Of Recordings

A tiny snippet from an experiment with running a bunch of outboard gear through Buzz. Recorded last summer, but I just recently found the recordings.  I am rocking the microKorg, Aaron is rocking the Electribe, and we are both rocking the Stoli.

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Basically, a second-rate Echo and the Bunnymen. Grl astutely picked up a copy of “Change the Weather” for me while record shopping. I wasn’t even sure if it was the right band for a minute, but sure enough, Rick Smith and Karl Hyde are in the credits. The music is vaguely generic new wave. The album cover even shows them posing self-consciously in sunglasses and tight black t-shirts.

The music is not actually bad, but I estimate the correlation between liking “Change the Weather” and liking “Second Toughest in the Infants” at 0.2.

Dreamy and organic.

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Via Sonic State: On his current tour, Jean-Michel Jarre is performing “Oxygene” on the original gear.  Awesome pics.

5. Tom Tykwer et al, Run Lola Run.

4. Air, The Virgin Suicides.

3. Vangelis, Blade Runner.

2. Clint Mansell et al, Pi.

1. Wendy Carlos, A Clockwork Orange.

I don’t actually watch a whole lot of movies (so why are you writing this list? – Ed). I feel pretty confident in number 1, though.

What’s the deal with all these inverted keyboards?

This tutorial will teach you how to set up sidechain compression in Buzz using the BG Sidechain Dynamics machine. It took me forever to figure out how to do this the first time, so I wrote it up to save you the time. You’re welcome.

EDIT: Kibibu tipped me that Fuzzpilz Oppressor 3 also does sidechaining, and it’s a bit easier to set up.  Here’s this same tutorial using Oppressor instead of BG.

Here’s our initial setup. We have two tracks, a kick drum and a bass line. We want to duck the bass’s volume in time with the kick drum. (Click on any diagram to enlarge it.)

(more…)

(12:01:15 PM) Aaron: that was all buzz?
(12:01:19 PM) Kevin: Yeah.
(12:01:34 PM) Aaron: you used a buzz sampler?
(12:01:37 PM) Kevin: Yeah.
(12:01:44 PM) Aaron: i forgot they had one

Ferris Bueller has an Emulator II!

I just got my hands on Abiku and Kid Camaro’s 7″ “Split.” I don’t really know anything about Abiku, but Kid Camaro is a friend (and, in fact, Aaron’s former roommate).

The A side belongs to Abiku, and “Regency” is the highlight. “Feel” and “Bobby” are shouty electro-punk that appear to be intentionally difficult to listen to. But if you’re going that route, you need to give the listener a reason to make the effort, and I must have missed it.

On Kid Camaro’s side, “Drop” is gorgeous and worth the price of admission by itself. Meticulously chopped breaks support 8-bit melodies. It’s both catchy and intricate. “Dusk” pairs more NES sounds with a drum and bass background.

You can get “Split” for four paltry dollars– that’s just 96 rubles!– direct from Automation Records. Or, if you’ve already sold the turntable, it’s also available from iTunes.

Here’s another Kid Camaro tune, a demo he made for my soft synth Mopis:

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