ether^ra : visual arts,sound manoeuvring & arcana

SERGE MODULAR & EURORACK CONSUMATION

2012-01-31T15:50:00.000-08:00

SAMPLE & HOLD : playlist

2012-01-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

*Russell Haswell / Acid Noise Synthesis

* Dead Machines / Futures

*Farmers Manual / Exploreres_We

*John Wall & Alex Rodgers / Works 2006-2011

* Hecker / Sun Pandamonium

*Keith Fullerton Whitman / Multiples

*Cut Hands / Cut Hands

* Sistol / On The Bright Side

*Autechre / 3 EPS 1991-2002

*Marcus Schmickler / Palace of Marvels

*Coil / Musik To Play In The Dark 2

*Severed Heads / Viva! Heads!

SAMPLE & HOLD : john wall & alex rodgers / WORK 2006-2011

2012-01-25T10:05:00.000-08:00

Housed in a plastic vacuum bag that thwarts easy access to the disc it contains, WORK 2006-2011(entre'acte) presents the untidy results of 5 years of improvisation by John Wall. At one point Rodgers, who supplies the text, references the Claude Levi-Strauss tome THE RAW AND THE COOKED that makes plain the shifting grounds they walk upon, the civilized and the savage, the structured and the assaulting dystopian.

The frequency range is huge with speakers menaced by low frequencies that swallow the room, and high ones that shatter like digital glass. In this sonic environ Rodgers' surreal texts are delivered dry, surrounded by a bitter silence at times, and punctuated by Wall's improvised drones and glitches. It makes for a an uneasy listen, but one that is rewarding, opening up the flood-gates of personal associations tinged with Beckettian hopelessness, mysterious emptiness, and the episodic un-nerving babble-flux that is the 21th century.

MORE ether^ra FILM MUSIC

2012-01-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

ON ELECTRONIC MUSIC "COMPOSITION"

2012-01-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

The practice of electronic music is by all accounts a curious, sometimes frustrating aesthetic game utilizing "instruments" that produce sound rather than reproducing the timbres made by traditional acoustic instruments. Varese called for sound -producing machines, music without instruments. We make music with ALL the technological tools available to us...tweaking and patching, open to surprize...the happy accident...the fortuitous parametric arrangement of banana cables. But in the end...

"Man makes plans, God laughs. The composer makes plans, music laughs."

(Alan Licht, Sound Art, 2007)

SAMPLE & HOLD : hecker / sun pandamonium

2012-01-14T06:44:00.000-08:00

Released originally in 2003 and last year on limited edition vinyl, Florian Hecker's Sun Pandamonium is a masterpiece of computer digital synthesis. In spite of being touted as being an example of sonic "unpleasantness," this listener finds it profoundly beautiful and, even with its layers of dense sonic detrius and warped psychoacoustic mayhem, very listenable. Challenging?...yes, but with the advantage of an abstract formalism that is both food for the intellect AND our fractured human need for expression.

SERGE/BUCHLA SOUNDS

2012-01-11T15:00:00.001-08:00

Comp 111 / OGNIEM by ether^ra

For RIchard Lainhart

2012-01-05T16:41:00.001-08:00

Comp 108 / INCANTATION THROUGH TO ZERO for RL by ether^ra

2011 WAS...

2012-01-02T06:16:00.000-08:00

* deKooning retrospective at Moma...viseral virtuoso paint handling!

* Release of Throbbing Gristle remasters...thanks to Chris Carter these releases sound as they were meant to.

* Modular madness continues with the aquisition of MORE Buchla and Serge modules promising a sound world of infinitely evolving dystopia! Thanks Don & Rex!

* Some new great tracks from the shamefully under-appreciated Don Hassler on Souncloud.

* This Second Sleep releases a cd-r of sound art and "happy electronic accidents."

* Viewing Andrzei Zulawski's SZAMANKA(1996) leaves me shaken...hysterical sexuality,

violence, and religion make for a brutal, hallucinatory, retinal jab in the face!

* Richard H. Kirk's JOHNNY YESNO remixes are compelling AND hallucinatory.

* Sale of much unused gear(Folktek, Oberheim, Nord...) helps make room in the ether^ra

studio and helps finance MORE modular dementia!

* SLOWLY producing small paintings filled with my love of Goya and Robert Ryman.

* Read FUG YOU by Ed Sanders and was transported back to the late 60's when the Lower

East Side was a walk on the wild side you might not survive!

* Finally got my hands on an over-priced copy of Allen Strange's seminal work on modular

synthesis, ELECTRONIC MUSIC(1972).

* Used up all my free time on Soundcloud producing 1:30 pieces of "music."

* Rarely touched my trusty Klein electric guitar!

ether^ra FILM MUSIC

2011-12-26T07:59:00.001-08:00

I am delighted to see my music being used in a filmic setting. This beautifully mysterious clip from the film-maker hellopicadilly featuring my music is quite breath-taking. See more from hellopicadilly on Vimeo.

NEW STUDIO VIEW

2011-12-23T16:47:00.000-08:00

With the arrival of the Serge Animal, my modular banana-cable mayhem continues unabated!

SAMPLE & HOLD : cabaret voltaire / three mantras

2011-12-23T01:24:00.000-08:00

Cabaret Voltaire's 1980 release THREE MANTRAS, thought by many to be a secondary effort from this Manchester electro-dada-noise group, proves itself with history to be quite compelling. While the Eastern Mantra falls short, the Western Mantra that opens the album presents the listener with many of the sonic strategies that make Cabaret Voltaire essential listening...cracked vocals from Mal, eastern modal insectoid guitar lines from Richard H. Kirk, and all manner of noise from Chris Watson from Farfisa organ swells to dada-dystopian tape noise and synth stabs...20 minutes of essential Cab fun!..but where's the third mantra?

ether^ra : ANT FARM FAILURE

2011-12-17T04:31:00.000-08:00

Armed with both the Buchla 200e and the Serge Creature, this recent sound file presents a vision of the future imbued with the spirit of 1950's sci-fi nuclear bomb horror and the dystopian future that may well result from it. Can a metaphorical leap be unhappily made?...so, enjoy?

Comp 102 / ANT FARM FAILURE by ether^ra

SAMPLE & HOLD : throbbing gristle remasters

2011-12-03T16:57:00.000-08:00

Remastered by Chris Carter, these discs finally present Throbbing Gristle as they were meant to be heard. While these discs were remastered by Chris earlier, the technology at the time did not permit the listener to fully appreciate the sonic details, each release sounding somewhat thin and harsh (as they intended?). NOW we have some warmth AND low end, without sacrificing the transgressive nature of these, no doubt, the best of what Throbbing Gristle had to offer. Each 2-disc release contains a live disc that convincingly attests to the in your face sonic dada-ism that was TG live. Somehow all the material on these remasters sound timely in a world increasingly populated by monoculturally-obsessed, unthinking sheep entertained to death.

DESIGN : LZF LINK-S PENDANT LAMP

2011-12-03T06:28:00.000-08:00

Made from thin wood veneer, the Ray Power designed LINK-S pendant lamp made by the Spanish lighting company LZF is arguably one of the most compellingly beautiful lamps ever made. As light as a feather, this object 'd art is composed of organically sculptural moebius strips piles on top of each other producing an aesthetic object that is at once breath-taking and as thought-provoking as an Escher print. The curvilinear forms suggest any number of natural objects, but, to my eye, reference Alvar Aalto's iconic vase, another classic of 20th century design.

When the lamp is turned on (pictured), the grain of the wood veneer is displayed in all its material beauty. It is my belief that the best modern art objects are the rare ones that offer the poetry and deep pleasure inherent in simple forms brought to life by materials that speak loudly of a beauty absent and fleeting from a life unexamined. This lamp, like John Cage's "silence," offers an opportunity to embrace a magical world.

AMNESIA : no fun fest 2009

2011-11-27T06:55:00.000-08:00

My brother discovered my unused ticket to NO FUN FEST 2009. Unused because I found myself deathly ill on that particular sunday, a rarity for me, but my fever did not allow me to leave my bed that day! My brother ventured to Williamsburg alone with hopes of being immersed in noisicians' heaven. He did get to speak to Giffoni and Rehberg (of Mego fame), but the late Conrad Schnitzler was not to be seen or heard (Keith Fullerton Whitman stood in for him). Skullflower was much less than the hype would imply, as was Kevin Drumm. The Emeralds doodled around until something sort of jelled according to my brother and Merzbow cancelled!

That particular sunday night, as remembered by my brother, promised much, but delivered much less. Still, I would have loved to been at the seemingly last NO FUN FEST to grace Brooklyn.

ether^ra PUPPETS for QUAYS

2011-11-26T05:13:00.000-08:00

After much hair-pulling and a few bouts of depression this is the result of my first ZOe patch. In tandem with the 266e, 261e, 291e and the 250, the ZOe is producing a little FM noise and some twisted pulse waves. I could have listened for hours!

Comp 92 / PUPPETS for QUAYS (w/ZOe) by ether^ra

ether^ra STOLEN FROM THIEVES vol. 2

2011-11-24T06:37:00.000-08:00

From the soon to be available cd-r ether^ra STOLEN FROM THIEVES VOL. 2, "Erase" combines Buchla 200e/Serge sounds and found voice samples. Enjoy. Comp 91 / ERASE by ether^ra

CYNDUSTRIES ZOe

2011-11-23T17:09:00.000-08:00

Finally got my hands on a lightly used ZOe...Let the exploration begin! Note the profound difference in module depth between the ZOe and a Buchla 259e. With this, the ZOe fits only on the far right of the middle boat of an 18-module cabinet. An incredible circuit-board sandwich produces insane sonic mayhem, clanging and liquid. Thanks to D.T. of the Synth and I blog.

MORTON SUBOTNICK

2011-11-22T15:40:00.000-08:00

The Master supplies great Buchla 200e sounds and a glimpse into his current gear. Enjoy!

Cabaret Voltaire

2011-11-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

A short taste of electronic greats Cabaret Voltaire, an austere vision that they embraced as a trio for which not enough credit has been given them. Great dystopian sonic smears of sound with Stephen Mallinder's grey monotonal vocals reflect their oppressively colorless Sheffield roots...a healthy dose of the Industrial Revolution...in black and white!

SERGE/BUCHLA SOUNDS

2011-11-09T12:47:00.000-08:00

Comp 84 / DAWN CHORUS by ether^ra

SAMPLE & HOLD : planet-y / space station

2011-11-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

Charles Cohen is criminally under-represented on cd. Mr. Cohen, master of the Buchla Music Easel, easily summons sounds on the Buchla Music Easel others just dream of, coaxing tactile restless insectoid wiggles and smatterings of sonic detrius that delight the ears of electronic music afficionados...and miraculously, he does this live!

On his Planet-Y / Space Station cd, performed live with Yanni Papadopoulos on guitar synth and Casio DG-20, Mr. Cohen delves deep into the Buchla, producing a single 28 minute exploration that points to black holes, cosmic radiation and spacey gamelan rhythms. Mr. Papadopoulos' guitar is mostly not guitar-like in any traditional sense, but more a vehicle for quasar-like noise. I was reminded of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma at times. Certainly Planet-Y sets the controls for the heart of the sun and takes us there, happily.

NEW PASSIVE FRAME FOR 222e TOUCHPAD

2011-10-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

With the arrival of the passive frame, I now have space for the Mark Verbos Harmonic Oscillator...insanity prevails!

Demon With The Glass Hand

2011-10-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

My recent track "Just Gone" uses a voice sample from the classic 60's sci-fi show The Outer Limits. The episode titled "Demon With The Glass Hand" (1964) stars Robert Culp who has the fate of mankind literally in his (glass) hand. Cabaret Voltaire famously featured a voice sample from this episode in their "Yashar" piece from the 2 X 45 album. The office building in Los Angeles where the episode takes place also featured in the film Blade Runner...quite a pedigree!

Comp 70 / JUST GONE by ether^ra

WORK IN PROGRESS : stolen from thieves vol. 2

2011-10-14T01:45:00.000-07:00

I'm busy working on new tracks and finalized a cover design for ether^ra Stolen From Thieves vol.2.

Serge Creature / Seq A

2011-10-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

I've been busy with my Serge gear as of late. With the multiple function potential of each banana jack, the creative potential is boundless, but at the same time it is simply a daunting task. Great!...confusion is the first step toward enlightenment. Check out ether^ra Soundcloud for sounds!

ether^ra STOLEN FROM THIEVES cdr

2011-10-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

With voice samples in tandem with compelling dystopian noises from the mighty Buchla 200e, STOLEN FROM THIEVES makes use of a time honored sonic strategy beloved of both Steve Reich and Cabaret Voltaire, the sampled speaking voice. Available from ether^ra for $10 pp.

STOLEN FROM THIEVES : zerozerozero

2011-09-30T02:37:00.000-07:00

The newest in the series STOLEN FROM THIEVES that explores voice sound samples. As a child of Cabaret Voltaire and Steve Reich, I find this creative strategy a compelling and endlessly inviting music-making proposition. Look for a cd-r of these sketches soon.

Comp 49 / ZEROZEROZERO by ether^ra

STOLEN FROM THIEVES : GHOST VOICE

2011-09-29T07:35:00.000-07:00

COLLABORATION

2011-09-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

The result of a moment's spurt of creative frenzy, this video combines our love of non-tonally centered music and, seemingly the non-verbal communication apparently inherent between twins. I quite like the results. Camerawork is by my brother.

ether^ra / DAYLIGHTSWIM

2011-09-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

Comp 42 / DAYLIGHTSWIM by ether^ra

The 285e is quite a rewarding module and so much fun to play...an indispensible addition to any Buchla 200e system!

LIBRARY : electronic music : systems, techniques and controls by allen strange

2011-09-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

At the suggestion of Jason R. Butcher and several other Buchla-ites, I finally got my hands on a (pricey) copy of Allen Strange's classic 1972 tome on modular synthesis. I look forward to devouring the sections on Buchla modules and then PERHAPS my tweaking will be somewhat purposefully informed. There goes my savant status!

ether^ra / ANTONIONI

2011-09-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Comp 36 / ANTONIONI by ether^ra

ether^ra / VICE VERSA

2011-09-19T01:53:00.000-07:00

Comp 34/VICE VERSA by ether^ra

ether^ra : TEN PIECES FOR BUCHLA 200e cd-r

2011-09-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

10 Pieces for Buchla 200e further explores what seems to be the endless sonic possibilities presented by the Buchla 200e. Aided by only an intuitive sensibility and a discerning ear, I "play" this magnificent instrument....and certainly "play" is the operative word here; I'm having a great time!

NEW MODULE : Buchla 285e

2011-09-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

With little regret and the blessings of the great Don Hassler, I traded in my Infinite Phase Shifter for the Model 285e Frequency Shifter/Balanced Modulator and Ring Mod. This is an amazing module that even right out of the box created a wide variety of sonic modulation and mayhem. Thanks to Buchla and Associates for allowing the trade that helps to tweak my evolving 200e sonic signatures.

SAMPLE & HOLD : lehn/schmickler

2011-09-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

It must be emphasized that to speak of a ''performance" of electronic

music is meaningless: performance and composition are here an

indissoluble act...

---Milton Babitt

Improvised music presents quite a pointed question...Where is all this going?...Rather can the musician take the listener on a journey where the ride may be challenging but with the promise of sonic events that are somehow rewarding? In a cultural universe where patience is not a ready virtue, the arts suffer. Moreover, the idea of aesthetic process goes out the window...and process is what improv is all about. The negotiating of collective music making that takes place in real time with the goal of some kind of compositional commonality that "works" (defined by the artists as they proceed), is at the core of improv.

Lehn/Schmickler's Navigation im Hypertext presents two veteran electronic improvisors doing what they do best...having a dialogue with violent eruptions, whispered asides, murmuring, and biting arguments. Recorded live at a number of venues, Lehn on EMS Synthi, Schmickler on digital synths/laptop, these pieces suggest the tension and release of Romanticism. Quiet interludes are followed by tumultuous onslaughts of sonic debris...a kind of musique concrete filled with fluid transformations, dislocations, and transitions the result of a knowing improvisory relationship between musicians and machines that can, as a result of intimately knowing each other and their instruments, create a deKooning-esque bouyant smear of sound that is both exciting and ultimately rewarding.

New ether^ra cd-r

2011-08-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

The newest ether^ra cd-r entitled BRISTLED ELIMINATION featuring 10 Buchla 200e improvs is now available for $10 postpaid. Contact potterpaint2000@yahoo.com

ether^ra DEVIET SHEST

2011-08-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

Buch-zilla

2011-08-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

I thought a short film starring my japanese friend might be fun. My Buchla 200e supplies the soundtrack. Enjoy!

::VTOL:: GEAR VIDEO

2011-08-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Studio Changes / ::vtol:: instruments

2011-08-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

In trying to impose a draconian order in my studio, some devices have been relocated, hopefully to my sonic benefit. My ::vtol:: sound generators are now gracefully and invitingly together in the hope of getting more use. Thanks to the ever-creative Dimitry for creating such exciting devices! Pictured are the Volfram, the Cramola, and the Corvax.

SAMPLE & HOLD : kangding ray / or

2011-08-07T14:13:00.000-07:00

The cold austerity of much Raster-Noton product is not in evidence here! Kangding Ray's OR exhibits a warmth that is not only suggestive of analogue processes, but also of a poetic humanity that from track to track is beguilingly inviting. David Letellier insists that his work is a critique of modern civilization gone awry, and certainly the title's monetary suggestion may be just that. But it is simply so seductively beautiful...electronic music with the heart of french cinema, a primordial mythology that underpins european culture and contains a sadness that is at once beautiful and aching. To bring this aching beauty to the fore, in the piece "Pruitt Igoe" the tragedy of Echo and Narcissus is referenced, lovers doomed from the start.

This 2011 release from Kangding Ray is even more topical considering the present economic woes of the European Union. Mr. Letellier provides a beautiful soundtrack for immolation.

SAMPLE & HOLD : the golden palominos / dead inside

2011-07-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

Anton Fier's project The Golden Palominos had the habit of playing musical chairs with its participants and genre-jumping among numerous stylistic strategies. The 1996 release DEAD INSIDE was no exception. While previous releases utilized the talents of Michael Stipe and John Lydon, Dead Inside circled wagons around the text/voice of Nicole Blackman. These tracks, embued with a dread that is palpable, feature an electronic fabric created by Fier with the assistance of Bill Laswell, Nicky Skopelitis, and Knox Chandler. Hints of "drum 'n bass" pop up here and there, but never lessens the nausea-generating darkness that pervades this release. The listener is seemingly powerless against the droning waves of futility, lost in a black Ad Reinhart painting without respite, without hope...feel good, this is not. But this is a compelling release and an important one, destined to be forgotten in the moment's cultural currency of "awesome-ness" and committment intolerant i-pod "listening." A terrible beauty!!

SAMPLE & HOLD : family / fearless

2011-07-30T18:02:00.001-07:00

I remember a peculiar event at Bill Graham's Fillmore East sometime in the late sixties. I had arrived at this venue expecting to see Keith Emerson's organ gymnastics with The Nice unaware of what was to about to expire before my youthful eyes. The british group Family took the stage by storm, creative musicians bent on making a lasting impression...and they did! During the very first number, if I recall correctly, Family's torn and frayed singer Roger Chapman, in the crazed passion of the moment, hurled the mike stand across the stage almost hitting Bill Graham. This was to be the last time they played the Fillmore...

Recently I re-acquainted myself with their 1971 album Fearless, a mixture of whiskeyed rock and blues influences, pyschedelica, brit-folk, and jazz. With Poli Palmer's vibes taking the musical lead role in many Family songs, jazz-tinged twists and turns are musically negotiated. And Rob Townsend's drums make a dynamic impression. But the record and their shows centered around Roger Chapman whose shredded vocal chord, stoned eyed vocals were truly scary as he stumbled around the stage spastically destroying tambourines and hurling microphone stands. His atonal screeches throughout the album track "Blind" are truly horrifying, the manifestation of a seemingly insane individual bent on self-immolation. While there are moments of melodic beauty, Family's intensity is indeed fearless and perhaps peerless.

Please note the unique cd cover, a facsimile of the original vinyl release.

Buchla 200e Complete

2011-07-27T05:37:00.000-07:00

With the addition of Mark Verbos' 258v Dual Oscillator, Chris Muir's Eardrill Pendulum Ratchet and a Buchla Mixer/Present Manager, my 18-module 200e system is now complete...perhaps?

DON HASSLER : Buchla 200e

2011-07-22T08:26:00.000-07:00

Time Skew 200e Study, 261e from don hassler on Vimeo.

Don Hassler, musician and creative artist, creates jittery cacophonous stabs of musical expression that defy definition. It is work that demands attention and rewards it!

Mark Verbos 258v Dual Oscillator Video

2011-07-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

Mark Verbos 258v Dual Oscillator

2011-07-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

I got my 258v today and I must say that this is one great sounding analogue oscillator. Designed to duplicate the Buchla 258, Mr. Verbos has done a wonderful job. In the short time I spent with it I was able to produce everthing from beautifully fat liquid tones to klanging ringmod-like noise! The two oscillators offer tremendous potential for processing and modulation. A sequence from my Buchla 251e thread through both oscillators offers miraculous results and then some! Thanks Mark!

Crazy Serge Patch

2011-07-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

Somehow this patch is producing erratic Seq A cycling. Crazy, but quite wonderful. See ether^ra LIKE SAUCERS video on YouTube.

DONALD LOKUTA : in plato's cave

2011-07-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.

---John Berger

Donald Lokuta's series of photographs "In Plato's Cave" presents the viewer with people in the act of looking. Surprisingly, Mr. Lokuta has chosen to carefully blacken out the backgrounds with paint selectively creating black voids pregnant with meanings that while referencing Plato's allegory are pointed catalysts for examining today's shadowy media-imprisoned world. Mr. Lokuta's backgrounds are unerringly black. My initial thoughts regarding this blackness brought to mind the sound artists Haswell and Hecker's workBlackest Ever Black, a title derived from a scientific paper on "the blackest black ever made on Earth" seemingly an ultra-black coating for optical instruments that absorbs all the light that hits it. Not unlike the all-devouring media-machine that feeds us our notions of the real, this shadowy blackness suggests not only a jumbled multiplicity of perceptual points of view, but no small amount of fear-filled uncertainty that is our 21th century world.

Mr. Lokuta draws us in with velvety gelatin silver images infused with humanity. It is ironic nonetheless that this photographic art, essentially the manipulation of light and transparency, should be made to speak so compellingly about ourselves and our world utilizing not only darkness, but figures whose faces are turned away from us. Mr. Lokuta should be thanked for realizing art's ultimate goal to force us to reconsider the world we live in and our place in it anew. (above: Six People among Rocks 2008-2009) For more see donaldlokuta.com

Paul Chan : 1st Light at The Whitney Museum

2011-07-04T13:55:00.000-07:00

Paul Chan's 1st Light (2005) digital projection on the floor of the Whitney Museum has the power to awaken the spectator from the sleep of reason. With references to the 9/11 tragedy as well as the eschatological idea of the rapture, this ever changing series of silhouettes is literally quietly shocking. What starts as an expanse of evolving color cast on the floor, a kind of homage to earlier conceptual site specific pure light works becomes populated by a telephone pole and wires whose cruciform shape cannot help but be read in terms of religious implications. Soon we witness all manner of material possessions, cars, i-pods, phones, assorted pieces of furniture and more, ascending upward toward heaven only to be shocked when bodies begin to rain downward. This is especially shocking when a body closer to us falls past us nearly blackening the entire lighted frame. The Whitney's wall text regarding the work suggests this is a kind of rapture in reverse, a take on rampant materialism, and 9/11's trapped victims jumping from the stricken architecture as "fallen" victims of not only terrorists, but of their material desires. I walked away shaken by Paul Chan's questioning visual invention, one of the most powerful works of art I have ever encountered. Kudos to The Whitney for making it available...and please note that the word "Light" in the title has a line through it and consider the frighteningly weighty implications.

Buchla 206e

2011-07-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Buchla 206e Mixer/Preset Manager has proven to be a wonderfully useful tool for live mixing and recording moments of sonic pleasure. I love the fact that I can drop detrius out of the mix instantly and bring up the volume of other components at will. I've yet to try the Preset Manager section but I'm certain it will become a much used part of my explorations. Thanks Don!

ether^ra AN-TI

2011-07-03T03:50:00.001-07:00

Buchla 266e

2011-06-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

Check out this nice demo of some of the potential of the powerful Source of Uncertainty.

SAMPLE & HOLD : cut hands / afro noise 1

2011-06-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

With a discography that explores almost every form of misanthropic mayhem, William Bennet, aka Whitehouse, purveyor of noise terror in the same league as fellow noise icon, Masami Akita/Merzbow, has, with the Cut Hands project, demonstrated a creative willingness to evolve sonically. Gone are the screeching menacing "vocals" that snow a flurry of misogyny on the listener. Gone are the lo-fi production values that were most certainly meant to produce the desired effect of elemental head-ache inducing miasma. Cut Hands simply sounds breath-taking. A unique mix of acoustic african percussion and electronics/synths suggest the noise genre has begun to negotiate a new direction...still darkly horrible and punitive in its implications regarding our world, but, for the listener, refreshingly transformative.

ether^ra EMBROID

2011-06-26T13:57:00.001-07:00

THIS SECOND SLEEP

2011-06-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

With little concern for aural decorum, THIS SECOND SLEEP created this example of sonic miasma to the delight of noise-niks everywhere. Featuring the 200e in all its unconventional glory. Kudos to AP!

ether^ra VIDEO

2011-06-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

THREE QUESTIONS FOR TOM BUGS

2011-06-05T11:26:00.001-07:00

Tom Bugs builds instruments, that is, fantastic instruments imbued with a knowing wink to the history of electronic music/instruments and a look toward the future. His company, BugBrand, provides an outlet for his creativity and his passion. He has created small standalone devices such as the Weevil Series and is now slowly producing modular synths that are not only beautiful but capable of producing a fantastic array of analogue sound possibilities...and his patching option is the banana cable...fantastic! He kindly answered 3 questions...

I know your are a guitarist; how did you make the jump to making and

creating music with synths and other electronic devices? Was there an epiphany
of some kind?

I wouldn't call myself a guitarist! I'm more a jack-of-all-trades (and certainly master of none) - guitar was my main thing for a while in solo work as Knowledge of Bugs, but also my early setup for that was mainly electronic hardware (in particular Nord MicroModular and Yamaha SU700 sampler machine). I actually started off on piano and trombone (you know, proper music lessons!). In more band setups I've tended to play drums and the recently have been playing as a duo with Silver Pyre where I mix acoustic and electronic drums - lots of processed contact mic cymbals etc. Rhythm has long been really important to me and you can see that in the current range of module designs for example.

So, the jump.. Well, I guess it came from starting off using computers for audio - gosh, the landscape, power & potential has shifted enormously over the last 10-15 years. I was fascinated first by VAZ Modular software and then I started dipping in to Reaktor. But then I gradually got turned off computers and at a similar point I also was getting much more involved in electronics. Early designs tended to be standalone - the real epiphany moment was when I started trying some modular designs, both in terms of a scalable system and in the improved togetherness of the electronics. You can see the jump in the fundamental differences between the standalone Weevil designs (lofi electronics - very chaotic) versus the modular systems which are much more integrated electronically and thus much more stable (though still very capable of utter chaos).

So nowadays I don't tend to play so much (shamefully) but I still feel that I'm building and designing with a large focus on making a system *I* want to play. In my old solo music I got quite frustrated by how linear the computer based approach was - you had to really plan and I wanted some surprises to react to. It was when I started plugging together the early modular tests that the system 'came alive' and put a massive grin on my face -- when the electrons somehow form into a wonderful melody or rhythm. I see the systems as a sort of sonic clay - you gradually mould and shape as you play, hoping for a wonder to appear for you. And then you push too hard and it all falls apart into a mess and you have to start shaping afresh.

You've embraced the banana cable as your patching option of choice. Was
your choice influenced by Buchla and Serge?

I've actually had very little exposure to other modular systems (or 'regular' synths for that matter) - many design choices are probably more prosaic. I can't now remember why I made the first test modules with bananas - maybe it was due to some exposure to bananas at university while doing a technical course - the stackability was also something I was very keen on. But then there was also the cost and availability factors (which are often choices I have to make in designs) - I could get decentplugs and sockets easily from my regular supplier and for good prices. Time-wise they're great too (very quick to make cables) and of course they're super reliable and colourful -- once I'd begun using them for my own personal test setups there was no way I was going to go back to jacks for any production modules. Foolish in business terms? Possibly, but I believe in what I do and that's more important to me than churning out loads of units.

So, no, my choices weren't influenced by Buchla or Serge - I've barely ever played any systems of either and have (very small) bug-bears about both systems. On the Buchla side I find it hard to understand the desire to have two different plug types separating audio and control as I see the boundaries of these areas being extremely vague. And on the Serge side I'm still puzzled as to why inputs and outputs are not differentiated between. But the few hours I got to play a vintage Buchla 200 series in Stockholm was really quite amazing - the module designs are mind-blowing.

Production of spectacular BugBrand modulars has been limited. What does
the future hold for BugBrand?

The growth of my setup has been very gradual as I've learned both the electronics approaches and how to design stuff to be replicated -- it took me several years to move from total DIY of the circuit boards to finding ways to get 'professional' PCBs made but in small quantities. The last couple of years I've moved to using surface mount components (bloody tiny!) and so probably the next logical step may be to get certain parts built by machines - eg. stuffing the boards with the passive components and then hand finishing them with the pots / switches / jacks. But, saying that, I don't really have the desire to really grow production all that much - I am very happy at present to be able to support myself (and a helper 3 to 4 days a week) and keep things 'real' - on my own terms and with friendly dealings with users. The close work with the modular system users is incredibly important to me, much more so than making lots of money or churning out loads of units.

The Modular stuff is really my main focus today, though I still do think on a few standalone devices too. I'm lucky to have generally had a situation the last few years where demand has outstripped supply - there have been a lot of people asking to get a modular system since I launched my range at the start of 2009 and I do want to get someway to meeting some of that demand, but also want to keep things personal and relatively small scale still. I do have to typically think in terms of systems because my choice of going Frac with Bananas means that I'm kind of out on my own - there aren't other people really building compatible modules etc. and that's why I've had to design the whole shaboodle of frames and PSUs to make complete systems. One thing that has also kept wider availability in check has been how the systems have grown - when I started offering them I imagined people generally having 2 frames or maybe 3 at a push - already we've got a few people rocking on 4 frames and a couple of brave explorers now trying to fill 8 frames. This is totally beyond what I'd imagined! And while publicly the releases may have seemed very limited in availability, we've actually made a staggering quantity of modules - at very rough estimates I think around 80-90 frames are now out in the wild so that probably means about 1000 modules in two and a half years.

So, really I want both to continue developing new parts for the existing systems (Sequencers being one area soon to be introduced) and also try to allow some further people entry into the group. Oh, and I would love to get some music made on the modular systems released on vinyl (blue, naturally.)

www.bugbrand.co.uk

NEW BUCHLA 251e MODULE

2011-06-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

With the usual excitement reserved for unpacking a new Buchla module, I carefully, with no small amount of anxiety and trepidation, opened the box containing the 251e. Yet another sequencer to make use of in controlling my noise outbursts wetted my appetite for sonic manipulation. Now...read the manual!

2011-06-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a new video using my new Buchla 251e. Ineptitude sometimes aids in creation

BUCHLA/SERGE

2011-05-30T05:32:00.000-07:00

WONDERFUL BUGBRAND

2011-05-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

As a fan of banana cable culture, BugBrand, along with Buchla and Serge, perpetuate, with no small amount of invention and sonic verve, arguably the best of all modular patching options. This video makes a strong argument for Tom Bugs' place in the banana cable pantheon of greats!

APOCALYPSE NOT

2011-05-25T01:41:00.000-07:00

How disappointing!...May 21 brought not even a tiny apocalypse...the Buchla 200e running on uncertainty provides a nice soundtrack!

SAMPLE & HOLD : autosalvage

2011-05-15T05:10:00.000-07:00

Though not containing synths of any kind, 1968's Autosalvage is quite a satisfying listen. Containing rasping angular guitar work, pounding drums and percussion, airy harmonies, and touches of experimental eastern-tinged psych, Autosalvage, discovered by Frank Zappa, released this one great album and disappeared leaving behind arguably one of the great albums of the late sixties. Skilled musicians all, Autosalvage create layered songs that twistedly negotiate their way though sonic changes breath-takingly like a medieval chamber group intent on bringing us the evocative expressive power of the blues along with the complexity of progressive timbral exploration. Great stuff.

LIBRARY : francis bacon / a terrible beauty

2011-05-12T05:39:00.000-07:00

Francis Bacon / A Terrible Beauty presents the reader with a number of compelling essays that explore the inner workings of arguably Great Britain's greatest artist as viewed through the lens of the remains of his London studio now reassembled in Dublin. This autopsy fingers through photos, destroyed canvases, and mountains of "refuse" that became the idea fixe of Bacon's work and provides clues to the working practices of this enigmatic man. It is especially interesting in its investigation of Bacon's use of photography as catalyst and reference in the process of birthing a painted image; so distressed are these photos generally that one can easily see their relationship to these potent paintings, horribly beautiful, smeared with the painterly atrophied viscera the product of a knowing hand and a gambler's love of the game of chance.

LIBRARY : vague terrain journal

2011-05-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

For compelling information/essays regarding the sonic arts check out the following:

http://vagueterrain.net/journal19/

To read Jason R. Butcher's contribution see here:

http://vagueterrain.net/journal19/jason-butcher/01

JASON R. BUTCHER : buchla 297 experiments

2011-05-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

s3.1-6 by Jason R. Butcher

UNCERTAINTY

2011-05-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

SAMPLE & HOLD : morton subotnik / volume 1 :electronic works

2011-05-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

For any lover of that Buchla sound, this cd is an essential listen. While this is overall a compelling listen, I am particularly taken by A Sky of Cloudless Sulphur, a piece that explores the percussive sounds that can only be produced by the Buchla. The Opening section begins with chattering mallet strike sounds; around 8:17 the sky explodes with a tumultuous sonic cloud-burst that like the bursts of sound that Stravinsky used to tense displeasure in his 1913 Rite of Spring seems to smack the listener across the room. After this dense build-up, a period of simple quiet ensues, then...Dance, a percussive propulsive section that exploits that Buchla sound beautifully. Two minutes into Dance comes an abrupt silence and then a simple sonic motif finally populated by garbled tones that again fade to silence that slowly evolves into metallic percussive tones, and sonic alien worm-holes that build to waves of layered cacophonous sounds. Percussive sound of a different nature inhabits the final four minutes...then flashes of melodic content begins to dart erratically, negotiating percussive jabs. What has slowly evolved out of a aleatoric sulphuric chattering haze is simply genesis, a beginning.

SAMPLE & HOLD : pauline oliveros / alien bog & beautiful soop

2011-04-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Another relatively unheralded lady of early electronic music, like the great Laurie Spiegel, Pauline Oliveros has produced many seminal works. This one, using the Buchla Box 100, produced in 1967, Alien Bog reflects her poetic reflections on "sounds from the frog pond outside the studio..." Armed with the Buchla and a tape delay system, Oliveros produced a sticky morass of sound, abstract yet clearly owing to her deep listening to pond life. For those interested in the early sounds coming from Buchla instruments Alien Bog and Beautiful Soop are mandatory listening.

SAMPLE & HOLD : he said omala / catch supposes

2011-04-18T06:06:00.000-07:00

This 1997 release, essentially a G. Lewis statement, follows the same sonic template as the best Dome releases. All disjointed crunchy rhythms and synth/noise stabs and loops, Catch Supposes does not disappoint those with a fondness for Dome's experimental noise explorations. I'm curious how this wonderful addition to the Wire/Dome discography got lost. Though one of the song titles is Solid or Vanish (yet another in the list of beautifully ambiguous song titles found throughout their arcane discography!), this release is indeed solidly compelling; those who seek it out will be rewarded!

BUCHLA 222e WITH JOYSTICK

2011-04-16T11:06:00.001-07:00

TOUCHPAD-MANIA

2011-04-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

Rejecting the usual chromatic keyboard embraced by Robert Moog, Buchla's 222e Multi-Dimensional Kinesthetic Input Port, Folktek's Subharmonic Field, and Tom Bug's Bugbrand BoardWeevil offer the adventurous musician/noisician options other than the traditional keyboard. These instrument/controllers literally get you in touch with creative electricity!

THE BUCHLA'S RETURN

2011-04-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

Leather straps turned side-ways after opening.

After much separation anxiety my 200e returned to me with a stunning new cabinet and a 256e module. When my brother's 200e cabinet was damaged in transit, Don did some minor modifications using quite beautiful leather straps and snaps to hold it securely closed during transit...very nice indeed. Now all I have to do is fill the remaining five spaces...!!!

SAMPLE & HOLD : interplay / john foxx and the maths

2011-04-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Listening to Interplay by John Foxx and the Maths I am reminded of my initial acquaintance with fellow Brit Peter Forrest's monumental two part tome The A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers, the sense of incantory sonic magic resulting from playing (with) an array of knobs and cables perfecting imperfection, all sonorous smears wonderfully summed up in Foxx's 1980 masterwork Metamatic..."click...click...drone." With the help of synth archivist/musician/artist Benge, Mr. Foxx, using pre-1985 synth technology (all listed for each track) has made a timely statement of analogue intent with great pop songs! If there was any justice in the world of electro-pop, "Evergreen" would hit the charts with an electric jolt! Sharing the same iconic british contradictory mindspace that allows for the home of the Industrial Revolution AND the timeless bucolic garden world of some far-off arcadian England to live together, Foxx, along with other fellow analogue synthesists like Ghostbox's Belbury Poly, have returned to a simpler world devoid of laptop menus and perfect pre-sets...Foxx sings " There is a place we once knew...Forever evergreen..." and the "forever changes" (a nod to Love?) of oscillators made beautifully unstable by temperature and moisture...a future nostalgia. Benge's contributions, sequences,synths, electro-percussion and treatments add layers of analogue grandeur, the summed sound of which is stunning in its direct percussive and atmospheric expression. Foxx and Benge have breathed fresh wave-shapes into a genre Mr. Foxx helped to invent. Bravo!

JOHN FOXX / BENGE INTERVIEW

2011-04-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

LIBRARY : the san francisco tape music center

2011-04-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

With interviews with Don Buchla and Morton Subotnick, The San Francisco Tape Music Center / 1960s counterculture and the avant-garde edited by David W. Bernstein, is, excuse the expression, a "heady" read filled with both historical and aesthetic insights into the arts, music, and the tenor of those revolutionary times when anything seemed possible. Warmly recounted, these innovative times meticulously detailed remind us that there was a time before the internet and laptops when artists gave birth to masterful expression with limited means and indeed, to paraphrase William Blake, saw heaven in a wildflower and stopped to tape it!

SAMPLE & HOLD : current 93 / I have a special plan for this world

2011-03-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

With proper apocalyptic overtones, Current 93's 2000 release I Have A Special Plan For This World explores territory poked at earlier by Alvin Lucier and Robert Ashley. Centered around a text from Thomas Ligotti, the usual C93 suspects, probably for the most part Steven Stapleton, create a nightmarish background against which David Tibet recites the text. By the end of the piece Tibet's words become a gitchy smeared liminal sound imbued with horribly dark overtones. Though the "special plan" is never explained, we can rest assured of its unpleasant nature. Spoken word sound art has never been so nerve-tingling.

THANKS BARRY

2011-03-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

SAMPLE & HOLD : phantom orchard

2011-03-10T11:53:00.000-08:00

Phantom Orchard, the duo comprised of Zeena Parkins and Ikue Mori, released one album simply called Phantom Orchard (Mego 071, 2004). What makes this album special is that Zeena Parkins not only plays her usual acoustic and electric harps but also produces a wonderful array of noises using some vintage electronic instruments from the Audities Foundation Collection: a Gleeman Pentaphonic Clear, a Moog Modular and a Buchla 200 Series electronic music instrument(Don Buchla rejects the word synth in favor of this more appropriate terminology). Ikue Mori is listed as playing "electronics," though certainly she is using her laptop.

The duo presents the listener with compelling contrasts; Parkins' harp negotiates a lively thriving web of sometimes savage noises producing sounds that are both lulling and cacophonous, composed and aleatoric. There is no steady rhythm, Ikue Mori's percussionist role is cast aside in favor of processor seemingly. I am reminded of Morton Subotnick's works in that the Buchla 200 seems to have a predominant role in the proceedings. The cover of the cd, a trilobite fossil in plain site along with golden vegetation suggests that these vintage instruments, though the product of a bygone age, still have much to say. Phantom Orchard make an urgent case in favor of this point of view.

MORTON SUBOTNICK

2011-02-27T05:57:00.000-08:00

WIP : the verse may lie if the chorus is pretty

2011-02-23T05:35:00.000-08:00

A work in progress, the verse may lie if the chorus is pretty (acrylic/collage on wood), is my attempt to make some kind of sense of a culture mandated by commercial concerns and "choices" jammed down our collective throats by the voracious plutocratic powers that, in fact, control EVERYTHING. The title was supplied by a song by crazed Blakeian wildman Julian Cope. (detail above)

3 QUESTIONS : jason r. butcher

2011-02-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

Jason R. Butcher is a musician, visual artist, and teacher who resides in Atlanta Georgia. His music, produced with the Buchla Series 200 Electric Music Box, can be harsh, grating, and chaotic, seemingly the polar opposite of the man whose words are so measured and eloquent. Mr. Butcher wrestles with his instrument creating self-generating patch systems that seem to be devoid of humanity but nonetheless present the listener with a sonic pantheon of experience...to paraphrase William Blake, the road of excess in this case does lead to the palace of wisdom indeed. For more go to http://fastheadache.blogspot.com/

1. Given your background as a visual artist how does that experience and

creative process influence your music-making?

My background as a visual artist informs a great deal of what I do with my instrument, and generally speaking I feel most of my goals have little to with what one might associate with music making or songwriting. Instead, I often use the system as a drawing tool operating in the realm of sound. The very physical nature of the modular synth, and the way it can be configured through a wide variety of approaches has always appealed to me. Most of my art centers around figures that are somehow conflicted or deformed, often moving erratically or tangled in tense or uncomfortable environments or moments. My approach and goals when working with sound are nearly the same, and the process is equally as satisfying to me as an artist.

2. I noticed Cardew plays a role in your newest visual work; is his
influence musical per se or is it related solely graphically?

The influence of Cardew on my recent animations stems more from the graphic nature of his score Treatise and his writing than his musical output or renditions of the Treatise score, etc. The socio-political aspect of the writing and how his concerns about society and culture could be adapted visually to particular pages of Treatise that resemble barren sci-fi like landscapes was the genus of the project. I had already set about animating cycles of individuals affected - afflicted really - by harmful elements of the atmosphere. Some portion of this reflects my own sentiments about unsustainable populations and the impact of our presence as a species on this planet.

3. Could you tell me something about your "Chaotic Synthesis Recording
#3"? Is this a direction your work or your cooperative creative activities with
Don Hassler will follow?

Chaotic Synthesis Recording #3 was a response to Dan Slater's article in CMJ some years back that had been influential to me and others mining similar sound territory. I also wanted to work through a number of modules individually as limited sets of functions in order to familiarize myself with specific behavior of my system's operation. I'm looking forward to exploring the other techniques described by Slater in the article - as a cross coupled Buchla 258 dual oscillator only equates to a small fraction of the territory he describes - and hope to create additional, thematically related pieces in the future.

My collaborations with Don Hassler are usually extensions of our conversational exchanges and are often based around our processes, approaches, and/or particular examinations associated with some module or another. Most notable of these conversations is probably regarding the 'Self-Playing Patch', or 'Noodle' as it is sometimes called by some - a patch which is constructed and then recorded, or experienced, without additional patching interaction for its duration. The process can have many intriguing aspects - usually when composing a self-playing patch I'm attempting to create a system which varies dynamically, a sort of a tangle of energy or energies that might spread and contract across several axes or dimensions. The number of lines creating this tangle can be great or small, and entire tangle may vary as a system (such as along an overall trajectory). Also interesting to me in the moment at which the patching ends and the recording ends. Sometimes a few moments after pressing record the patch begins to destabilize, or perhaps its components become too obvious (or rather the ears aware) and the illusion is destroyed - much like a painter working in some fluid medium, setting it up on an easel to photograph, suddenly finding one of the colors wasn't quite dry and has started to bleed...

LIBRARY : captain beefheart / the biography

2011-02-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

Wire contributor Mike Barnes' biography CAPTAIN BEEFHEART (Omnibus Press) presents the reader with the curiously entertaining, and sometimes sad tale of Don Van Vliet, that is, Captain Beefheart, musician, visual artist, poet and control freak. With the death of the Captain a month or so ago, Barnes' words become especially poignant... "the extraordinary story of a counterculture legend," written with the participation of many of the creative musicians who populated Beefheart's group during his active years, this 360 page critical history is a compelling read. From blues to free-jazz, from arguably his masterwork 1969's Trout Mask Replica, through a few horrible stabs at commercial viability, this book presents the whole story in mesmerizing detail with no stone left unturned. Thank Mike Barnes for a perceptive look at an artist who left us several surreal gems that continue to amaze and dazzle a new generation.

ETHER^RA STUDIO VIEW

2011-02-21T05:20:00.000-08:00

NEW BUCHLA BOAT

2011-02-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

With great excitement and some trepidation I begin to scale the learning curve and the notoriously vague Buchla module "manual" information in order to make a kind of twisted sense out of these powerful modules: 222e, 259e, and 266e. With a blissed-out expression that suggests nirvana I proceed, twistedly uncertain, in search of timbral chaos as only a guitarist can!

3 QUESTIONS : dmitry morozov of ::vtol:: synths

2011-02-05T05:34:00.000-08:00

Dmitry Morozov is a young circuit-bending electronic instrument designer who resides in Moscow. He is also possessed by an ever-evolving creative spirit and genius that provides the catalyst for art installations, glitchy musical presentations, and a seemingly endless ability to create his ::vtol:: line of synth/noise generator/effect processors that produce a glorious cacophonous din. I met him in April 2010 at Brooklyn's Bent Festival and found him an affable young artist with a quick wit and an easy smile. I've purchased a number of his instruments and have kept in touch, watching his creativity grow from afar. I interviewed him via email.

As an ever inventive artist/musician/instrument designer, what in your background has allowed you to evolve into a kind of 21st century renaissance man?

I was born in very humanities-oriented family - both my parents were historians, but both grandfathers and grandmothers were engineers (technical education was much more popular and prestigeous during soviet time). And all my grand parents had a big role in my upbringing; that's why I had both influences - technical and the humanities. Since I was 8 years old I was big fan of airplanes (one of my grandfathers is a aircraft designer. I started to collect models, photos,and books and visited special shows, museums etc. I was really bewitched by these huge and beautiful machines (as I still am), but I was not very skilled in exact sciences; that's why in my teenage years I started to search for something else. Airplanes supplied me with a big lesson, that is, that technical ideas should be beautiful and rational at the same time. But only later did I understand how important this influence was, and started to understand why I like Futurism and the Russian Avant-garde so much. When I was 15 years old I started to learn guitar - I was always a big fan of electric guitar music - from rock to jazz. Pink Floyd and the guitar helped to open a new door in my life - the world of sound.

A Russian university education gave me very good but very specialized education. When the time came to chose my profession I had no idea what I wanted to do - so I decided the smartest choice in terms of specific specialisation was Art History...and I was right!

I want to say that my Russian University education gave me a very good but also very particular specialisation, as it is in so many specialisations, but I didn't want that!...and that's why I choose Art History which gave me a very broadly defined education! If you study math you will be good only in math; if you study philosophy you will only be good in that in Russia. I wanted something more universal like a classical university education in Europe during the 18th century when study encompassed everything at the same time.

So thats how art, music and technical ideas connected together for me. In art I was always interested in "straight corners" (architecture, Mondrian,the Russian Avant-garde ), With my interest in airplanes I started to study the history of mad projects and non-realized fantastic ideas and in music I started to use all my background to connect art, engineering and my love of experimental music.

Russia has played an important role in the history of electronic music with the theremin and the mysterious ANS synth; what effect has this history played in your artistic development?

Well I know Russian history very deeply - as I said I was born into a family of historians. And I was always interested in understanding all these paradoxes of Russian life - they are everywhere - contrast between poor and rich, smart and stupid, brave and cowardly... It was always very hard to live in this country because of these paradoxes… The lives of both Lev Theremin and Evgeniy Murzin(inventor of the ANS synth) was full of these paradoxes - I have read many books and articles about them - and of course I'm very impressed and inspired by them - they both are real Russians; they had very hard and interesting faith, real genius!

What does the future hold for you as a sound artist and your fine ::vtol:: synths?

Hard to say - but I am 100% certain that I will create something no matter if it will bring me some money or not! I have many ideas for new synths, performances and art installations. I hope I will have enough time and strength to realize them all and generate new ones. I always have the feeling that I'm just in the beginning - I don't look back; I just try to always move forward vigorously.

For more information go to: samoletuvvp.narod.ru/vto/diy/vol.html

SAMPLE & HOLD : stockhausen / telemusik

2011-01-28T15:42:00.000-08:00

This 1966 classic of electronic music has always been a favorite of mine. As it unfolds and evolves like an unerring dream we hear snippets of ethnic musics, gongs, burbles, bleeps, and shockingly expressive sonic manipulations that are, at once, immediate and transformative, meditative and adrenaline-inducing. When I first heard the DG recording I knew I wanted to go THERE!

ether^ra DARKLY SERGED

2011-01-24T14:45:00.000-08:00

THREE QUESTIONS FOR BENGE

2011-01-24T13:34:00.000-08:00

ether^ra : My fascination with sound goes back to a formative moment
trying to tune in a station on my dad's am car radio; because of poor
reception I was only able to get static and half-heard ghost voices
that I somehow found quite beautiful. Is there any moment you remember
as an epiphany that pointed you in the direction charted by electronic
sound/music?

I have quite a clear memory of my first encounter with a synthesiser.
It happened when I was about 8, and it was a home made modular synth.
My parents ran a small school for autistic children that was based at
our family home, and there was a music room. This was in the 70s and a
friend of the family was studying electronics and had made a modular
synth as a project, and donated it to the school. I remember it
turning up in the music room [where I would spend hours playing on the
various instruments] and it was amazing because it was so different to
everything else in there. You could make strange and unique bleeps and
buzzes but nothing melodic. It was about the size of a small desktop,
and had all the knobs [the same as the ones used on the EMS VCS3] down
the left hand side, and all the corresponding patch points down the
right, and these were banana type connectors the same as a Serge or
Buchla. From what I remember it had several VCOs, VCFs, VCAs and ring
modulation, and trigger buttons for the envelopes.

Years later when I started getting into synths and recording equipment
properly I asked my dad what happened to the 'Black Box' synth as we
called it, and he said "oh yes, I threw it out a couple of months
ago!" It had been stored in the loft for at least 10 years and the
huge internal battery had leaked and gone everywhere. That was the
moment I can say where I became determined to collect as many synths
as I could, and never throw anything away. The Black Box was my
'Rosebud'

ether^ra : With the advent of softsynths was it a conscious effort on
your part to celebrate analogue synthesis as a back-to-the-future
proclaimation of analogue superiority as such?

I went through a long period of using computer based synths and
processing, and most of my albums as Benge [up to Twenty Systems] use
a combination of software and hardware. I still use two software
synths quite a lot, Reaktor and Symbolic Sound Kyma, both of which
have a very unique set of features, and actually have their own
'sound'. I find it fascinating how each system, either hardware or
software, not only has it's own feature set, but also has its own tone
and sonic character.

I have never really been interested in using virtual emulations of
existing synths or processors. I really like the honesty and
simplicity of an original design, and sometimes its flaws and
limitations are what gives it character. I find that software
emulations always somehow iron out these imperfections and they all
begin to sound the same.

Another feature of old hardware equipment is the malfunction, which
obviously is not normally desirable, but sometimes can set off some
interesting processes. Everything in my studio is connected up to a
large patching system so that most inputs and outputs between synths
and processors are available, via the analog and digital consoles. It
is the recombination of sounds that is interesting to me, especially
when things don't turn out as expected.

ether^ra : The Twenty Systems cd suggests you have a vast number of
synths at your fingertips; is there any one system that you find
especially compelling sonically?

I do have a particular regard for large and uncompromising systems
that were at the forefront of their technology. Several systems stand
out as representing the vanguard, starting with Moog Modular in the
mid to late 60s. In the mid seventies there is the Yamaha CS80 which I
think is the ultimate polysynth. Inside that are thousands of point to
point connections, it is an unbelievable feat of discreet electronic
engineering. In the 1980s digital systems took over, and I would say
that the two companies behind Fairlight and Synclavier pushed each
other to ever greater heights, with maybe the Synclavier PSMT becoming
the greatest all in one digital system ever made. In the 90s PCs
became the central part of the music studio, and Symbolic Sound
introduced its parallel-processor Kyma system [which is still going
strong] and is perhaps the ultimate computer based synthesis system, I
really like the endless possibilities it offers. But there is
something so pure and powerful about those early analog systems with
their physical patch cables, knobs and switches, so I would have to
say that my all time favorite self contained synthesiser is the Moog
Modular. What is so amazing about the Moog is that it was the first of
its kind. Bob Moog just got it right straight away. Everything else
since then, even though it might offer more features, seems to travel
away from the purity of sound and the logic of it's controls

The great thing about the inevitable march of technology is that it
leaves in its wake the previous outdated technology, and I have been
lucky to pick up these systems when they were at their least popular
and therefore most affordable, sometimes even rescuing things from the
rubbish tip. My aim has always been to resurrect these amazing instruments
and put them into daily use.

Thanks to Benge for his insight, his obvious enthusiasm, and kindness for
responding so eloquently to my questions. For more from Benge go to
http://myblogitsfullofstars.blogspot.com/

IMPROV

2011-01-13T14:27:00.000-08:00

SAMPLE & HOLD : benge / twenty systems

2011-01-12T05:13:00.001-08:00

Produced with an appropriately light touch, Twenty Systems by Benge(Ben Edwards) traces the bleeping line in the development of synthesizer technology from anaologue to digital, from modular to digital presets. With the recent reapprisal of hardware as a sonic strategy for producing complex musical forms from such figures as Keith Fullerton Whitman and Carlos Giffoni to name two, Twenty Systems adds to this re-thinking beautifully. As an investigation of the idiosyncratic characteristics of each of these systems, Benge wisely limits his gaze, allowing each synth the luxury of showing off its best sonic attribute in isolation. The 1972 Serge Modular is particularly evocative producing off-kilter sonic detrius, complex perfect imperfection, and smeared timbral and rhythmic shivers the result of complex patching and gating. The photography is beautiful. The text is informative, and rich in detail, placing each system in historical context. Benge is obviously in love with this technology trusting each system to speak for itself. If we listen we can hear the past's machine utterings that point emphatically, not to the dusty corners of museums, but to a future imbued with extraordinary potential.

ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK : el topo

2011-01-09T10:38:00.001-08:00

While not an electronic music release per se, Alexandro Jodorowsky's 1970 soundtrack to the film of the same name has always been viewed by me, and certainly many others, as a fascinating mixture of heartfelt circus sentimentalism, and clattering percussion, along with hints of the bizarre. Seen by many as pretentious even in the context of the late 60's and early 70's, I have always been of the opinion that the film El Topo was the work of a renaissance man who was willing to take creative chances that while not always successful more often than not resulted in images of great evocative beauty. The soundtrack, though indebted to Ennio Moricone, curiously points the way to Moricones' Mission soundtrack. Part spagetti-western, part morality play and zen parable, El Topo has proven to be an influence on many artists from Dennis Hopper to David Lynch. The piece that ends the soundtrack, La Primera Flor Despues Del Diluvio(The First Flower After the Flood) is breath-taking; starting with what sounds like heavily distorted electronic noise/instruments morphs into the sounds of a crying baby after which Master Musicians of Joujouka-like trance horn sounds joyously appear followed by the flute theme with swelling orchestration that started the film/soundtrack. A distant wind quietly proclaims the end. Mystic/madman/artist, Jodorowsky is a man to watch and listen to.

SAMPLE & HOLD : angus maclise

2010-12-31T08:20:00.001-08:00

The early drummer for the Velvet Underground, Angus Maclise, artist, occultist, musician and avant-gardist of the Terry Riley ilk, was a key, though somewhat invisible figure in the development of progressive eastern influenced avant-garde electronic music. His album, Astral Collapse, exhibits a wide array of techniques and styles from spoken word and musique concrete tape manipulations to tambura influenced drones and Arp 2600 synth freak-outs that lead to Coil and Carlos Giffoni. The one track that contains Maclise's percussion, Beelzebub, is so processed so as to make it a gitchy morass of sound. Dracula, his Arp improv, is breath-taking in its free-form explorations and caustic cascades of sound. Ira Cohen's mylar twisted portrait shot presents Maclise in all his cosmic beauty, a perfectly imperfect reflection of the music's psychedelic heart tempered by the 20th century's seething electronic pulse drone smoothered under astral collapse.

A LITTLE PARANOIA IS A GOOD PROPELLER : Captain Beefheart RIP

2010-12-27T10:26:00.000-08:00

It is not with a little surprize and much sadness that I note the passing of Don Van Vliet, better know as Captain Beefheart, a musician and visual artist who threw brickbats at convention and challenged us to make some kind of curious sense of it all. My introduction to the Captain was his album Lick My Decals Off, Baby; it threw me for a loop initially, all jerky meter, stop and start guitar and bass parts that made arcane ourobourous knotted snakes negotiating each other, and the Captain's elastic extreme multi-octave voice that was drunk with expressive potential. I must admit to confusion, but I stuck with it until suddenly I experienced a state similar to "satori," a small awakening that somehow allowed me to make sense of it all; all the pieces fit; everything made sense! I was lucky enough to meet the Captain when he performed at My Father's Place in Roslyn, N.Y. in 1980. He was affable and charming, but clearly a man possessed by his own personal muse. He kissed my then wife Lorraine and autographed a scrap of paper(see above) for her. He then went on stage to perform songs from what was then his newest opus, Doc at the Radar Station. The Captain's mixture of blues, free-jazz, and his own eccentric take on reality, art-making, and dada have always made for a satisfying poetic musical banquet of the sort not heard since he "retired" to paint. He will be missed.

"Man is a baby that doesn't accept his natural function" Don Van Vliet

JASON R. BUTCHER : recent sketches

2010-12-21T15:58:00.000-08:00

s2.1-6 (recent sketches) by Jason R. Butcher

Made using the magical Buchla 200, Jason R. Butcher has concocted six pieces of compelling timbral invention, textural variation and overall "negative beauty." These are self-generating patches that while not the result of gestural actions are proof of Mr. Butcher's mastery of the complex interactions between modules, a kind of frequency painting that is simply breath-taking in it's expansive expressiveness.

WIP : SISYPHUS IN DENIAL

2010-12-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

What started as The New Demographic soon became a similarly evocatively titled piece, Sisyphus in Denial. (see detail) Sisyphus' endless task, similar to the prision that we make for ourselves, is the result of a protracted dellusion based on The Dream we (americans) embrace, or some acceptable popular mysticism. Instead of committing to what George Orwell called "significant mental rebellions," we, like Sisyphus, "carry on." And astondingly we do anything to carry on even if it is mind-numbingly fruitless. It seems Sisyphus' time has finally come, never to cease.