Modulate This! - Electronic & Experimental Music Tech, Technique, & People

New Album by Stretta - A Funneled Stone

Stretta has released a new album called Funneled Stone on iTunes and on Bandcamp. Here is the description from the about page.

When I see a photo of a modular synthesizer, I wonder, as I believe many others do, what the thing sounds like. What possibilities lurk within this strange hardware? I want to hear something orchestrated and controlled. I want to hear someone commanding the instrument with authority, not merely floating on waves of serendipity. I want to hear something composed for the instrument, leveraging its strengths, not a orchestration of an existing composition.

'A Funneled Stone' is a pure modular synth release, tracked in the old-shool, 1970's way: one monophonic line at a time. Every sound you hear was created, patched and recorded for that moment in time. When a new sound is needed, the patch is torn down and a new one is built. Polyphony is achieved by tracking each voice individually.

A modular album is, by definition, unapologetically synthetic. I also tried to take a more minimalist approach to orchestration, so the individual sounds can be more fully isolated and appreciated. I spent much of the final month of production taking elements out, and editing for length. Sometimes this results in the remaining elements merely hinting at the underlying harmonic movement.

As you can imagine, this process is very time-consuming, but fun. I hope you enjoy the results as much as I enjoyed creating it.

I’m only a few tracks in but I’m really enjoying it so far.

Mark Mosher
Electronic Musician, Boulder, CO
www.MarkMosherMusic.com
www.ModulateThis.com

Show Report: Two Days in Denver with Robert Henke (aka Monolake)

Photo: DMNS Gates Planetarium

Robert Henke of Monolake and one of the creators of Ableton live came through Denver and performed his work "Intersection" on Monday and then delivered a lecture at Denver University on Tuesday. This invitation only event was hosted by The Digital Media Studies program at the University of Denver.

This was a real treat as this was one of only a small number Robert's performances in the US. Here is a show report.

MONOLAKE “INTERSECTION” CONCERT MONDAY SEPTEMBER 27TH, GATES PLANETARIUM 
"Intersection" is a work which incorporates “field recordings made in Hanoi in 2009, reconstructed through narrative, music and sounds”. The performance was presented in the context of the amazing full-dome digital theater of the Gates Planetarium. 

Before the show started the event host Trace Reddell, Ph.D. (Director, Digital Media Studies University of Denver) introduced Robert who talked a little bit about the piece and the show.

   

Robert described the show as a real-time collaboration between himself and Gate’s Planetarium’s own VJ / Pilot / Scientist Ka Chun Yu Ph.D. on visuals (pictured below).

They had only met a few hours before the show and the concert was almost completely improvised.

Music and Sound
On the sound side of things, Robert describes “Intersection” as follows:

Intersection is entirely created using field recordings taken in November 2009 in and around the city of Hanoi in Vietnam. The field recordings were transferred to a laptop and layered, filtered, slowed down and processed in many ways to form the composition. The idea of using recordings of day by day sounds as material for musical expression is not new. It has been pioneered shortly after the advent of tape recorders in the late 1940 by the French composer Pierre Schaeffer and others. They coined the term 'musique concrete' for these kind of works.

DEVO To Receive MOOG INNOVATION AWARD at Moogfest 2010

Moog Music will present DEVO with a very special synthesizer, details of which will be revealed in the coming weeks. Past recipients of the previously titled Moog Award include Keith Emerson, Herb Deutsch, Gershon Kingsley, Jan Hammer and Bernie Worrell.

Update: Here is a photo from Moog's flickr page showing Mark Mothersbaugh recieving the synth. The synth picture, the Moog Voyager XL is also now available for purchase.

 Read more details on Moog’s site…

Duty now,

Mark Mosher
www.MarkMosherMusic.com
www.ModulateThis.com

Percussa AudioCube Production and Performance Notes for "I Hear Your Signals"

 

For my original music album "I Hear Your Signals" (download the album free) I use Percussa Audiocubes as performance controllers. In this post I’ll give you all the geeky details about how the controllers were applied in the project.

AUDIOCUBES AND MIDIBRIDGE
I used 4 AudioCubes plus Percussa's free MIDIbridge app on Windows to configure and route AudioCube signals to Ableton Live. I use the same MIDIbridge patch for every song which allows for consistent and predictable data mapping from the cubes to Ableton Live.

In general, I play a lot of the notes on you hear on the album via keyboards, Theremin and Tenori-On live. I tend to use the cubes as controllers, for scene launching, and for real-time modulation of effects and synth parameters and only use them for triggering notes from time to time.

CUBE CONFIGURATION
The AudioCubes are configured with the in the following modes:

• Cube 1 - Sensor (the red cube at 9:00 in the picture above): This cube sends MIDI CC information back to Live. I configure each side of  cube to give me visual feedback where each cube face is set to a different color. The closer my finger or hand is to the sensor, the brighter the light. Currently, Sensor cubes need to be wired via USB.
• Cubes 2 & 3 Receivers (white cubes in above picture): Sends MIDI notes back to Live when a signal is received from Cube 4. I also send RGB MIDI light sequence via MIDI clips in Ableton. The cubes then become light show elements and also offer visual feedback. These cubes are also plugged in via USB so they can receive high-speed transmissions via MIDI clips.
• Cube 4 – Transmitter (green in the picture above): This cube is wireless. Aligning the faces of this cub with the faces on cubes 2 & 3 triggers MIDI notes back to Ableton Live.

MIDIBRIDGE AND ABLETON CONFIGURATION
I then MIDI map MIDI CC data and Note information coming from cubes via Ableton Live MIDI Map mode to various functions within live.
For cube 1, CC's are mapped to device parameters and macros. These in-turn are often routed to parameters within VSTs. For example, a cube face might modulate delay time with Ableton's native Ping Pong Delay FX device. Or the CC might map to filter on a VST synth. Below is a snapshot of the MIDIBridge settings for Cube 1 (click to enlarge).

For Cubes 2 & 3, notes are triggered when the face from the transmitter Cube 4 is detected. I route notes to either MIDI tracks holding Ableton instruments or VSTs and/or racks. In some cases I route MIDI notes through a dummy track back to SugarBytes Artillery II running in a send or on the master track for effects. Since effects are triggered via notes rather than CCs with Artillery II, this method allows me to control effects as well as playing notes with signals from Transmitter cubes which only send MIDI note information. In other words, by combining native Ableton effects with Artillery II, I can use any cube in the network to trigger effects.

CUBE USAGE FOR EACH SONG

1) “Arrival”

In this song I’m using AudioCubes as lighting and feedback elements in the live show. They were not used in composition or performance of the music. MIDI clips in Live are used to sequence the lights.

Videos on The Making of Robbie Bronnimann's Upcoming Album "Rotations"

Robbie Bronnimann dropped me an email recently letting me know about a very cool series of videos he’s posting over at Sonic State.

First off, if you're not familiar with Robbie’s work, he’s a London-based composer and producer. He also has released music under the name dba with vocalist Shaz Sparks and acted as a writer/producer The Sugababes. He has also collaborated and produced the last few Howard Jones albums and has also toured with Howard (see this Modulate This Post on their Australian Tour).

Now Robbie is working on his own solo album project called Rotations and is shooting video along the way. The videos are great and show a behind-the-scenes view of how a seasoned producer works. I recommend you watch them all as Robbie does a great job explaining his studio and technology - and more importantly goes beyond technology and talks a lot about the creative process.

I’ve embedded the first 5 videos below to get you started. This is a work in progress so you’ll want to bookmark http://www.sonicstate.com/news/studiolog (Note they are posted in reverse date order). My favorite is Video 5 where he brings in Shaz Sparks and his 5 year old daughter  to record vocals. He then build’s up tracks using elements of their voices.

I'm really looking forward to Rotations!

Video 1: Robbie Bronnimanns Journey

Video 2: The Journey Begins

Video 3: Samples, Hits, and out of RAM

Video 3: Sound processing, recording the box

 

Video 4: Granular hits and transitions, DSI Evolver action  

Video 5: Recording Vocals

Links:

• Robbie’s Facebook Fan Page
• Robbie on MySpace
• Robbie on Twitter
• Videos of Laura Clapp & Robbie Bronnimann - Ableton Live, TC Electronics Interfaces, and Live Vocal FX Processing

Mark Mosher
Electronic Musician, Boulder CO
www.MarkMosherMusic.com
www.ModulateThis.com

Mark Mosher Appearing at the Electro-Music Festival 2010 in New York September 10

 

One month from today I'll be appearing at this year's Electro-Music 2010 Festival. I'll be performing the new album I Hear Your Signals live, plus giving a one hour talk on "Spatial, Visual, and Matrix Controlerism with Ableton Live".

Schedule for  September 10^th.

• 5:00-6:00 pm - Spatial, Visual, and Matrix Controllerism with Ableton Live
• 10-10:30 pm Concert where I’ll be performing songs form “I Hear Your Signals”

Here is the full Friday schedule for all events.

If you’ve not heard about this event, check it out here – looks an awesome weekend - http://event.electro-music.com/. Drop me an email if your going to be there so we can meet up.

Mark Mosher
Electronic Musician, Boulder, CO
www.MarkMosherMusic.com

:I HEAR YOUR SIGNALS" Announcement, Download Links, Fun Facts, Listening tips

After eight months of work, I'm  very excited to announce that my latest album I HEAR YOUR SIGNALS is now available as a digital download.

LISTEN/DOWNLOAD/BUY

1. BandCamp - available “name your price”. To download for FREE click the “Buy Now” Button and enter $0. I recommend downloading the album from here as you'll get a 4-panel digital booklet containing original photos and art and liner notes.

2. iTunes

3. Amazon MP3
4. ReverbNation
5. SoundCloud
6. Physical CD (New)

FUN FACTS

1. The album contains 8 original songs composed and produced completely in the digital realm using state-of-the-art virtual synthesizers. Even the Theremin analog signal was converted back to digital so it could be used to drive virtual instruments.
2. The album was composed and produced entirely on a laptop using Ableton Live 8 running Windows 7.
3. The album was composed an arranged for live performance and was created using keyboards, matrix controllers, the exotic Theremin, and unique visual and tangible controllers such as the Tenori-On and Percussa AudioCubes. So, while I HEAR YOUR SIGNALS is a “studio album”, I rehearsed and could perform all the songs live prior to recording. For many songs, I recorded lead synth elements live in one pass (after rehearsing for many weeks). This gives the album a more live/ “jam-like” feel than my previous album. It also makes these songs great for live performance.
4. A few songs like “Control Zone” are quite experimental and the notes and modulation of synth parameters was achieved with hand and finger movement in space and I never touched a physical key or button during recording.
5. Some songs on the album are a retelling of some of the songs on REBOOT, but from a very different point of view. For example, “When Connected” is the same “story” as  REBOOT’s “Infected” but as viewed from the opposite point of view.
6. While the songs are copyrighted, I’m making them available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License so you podcasters, bloggers, and hobbyists can safely use the music in your productions as long as you offer an attribution. Drop me an email if you use a track so I can check out your work.
7. The images in the digital booklet/liner notes are all original and based on photographs taken by me and my children. I did the graphic design work.
   

LISTENING TIPS

1. Both the REBOOT and I HEAR YOUR SIGNALS are albums in the sense that the songs played in sequence tell a story. If you can spare the time, spin them the albums at least once in one sitting.
2. If you don’t have time to listen to the whole album try and eke out 5 minutes and listen to each track without skipping. These are instrumental compositions and not dance floor tracks so they have a beginning, middle and end:^).
3. A lot of work went into the mix and there are dynamics, sounds, positioning of sounds you’ll miss on computer speakers. So listen with with some nice headphones or on a nice system with a sub-woofer.

I hope you’ve found this information more entertaining and fun than a stuffy old press release.  Drop me an email or leave comments on this post and let me know which songs you like best!

Thanks again for your support and please tell your friends about I HEAR YOUR SIGNALS.

Mark Mosher
Electronic Musician, Boulder, CO
www.MarkMosherMusic.com

DEVO VIDEO - Industry Insight and Awesome Behind-The-Scenes Tour

Shockhound.com just posted two awesome video interviews with DEVO. I’m sharing yet another DEVO related post because I think even if your not a DEVO fan you’ll find their perspective on music and the music industry of interest. In the first video, Jerry also relates a first person account of the Kent State massacre. The second video offers a tour of their studio including a discussion of some of the circuit bent toys used on their new album.

If you are a DEVO fan, you’ll really dig these two videos as you’ll get to see Mark and Jerry portrayed in a more conversational light than many of the DEVO “propaganda” vids (don't get me wrong, I love DEVO propaganda).

Video 1

Video 2

Mark Mosher
www.MarkMosherMusic.com
www.ModulateThis.com

DEVO's New Album "Something For Everybody" Has Relased Along with a new Reality Video Series

Hi Spuds,

DEVO’s first album in 20 years “Something for Everybody” dropped today. I just bought the deluxe edition :^). Checkout the live listening party for 20 cats http://www.ustream.tv/devo?loc=interstitialskip

One of my favorite things about DEVO is how they blend social commentary into their art – and of course their heave use of synths! I’ve really been enjoying their current angle which is commentary on consumerism, big corporations, and mega marketing. I think it’s awesome that they went back to Warner Bros. for this release and got them in on the satire.

Here is a brand new video and Episode 1 of of a 5 episode tongue-in-cheek we reality series they just kicked off today - DEVO Makes Something For Everybody - Episode 1. They’ll post new episodes on upcoming Tuesdays.

They’ll also be appearing on the Colbert Report on June 16th.

Lastly, DEVO is starting a big tour to spread the word about devolution.

Duty Now Spuds!

More on DEVO at http://www.clubdevo.com.

Mark Mosher
www.MarkMosherMusic.com
www.ModulateThis.com

Reznor's New Project How To Destroy Angels: New Video + Free Digtal EP

 

Trent Reznor’s new project is a band called How to Destory Angels. Also in the band are Trent’s wife Mariqueen Maandig, Atticus Ross with Rob Sheridan as the group's art director. A new EP will be released June 1st. You can pre-order it for free now by using embedded the box below or by visiting this page.

 

 

You can also checkout the creepy HD video of the new single “The Space Between”. Watch embedded video.

 

More at - http://howtodestroyangels.com/.

Mark Mosher
Electronic Musician, Boulder CO
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