CC2 - Week 5 - Real-Time Processing

Ug. Plogue Bidule is not my friend. I tried for a while to get
anything of value, and this is what I ended up with. I think
you'll agree with me when I say "I hate you Ben. Go to hell."

CC - Week 4 - Performance Sequencing

Many of you already heard this Live creation in my
presentation, yet here it is to further assault
your eardrums. Sound 1.25Mb.MP3



Again this was far too easy to make, and I loathe
the fact that I actually really like the piece- kind of
"Neo-Classical Electrodeath".

CC - Week 3 - Performance Sequencing

I have found Live to be too easy to make music on- it leaves
me feeling dirty after having used it. Where has all the
effort gone? Nonetheless, this is my resulting abhorration.
Sound 1.58Mb.MP3

CC2 - Week 2 - Cubase Soundtrack

Because I am not a bastard I have not and will not imbed my sound files.
This one can be downloaded by choice here. Sound 48kb.MP3

Forum - Week 5 - Burning Schulz and Selfish Salubriations

A fairly successful improvisation session was achieved this week,
despite an emergency fire evacuation and a nameless theremin
virtuoso (cough). Dave had set up my FX pedal and mic before the
class, so I was crackin’ off beats as soon as I got there. Jake had
some drum loops ready for live manipulation, and the resultant
rhythms were well suited, if occasionally repetitive. I think the
full-on drum loops would be best applied when other members
get into a groove with each other, perhaps just providing a light
rhythm beforehand. One thing that we seem to have established
from this session is that we can’t all play at the same time, and
we each need to know when our ‘instrument’ would be a suitable
inclusion to a happening groove.

Student presentations were taken to a higher level this week, and
not necessarily because it was my turn. 3rd year Music Tech student
Tim Gabbusch presented his first year tape composition, however
he actually played the wrong piece. For those who didn’t stay behind,
the intended piece made a lot more sense when considering the
description of ‘water sounds’. Tim also played a recording he had
done of a Jazz band. As soon as I had heard the piano, I noticed it
was recorded with the Midside Stereo technique. I’ve recorded piano
with this set up recently, which sounded okay, but I ended up adding
a couple Neumann KM-84i’s to get a crisper sound anyway. I think the
M-S mic placement is becoming a bit overdone, or at least I’m finding
it a little clichéd. Jake Morris showcased his Creative Computing
composition from Semester 1 this year, titled “Surround…. Something”.
The piece emphasised the narrative side of musique concrete, with a
deep and meaningful back-story about a guy and a journey. Anyway,
the important thing is that I was the voice of Satan (or “Sapan” as I
became known), and this provided me with a great entrance for my piece.
My musique concrete piece started off as a wave file I recorded for Jake
of my own voice, which I experimentally slowed down to a point of
“organic separation” (If you don’t know, I don’t care). Anyway, I was
surprised that nobody asked about the end of the piece where I gradually
disintegrated the sound, but I guess I found it more interesting than most.
Will Revill also performed his musique concrete piece, of which low
rumbling frequencies were echoed around the room and gated silence
popped in the stereo field. I found it enjoyable, but Will seemed to dislike
it. So I don’t like it either.

Forum - Week 4 - Pedal Pushers and Flushing Toilets

I was certainly lined up for a good improvisation workshop this
week, as I have managed to source a multi-FX pedal that I plan
use with a microphone. During the week I had plugged it into the
Laney amp to great effect, with the octave-down pitch shift and
power-chord effects sounding very interesting with vocals. It
seems as though I will need to arouse an amplifier from elsewhere
in the Shultz building, as there is a great need for the old Laney.
Nonetheless our group spent 40 minutes trying to get a sound
from anything, especially now that one of the decks that Matt was
using has been pilfered by another group. I am curious why a
group has suddenly decided that they need a deck, in week 4.
In any case I have little to report.

Student presentations swung into action again, first up being
Henry Reed, who’s existence I was unaware of until this class.
His composition was a heartfelt piece dedicated to his
Grandfather who served in World War II, and consisted of
various war sounds and other less definable noises. It may have
been on purpose or perhaps because of the speakers, but there
seemed to be very little low end sound, and it even sounded
monophonic. Overall it was an enjoyable piece, and maintained
the listener’s interest throughout. Following Henry was
Matthew Mazzone, presenting various compositions. The first
was designed for a computer game, and would live up to this
very well with a great atmosphere and nice harmonics. The only
negative I drew was that it used synth strings, which denigrated
the organic feel presented by the piano. His next piece was
created on Live earlier in the day, and it was enjoyable if a little
repetitive. The next song was something he had made in previous
years, and was basically a pop dance song. It was agreeable, but
I am not a fan of this style of music. Considering this and Dragos’
piece from last week, I believe I may have moved away from the
4-chord song structure that I used so much in high school. Surely
this isn’t a bad thing? Finally there was guy (who’s name escapes
me) presenting a recording of his death metal band. I have a soft
spot for Slipknot, Soulfly and Sepultura, so I did enjoy this except
for some small engineering issues. I’ll just put this out there- has
anyone who has recorded with the RODE NTV found it to have a
dead sound? I would think such an expensive microphone would
be relatively indiscriminate in its frequency pickup. Vocal
recordings I have done on Neumann U87/89 turn out beautiful,
but NTV recordings have needed drastic equalisation to get a clean
and natural sound. Due to this I have demoted the NTV to
‘room-mic’ as it seems quite capable of pick up a flushing a toilet 2
floors down.