Noyzelab Ulamizer II Cellular Automata Sequencer & MANIAC - Prototype Cellular Automata Module

Image of Noyzelab's Ulamizer II Cellular Automata Sequencer. You'll find more pics and details at Noyzelab here. Below are videos featuring Noyzelab's MANIAC, a prototype cellular automata generative music hardware module. If you are not familiar with Cellular Automata, check out this article on wikipedia. There have been numerous apps and hardware to feature the concept for seemingly random sequences (click here for numerours posts featuring Cellular Automata - you might be surprised).

via Noyzelab: "Since the early experiments by contemporary composers such as Iannis Xenakis, interest in the use of Cellular Automata (CA) in music has dramatically increased. ULAMIZER II is a prototype of a CA music module, designed to be part of the Noyzelab studio environment for both modular and MIDI synthesizers. This module design has now been integrated into my MANIAC / Arthur development systems"



Uploaded on Jan 30, 2012 noyzelab

"MANIAC - a prototype cellular automata generative music module in a eurorack case.

composite video out, MIDI in/out, PS2 keybd, stereo audio out, 8 cell gates out, clock in/out, sundry control switches, USB programmers port at rear

Module is playing a Yamaha FS1R synthesizer via the MIDI out

http://noyzelab.blogspot.com/2012/01/..."

MANIAC NEW CV interface + uTonal

Published on Apr 16, 2012

"quick vid test of MANIAC with a new panel of 8xcv in & 2 x cv out + 2 microtonal oscillators all on the same module. cv outs are going to filter and eg attack rate. uTonal osc's are being driven directly from CA states and 2 CV knobs controlling the mapping.

http://noyzelab.blogspot.com.au/2012/..."

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

--- NYZ:DRNH INFO LEAK MSG BEGINS ---

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

=>

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 :

CLICK FOR MORE »

Noyzelab At EMS Stockholm w/ Buchla, Serge, Aphex Twin/Richard D James Fairlight and More

Published on Apr 10, 2018 noyzelab

"A quick iphone recording during a session on the Fylkingen Buchla 200 at EMS Stockholm.

FM patch with my MANIAC cellular automata sequencer.

Recorded February 2017 at EMS Sweden during my Regional Arts Fellowship. This Regional Arts Fellowship is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

http://elektronmusikstudion.se/

Thanks to absolutely everybody at EMS!"

SERGE@EMS MANIAC

Published on Apr 10, 2018

"A quick iphone recording during a session on the Serge modular with my MANIAC cellular automata sequencer at EMS Stockholm."



Playlist descriptions:

1. RAINWIRE [PROCESSED] AFXs Fairlight #11

Fairlight CMI Series 1
MANIAC cellular automata sequencer
Zoom F8
MOTU Microbook II
MacBook Pro

Recorded February 2017 during my Regional Arts Fellowship. This Regional Arts Fellowship is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Thanks to Richard D James for use of the Fairlight.

2. RAINWIRE [PROCESSED] EMS Sweden Settels+Buchla et al [Excerpt]

Roberta Settels diode transformer ring modulator
Noyzelab custom built diode transformer ring modulator
Buchla 200
MOTU Microbook II
MacBook Pro
Recorded in Logic Pro 10, excerpt mixed down using REAPER 5

Recorded May/June 2017 at EMS Sweden during my Regional Arts Fellowship. This Regional Arts Fellowship is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Thanks to absolutely everybody at EMS!!

3. RAINWIRE [PROCESSED] EMS Sweden Buchla 288v [Excerpt]

Buchla 200
MANIAC cellular automata sequencer
MOTU Microbook II
MacBook Pro
Recorded in Logic Pro 10 from a mix of the 288v Time Domain Processor outputs, excerpt mixed down using REAPER 5

Recorded May/June 2017 at EMS Sweden during my Regional Arts Fellowship. This Regional Arts Fellowship is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Thanks to absolutely everybody at EMS!!

4. RAINWIRE [PROCESSED] UNI of HULL VCS3 [Excerpt]

EMS VCS3 MKII
MOTU Microbook II
MacBook Pro
Recorded in Logic Pro 10, excerpt mixed down using REAPER 5

Recorded March 2017 at University of Hull, UK during my Regional Arts Fellowship. This Regional Arts Fellowship is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Thanks to Rob Mackay at University of Hull.

See the Noyzelab label below for more.

noyzelab's uMANIAC Generative Cellular Automata Sequencer Module Goes Open Source

via @noyzelab

"uMANIAC generative sequencer music module for Arduino with a cellular automata core is now *OPEN SOURCE* 🤓 ==> https://github.com/noyzelab/uMANIAC … #arduino #cellularautomata"

You can find previous posts featuring noyzelab's cellular automata sequencers in the archives here.

Vinyl Debut by NYZ - SHFTR FRQ - Featuring Aphex Twin's Sequentix Cirklon & PreenFM2

"+ [Special note for track A9 - SHFTR_CA#BB1] => A huge shout of thanks to Richard D James for gifting me a Sequentix Cirklon sequencer and PreenFM2 synth during my Regional Arts Fellowship in 2017! This was the first track I made using this gear. You can also read up more about my open source Farey Sequence FM programming tool for the PreenFM here =>
github.com/noyzelab/FareyPreenFM2

++ Folks interested in using cellular automata can also check out my open source Arduino based synth module here =>
github.com/noyzelab/uMANIAC"

NYZ of Noyzelab has a new release out on neon orange vinyl (limited to 300 copies) titled SHFTR FRQ which features PreenFM2 sequenced by the Sequentix Cirklon. You will find a track off the release above. Below you will find some exclusive pics sent my way from NYZ and info on the release from Forced Exposure where it is available in the US. The album is available in the UK from Boomkat here. Update: it's also available at Phonica Records, Norman Records, Juno Records, Redeye Records, and Bleep.

"The Death of Rave is honored to plate up the vinyl debut by NYZ; the cult, algorithmic/ generative music project of award-winning artist/scientist Dave Burraston (Bryen Telko, Noyzelab). The A-side revolves 14 succinct blatz, ranging from cranky percussive pieces to queered microtonal dissonance and SAW II-like atmospheres -- notably including one track made on a Sequentix Cirklon sequencer and PreenFM2 synth gifted him by Richard D. James. The B-side contains a steeply immersive spectral drone tract that (never) ends in a locked groove, especially cut at D&M, Berlin. The results are wholly unique and speak to the endless, playfully experimental variation of NYZ's art/research. They reveal visceral, alien microcosms of curdled microtonal tunings and proprioceptive chicanery bound to thrill and induce strange, new sensations in even the most hard-to-please fiend of electronic music. It's strongly recommended to followers of Russell Haswell's chaotic gnash, the mind-bending tunings of Aphex Twin, the visionary algorithmic scapes of Roland Kayn, and Eliane Radigue's microtonal meditations. In Dave's own words:

"SHFTR FRQ is a series of experimental studies into simple synth setups controlled by varying levels of generative complex systems [MANIAC cellular automata]. SHFTR FRQ was recorded over the last six years on an ever-changing hybrid of equipment encompassing the domains of modular and MIDI-based microtonal sound synthesis [analog and digital]. Setups were always ultra-minimalist, often with just the MANIAC cellular automata sequencer and one or two modules/synths to provide a consistent sensory focus. The studies range from ultra-short sequences, micro-ditties, investigatory motifs, to a full length high spectral drone meditation."

Burraston has previously collaborated with Alan Lamb on recordings of a mile-long telephone wire in the Australian outback, and more recently he issued nearly a dozen NYZ tapes and CDs with some of the most crucial modern music labels, as well as a number of releases under the Noyzelab and Bryen Telko aliases. In 2014, Dave self-published SYROBONKERS!, the most technical and in-depth interview ever given by Aphex Twin. Screen-printed jacket. RIYL: Russell Haswell, Aphex Twin, Eliane Radigue, EVOL/ALKU, Roland Kayn."

CLICK FOR MORE »

NYZ DRN4 DECLASSIFIED

Exclusive mix on SoundCloud:


And a track from the release on Bandcamp:


Tracklist:

1. NYZ_FMMGKSQ_43t
2. ISR_16x16_WCM
3. CSN [excerpt 2 mono]
4. SWI_r170_16x32x32_B
5. SWI_FM1#16
6. NYZ-1_1#08_A [finite downsized]
7.CSN1 [excerpt 1 mono]

Be sure to see the MATRIXSYNTH exclusive further below!

FM EXPLORATIONS AND MICROTONAL DRONES FROM NYZ (AKA DAVE NOYZE, DAVID BURRASTON, NOYZELAB, BRYEN TELKO)

This is the first release by NYZ and is a superb musical collection of research areas classified to internal Noyzelab operations. Not even .MEDS label were informed of the secret processes underlying its creation, excepting that we know it involved Frequency Modulation (FM) synthesis! We have not been given any information regarding when this work was recorded, but we suspect the material spans at least a decade of David's FM algorithm research on numerous synthesizers, as well his own custom built ear deceiving gear...

According to one reviewer of David's previous musical output he "gleefully disrupts just about every standard convention of musical form you could think of, including those of so-called experimental musics."

Other reviewers have written that :
"His music is a bizarre, yet compelling journey investigating the outer realms of music generated on ancient & contemporary machines." "It's strikingly original audio that doesn't really sound like anything else I can think of." "Utterly sublime. So there you go, a life-affirming slab of mind-altering sound to reawaken you to the terrifying possibilities of creation."

"absolutely wreaks havoc" wrote Keith Fullerton Whitman on reviewing David's last release T. H. Cycle cassette on Important Records/Cassauna .

Cassette releases April 1, 2016

All Audio by David Burraston
Design Tom Knapp

----

MATRIXSYNTH recently asked NYZ why he put together this new album of FM synthesis based explorations, and whether he would discuss some of the process behind it. The declassified information below has been put together by NYZ especially for a MATRIXSYNTH exclusive.

***BEGIN NYZ DRN4 DECLASSIFICATION REPORT***

DC REPORT STATUS: PARTIAL DECLASSIFICATION ONLY
PARTIAL DC STATUS: INCOMPLETE CELLULAR BINARY SPACETIME
PARTIAL DC LEVEL: SEMI-PICTORIAL_TEXTUAL_HIGHLIGHTS
FUTURE DC STATUS: _PENDING

The main reasons for making this album were an interest in FM synthesis in both analogue modular and MIDI/digital mediums. I had worked with digital FM synthesis since getting a Yamaha TX81Z when they came out back in 1987 (which I still have, along with another backup machine with a very hummy mains transformer which bleeds onto the outs). How me and another synth friend used to cry with drunken laughter at preset D11 Hole in 1... :) But after initially wondering whether I had just wasted about 350 UK pounds on an utter piece of shit... I quickly warmed to its better presets, and its very different approach to synthesis yielded enough interesting results early on for it not to get outed.

CLICK FOR MORE »

HINTON - MC4 - Cellular Automata - Excerpt[2007]

"Generative Music on the Roland MC4 MicroComposer - Cellular Automata Sequences."

via noyzelab where you'll find additional details & pics.

"Part 2 of a post about making generative music with Cellular Automata (CA) sequences with the Roland MC4 sequencer. With well known works from composers such as Vince Clarke & Aphex Twin the musical applications of the MC4 cover a lot of ground. Over the years I've been playing around with different ways of working with this box since I got my first one in 1997, and I started integrating it with my algorithmic / generative composition processes."

@noyzelab's CELLDYNA Featuring Comdyna Analog Hybrid Computer & Cellular Automata Sequencer

via noyzelab where you'll find additional info & pics.

Update: All the sounds you hear except for the drum sounds in the end come from the comdyna - all analogue computer sound synthesis.

"For CELLDYNA I used minimal analogue computing elements (2 to 4 integrators, 2 potentiometers and an inverter) hybridized with a digital Cellular Automata sequencer driving various different synths. The spoken word samples are from a 1969 lecture from EAI titled 'Understanding the Analogue / Hybrid Computer'. In order to use such a small amount of computing elements I setup a fairly messy chaotic style feedback patch. I did this intuitively pluging around to see what happens on the scope while listening to the output in realtime. This approach worked well for this track, and enabled me to get quick results without resorting to theory. I made a bunch of recordings during Dec 2008 & Jan 2009, which I then edited into the final track."

Note this piece is featured in Dave Noyze Automata 49 which also featured afx dsp box commissioned by Richard James of Aphex Twin.

See the Comdyna channel label below for a few more posts featuring the system.

Lectric Panda's Automata Sequencer

video upload by Lectric Panda

https://lectricpanda.com/

"Cellular Automata based MIDI Sequencer. Bits from the Automata state are added to the note base parameters: Trigger, Pitch, Velocity, Duration, Slice, and Hold.

Four MIDI CC's can also be generated.

1-D Automata.
Reset every N steps.
Scalable UI.
Integrated tool tips.
Host Transport Sync.
Sample accurate MIDI Generation.
VST3 Format."

"Automata was heavily influenced by work David Burraston @ noyzelab had done with his uMANIAC sequencer."

FEF by NYZ

"The delightfully titled FEF consists of pieces made on the Yamaha TX802 synth, driven by his self-designed MANIAC cellular automata sequencer. Glassy FM tones and microtonal tunings make for eerily melodic, playfully exploratory pieces.

NYZ is UK Midlands born, New South Wales based Dave Burraston, who also operates variously as Noyzelab, Dave Noyze and Bryen Telko. He's studied and worked with audio synthesis and computer science since the 1970s, culminating in a 2006 PhD thesis on Generative Music & Cellular Automata. Musical collaborators have included Oren Ambarchi, Russell Haswell and Aphex Twin (with whom he conducted the technically revealing 2014 'SYROBONKERS!' interview), and has had releases on labels such as Entr'acte, Fractal Meat Cuts and Important Records.

released May 1, 2020

Recorded Sept 2018 & Feb 2019 / Mixed January 2020 at Noyzelab.

Thunderstorm field recording on FM40P::cicFLUFFYCLOUDZ is an excerpt from Syracuse Storm, recorded July 2017 Syracuse, New York, USA in my guest bedroom at the house of Doug Quin & Peggy Droz.

Art by Graeme Swinton

Thanks : Paul Condon, Graeme Swinton, Sarah Last, Doug Quin, Peggy Droz

FEFNYZ / FEF88"

FM60P & ODT3 by NYZ

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."

Hinton Music Lab ML1890 Switch & ML1820 Counter

noyzelab has a couple of posts up on the Hinton ML 1890 & ML 1820. See each link for more pics, links & audio demos.

The ML 1890: "This module is pretty special having a logic buss at the rear for the 8 switches which I can interface directly to my MANIAC & Arthur prototype systems. This makes them particularly handy for being modulated by Cellular Automata logic patterns. The ML1890 can switch both audio and control voltages and was built by Graham Hinton back in the mid 70's ! The inputs are duplicated to nuclear physics spec Lemo connectors which connect to the virtual earth inputs on the module, allowing input signals to be summed directly on the Pin Matrix module."

The ML 1820: "This module is also has a logic buss at the rear for the 8 counter bits, which I can interface directly to my MANIAC & Arthur prototype systems. This makes them particularly handy for being modulated by Cellular Automata logic patterns. The ML1820 was built by Graham Hinton back in the mid 70's using wire wrapping!"

@noyzelab Dave Noyze - Out of Memory - Featuring Midified Lorenz Attractor & Chaotic Granular Synthesis

via noyzelab where you'll find additional details. Just capturing a bit of it here for the MATRIXSYNTH archives.

"This album is a collection of algorithmic/generative works from chaos and complexity theory, made between 1997 & 2001 with modular and MIDI synthesizers. Systems were initially prototyped on Acorn machines (BBC Master, Archimedes 310 & Risc PC) in earlier years using the BBC BASIC programming language. Apple machines running Max were used in the later stages. The algorithms were drawn from (among others) 1 and 2 dimensional Cellular Automata, Lorenz and other strange attractors, various mathematical functions/surfaces of 1 to 3 dimensions, 1/f Voss noise generator and the Logistic equation. These algorithms were used to directly control various modular and MIDI synthesizers. The video's below were all made at Noyzelab, Australia on my Risc PC in 2010/2011 using a Yamaha RS7000."


Uploaded on Jan 20, 2011 noyzelab

1st four videos in this playlist:

1. midified lorenz attractor high speed RS7000 lately bass
"this is a midified lorenz strange attractor over midi at high speed playing the rs7000 dx100 lately bass preset. coded in BBC BASIC, running on Acorn RISC PC"

2. midified lorenz attractor medium speed

3. chaotic granular synthesis over midi ! modified henon attractor part 2
"this is a modified henon strange attractor doing a kind of chaotic granular synthesis over midi - part 2. its basically thrashing the living crap out of a zap sound on my rs7000. i give the sound a quick audition before it kicks off"

4. chaotic granular synthesis over midi ! modified henon attractor part 1
"this is a modified henon strange attractor doing a kind of chaotic granular synthesis over midi. its basically thrashing the living crap out of a drum bank on my rs7000"

noyzelab's David Burraston & Russell Haswell: Wired Lab CV Session #1 released on ALKU

noyzelab's latest release with Russell Haswell on tape features his custom maniac cellular automata & spacetime gravity modulator as well as the hinton music lab modular. The limited edition black chrome cassette comes with a 16 page booklet. You'll find full details including additional pics at noyzelab here.

You can find previous posts featuring some of noyzelab's creations including custom work for Aphex Twin, here on MATRIXSYNTH.

HINTON - MC4 - Cellular Automata - Excerpt[2007]

"Generative Music on the Roland MC4 MicroComposer - Cellular Automata Sequences"

via noyzelab where you'll find the full write-up.

"Lots of people are becoming familiar with the Roland MC4 MicroComposer and its become quite a legendary box over the years. With well known works from composers such as Vince Clarke & Aphex Twin the musical applications of the MC4 cover a lot of ground. Over the years I've been playing around with different ways of working with this box since I got my first one in 1997, and I started integrating it with my algorithmic / generative composition processes."

NYZ - NTE GDN => Behind the scenes with the Yamaha FB-01

Photo Credit: Calum Gunn * all other pix by NYZ *

"The new NYZ - NTE GDN tape on Conditional is just out [limited edition of 50 copies]! Matrix heard on the synth grapevine that it heavily featured the Yamaha FB-01 operating in a secret sysex mode, so he asked me if I'd write a little about how it was used. You can check the album out on the Conditional Bandcamp page here, release date July 6th =>

and have a listen while reading. Its also available from Boomkat [with track previews] =>

Boomkat review => "Blinding new batch of synth and computer music chaos from Dave Burraston’s cultishly regarded NYZ. With such a wild variation to his purist approach it’s perhaps silly to draw comparisons or contrasts, but these are patently some of NYZ’s sweeter treats, such as the curdled harmonics of ‘ARTOFNYZbitcompander’ and the funky lil’ vamps of ‘RLD syncs’ for more insatiable and curious listeners. In other words it’s fucking ace!"

and Norman Records =>

Norman Records review => "9/10 Conditional unleash this beautifully wild and playful tape from David Burraston aka NYZ. Here he harnesses the spectrum splitting potential of John Chowning’s FM synthesis to birth and animate ludicrously cute and cuddly synthetic creatures that come to life before our very ears. What even are these little mutant alien lifeforms? Where is this strange place in which they dwell?

The overall experience of imbibing these sounds is a lot like an experience I once had watching Teletubbies on acid, where I thought the little blighters were actually communicating directly to me. This world NYZ has created and its inhabitants are clearly fantasy, but it’s so brilliantly, vividly realised and skillfully executed that if you just let go of the shackles of reality and submit yourself, it can be an authentic place where these things live and breathe, eat and sleep and go through their life cycle. We get to hang out with them as they speak, sing, laugh and cry. I’d much rather hang out with these chirpy little fellows because humans are the absolute worst. For music to get a miserable, misanthropic, curmudgeon bastard like me to grin like a child holding a cookie the size of its head is quite an achievement.

This tape is just so much fun - it's like a little utopia for the most part, but there are occasional darker moments - at times it feels like the big bad wolf or some kind of predator is lurking with intent to gobble up our little friends. Burraston’s custom-built MANIAC Cellular Automata Sequencer is instrumental in giving life to these sounds - a tool that gives this work a unique voice and an unpredictable energy that seems to organically flow through his machines. This music is most certainly unconventional even by avant-garde standards, and although on the surface is definitely weird and kinda eccentric, it taps into something deeper. Like Victor Frankenstein’s unorthodox scientific experiment in Mary Shelley's novel where scientist becomes an architect of life. This place, it's lifeforms and their language seems bewilderingly genuine - a sonic virtual reality -- a hybrid analogue/digital world where what is “real” and synthetic is blurred."


So why am I interested in the strange and esoteric Yamaha FB-01, and what are these secret sysex codes? Well, first up its a nice little 8 voice FM synth, and I'm well known for being a bit obsessed with FM [see the NYZ - DRN4 Declassified article]. Secondly, its a kind of in-between synth, arriving after the first 4 operator synths, such the DX21, but before the TX81Z which featured a full microtonal tuning table. Its this inbetweeness that really interested me, and its really the only first gen sine wave only 4op that can be micro-tuned, albeit in a very roundabout way via some secret sysex codes.

CLICK FOR MORE »

noyzelab EMS Sweden Residency

Another visit by noyzelab. This one was at EMS Sweden. Click through for the full post include more info and pics of the Buchla system and more.

"On Feb 1 - 12 I was Guest Composer at EMS Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm, Sweden. I also had my Eurorack modular with Intellijel Shapeshifter, CycleboxII + Expander, Tiptop Z-DSP & Numberz, as well as my uMANIAC and MANIAC cellular automata sequencers and a MacBook Pro + MOTU MicroBookII.

For the creative outcomes I spent my time again working mainly with modulation synthesis such as FM, RM, PWM, AM, and wavetable synthesis via audio rate sequencing. I was also processing sounds from my Rainwire recordings through some pretty exotic effects modules/units, ranging from spring/plate reverbs, modular systems and high end DSP boxes. Some of these recordings appeared in my Rainwire [Processed] installation at Sound+Environment 2017 at Hull University, part of the UK City of Culture 2017..." You can find the full post at noyzelab.

MILLS COLLEGE BUCHLA 100 Cellular Automata THRASHUP

Published on Apr 3, 2015 noyzelab

Side note: noyzelab has a gig tomorrow in Oakland. Details in the flyer below.

"Recent visit to the Mills College Electronic Music Studio where I was given free reign on THE original Buchla 100. This was a little selfie video I took during an extensive recording session.

Special thanks to John Bischoff & Chris Brown for arranging my studio time + Jesse Austin at Mills for being on hand for tech stuff + assorted fun nattering.

++ Ultra double thanks to Robbie Martin (Fluorescent Grey) for a lift back to San Francisco!!!

more info at http://noyzelab.blogspot.com/2015/04/..."

ARTHUR_ETO_PAIA_16#09 - noyzelab voltage controlled microtonal oscillator composition

"short little track on my prototype voltage controlled microtonal oscillator module [april 2012]. cellular automata sequencing the oscillator [running as 2 voice in this track], some vague info on this module here, although a lot has changed on it since then... :)

microtonalmodular synthcellular automata"

ULAMIZER - II - HINTON - 2007 - EXCERPT

"ULAMIZER II is a prototype of a CA (cellular automata) music module, designed to be part of the Noyzelab studio environment for both modular and MIDI synthesizers."

via noyzelab where you'll find more pics & details.