Orange pedals look best.
Wandered
Here is a draft of a tune I've written called Wandered.
It's a bit glitchy and reminds me a little of Boards of Canada -- although it doesn't have their awesome drum sounds. (I was listening to their earlier albums today and noticed the distortion and sometimes delay on the drums.)
Wandered by bassling
The opening drone reminds me of the wires a bit. It could use some birdsong to reflect the theme of the lyrics in the original.
Lyrics? Yeah, it's got them. Here's an earlier draft of this track:
Wandered by ShowcaseJase
It's a bit glitchy and reminds me a little of Boards of Canada -- although it doesn't have their awesome drum sounds. (I was listening to their earlier albums today and noticed the distortion and sometimes delay on the drums.)
Wandered by bassling
The opening drone reminds me of the wires a bit. It could use some birdsong to reflect the theme of the lyrics in the original.
Lyrics? Yeah, it's got them. Here's an earlier draft of this track:
Wandered by ShowcaseJase
Water cooler recordings
It's good to hear how things sound through different microphones and I'd been meaning to try and capture the sound of the water cooler glugging. This was the last bottle of water that we're getting so I didn't give myself much opportunity to set the levels before hitting record.
The glug sounds good though.
Water cooler by bassling
Strung out
Aeolus Salute by bassling
Here's a track that will be part of my next album, STRING. I'm planning this to be a collection of manipulated recordings of 'the wires' and tracks influenced by the droning sounds of this unique instrument.
Here's a track that will be part of my next album, STRING. I'm planning this to be a collection of manipulated recordings of 'the wires' and tracks influenced by the droning sounds of this unique instrument.
Pedal board
This series of effects produces a gated guitar rhythm triggered by a drum loop.
The guitar output is divided with two chains triggered by the kick drum, one an octave lower and one through a bright reverb. Another chain is triggered by the snare and hi-hat and runs through an Electro Harmonix Ring Thing, using a ring modulator on a delayed signal.
You can hear this set-up in the tune Blue Moon below, along with a few effects added in post-production.
Blue Moon by bassling
Bass Synthesiser pedal comparison
The postman brought a Behringer Bass Synthesiser pedal to me this week. They're about $70 new on Ebay and do a good fuzz wah if you use an expression pedal. Also has some phasing sort of modulation settings and squelchy analogue sounds.
Boss also make one but it's not as good at tracking the notes. Also the Behringer has a pitch hold function. I guess you can hold a note and then use the direct output to play over the top -- a bit like the new Electro Harmonix Freeze pedal I'd guess. (Keen to try one of those.)
The Behringer also gets closer to the sound of an Electro Harmonix Q-tron pedal for that Higher Ground sound. Unlike Boss though, the Behringer is made of plastic.
The Boss's shortcoming in tracking a bass makes an interesting effect on drums though. It creates these somewhat atonal but quite bubbly generated basslines. It's very acid sounding and fun for jamming.
Pedal board
Here's the pedal board I've been using with my guitar recently.
A few comments about the effects:
- Holy Stain is an interesting multi-effect but, as much as I like the reverbs and tremolo, it falls short in the distortions. Using an expression pedal to control the length of the reverb is a great feature though.
- Tubescreamer is great for warm tones but also for taming the Giant Cooter.
- MXR's EQ is beaut, even when it's off it seems to add something pleasant.
- LPB adds a big bluntness to the attack that's great with the Cooter but I'd like something that adds more presence without the oomph.
Quote
"Human beings have the capacity to find various viewpoints to approach a problem or to find a solution. There are an infinite number of ways to look at things"
- Herbie Hancock (one of my favourite musicians)
New bass amp
I bought this secondhand Peavey TNT 160 from a bloke in Coolamon. It's got a lovely deep tone.
This is my first amp with an 18-inch speaker and the sound it produces wobbles my wobbly bits.
It's also got unusual features like this built-in crossover.
I'd guess the amp is 20-30 years old. I had a Peavey TNT bass amp in 1993 that was at least thirdhand. That was my first proper amp after four years of playing through five-watt guitar amps or putting the headstock against my cupboard doors.
Do you reckon I need to replace the scorpion?
Giant Cooter
This is a distortion pedal I bought on Ebay. The bloke who made it claimed it was based a Big Muff. It's got a huge, bass-y tone.
Here's what the bloke wrote on Ebay:
If you cant figure out what pedal inspired this build...its a Big Muff circuit which i have built on vero/stripboard.
its not a straight up clone of any particular era Muff but i spent a good while experimenting with different component/value changes to get to what i thought was my ideal muff.
uses 4x 2N5089 transistors and a few modifications which include:
tone: more woolly/muffy/wall of sound... whilst still retaining have clarity and on the other end of the spectrum, more crisp/tight but without the huge mid scoop on the pedals tone/eq knob (labelled "texture")
Sustain/Gain : more of...
Pedal is housed in an aluminium enclosure (BBE pedal size for reference) and uses Switchcraft input jacks with a Clear/Purple 5mm Indicator LED/Berzel.
It is wired for True Bypass and has a battery snap and Power supply jack (2.1mm centre neg. standard boss style power supply) - NOT INCLUDED
there is additional power supply filtering on the jack (for those with dodgy cheapo power supplies)
NOTE: the power supply jack depicted in the attached Photo has been replaced with one that sits more "flush" with the enclosure, so it now doesnt stick out as much)
The enclosure is enamel auto paint with water laser printed waterslide decals with a layer of micro-sol (for the painted on affect) and then further clear coated.
Back after the edit
In 1 by bassling
This track is a remix I did in 2007 for the ninja.trax series.
The original track was a performance-piece also recorded for ninja.trax. Below is a video I made of one of my rehearsals.
This track is a remix I did in 2007 for the ninja.trax series.
The original track was a performance-piece also recorded for ninja.trax. Below is a video I made of one of my rehearsals.
vibrating
VIBRATING by bassling
Here's part of the three-hour ambient drone soundscape I've edited together for the 2010 RPM Challenge.
You can hear a variety of birdsong along with 'the wires' -- a large-scale aeolian harp built by Alan Lamb and Scott Baker for the Unsound Festival. See http://hghlght.blogspot.com/2009/06/wired-for-sound.html for more on this amazing instrument.
A recording from late 2007 can be heard or downloaded below.
041207PM by bassling
Here's part of the three-hour ambient drone soundscape I've edited together for the 2010 RPM Challenge.
You can hear a variety of birdsong along with 'the wires' -- a large-scale aeolian harp built by Alan Lamb and Scott Baker for the Unsound Festival. See http://hghlght.blogspot.com/2009/06/wired-for-sound.html for more on this amazing instrument.
A recording from late 2007 can be heard or downloaded below.
041207PM by bassling
IK Multimedia still suck
Amplitube continues to pox my Cubase. Thankfully it'll boot up though, my RPM Challenge project is coming along. Looks like I'll have a three-hour ambient opus by the end of the month.
Of all my VSTs only one is crashing Cubase
And, fuck it, Cubase is what I'm using for my RPM project.
IK Multimedia, get your act together.
RPM Challenge
Just signed up for the RPM Challenge. I'm hoping it will motivate me to finish an album of ambient field recordings.
Funny thing is that when I signed up for the Challenge in 2008, it was to clear my head of some tunes I was playing on the guitar so I could proceed with this project. I was also procrastinating on the Boxgum EP, which has since been released commercially.
Below is a video I made at the end of February in 2008:
Funny thing is that when I signed up for the Challenge in 2008, it was to clear my head of some tunes I was playing on the guitar so I could proceed with this project. I was also procrastinating on the Boxgum EP, which has since been released commercially.
Below is a video I made at the end of February in 2008:
Golden age for music fans
There are a few music commentators discussing the future of music and linking it with video games. The argument that it's more fun to play games than to watch them is a compelling one.
I thought this quote paints an interesting future:
I thought this quote paints an interesting future:
We’re entering a fourth stage in popular music, from (1) pre-rock pop’s distinction between songwriter and performer (think Elvis, the Brill Building system), to (2) rock’s emphasis on musicians writing their own material, to (3) hip-hop’s re-use of existing sonic material, to (4) the current age of audio-games, in which users experience sound by manipulating it — not just with the iPod, but also with games like Rock Band, DJ Hero, and Guitar Hero, and with the audio tools built into the Nintendo DSi, just to name a few examples. (There are similar factors at work in underground and academic music and art cultures, but the focus for me here is on mobile music-making apps, which are significant because of their popularity, because they have made populist numerous activities and approaches to creativity that were previously considered specialized, abstract, experimental, even avant-garde.)
Absynth 5's Alan Lamb preset
Just noticed this Alan Lamb preset in Absynth 5. To my ear it doesn't sound like his work with 'the wires' but it's got a bit of the rattle that he adds on his aeolian harp recordings.
The drone ranger
NGC1313 Spiral Galaxy in Reticulum – Abre Ojos @ Electundra from abre ojos on Vimeo.
Above is a video from Scott Baker, who built an aeolian harp with Alan Lamb outside Wagga Wagga that - like Scott - has been an inspiration to me.
Below is video of my drums vibrating 'the wires' that Scott built with Alan Lamb.
Drum compression
A while ago I found this outline for compressor settings at www.orange-fields.com/widepages/drumscomp
It was useful to me so I thought I'd share. If they're your settings, let me know and I can attribute them to you or remove them if you wish but thanks for the help.
DRUMS - COMPRESSION
(A variety of different settings !)
KICK -
1) To "flatten" = 8:1 or more, short attack 2ms or less.
2) For more "attack" = slow the attack time to let the initial "poke" through.
3) 6:1, Threshold = -3 to -5dB.
4) Between 4:1 & 8:1, attack about 10ms, rel. about 200ms.
5) 10dB gain reduction (maximum !)
SNARE -
1) 3:1, Threshold = -10dB to add "crack".
2) Between 4:1 & 6:1, attack = 5 to 10ms, rel. about 150ms.
3) 10dB gain reduction (maximum !)
OVERHEADS -
1) 2:1 to lengthen signal decays.
TOMS -
1) Between 4:1 & 6:1, attack = 5 to 10ms, rel. about 150ms.
ANY DRUM -
1) 4:1, 5dB gain red. as starting point. Use AUTO (or attack 40 to 50ms, rel. 300 to 500ms.)
It was useful to me so I thought I'd share. If they're your settings, let me know and I can attribute them to you or remove them if you wish but thanks for the help.
DRUMS - COMPRESSION
(A variety of different settings !)
KICK -
1) To "flatten" = 8:1 or more, short attack 2ms or less.
2) For more "attack" = slow the attack time to let the initial "poke" through.
3) 6:1, Threshold = -3 to -5dB.
4) Between 4:1 & 8:1, attack about 10ms, rel. about 200ms.
5) 10dB gain reduction (maximum !)
SNARE -
1) 3:1, Threshold = -10dB to add "crack".
2) Between 4:1 & 6:1, attack = 5 to 10ms, rel. about 150ms.
3) 10dB gain reduction (maximum !)
OVERHEADS -
1) 2:1 to lengthen signal decays.
TOMS -
1) Between 4:1 & 6:1, attack = 5 to 10ms, rel. about 150ms.
ANY DRUM -
1) 4:1, 5dB gain red. as starting point. Use AUTO (or attack 40 to 50ms, rel. 300 to 500ms.)
Living
Tom Cosm - Moving from the studio to live performance using Ableton Live from Delicious on Vimeo.
This is good, I should try and see more stuff like this. Any recommendations?
Going the extra mile
Thanks to Abre Ojos for passing on this blog post:
Going the extra mile for unique timbres
It's a good read and the other topics covered look promising too :)
Going the extra mile for unique timbres
It's a good read and the other topics covered look promising too :)
bassling wants to be free
Five years before Chris Anderson published Free, three years before Radiohead released their album In Rainbows for a donation (of potentially nothing); bassling was inspired by Creative Commons to offer his first LP for free.
Don't wait another five years - download it today!
Don't wait another five years - download it today!
More meaningful differences
This morning I was reading that something like 95% of blogs don't get updated regularly. I felt a bit of guilt but another statement in the article also rang true, that most blogs have an audience of one. I blog because I like the interface better than writing in a diary.
One blog that I think deserves a large readership is The Stretta Procedure because it takes the current topics and adds a dose of reflection. The current post takes the issue of the latest mobile and keyboard and lifts the topic to focus on why people fuss about small incremental differences:
Stretta reminded me of something I was reading yesterday about language as a conspiracy. In Everything Is Under Control, Robert Anton Wilson discusses Count Alfred Korzybski, who:
The more I read about perception, the more I realise how little information we use to base many decisions upon. Recently I read a blog post (either Boingboing or Wired) which outlined audio illusions. Like, if you put on headphones and listen to a microphone as you rub your fingers in front of it and adjust the tone so that it's all treble, you'll conclude that your fingers are dry because of the sound. Likewise, if you do this while rolling off the higher frequencies, you'll think your fingers are moist.
Our brains must create realistic illusions every day!
One blog that I think deserves a large readership is The Stretta Procedure because it takes the current topics and adds a dose of reflection. The current post takes the issue of the latest mobile and keyboard and lifts the topic to focus on why people fuss about small incremental differences:
The recent introduction of Tom Oberheim's SEM re-issue sparked a spirited debate on the sonic differences between surface mount and through hole components. I found the discussion mildly amusing - not just because of all the half-truths, flawed premises and mis-information, but due to the psychology behind the discussion itself.
We spend so much time discussing the technical differences because we CAN talk about the technical differences. We can't talk about the sound or usefulness because this is entirely subjective. Those debates pretty much go like this:
"I think the re-issue sounds just like the vintage version."
"I think your ears are full of poop."
And so on.
Technology is concrete, exacting. We can zero in on some minute aspect and obsess about it. We can claim a re-issue isn't going to be EXACTLY the same as the original because the traces are too long, or make sharp 90 degree turns or a SMT chip package was used. The existence of these differences, whether or not they actually contribute something meaningful to the sound, nonetheless exist and can be endlessly debated.
Meanwhile, this generates a lot of noise, the issue is magnified and weighs disproportionately in our minds.
At what point is a difference a meaningful one?
Stretta reminded me of something I was reading yesterday about language as a conspiracy. In Everything Is Under Control, Robert Anton Wilson discusses Count Alfred Korzybski, who:
...observed that the words we use influence our perceptions and conceptions of the world - e.g., even in the same language, a book may be called "realistic" by one reader and "pornographic" by another, and each will tend to perceive/conceive the book that way more and more automatically if they repeat their label ("realistic" or "pornographic") over and over. This underlies the mechanism of hypnosis, as Dr. Bandler discovered later. It also explains why you won't make much progress preaching radical equality to somebody who continually uses the word "nigger," or defending the first amendment to somebody who keeps saying "smut" (or "sexism"). (p.276)
The more I read about perception, the more I realise how little information we use to base many decisions upon. Recently I read a blog post (either Boingboing or Wired) which outlined audio illusions. Like, if you put on headphones and listen to a microphone as you rub your fingers in front of it and adjust the tone so that it's all treble, you'll conclude that your fingers are dry because of the sound. Likewise, if you do this while rolling off the higher frequencies, you'll think your fingers are moist.
Our brains must create realistic illusions every day!
Big excitement
My big news is that a few of my videos are on the BIG SCREEN at Melbourne's Federation Square at 2.30pm each day during May as part of the Notes From The Underground program.
Current set-up
Still loving my Boss pedals but I've replaced the drums with a machine to make some electro-sorta music. Next I plan to incorporate the guitar and the triggered bass that I was using but I'm still enjoying this set of effects for now.
How technology shapes taste
Been reading this comment about research that suggests younger folk prefer mp3s to higher fidelity recordings and it's an example of a pet theory I've been mulling over about how technology shapes taste.
I started thinking about this when I reflected on how many years it took for me to appreciate the sound of synthesizers. All through the 80s I hated them, all those now classic sounds. Then in the 90s I began to appreciate the visceral nature of dance music and soon learned to love the aesthetic.
Then I thought about how Autotune used to be reviled and is now all over and over the top in popular music.
And before long I was thinking how digital mediums like CDs had allowed a wider frequency range, specifically deeper and heavily compressed bass, to be recorded and replayed.
Anyway, it's still a pet theory and it's needs some more thought.
I started thinking about this when I reflected on how many years it took for me to appreciate the sound of synthesizers. All through the 80s I hated them, all those now classic sounds. Then in the 90s I began to appreciate the visceral nature of dance music and soon learned to love the aesthetic.
Then I thought about how Autotune used to be reviled and is now all over and over the top in popular music.
And before long I was thinking how digital mediums like CDs had allowed a wider frequency range, specifically deeper and heavily compressed bass, to be recorded and replayed.
Anyway, it's still a pet theory and it's needs some more thought.
Is the Future of Music Generative?
This is an interesting essay covering a lot of issues surrounding generative music. If you've read a heap of Brian Eno interviews then most of the subject matter is more about whether the music industry would recognise generative music as music but it's a great collection of stimulating ideas.
I've been wondering when there will be a program that registers what the user/s prefer (breaks, ambient, dnb, etc.), what time of the day, what the stress level in their voice says their emotional state would be, etc. and creates bespoke background music according to their previous preferences.
But I guess the real issue is that generative music is yet to become as intricate and accessible as pop music because that is what is marketed to the 'mainstream' as 'music'
I've been wondering when there will be a program that registers what the user/s prefer (breaks, ambient, dnb, etc.), what time of the day, what the stress level in their voice says their emotional state would be, etc. and creates bespoke background music according to their previous preferences.
But I guess the real issue is that generative music is yet to become as intricate and accessible as pop music because that is what is marketed to the 'mainstream' as 'music'
Contrast between analogue and digital
Just got back my copy of Mixing With Your Mind and the page fell open to this awesome comparison of analogue and digital recording:
A mate of mine made the case that this is also true of digital photography and, although I can't remember all the argument, I can see how it works in that the brightest and darkest areas of the image become the peaks in the dynamic range of colours.
"By way of analogy, I'd like to compare the recording dynamics with photographing a large skyscraper. As you can imagine, due to its enormous height it's difficult to capture the entire building in perfect focus. Here's where Analogue and Digital technology differ, by limiting our focus to distinctly different areas of the building."
A mate of mine made the case that this is also true of digital photography and, although I can't remember all the argument, I can see how it works in that the brightest and darkest areas of the image become the peaks in the dynamic range of colours.
Putting the limiter before the compressor
The author of this Audio Technology column, Michael Stavrou, recommends putting a limiter ahead of a compressor in the signal path on those occasions when you're worried about clipping the signal.
I thought the diagram showed the benefit as clearly as the article but I should add that Stav's writing is always excellent. If he keeps writing columns like this, he'll have a follow-up for the book Mixing With Your Mind out soon. Top book.
Wind organs and aeolian harp
This short video shows the instruments used in the track Doublecrossed, which can be heard in the player in the right-hand column.
More about the aeolian harp here and directions for making wind organs can be read here.
My theremin beat
Here's some of the mucking around I've been doing with the drums, theremin and kaosscilator.
PS - I've put the file up for download if anyone wants to remix it :)
In the Pool
The ABC have this interesting social networking website that's designed to be
There's an aeolian harp track I wrote for the site on there because I was keen to lend my support. Of course, all of my stuff is released under Creative Commons so you can feel free to adapt or use it as you see fit provided you acknowledge it.
I think Creative Commons is tops and it inspired the song Gentle Borrower that's in the right-hand column.
...a place to share your creative work with the Pool community and ABC producers - upload music, photos, videos, documentaries, interviews, animations and more. It's a collaborative space where audiences become makers.
There's an aeolian harp track I wrote for the site on there because I was keen to lend my support. Of course, all of my stuff is released under Creative Commons so you can feel free to adapt or use it as you see fit provided you acknowledge it.
I think Creative Commons is tops and it inspired the song Gentle Borrower that's in the right-hand column.
Workspace and Environment
Trash Audio have this cool regular section called Workspace and Environment where they ask artists a series of set questions. I always like reading it and imagining my own answers, so I thought I'd write my own response.
Background
I grew up in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. I spent my teens playing bass guitar and was in a few short-lived bands in my early 20s, like the Pongrass Brothers. When I left town I sold my bass but ended up buying another one a few years later. Then I started making music on the computer. My track Cycleslut is one of the first things I wrote, built from samples off my CDs.
I've now lived in Wagga Wagga for about seven years and, as much as I'm ready to leave, I don't think I'll be able to go anytime soon. Having kids and another on the way means the decision isn't mine to make anymore. Luckily I live on a beautiful hill outside town.
The name bassling came to me when I misread something and it seems apt since bass is where I started and where I keep coming back - although these days I prefer synth bass sounds, the wires (a large-scale aeolian harp) and different things through an octave pedal or similarly manipulated with software.
There are two bassling albums so far, SHAKES (2004) and YOUR (2007). (Update: There are a few more now!)
The next bassling album is based on my recordings of the wires. You can hear some of the raw files at soundclick.com/aeolianharp and there's the bassling remix of a ShowcaseJase track written for the wires. There's also a dubby sorta track I made with the wires up at the Wired Lab site for Alan Lamb's current project at Cootamundra.
What are your current favourite pieces of hardware?
Macbook, drumkit, Zoom H4, Rode NT4, Epiphone 335, Boss OC3 and Nintendo DS.
What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?
Ohmboyz has been a huge part of the bassling sound, I usually only use the presets but the filters and the tempo-locked delay create a swelling sound that's in most things I record. Thinking of Ohmforce software, everyone should have their Frohmage VST since it's free and does interesting stuff to sounds.
Steinberg's Cubase and Nuendo have a lovely sound about them but are a bit of a pain in the arse to use compared to Ableton Live. And I'm still shitty that I forked out all that cash for Nuendo 3 only to find it runs like a dog on Mac.
Glitch DS is genius IMO. I enjoy it lots and have been meaning to figure out how to make my own samples, probably of the wires and quartz percussion.
Also, for generative sound applications, I like jamming along with Forester on my drumkit. Since it's winter at the moment, I'm not inspired to take my drumkit up to play along with the wires, so I find that putting recordings of the wires into this software gets similar effect.
How does your physical space surroundings influence your workflow?
This is a really interesting question. A few years ago I hung out with some noisemakers who called themselves the Wagga Space Program and they had a philosophy about recognising how the rural environment shaped their practices. It's something I've come to appreciate through living with the wires that were built on the property where I live by Alan Lamb and Scott Baker (AKA Abre Ojos) as part of their Unsound festival in 2004.
In 2006 I was fortunate to be invited to be part of Unsound but it wasn't until last year that I found myself more fully appreciating the stuff they were doing. Sadly, most of them have left town so there isn't going to be an Unsound 2008.
Could you describe what you might think your ideal location would be?
I'd really like a room of my own to set up my gear. It'd be good to not have to worry about my kids getting into my stuff but it's also fun seeing them bash on the drumkit and sometimes we make music together.
Other than that, it's pretty inspiring to play drums on top of the hill on a warm evening.
What is on your current 'wish list'?
I've been lusting after a Musicman Stingray bass but don't really play bass enough to justify the expense. I'm also looking at the Alessis Performance Pad in the window of the local instrument shop but they're asking almost twice what it can be found for online. I'm also considering buying Native Instruments Komplete but might wait until I'm studying again so I can claim the student discount.
Do you have a setup for live performances
No, I've only started thinking about live performance in the last couple of years and at the moment it's usually just one-off sketches that I videotape and put online. I like making music but I hate the late nights involved in playing gigs and, frankly, there isn't much of an audience for the stuff I do locally.
Are you involved in any other projects?
Yep, I've always got a few things on the boil. There's an album of guitar-based songs I recorded for the RPM Challenge this year under the name ShowcaseJase that needs to be re-evaluated and produced and possibly re-recorded in parts.
Mic Main$tream asked if I'd make some techno tunes for his label and I was so flattered that I agreed but it's been hard to find the hi-NRG needed and also hard to find the time to work on them since I returned to full-time work. I decided to use the bassling moniker for my more experimental acoustic electronica-inspired stuff with drums and the wires but the dance music I've been making for him is more like the bassling albums I've released. He suggested calling it Jase of Bass, it kinda brings together all my pseudonyms.
Background
I grew up in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. I spent my teens playing bass guitar and was in a few short-lived bands in my early 20s, like the Pongrass Brothers. When I left town I sold my bass but ended up buying another one a few years later. Then I started making music on the computer. My track Cycleslut is one of the first things I wrote, built from samples off my CDs.
I've now lived in Wagga Wagga for about seven years and, as much as I'm ready to leave, I don't think I'll be able to go anytime soon. Having kids and another on the way means the decision isn't mine to make anymore. Luckily I live on a beautiful hill outside town.
The name bassling came to me when I misread something and it seems apt since bass is where I started and where I keep coming back - although these days I prefer synth bass sounds, the wires (a large-scale aeolian harp) and different things through an octave pedal or similarly manipulated with software.
There are two bassling albums so far, SHAKES (2004) and YOUR (2007). (Update: There are a few more now!)
The next bassling album is based on my recordings of the wires. You can hear some of the raw files at soundclick.com/aeolianharp and there's the bassling remix of a ShowcaseJase track written for the wires. There's also a dubby sorta track I made with the wires up at the Wired Lab site for Alan Lamb's current project at Cootamundra.
What are your current favourite pieces of hardware?
Macbook, drumkit, Zoom H4, Rode NT4, Epiphone 335, Boss OC3 and Nintendo DS.
What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?
Ohmboyz has been a huge part of the bassling sound, I usually only use the presets but the filters and the tempo-locked delay create a swelling sound that's in most things I record. Thinking of Ohmforce software, everyone should have their Frohmage VST since it's free and does interesting stuff to sounds.
Steinberg's Cubase and Nuendo have a lovely sound about them but are a bit of a pain in the arse to use compared to Ableton Live. And I'm still shitty that I forked out all that cash for Nuendo 3 only to find it runs like a dog on Mac.
Glitch DS is genius IMO. I enjoy it lots and have been meaning to figure out how to make my own samples, probably of the wires and quartz percussion.
Also, for generative sound applications, I like jamming along with Forester on my drumkit. Since it's winter at the moment, I'm not inspired to take my drumkit up to play along with the wires, so I find that putting recordings of the wires into this software gets similar effect.
How does your physical space surroundings influence your workflow?
This is a really interesting question. A few years ago I hung out with some noisemakers who called themselves the Wagga Space Program and they had a philosophy about recognising how the rural environment shaped their practices. It's something I've come to appreciate through living with the wires that were built on the property where I live by Alan Lamb and Scott Baker (AKA Abre Ojos) as part of their Unsound festival in 2004.
In 2006 I was fortunate to be invited to be part of Unsound but it wasn't until last year that I found myself more fully appreciating the stuff they were doing. Sadly, most of them have left town so there isn't going to be an Unsound 2008.
Could you describe what you might think your ideal location would be?
I'd really like a room of my own to set up my gear. It'd be good to not have to worry about my kids getting into my stuff but it's also fun seeing them bash on the drumkit and sometimes we make music together.
Other than that, it's pretty inspiring to play drums on top of the hill on a warm evening.
What is on your current 'wish list'?
I've been lusting after a Musicman Stingray bass but don't really play bass enough to justify the expense. I'm also looking at the Alessis Performance Pad in the window of the local instrument shop but they're asking almost twice what it can be found for online. I'm also considering buying Native Instruments Komplete but might wait until I'm studying again so I can claim the student discount.
Do you have a setup for live performances
No, I've only started thinking about live performance in the last couple of years and at the moment it's usually just one-off sketches that I videotape and put online. I like making music but I hate the late nights involved in playing gigs and, frankly, there isn't much of an audience for the stuff I do locally.
Are you involved in any other projects?
Yep, I've always got a few things on the boil. There's an album of guitar-based songs I recorded for the RPM Challenge this year under the name ShowcaseJase that needs to be re-evaluated and produced and possibly re-recorded in parts.
Mic Main$tream asked if I'd make some techno tunes for his label and I was so flattered that I agreed but it's been hard to find the hi-NRG needed and also hard to find the time to work on them since I returned to full-time work. I decided to use the bassling moniker for my more experimental acoustic electronica-inspired stuff with drums and the wires but the dance music I've been making for him is more like the bassling albums I've released. He suggested calling it Jase of Bass, it kinda brings together all my pseudonyms.
Tools and style
Back in the days before I had children, I used to be capable of writing a song in an afternoon. Usually I would also be able to spend a week or two refining it but mostly this would just amount to obsessing over the levels and possibilities for the different VST instruments and how well they worked together.
My friend Toby joked that Wagga Wagga allowed me to break the space-time continuum as this must surely explain my apparent productivity. The truth was, of course, less interesting and probably better explained in the opportunity to sketch ideas without interruption and then how a lack of social life allowed me to give these sketches enough attention to sound polished.
Toby predicted the demise of my music making when I found true love. I think it was because he assumed that any activity somehow serves the biological imperative of reproducing. That my beats and basslines were my dazzling peacock feathers and, now that they had won me a mate, the energy that made them would be directed into her.
Anyway, I'm recounting my memories here so I'm not entirely sure I've represented Toby's views correctly. He was right in some respects but I think the fact I feel like the quality and quantity of my music has declined represents a lack of time coupled with a cornucopia of possibilities.
I was thinking about Toby's observation today when I reflected on my inability to properly use a knife and fork.
In my youth, my former stepmother spent many dinners criticising my ability to hold cutlery appropriately at the dinner table. In one of her more scathing moments she suggested that I would spend my life alone after successive girlfriends rejected my advances once they had observed my lack of finesse with the tools for eating.
It's true that other women have also felt the need to criticise my handling of a knife and fork. There was one former manager who also was critical at a lunch at work too, I recall her saying "that's just weird" in front of my colleagues.
And now I wonder whether or not I didn't somehow know I'd found true love as I can't recall my partner ever commenting on this characteristic.
I've been thinking about this because the other night I had a dinner with colleagues in my new job and at one point I became self-conscious of how I was holding my fork.
It always seemed silly to me to have to struggle with holding my eating utensils when the dinner table usually requires one to also focus on one's companions, while trying to keep up the obligation to converse and also hopefully enjoy the brief sensation of flavours before they begin the process of turning to shit.
In my mind making music is as fundamental to life as eating and the enjoyment gained is usually in the brief moments of inspiration while a piece takes shape, rather than the process of digestion and the result being delivered.
Similarly, obsessing about using tools appropriately ends up killing much of the creativity and enjoyment in most activities. Being self-conscious takes you out of the moment. And, as time passes, those moments only become more precious.
My friend Toby joked that Wagga Wagga allowed me to break the space-time continuum as this must surely explain my apparent productivity. The truth was, of course, less interesting and probably better explained in the opportunity to sketch ideas without interruption and then how a lack of social life allowed me to give these sketches enough attention to sound polished.
Toby predicted the demise of my music making when I found true love. I think it was because he assumed that any activity somehow serves the biological imperative of reproducing. That my beats and basslines were my dazzling peacock feathers and, now that they had won me a mate, the energy that made them would be directed into her.
Anyway, I'm recounting my memories here so I'm not entirely sure I've represented Toby's views correctly. He was right in some respects but I think the fact I feel like the quality and quantity of my music has declined represents a lack of time coupled with a cornucopia of possibilities.
I was thinking about Toby's observation today when I reflected on my inability to properly use a knife and fork.
In my youth, my former stepmother spent many dinners criticising my ability to hold cutlery appropriately at the dinner table. In one of her more scathing moments she suggested that I would spend my life alone after successive girlfriends rejected my advances once they had observed my lack of finesse with the tools for eating.
It's true that other women have also felt the need to criticise my handling of a knife and fork. There was one former manager who also was critical at a lunch at work too, I recall her saying "that's just weird" in front of my colleagues.
And now I wonder whether or not I didn't somehow know I'd found true love as I can't recall my partner ever commenting on this characteristic.
I've been thinking about this because the other night I had a dinner with colleagues in my new job and at one point I became self-conscious of how I was holding my fork.
It always seemed silly to me to have to struggle with holding my eating utensils when the dinner table usually requires one to also focus on one's companions, while trying to keep up the obligation to converse and also hopefully enjoy the brief sensation of flavours before they begin the process of turning to shit.
In my mind making music is as fundamental to life as eating and the enjoyment gained is usually in the brief moments of inspiration while a piece takes shape, rather than the process of digestion and the result being delivered.
Similarly, obsessing about using tools appropriately ends up killing much of the creativity and enjoyment in most activities. Being self-conscious takes you out of the moment. And, as time passes, those moments only become more precious.
Surprising sounds
This is the latest promo from Korg for their synethiser/sequencer program for the Nintendo DS, called DS-10.
I love the fact Korg have turned their attention to the DS but have been underwhelmed by the examples in their videos. To be honest, it reminds me a bit of when I first looked at Reason years ago: beaut interface, crap sounds. (Although I'm told Reason sounds a lot better these days.)
What I am enjoying on my DS is Glitch, a very clever generative sequencer. It lets you modulate five samples and then the program triggers them based on cellular automaton following Conway's Game of Life. So you end up with something that's intuitively adaptable, like through shortening the loop of the game to increase the intensity, and yet surprising in the way of aleatoric compositions.
In short, it's genius IMO.
And, typing of geniuses, it picks up on the work of one of my heroes: Brian Eno. He's been experimenting with generative music since (at least) his 1996 album Generative Music 1.
The works I have made with this system symbolise to me the beginning of a new era of music. Until 100 years ago, every musical event was unique: music was ephemeral and unrepeatable and even classical scoring couldn't guarantee precise duplication. Then came the gramophone record, which captured particular performances and made it possible to hear them identically over and over again.
But now there are three alternatives: live music, recorded music and generative music. Generative music enjoys some of the benefits of both its ancestors. Like live music it is always different. Like recorded music it is free of time-and-place limitations - you can hear it when and where you want.
I really think it is possible that our grandchildren will look at us in wonder and say: "you mean you used to listen to exactly the same thing over and over again?"
More recently Eno has developed generative art in his exhibition titled 77 million paintings.
The aleatory aspect of Eno's music owes a debt to John Cage, whose compositions popularised the role of chance in composition. Cage experimented with different 'instruments', such as tuning radios, in his work and was encouraged as these allowed him to be surprised by a composition - even after he'd heard the work performed many times before.
In Cage's most famous piece 4'33", the composition was entirely left to chance as it called for the musicians to sit quietly for four minutes and 33 seconds. I "heard" this piece performed by Craig Schuftan and was surprised at how your ears seek out noise to fill the emptiness. It trains you to hear music in everyday noise.
This is why generative music seems somewhat contradictory. People create it to listen to in preference to whatever noise is already surrounding them. Brian Eno promoted this idea with his ambient albums that were designed to provide soothing sounds with the expectation of being interrupted. These were inspired by Chopin's piano pieces that were designed to serve as a musical wallpaper. There are now computer applications to serve this purpose, either generating white noise or soft chords in the style of new age music. For example.
In some ways this ambient approach to music is the antithesis of contemporary dance music, which has evolved from Detroit techno's emulation of factories via Kraftwerk and the sampling culture of hiphop. These musical forms take the dynamic sounds and rhythms of machines for new textures. An idea first promoted by the Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo in his Art of Noises manifesto, a remarkably potent text.
Anyway, I digress. The thing that appeals to me about generative music is the sense of surprise that allows you to play both composer and audience in a way. I also like the way it keeps me open to hearing music in unlikely places, I figure it's a healthy thing for someone with wide interests in sound.
The thing that occurs to me is that most humans have interests in sound too. Most I've met have a narrower interest, sometimes only a single genre. It's like fetishism I guess and, where a psychologist could put them in a category and recommend treatment, a generative music technology could create a personalised soundtrack. Imagine if my iPod tallied the data about my preferred BPMs along with the times of the day or the quality of light or the level of ambient noise. Imagine if, magpie-like, it were free to choose bits of tracks and add them together in new ways to create a narrative of where I've been based on what I've heard to recreate the experiences and enhance my memories.
Anyway, you might've guessed, my favourite generative technology is the aeolian harp as it also demonstrates the physics of sound. But that's another blog entry :)
Australian Apple store
On the eve of the opening of a new Apple store in Sydney, I'm reminded of the Apple branding that used to be on the main street of Wagga Wagga.
Praise for Aeolus
Here's a bit more of the aeolian harp. I've started recording it using guitar pick-ups as well as via the polystyrene box wedged between the wires.
The J Spot
My home studio today. (Here it was a month ago.)
The most serious looking bit of kit is probably the stereo in the bedroom :)
PS: Just been reading about Atom Heart's studio and I think he's onto something in promoting a beautiful work environment. Best not to obsess about the kit when mostly what's needed are ears and the matter between them.
Remixes
There are a couple of bassling remixes online. There's a self-remix of the Ninja Trax performance and some kind of alter-ego remix of my ShowcaseJase material, Gentle Borrower (bassling's pulsing wires electro-style remix).
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