant Corners.) These spots put a unique twist on a long-standing tradition, creating an environment for discovering music that appeals to hi-fi obsessives and casual listeners alike.

Produced by Resident Advisor in partnership with Asahi Super Dry Beer.

Visit the series home on RA: ra.co/listeningbars"

RA Sessions: Space Dimension Controller - Transatlantic Landing Bay / Exostack | Resident Advisor

Published on Apr 27, 2017 Resident Advisor

"Everyone's favourite time traveller performs a classic and a new single."

Korg Monologue & Native Instruments Maschine Jam.

The enduring magic of the Radiophonic Workshop | Resident Advisor

Published on May 17, 2018 Resident Advisor

"We look back on 60 years of the pioneering electronic music and sound effects workshop.

Visit the RA feature page: https://www.residentadvisor.net/featu...

'It was a place for experimentation,' says Roger Limb, who's been a member of the Radiophonic Workshop since 1972, "full of weird and wonderful sounds which people were not quite sure what to make of." It is easy to forget how mind-bending something like the Doctor Who theme would have sounded back in in the mid-'60s, at a time when almost all music was acoustically derived. Breakthroughs like this were made possible by the pioneering experimentation at the Workshop, which was set up at the BBC in 1958 to record sound effects for radio programming. Techniques were developed on-the-fly using tape manipulation, oscillators and early synthesisers, laying the groundwork for countless musical movements that would come afterwards. The Workshop closed in 1998, but some of its members have continued to channel its spirit into live performances and recorded music. We followed the group to a recent show at the Science Museum in London to hear about the Workshop's 60-year-long journey.

Director / Producer - Sophie Misrahi
Editor - Sophie Misrahi
Camera - Sophie Misrahi, Guy Clarke
Dubbing Mixer - Guy Clarke

Director / Producer - Sophie Misrahi
Editor - Sophie Misrahi
Camera - Sophie Misrahi, Guy Clarke
Dubbing Mixer - Guy Clarke"

RA Sessions: Octo Octa - Improv / Adrift / Fleeting Moments of Freedom (Wooo) | Resident Advisor

Published on Jul 17, 2017 Resident Advisor

"The acclaimed house artist blasts through some of her current live repertoire.

Visit the RA feature page: https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3036

Credits:
Director - Patrick Nation
Producer - Michael Delle Donne
Editor - Sophie Misrahi
Camera - Patrick Nation, Sophie Misrahi, Patrick Elmore
Sound Engineer - Daniel Dominguez

Thanks to Good Room http://www.goodroombk.com/"

Analogue Synthesiser Melodies | The Art of Production: Olof Dreijer

video upload by Resident Advisor

An interview with Olof Dreijer of The knife.

"Few do melodic electronics like Olof Dreijer.

No matter which part of the Swedish producer's broad catalogue you dip into—from The Knife to Oni Ayhun—you can always make out that knack for resplendent melodies, achieved using vintage analogue synthesisers such as the Oberheim Xpander and the Chroma Polaris.

Read the full feature here: https://ra.co/features/4367

Producer: Sophie Misrahi
Director of Photography: William Engström
Assistant Producer & Editor: Guy Clarke"

Envelopes | The Art of Production: Olof Driejer

video upload by Resident Advisor

"Envelopes play an essential role in Olof Dreijer's expressive, synth-heavy sound.

Dreijer demonstrates how he uses envelopes—a cycle of attack, decay, sustain and release—to emulate acoustic instruments. 'I like it when music has a mix of soft envelopes and slow attacks, and then very fast, more percussive things,' he says."

The Art Of Production: Surgeon's Techno Live Setup

Published on Oct 29, 2019 Resident Advisor

LepLoop, Octatrack, and OTO Boum.

The Art Of Production: Surgeon's abstract live setup

Published on Oct 29, 2019 Resident Advisor

SOMA Lyra-8, Roland SH-01A, OTO BIM, and EHX looper.

An Interview with Ulrich Schnauss on Resident Advisor

You can find the full interview on Resident Advisor here. A large focus of the interview is on synths.

"We step into the German producer's studio to chat Voyetra 8s, Hartmann Neurons and other synth arcana."

He touches on the Hartmann Neuron and it's lack of commercial success.

"There was a time when programming was considered to be part of playing synthesizer, and people were excited when new ideas of synthesis came up. Around the mid-'90s I think it switched to this trend where people just wanted to have these so called groove boxes where you can basically just bang out a quick dance track in an hour. I think that the Hartmann Neuron was one of the instruments that really suffered from that development."

The was also the case for the FIZMO in the bottom image (you can always spot the FIZMO in pics). It came out in the renaissance of virtual analog synthesis. Because it was knob laden, people expected it to be a VA. It wasn't of course. It employed Ensoniq's Transwave Synthesis engine which was their version of Wavetable synthesis.

via Greg Cole on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

RA Sessions: Sandunes - Ever Bridge (intro) / SSP4/Untitled / The Trust

Resident Advisor
Published on Aug 10, 2017

One of India’s leading electronic music artists performs her dazzling live set.

“There are some amazing artists coming out of India,” a woman named Dhwani told us at Magnetic Fields last year.

'There were always a lot of artists—ten years back, 20 years back—but [now] I think they’re getting a platform,' said a woman called Saloni.

It’s likely they were both referring to artists like Sanaya Ardeshir, who makes music under the name Sandunes. Ardeshir is part of a gradually swelling wave of Indian artists whose success locally is beginning to translate internationally. She produces and performs a highly engaging style of electronica that blends elements of UK club music with influences from her homeland. A track like “Crystal Pink,” which appeared on her 2016 album DOWNSTREAM, is a good introduction to her sound. Ardeshir intuitively sculpts the arrangement, building a series of subtle climaxes through soaring synth harmonies, while the drums rattle and fizz underneath.

Beyond the Sandunes project, she’s also built her profile through a series of collaborations. Ardeshir plays synths for the popular group Dualist Inquiry, and has worked with the famed Indian rock band Indus Creed. She’s also involved with Different Trains 1947, an upcoming project led by Actress that commemorates the 70th anniversary of India’s independence. They’ll perform at Liverpool’s Edge Hill railway station, the Barbican in London and the 2017 edition of Magnetic Fields.

We’d guess the thing that’s really drawn people to Sandunes is her live performances. Ardeshir has been playing piano since she was a child, and you can sense how natural she is in front of keys during this RA Session. The 15-minute set is made up of “Ever Bridge,” “SSP4/Untitled” and “The Trust,” a string of old, new and revised music.

Production credits:

Director - Stephen Dunn
Producer - Guy Clarke
Editor - Sophie Misrahi
Camera - Stephen Dunn, Sophie Misrahi, Guy Clarke
Sound Engineer - Jesal Chohan-Padia"

RA Sessions: Surgeon

Published on Nov 23, 2015 Resident Advisor

"Modular techno, live and improvised.

For a techno artist of his years and experience, Anthony Child caught the modular bug late. 'I wasn't really that interested in it because it seemed like you had to spend thousands of pounds to make a very basic kind of 'clip-clop' sound, and that didn't really appeal to me,' he once told XLR8R. But after years of working primarily with software, his routine started to feel too comfortable, and the modular seemed like a good way to shake things up—'like throwing a wild animal into the occasion,' as he put it. Once he made the plunge, racks of blinking lights and colored cables became central to his craft. In addition to what he's got in the studio, he carries a portable rig in his carry-on luggage, and has even started incorporating it into his DJ sets.

Far from basic 'clip-clop' sounds—or the kind of meandering self-indulgence many people think of when they hear the words "modular synthesis"—the music Child wrings out of his little kit is rich, varied and artfully composed. In this edition of RA Sessions, colorful, dynamic rave tracks seem to emerge fully-formed, though in fact the performance was 'completely improvised with nothing prepared beforehand.' The result makes a compelling case for this approach to playing live, and offers a peek at the perpetually evolving methods of a techno luminary.

Visit the RA feature page: http://www.residentadvisor.net/featur...

Credits:
Director - Patrick Nation
Producer - Debbie Butts
Editor - Guy Clarke
Camera - Charlie Moore, Mattia Ramberti, Patrick Nation, Guy Clarke
Sound Engineers - Rich Cufley, Guy Clarke
Colourist - Adam Clarke"

ALM TV Busy Visits.. FAUZIA EP003

video upload by ALM TV

"ALM Busy Circuits presents 'BUSY VISITS..' a video series where we delve into the creative spaces and creative practises of some of our favourite artists.

In this episode we visit the London based studio of DJ and artist FAUZIA.

FAUZIA first broke through as a DJ. Inspired by the interwoven legacies of fast music from either side of the Atlantic, her monthly NTS show sees her blend together the best of footwork, jungle and everything in between — with the likes of Mall Grab, Kode9, DJ Taye, Om Unit and Ikonika stopping in for guest spots.

The start of 2020 saw FAUZIA start to showcase her own original music for the first time, first with a celebrated production mix for DISCWOMAN, and then with a contribution to the flagship 10th edition in HAUS of ALTR’s various artists series — picking up glowing press from Resident Advisor, Mixmag, DJ Mag, Crack and more in the process.

http://fauzia.co/

https://soundcloud.com/djfauzia

https://www.nts.live/shows/fauzia

http://www.discwoman.com/roster/fauzia"

ALM TV Busy Visits..

RA: Machine Love: John Tejada Interview

You can find the full interview sent my way via Mark on Resident Advisor.
snip: "If you had to prioritize and sell everything except for five items (not including monitors / mixer), what would they be?

I would need my modular, my Cwejman S1, my Doepfer Maq 16/3, my Moog Voyager and my Eventide Eclipse. If compressors counted as well, I may have to keep my bus compressor over the Eventide. Or wait, the Moog, or uhm.... now I'll probably have a stress nightmare.

How often do you use hardware sequencers like the Doepfer MAQ box?
I use them probably in nearly everything I do. A big reason for this is they send CV/Gate out to my analog stuff which gives me much more creative control over midi. I can send channel 3 of the sequencer to the filter in or anything that has CV in and sequence the parameters. It just sounds great. Also drum-wise, I enjoy using one of the drum boxes to sequence with. But since I do come from a piano background, I also many times just enjoy hammering it all out on the keyboard."

Unfolding Forms by Anthony Child Featuring the Pin Electronics Portabella.

"I wanted to make some of my new personal music projects available to you in a more direct and immediate way.

Recorded using a Pin Electronics Portabella."

via Resident Advisor

"Unfolding Forms is an eight-track, digital only album on Child's Dynamic Tension label, released without advance notice. A tweet from Child announcing the album said, 'I wanted to make some of my new personal music projects available to you in a more direct and immediate way,' and called this LP the "first release," implying that more are to come. The album was recorded on a Pin Electronics Portabella modular synthesizer. It's Child's second full-length of the year, following Luminosity Device this past spring."

RA Sessions: Legowelt

Published on Sep 11, 2017 Resident Advisor

"The Dutch artist performs a freaky extended live session.

This whole lo-fi, straight-to-tape, DIY aesthetic that’s so popular these days? Danny Wolfers invented it. OK, that’s an exaggeration. But it’s true that the Dutch artist has embodied these characteristics for longer than some of this style’s recent adopters have been alive. Wolfers gets additional respect for never wavering from these core tenets of his artistry. He’s popular, to be sure. He plays live all over the world, and he releases records on big labels like Clone and L.I.E.S. But he still clearly values unfiltered creativity above anything else.

Head over to his website. There’s a section for the Ableton plug-ins he makes and gives away. There’s a bit for his zine, Shadow Wolf Cyberzine. He writes reviews of old synthesizers, and has a section called Obseuriosa where you can download his weird, sample-based experiments. Then see his Discogs page. He has over 30 aliases, and he’s released two albums already this year. He called the first, A Vampire Goes West, “amateur space jazz meets professional ambient.” He described the second, Unfolding The Future With Amateur Space Jazz, as “a lo-fi minimal [wave-ish] version of cosmic space jazz and anything closely related to it... from spiritual soul, G-funk, Ethiopian jazz to ambient and everything in between.” (He wrote and illustrated a 24-page graphic novel for that one.) To summarise all of this in a few words, Wolfers is the real deal.

His RA Session is longest we’ve released so far, which was probably to be expected. He turned up to our London office last month with a trunk full of gear and, roughly speaking, performed five tracks. The first two are versions of forthcoming material, and from around 16 minutes onwards we get Wolfers in full-blown improv mode.

Visit the RA feature page: https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3064

Director - Sophie Misrahi
Producer/editor - Guy Clarke
Camera - Sophie Misrahi, Guy Clarke, Patrick Nation
Sound Engineer - Jesal Chohan-Padia (Sound Services)"

RA Tech: Melodic Pads on the D-05

Published on Sep 12, 2017 Resident Advisor

"Roland has announced the next synth in its Boutique range, the D-05.

It's based on the D-50, which was Roland's flagship digital synthesiser in the late '80s and early '90s. It was competing against Yamaha's DX7, which used a synthesis technique called frequency modulation to create lifelike sounds. The D-50, however, used 8-bit samples for the attack portion of the sound, while linear arithmetic synthesis generated the sustain part. This allows it to generate complex, morphing patches not possible on analogue synthesisers.

The D-05 recreates the original circuitry using Digital Circuit Behaviour technology and contains the signature joystick, which is used to blend between different layers of a sound. There's also built in chorus, reverb, delay and EQ effects in addition to a 64-step polyphonic sequencer. It runs off USB power or batteries and functions as a soundcard when connected to a computer. Sweetwater has listed a pre-order price of $345."

Wendy Carlos: Electronic Music's Transformative Pioneer

video upload by Resident Advisor

"'The word "pioneer' gets thrown around too liberally these days. But in the case of Wendy Carlos, the glove fits. The face of electronic music would look immeasurably different in 2025 without the American trans composer's groundbreaking achievements. Before she came along, electronic music was barely considered music at all—just "funny sounds," as Bob Moog once said.

That all changed in 1968. Produced in collaboration with Rachel Elkind, Carlos's debut album, Switched-On Bach wielded machines to produce sounds that could compete with the symphonic pop and rock of the era. The landmark LP won multiple GRAMMYs, played a key role in popularising the use of synths and became only the second classical music record to sell a million copies.

In our latest video essay, written by Sasha Geffen, we trace Carlos's story from her early experiments with Moog through to her impact on key electronic acts of the past 50 years, including Brian Eno, DJ Sprinkles and Octo Octa.

00:00 - Intro
00:54 - Switched-on Bach
01:57 - Carlos and Bob Moog
03:07 Contribution to synth development
04:36 - A Clockwork Orange Score & The Vocoder
07:20 - Personal Life
08:20 - Musical Development

Producer - Sophie Misrahi
Writer - Sasha Geffen
Editors - Sergey Poltorakov, Guy Clarke
Motion Graphics - Sergey Poltorakov, Dan Derham

Music in order of appearance:

 1.⁠ ⁠Wendy Carlos - Toccata Fugue In D Minor - Switched-On Bach 2000
 2.⁠ ⁠Wendy Carlos - Air On A G String - Switched-On Bach
 3.⁠ ⁠Delia Derbyshire - Quest - Electrosonic
 4.⁠ ⁠Wendy Carlos - Moog 900 series Demonstration
 5.⁠ ⁠The RCA Electronic Music Synthesizer - The Well-Tempered Clavier Fugue No. 2
 6.⁠ ⁠Wendy Carlos - Prelude And Fugue #2 In C Minor - Switched-On Bach
 7.⁠ ⁠Wendy Carlos - Title Music From A Clockwork Orange (From Purcell's Music For The Funeral Of Queen Mary - A Clockwork Orange Complete Original Score
 8.⁠ ⁠Wendy Carlos - Country Lane - A Clockwork Orange Complete Original Score
 9.⁠ ⁠Cybotron - Clear
10.⁠ ⁠Wendy Carlos - Genesis - Digital Moonscapes

CLICK FOR MORE »

The Art Of Production: Floating Points - Buchla system

Published on Nov 1, 2019 Resident Advisor

"Floating Points unpacks the sprawling Buchla system powering both his solo live shows and his new album, Crush."

RA Sessions: Tin Man - Nonneo

Published on Dec 11, 2017 Resident Advisor

"Emotional acid.

Visit the RA feature page: https://www.residentadvisor.net/featu...

The original “Nonneo” was kind of playful by Auvinen’s standards, with bright synths and wriggling percussion in the mix, but for his RA Session he focuses on the track’s darker emotional core, setting it to faster drums and jamming on the Roland SH-101.


Credits:
Director / Editor - Sophie Misrahi
Producer - Guy Clarke
Camera - Charlie Moore, Guy Clarke, Sophie Misrahi
Sound Engineer - Flynn (Sound Services)"

New Novation Peak Patches by Emily Sprague

via @WeAreNovation

"With dreamy, melodic and intuitive ambient sounds, Emily A. Sprague, co-member of Florist, takes the stage for this weeks’ patches. 🎹🎛🎚
Our latest Peak Patches are now live >>> here"

"Emily A. Sprague is a musician who was raised in the Catskill Mountains of New York. She currently lives in Los Angeles where she makes sounds for herself and for others. Emily’s approach to both composition and performance is a personal and spiritual one, deeply rooted in the communication of emotion through textures and tones.

SoundCloud | Resident Advisor"

Isao Tomita & Hideki Matsutake of YMO Interview on RA

via Resident Advisor where you will find the full interview. A couple of excerpts:

Isao Tomita on picking up the Moog synthesizer:

"How did you come to buy one?

Isao Tomita: At first, I had no idea where to buy it. Back in 1970, when we didn't even have a fax machine, I used a telex machine to contact people in Hong Kong. I found out that the Moog company was located in Buffalo, New York. I flew over there, and was shocked to see that the main office of a cutting-edge company like Moog was located in a simple, storage-shed-type building, in the middle of nowhere. I said to myself, "They make intricate machinery in a place like this!?"

So you went there and asked to buy the Moog III P directly. How much did it cost?

Isao Tomita: Back then, one dollar was 360 yen, and the Moog synthesizer was considered a luxury item, such as a foreign car, so the tariff rate was over 200%. It cost somewhere around 10 million yen (roughly $125,000) in today's value. Also, in those days we didn't have customs brokers like we do now, and if goods had problems clearing customs, the person importing the goods had to actually be there. So at customs, they asked me what this machine was. I told them that it was an instrument, and they didn't believe me. They said, "Then, play it." [laughs]..."

On Isao Tomita meeting Hideki Matsutake:

"And around that time you met Hideki Matsutake?

Isao Tomita: Yes. I was becoming increasingly busy around then, so I had Matsutake manage me at a music production company he was working for back then. When I started to understand which cords to connect to create the right sounds I decided I'd let some younger guys try it, so I invited Matsutake. With Moog, you have to keep the power on all day for it to work properly, so when I wasn't using it, I'd let others use it. I would use it from 8 PM to 4 AM, and then there would be a group using it from 4 AM to noon, and then another group would come in and play around with it until 8 PM.

Hideki Matsutake: I worked during the day, so I would come in and play the Moog at night, and I remember falling asleep under it. Tomita never taught us how to use the thing, so I had to learn it on my own. I've always liked playing with machines since I was a kid, so I understood the functions of the device fairly quickly, but knowing where to connect the cords to render sounds that are listenable was a completely different story..."

Full interview on RA here. via I Dream of Wires on Facebook