Dante update Canto's 1 and 2 finished... for now

I just finished writing the paraphrase of Canto 2 and recording them both onto an old tape fourtrack I have on hand for emergencies. Emergencies like my DAW not being set up or having any of my good microphones but having the patch ready and needing to get started. I took a cigarette pack amp and used it as a rough mic preamp into the fourtrack and read both cantos in turn then played the patches I had made. It's actually the same patch only the second canto has midi sequencing so there's notes being played while in Canto number 1 it's all ambient. I'll record these into cubase one I have it set up and I am going to have to think about what it's missing because it's missing something. But it's good. The fourtrack is not so bad as a backup device and now that I've got the patch recorded to tape and ready to be put into the computer I can take it apart and do something new. I'll be doing that tomorrow I want DJ to take a picture of it all the wires are red and black and yellow and grey and the way they're tangled in wild a vertical mess it's a little bit like a sculptor's rendition of fire in the form of patch cables.

Ooh one piece of new gear I'm really keen on is this box I got out of the bargain bin at Tom Lee Music today it's a three channel signal switch. Basically it's just a metal box with a big knob on the top and four pairs of 1/4inch jacks on the front, six on them are audio in's and two of them are stereo out's and the idea is that you plug in three different stereo channels which you can select with the knob. I havn't had a chance to really try it out yet but I think this could be another way of controlling some aspects of the modular. The best part is it consumes no power! I'm not sure if I've written here about my love for all things electrically passive but seriously gear that doesn't need electricity to operate is a real godsend. I have eight channels of passive mixing goodness thanks to some discount and vintage microphone mixers and now this big switch! eeeee! (and various other sounds of excitement!)

Gear Update

It's official. I've got what I need to start setting up the studio. I was waiting on a synth module called a Virus Snow but ended up buying the floor model of the keyboard version for an amazing price. I also bought an external firewire/soundcard and another keyboard stand. I believe this is the lot for now. Barring a larger modular rig which will come in due time and a few other amenities which aren't really that important and which I can pick up when and if I can afford them I think I'm looked after as far as studio equipment. I watched the animated version of Dante's Inferno tonight. It was actually made with paper cutouts so not exactly animated but I don't think the word puppet is exactly right either. Anyway it was fun. It's certainly in a different vein than my take will be but it was neat to see and it was illustrated by Sandow Birk.

I'm waiting for my wife to come home so I'm not interrupted in the middle of recording. I wrote the paraphrase for Canto 1 a couple of nights ago and have put some finishing touches on the patch I made for it. I've wanted to record this since I wrote it but I've lacked the energy.

There's an apartment being re-done on my floor and every morning it's sawing and drilling from 10 or 11 am until evening. And then today there was some kind of construction going on outside where they were ripping out cement in the alley and so there was a nice chorus of jackhammers as well. I feel sorry for everyone who woke up today with a hangover. Other than that and the complete lack of work I've done today I'd have to say it's not bad for a Friday the 13th.

and because I can't get enough of Morton

Morton Subotnick Interview - IMR Software



Morton Subotnick at NAMM 2009 I really wish I could embed this

And some of his music:

late night/early morning Dante update

I've just put some of the finishing tweaks on the first patch I hope to use in Inferno, this will be the electronic component to the music in Canto #1. Still haven't written a paraphrase as yet I hope to get that done tomorrow night then, because I'm oldschool and kind of impatient and also due to the complexity of this patch I'll be recording it to my tape fourtrack recorder. I have to get help moving the last of the studio furniture to its new home and get together with Jeremy to get the space set up. He's not going to be coming onboard for the project but has offered to square away a favour he owes me by helping me get it all set up and crash coursing me in cubase.

I would still really really really like to find someone who would be willing and able to collaborate with in realizing this project but I don't know who to ask. All my friends in bands are too busy and their services expensive. Meh, this is my baby if it's meant to be a collaborative piece I've no doubt that God will provide, and if it's not then I've just got to trust that I'll get it done good enough and learn a lot on the way.

I'm waiting n a delivery from Analogue Haven of a ring modulator it should be here tomorrow, I'm very excited I just hope I'm here when the package is delivered I hate missing these things it's such a hassle.

in gear-related news My birthday is coming up and I'm really looking forward to birthday cash so I can build my modular up. It's always frustrating to discover that you've run out of things to modulate or when you just find the limits of what your instrument can currently do, it's a nice challenge to work within them and I've certainly made some great compositions with less than what I've got now but every time a new set of modules come in the mail and I patch them all up to the system my sound just seems to increase it's so amazing to make a piece of music which in it's own way is a little analogous to a tiny orchestra, each piece of equipment working together with every other to create something very dynamic and multifaceted. I really love my modular.

you should read this post buy a guy who put it in better words than I have

I was thinking about the above linked article tonight and thought I should share it.

busy night for blogging

So I just got off the phone with Dr. Lorne Wilkinson, he's the Dante Scholar that my friend Barrett suggested I get in touch with. We had a good talk about this and his suggestion was that I make my own paraphrase of the Comedy based on the multiple translations I have access to and he also suggested that I include the original Italian into the pieces somehow. I have some ideas abut how I'd want to do that but first I'll need to find an Italian text I can draw from.

I feel encouraged. Also the Tangerine Dream version of The Inferno is available at the library so my wife will probably be bringing that home with her this week.

excitement!

Damn you Henry Wadsworth Longfellowwwww!

Nah, I don't wish him any harm though I do wish his translation of The Comedy was a lot easier to read and simpler to understand.

He's the man responsible for the translation of Dante at the Gutenberg Project website.

Still, uggh, My previous thought about creating my own interpretation of the text into a modern english feels more like re-inventing the wheel after trying to read Longfellow's translation aloud. Also while the olde english is kind of nice in it's own way I'm still partial to the Birk/Sanders translation.

I wonder what sort of fresh hell would come from getting permission from the publishers to use their text? Maybe it's not as bad as I fear?

Still open to suggestions

home now.

still trying to think my way around the copyright issues. Perhaps what I need to do is make my own interpretations of the canto texts based on Gutenberg Project and inspired by the Birk/Sanders translations.

that seems like it might work but could also be labour intensive.

hey does anyone read this thing anyway? Anyone out there have any suggestions on how to approach this project?

Latest Dante Update.

I've been having problems posting to one of my other blogs all day so let's see if Google lets me post here.

What began as an outing to collect things from storage at my mom's place turned into quarentine as she got stomach flue and then today had me feeling really queasy myself. I did find my copy of Inferno and a couple of other things I've been missing. I'm still grappling with just exactly how to convert Dante's Comedy into music without either geting in trouble with the publishers of the translations I own or being really wankery about it. I'm convinced that the music is in the Cantos themselves and I'd like to use the arguments now as a guide to how each Canto should sound if that makes any sense to the handful of people who I suspect may read this from time to time.

Boy oh Boy. I think I'll have to write to Sandow again this week and tell him what I'm thinking about because if I use the text of his translation then I could ernd up paying out my ass to his publishers and sending him royalties and while that's not so bad it would be very potentially complicated. Perhaps I should just use a Gutenberg project translation of the text and deal with the arcane language... ugh. I really would rather use Sandow Birk and Marcus Sanders translation because the language id accessible and I have a sentimental attachment to them. I think that if it's easier to understand the language it would come out less pretentious to listeners and ultimatly more enjoyable for me as well.

I'm still trying to reach a Dante Scholar who was reccomended by a friend I'm hoping that he'll have valuable insight into how I can best do the poet's work justice in the medium I want to work with.

Speaking of the medium I'm really enjoying working with my Evolver as a compositional aid. I've made a couple of really great guitar effects and clearing out the garbage patches I made when I was first learning it. I didn't approach it with any sort of method so there's gems scattered amidst the crap and presets I kind of trashed a bunch of presets and there are so many memory locations (4 banks of 128 each) that it's a bit of a chore trying to clean out the deadwood and then trying to keep track of it all.

That said I've really got to hand it to Dave Smith he's made a solid instrument, after my modular rig I think it's my favourite synth and it's about tied with my guitar as favourite instrument, really the deapth of possibillity just in the effects it can give external audio make it almost an extension to the guitar there's barely any need to buy another guitar pedal with the variety of sounds I can carve from it.

I'd get a second one for sure if I could justify it and recomend it to anyone who wants to get into analog synths. It's a bit headdy to learn straight off and it's not an easy teaching synth but I love it, shit I took it on my honeymoon.

Anyway that's the news. I'm hoping that tomorrow both my mom and I will be feeling better I've gone through most of the boxes here and found a bunch of things though not everything I was hoping for. I'm still missing two important power supplies and all the boxes with electronics have become boxes of horror after three years in a garage: imagine spiders, dead woodbugs, dust and gordion tangles of cable in everyu box. In one of them I found greasy skateboard parts and a bike handle resting ontop of the exposed circuit board of an old nintendo.

I'm really displeased.

The Alchemsts of Sound

This is a great documentary about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6

the trouble with Dante

So I've started reading the text of Purgatorio and my wife got me a copy of Inferno from the library to hold me over until I can dig up my own copy from storage and I've found a snag in my original plans to abridge the work.

Initially I thought I could get away with using only the arguments but reading Dante again after so long I've begun to realize this isn't the hot idea I'd thought it was. Yes the arguments at the start of each canto give a nice summary of events but that's all they do and the real beauty is in the cantos themselves with the poetry and the imagery. I guess it's a good thing I havn't started to record narration yet because I'm going to have to re-consider how to approach it.

That said some other news on the Dante front. Jeremy Inkel has agreed to come work on Inferno with me and give me a crash course in Cubase.

I'm going to my mom's place tomorrow to root around for things I need to take back to the studio. I'm missing some very important power connectors and I want my own copy of Inferno back.

I'm also picking up a new printer and maybe a desk.

something is happening

I've been away from this blog for a while, to catch you up (whoever you are) I've been commissioned to do a three part experimental electronic composition based on The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. the commission gives me a salary and studio space until the project is completed. As of this writing I'm in the process of moving my studio gear into my new workspace and trying to puzzle out how to start. I'm hesitent to talk in great detail about this because it's so early on I don't want to get anyone's hopes up needlessly and I don't want to speculate. In my life I've a tendency to overreach and plan things far too well in advance. I'll hopefully keep you updated on this as it develops.

In synth related news my modular has grown! I've expanded it with an MFB Kraftzwerg (which aparently means "Mighty Midget" in German and a Doepfer Mini-case that's got a chaos generator and a module which turns TV's into Oscilloscopes! I'm waiting on a ring modulator to fill up the gap in my case and then I'll be saving for (dun dun dun) the big updrade.

Also picked up a really nice electric guitar and some much needed cables. I'm still footageless but I've got to get into PR overdrive soon because of the last CD. I'll be picking up a copy with the tracks separated out on it in the coming week and have no legitimate excuse for not geting a myspace page for my music. I don't expect it will have anything other than the essentials for self promotion. I have a very deep aversion for social networking software which I will save for another post.

to break it all down for you I'm really excited!

It's times like these I seriously wish my phone had a video camera on it

I have a really shitty bait and switch cellphone I got to replace my far superior one when its obsolete battery crapped out (what gives making a battery that doesn't last as long as the warrenty or the cellphone contract?) Anyway I've been running the vostok like a mad scientist and tomorrow I might be picking up an SH 101 to add an extra oscillator and all the rest of that old school Roland synth goodness. I can only continue to appologise for the lack of the goods on this blog. Like it's said on some synth forums I've been on "Pics or it never happened" well if that were the case nothing would ever happen over here. I've got to get my hands on a camera and a vimeo account so that you an get the modular goods from me.

A little of what I've been cooking up:

I've been really taken by this notion of signal attenuation. It all started after reading an interview with Peter Grenadier. I thought to myself... attenuation eh? I've got that! I've got two ancient microphone mixers that attenuate, shit that's all they do!

lucky for me Sony used to do a lot of stuff with 1/8 inch jacks back when my parents were my age because my two mic mixers fit seemlessly into the signal path. I've got one almost always mixing/attenuating audio signals and a second one doing Voltage. There's this really beautiful thing about the Vostok that I think must have been an incidental thing particular to it's design because when something is patched on the matrix board and then a cable is patched from the corresponding output jack and into a mixer the knobs will do very surprising things with the resulting cross-talk. I've been able to use these attenuators to control oscillator pitch, sequencer speed, randomness and reset, lfo rates and sample and hold, intensity, character and the master volume without it ever being wired directly to the VCA! This cross talk thing works even when the mixer isn't output back into the signal path. so one of these bad boys will control parameters without mixing any kind of output. There's a lot of bleed through though which makes things more interesting if less precise.

Yesterday I bought a third microphone mixer from Radio Shack it was on clearance and the dude had to get it from the back room of the store. it runs 1/4 inch so I plan on using it to mix the vostok, Evolver and SH 101 together before they go to the amp.

Also I wish every synth had a real spring reverb.

I've been using an Epiphone tube amp with a reverb spring to amplify my synth and seriously wish more things had reverb springs inside them. I have lots of digital effects which have reverb settings but nothing quite compares to the real thing.

Electro-accoustics, that's the ticket.

This is really exciting.

I've got to hand t to the folks at makenoise they know how to make videos for modules


Introducing...the QMMG from MAKE NOISE on Vimeo.

Suffice it to say that once I've got enough to start my expansion plans I'll want these to be in there.

Mastering Guitar

I loves me some good synth jam part 2

midi guitars...
...drool...

I love me some good synth jam

taking this from Matrixsynth



go to the original here

I think I'm going to buy a TR 707 that's what's making the beats in this clip. Every time I've heard one it's sounded good and playing the virtual one on hobnox has been very persuasive... maybe with Christmas coming?

By the way. Hobnox is a lot of fun and if you are into techno and don't have a lot of cash either for the gear or the softsynths they could be a handy resource.

Catching up on posts

Like a lot of music bloggers I don't pay as much attention to my blog as I do to my synths. The Vostok has been cranky in the midi-to-CV module and I finally got the replacement parts in the mail. I'm working up the nerve to open it up and replace it and it's been easy to put off because lately it's been doing what it's suposed to be doing (converting midi note and velocity information into control voltages) and so the replacement parts have been sitting in my studio surrounded by bubble wrap as I drag my heels about doing things.

I also said once uppon a time that I was going to post the rest of those midi tutorials I found so here they are in order. check out This post for the introduction

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6 a


Part 6 b


Part 7

And in more current news!!!

Buchla and Associates have updated their website!!!

and the rumours were true they have come out with a new incarnation of the Balanced Modulator. I can't wait for the footage from the 2009 winter NAMM show to hit the web it's my favourite trade show. So many goodies!

The Buchla in Victoria

Times Colonist
June 01, 2008

As well as being a University of Victoria music professor, Andrew Schloss is a musician who has played with everyone from Laurie Anderson to Jimmy Page.

At the university, he teaches students to play a rare vintage Buchla modular synthesizer. The California instrument produces the classic bleeps, whirs and blips one associates with early synthesizers. Inventor Don Buchla and Robert Moog each invented modular synthesizers in 1963.

Schloss, a computer music whiz who plays (and co-designed) the high-tech Radiodrum, knows Don Buchla. He once invited the legendary synthesizer guru to be a keynote speaker at a new music conference in Vancouver.

read the rest here

My vostok has a gremlin

it lives in the midi-cv module and only comes out when it wants to. I can't explain what is up with it sometimes it won't work no matter what I do, sometimes it will work but only intermittently sometimes it works fine for a few weeks but the gremlin always comes back.

I've been talking with Tom Carpenter about it and he's going to send me replacement parts I'll get to crack it open and fix it soon. It's a good thing this instrument has its own sequencer. if it was out of commission and I was left with an expensive box of wires I'd probably be very sad. As it is I've got a gig coming up in December the Vostok will be there if I can replace it's midi-guts you should be too.

I'll post more info on that soon

Also to the maybe five people who read this blog I'm sorry I havn't uploaded the rest of that midi documentary I've been busy more will be coming soon.