SERGE WAD+GE PITCH&ENV FOLLOWER @EMS

Published on Apr 11, 2018 noyzelab

"A quick iphone recording during a Rainwire [Processed] session on the Serge modular at EMS Stockholm. I'm sending out a Rainwire recording into the Serge / Gentle Electric Pitch & Envelope Follower. This is extracting control signals for a large patch on the Serge, mainly centred around the Wilson Analog Delay. Both of those named modules are ultra-rare, and I was super lucky to be able to have these sessions using them!

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

More details on the Rainwire project can be found here: http://rainwire-project.blogspot.com.au/

EMS Stockholm : http://elektronmusikstudion.se/

Thanks to absolutely everybody at EMS!!"

ALM Busy Circuits SMT soldering technique

Published on Apr 11, 2018 noyzelab

This one in via noyzelab. Always fun to see the makers behind the scenes, along with some useful tips in this one.

"A quick iphone recording during my visit to ALM Busy Circuits HQ in July 2017. I asked Matthew if he'd give me a quick primer on how to solder SMT chips, so grabbed this video of the process.

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

http://busycircuits.com/

Thanks to Matthew & family for great hospitality! and for the Akemie's Castle which you can hear on my recent NYZ - DSP TRX release on Psoma Psi Phi :

https://pspsph.bandcamp.com/album/dsp..."

Noyzelab PreenFM2 Farey Programmer Open Source Project

Another one in via Noyzelab:

"The PreenFM2 is an exciting little Open Source project for making a small, portable FM synthesizer with full microtuning. I decided to write a little Open Source programming tool for it in the Processing programming language. Full details of the program can be found in the PreenFM2 forum here and its available on github here ---- but briefly it is a tool to help with choosing the fundamental parameters of FM synthesis.

Farey Sequences for FM programming were introduced in the classic text by Barry Truax: Organizational Techniques for C:M Ratios in Frequency Modulation. http://www.sfu.ca/~truax/

In order to get the best from this program please read up on Farey Sequences for FM programming, I did an article here : and there are lots of places to read further."

NYZ - DSP TRX / PPLZ SYNF

Two new releases from NYZ, aka Noyzelab, who's work has been featured here on MATRIXSYNTH numerous times (see the previous two posts). Noyzelab is both a musician and a maker of some pretty esoteric gear. He has worked with Richard D James of Aphex Twin, Chris Watson, Oren Ambarchi, amongst others.

"David Burraston returns for his third release at P / Psi / P, the mindmelting 4-hour DSP TRX. His second 4xCD-R set in our catalog, after the equally monolithic PPLZ SYNF.

DSP TRX is sometimes manic, turning itself into shapes that seem impossible or unfathomable, and at other times it becomes more stable, barely moving like a deep pool beneath an occasional wind gust. As is Burraston's custom, DSP TRX delivers its most potent and stimulating moments after the sounds themselves have sustained long enough to remove your awareness of time as a reference point. Not quite drone, not only synthesizer music, but wholly a displacing other. The shuddering tone fields stretch out for miles, expanding forever, and then contract again into more observable sections, like a muscle. We're never certain if we're hearing feedback with mathematically-divided holes poked in it, or a radio custom-built by Burraston that tunes into millions of digital bubbles, following traced lines toward a central frequency of his own devising. DSP TRX is both bright and dark, a dramatic rapid tremolo of silence and noise, infinitely revolving, inverting and slowing down - or is it speeding up? Once again, Burraston delivers proof that he is not operating on our plane of reality, or the neighboring ones, but above them all, in an undefined place outside time, space and everything in between.

DSP TRX is available as an edited digital edition (2 tracks) or as a full four-disc/16 track excursion. An unabridged digital release will follow later at Boomkat.

released March 27, 2018

W/P by David Burraston. Recorded March & September 2017 onto 2 tracks / edited December 2017 at Noyzelab. Custom programmed in Spin FV-1 Assembler using the Tiptop Audio Z-DSP Eurorack module and Numberz programmer. All recordings were made direct from the Z-DSP outputs, with minimal post processing other than a slight bit of EQ and stereo placement.

Instruments: 2x Braids Macro Oscillators, ALM Akemie's Castle, Tiptop Z-DSP & Numberz, SpinAsm FV-1 DSP Assembler, MOTU UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid, Apple iMac 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 4GB RAM / Logic Pro 9.

Thanks to Tiptop Audio for the Z-DSP and Numberz programmer (www.tiptopaudio.com/z-dsp/ ) Matthew at ALM for the Akemie's Castle (www.busycircuits.com/alm011/ ) Braids custom dark face build by Finlay Shakespeare (www.twitter.com/FinShakespeare )"

"David Burraston returns to Psøma Psi Phi with possibly his most expansive release to date - PPLZ SYNF. A gigantic 3.5 hour work consisting of seven pieces created using an ongoing self-build (as Burraston notes) of the Serge/CGS Paperface analog synthesizer, in conjunction with a custom built modular rig. Laid to digital disk space at Burraston's Noyzelab studio in August, PPLZ SYNF is a monolith of drone synthesis that absorbs the listener into some kind of greater collective metaconsciousness. It is both an impressive exercise in longform drone music, and an immersive and hypnotic atmosphere that confounds the mind, transfiguring your surroundings from its unique and singular perspective. A monument, literally and figuratively, in the sound field, etched and erected by a master of the craft.

Given the scope and size of such a release, PPLZ SYNF has been committed to a very special, and very limited, triple-cassette set, housed in a dustproof binder. These are extremely finite and assembled by hand in every possible way, making no two copies exactly alike. The digital version available at Bandcamp consists of cuts from the first of the three tapes, while the full release is spread across two 60-minute tapes and one 90-minute tape.

UPDATE 2018.03.04: The 4xCD-R reissue is now stocked at Norman Records in the UK www.normanrecords.com/records/169774-nyz-pplz-synf
credits
released November 14, 2017

W/P by David Burraston. Field recorded in MONO 96kHz/24bit on Zoom F8, August 2017 at Noyzelab (www.noyzelab.com). Created with Serge/CGS Paperface ongoing self build and Mutable Instruments Braids x2 custom dark face build by Finlay Shakespeare. David Burraston and the NYZ logo appear courtesy of Noyzelab. This is Psøma Psi Phi number NYZ-II, and 2nd in Burraston's private NYZ catalog. Cover design by The Analog Botanist."

Modular Mortgage or How to Get into Modular Synthesis Without Going Broke by Dave Burraston of NYZ

Note the above is audio only. Dave Burraston is the man behind Noyzelab & NYZ. Click play above a couple of times if necessary. If it does not work, give it a try at the University of South Australia website here.

Be sure to see the corresponding write-up on Noyzelab here.

"Dave Burraston is an Australian experimental musician, who has worked with a diverse range of artists from Chris Watson to Aphex Twin to Oren Ambarchi. A self-confessed gearhead, among his many accomplishments is the publication of SYROBONKERS!, the most technical interview ever given by Aphex Twin. Today he discusses how to get into modular synthesis - with a particular emphasis on not going broke!"

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.

skinnerbox: buchla vs octatrack mk 2

Published on Dec 6, 2017 skinnerbox

"at ems"

EMS Sweden (Elektronmusikstudion). You might recognize the Buchla from this recent noyzelab post.

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.

Dave Burraston aka noyzelab on How to Get Into Modular Synths w/o Going Broke

For those interested noyzelab has a post up on how to get into modular synths w/o going broke. It features references and notes from his recent talk at unsound adelaide 2017.

"some notes / refs for my talk at unsound adelaide 2017 on how to get into modular synthesis without going broke in the process. there's obviously a strong emphasis on cheap / diy / open source as an entry point to modular.."

"Dave Burraston is an Australian experimental musician, who has worked with a diverse range of artists from Chris Watson to Aphex Twin via Oren Ambarchi. A self-confessed gearhead, among his many accomplishments is the publication of SYROBONKERS!, the most technical interview ever given by Aphex Twin. Today he discusses how to get into modular synthesis - with a particular emphasis on not going broke!"

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.

noyzelab Regional Arts Fellowship - Moog Sound Lab UK Residency

via noyzelab, where you'll find the full post.

"On Jan 23 - 29 I held an Artist Residency at Moog Sound Lab UK which is currently located at the Institute of Sound Recording, University of Surrey. This was a great week, I got to check out and record with a whole bunch of Moog gear, and a few other choice pieces as well!"

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 »

San Francisco Tape Music Center Buchla 100 @ Mills College

via @noyzelab

"Honoured to play on the 'original' San Francisco Tape Music Center Buchla 100 @ Mills College last year, thanks Don!"

Practical Electronics Rhythm Generator For the Musician from Jan 1978

via @noyzelab

12 Switch Selected Rhythms

8 Percussion Voices

Curious what this sounded like. I've never seen one before. This is only the 20th Practical Electronics post on MATRIXSYNTH. That's out of over 140,000 posts.  Th others include the Minisonic and Minisonic 2, the PE Sound Synthesizer, and the the String Ensemble.  You'll find a few posts from Ken MacBeth and AM Synths AM8071 SnowFall Filter, which was "a traditional diode ladder low pass filter, similar to that in the EMS VCS3, Roland SH-3, System 100 and Practical Elctronics Minisonic 2."

Farey Sequence Tables for FM Synthesis - An FM Synthesis Tutorial by noyzelab

via noyzelab

"The choice of Carrier:Modulator (C:M) frequency ratio is an interesting area of research, because it is one of the fundamental aspects of FM programming. Although I mentioned the classic book by Chowning & Bristow in the recent Matrixsynth NYZ DRN4 DECLASSIFIED, space and time didn't allow me to mention another classic text by Barry Truax: Organizational Techniques for C:M Ratios in Frequency Modulation. If you're interested in FM programming, and you don't mind a tiny bit of maths via the Farey Sequence, I highly recommend it. If you want to dig deeper I've made some useful tables for FM synth programmers in this post. There's also a handful of youtube FM synthesis vids at the end."

You'll find the videos and the rest of the tutorial on noyzelab here. Also be sure to check out the noyzelab newsletter sign-up on the top right when there.

An interesting side note via noyzelab: "The TV crime show NUMB3RS featured Farey sequences in the Season 2 episode 'Bettor or Worse' (2006)."

Noyzelab's DRN4 Released

"NYZ DRN4 is just been made live and released, with 2 new extra tracks streamable on public preview. tape nearly gone on physical copy already!!"

You can find it on BandCamp here and Norman Records here.

For background on the release see this post.

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 »

noyzelab's NYZ DRN4 Limited Cassette Release

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

Full details and additional SoundClound embed at noyzelab.

Excerpt for the archives:

"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..."

1985 E&MM Yamaha TX7 Review

This one in via noyzelab. Click through for the second scan.

1982 SCI Pro-One Review by Vince Clarke

Noyzelab has a review of the Pro-One by Vince Clarke scanned from One.. Two.. Testing issue #1 from 1982. Click through for the scan.

Update: and one for the Jupiter-8 here.  Not sure who did that one though.