Synth discussion or post

[GuitarGeek]

Not to mention, there were instruments like the VCS3 and the Synthi-A, whose strong suit was making outer-space blips and bleeps, not playing melodies. I find it a wonder that people actually did use these as melodic instruments!

Octave Doctors And The Crystal Machine, Tim Blake's short solo track on Gong's Flying Teapot album, was done with a VCS-3. And the sequencer thing on Pink Floyd's On The Run was done on a Synthi-AKS (not exactly melodic but the instrument is playing actual tuned notes).

Though Del Dettmar used his Synthi A to make "outer space blips and bleeps", there were occasions where he'd play something melodic, like on 7x7. And it's the Synthi A playing the ring modulator bells at the beginning of Tangerine Dream's Rubycon album.

[Rarebird]

Part of the beauty of synthesizers is how they can sound completely unnatural and otherworldly. It’s what drew me to them in the first place. And musicians who insist on trying to get “real instrument” sounds out of them really annoy me. It shows a distinct lack of creativity. I can’t remember the exact quote, but I remember Edgar Froese saying something like, “If I wanted the sound of a violin, I’d find someone who knows how to play the violin.”

I completely agree, though I'm guilty of using synthesizers to replace other instruments as well, because I don't have musicians for those other instruments at hand.

[hippypants]

This is an early synth album by Octavian Nemescu that reminds me a bit of Tomita

[JKL2000]

Hey, Battema, I think it was you who was also into this New Retro Wave synth stuff. Check this one out!:

https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/malignant-force

A preorder. The tracks available sound like 80s Rush tracks with all vocals, drums, and guitar removed. Guess you still have something that sounds like Bass Pedals. I dig it!

[hippypants]

Moog‘s House of Electronicus at the NAMM show

[Progbear]

This is an early synth album by Octavian Nemescu that reminds me a bit of Tomita

Reminds me more of the experimental, yet accessible, electronics that people like Laurie Spiegel were doing at the time. When I hear the name Tomita, I think classical repertoire pieces (“dead white men music” as someone once disparagingly called it) rendered as Moog synthesizer stuff. Mind you, not everything by Tomita is this. He actually has classical chops, and was a composer/conductor/arranger for years before he hit on his lucrative “Far Eastern answer to Wendy Carlos” shtick. One of my favorite things he’s done is the soundtrack to Toho’s Catastrophe 1999 (a.k.a.: The Last Days of Planet Earth), which is orchestral, yet features his Moog (and Mellotron) prominently. Execrable film, but the soundtrack is excellent:

[regenerativemusic]

"circuit bent" yamaha ps-3

Circuit bending is amazing. This one had a lot of additional parts added. Usually, those that make them can't demo them correctly, because they are just into harsh noise and not a more musical application.

[dropforge]

Hey, Battema, I think it was you who was also into this New Retro Wave synth stuff. Check this one out!:

https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/malignant-force

A preorder. The tracks available sound like 80s Rush tracks with all vocals, drums, and guitar removed. Guess you still have something that sounds like Bass Pedals. I dig it!

Pretty solid. I don't think anyone's ever going to match Mark Shreeve's Legion and Crash Head for that sound. His compositions were dyn-o-mite!

The s/t by Kiile (find it on the main page) is simpler, but I like it more. Every track sounds like the end title to a mid-80s rom-com. Check out "Motion Pictures."

https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/kiile

[battema]

Actually got both the Kiile and Malignant Force this past weekend. I really like the sound of the Kiile quite a bit (it reminds me of the last Futurecop album that I love) although there are a few too many filter sweeps for my tastes (works well once or twice but every song...NAAAAAH).

This song has been getting quite a bit of love from me lately, although the balance of the album isn't quite as strong:

[battema]

Pretty solid. I don't think anyone's ever going to match Mark Shreeve's Legion and Crash Head for that sound. His compositions were dyn-o-mite!

The s/t by Kiile (find it on the main page) is simpler, but I like it more. Every track sounds like the end title to a mid-80s rom-com. Check out "Motion Pictures."

https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/kiile

I know Shreeve is pretty much in the realm of Redshift these days, but especially with the revival of that sound, I'd kind of love to hear him do something new in that Legion/Assassin vein.

Of course, I'd also love my promised copy of TD's Quantum Gate and a date night with Katy Perry so....well, there you go

[dropforge]

I know Shreeve is pretty much in the realm of Redshift these days, but especially with the revival of that sound, I'd kind of love to hear him do something new in that Legion/Assassin vein.

He veered hard into retro territory after he put out Nocturne on Chris Franke's label Sonic Images. But the funny thing is, he signed a contract for two albums on SI under his name. When he started up Redshift, he didn't have to worry about that, but I'm curious to this day why he never fulfilled that obligation. And honestly, I like Arc a lot more than Redshift. Arc's Fracture is the sequel to Rubycon you always wanted, where all previous attempts fell short.

It would be wunnerful if Mark completed/reprised his Legion/Crash Head/Nocturne saga. I won't hold my breath, though.

[battema]

Yeah...I dig the Arc releases quite a bit

[JKL2000]

Anyone up for some gay porn soundtrack music? Fun stuff! Found this on Bandcamp:

"Influenced by Tomita, Wendy Carlos, and Giorgio Moroder, Patrick crafted a singular sound from his collection of synthesizers, percussion, modified guitars, and hand-built equipment. The listener enters a world of forbidden vices, evocative of Patrick’s time spent in the bathhouses of San Francisco."

https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/12/0...owley-feature/

The first track linked in this article is really good!

[battema]

I came across Crowley somewhere along the way but was underwhelmed. I'm enjoying it a bit more this time around

[battema]

BTW...at the bottom of that article is a link to another article I read some time ago...several great finds in that one

https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/08/0...at-dont-exist/

[dropforge]

Anyone up for some gay porn soundtrack music? Fun stuff! Found this on Bandcamp:

"Influenced by Tomita, Wendy Carlos, and Giorgio Moroder, Patrick crafted a singular sound from his collection of synthesizers, percussion, modified guitars, and hand-built equipment. The listener enters a world of forbidden vices, evocative of Patrick’s time spent in the bathhouses of San Francisco."

https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/12/0...owley-feature/

The first track linked in this article is really good!

How does one not laugh at such a sentence?

In the 1980s, Njirich was in the electronic group BearEssence, who released a 12” single on Moby Dick Records.

[dropforge]

BTW...at the bottom of that article is a link to another article I read some time ago...several great finds in that one

https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/08/0...at-dont-exist/

Last time I checked that out, nothing really stood out for me. Which ones did you like best? I'll hit those first.

Also, if there's anything close(r) to that Kiile album, I need to know.

[battema]

Similar to Kiile? See if this works: https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/al...n-to-alvograth

The earlier College albums were pretty solid too: https://collegeoflove.bandcamp.com/album/heritage

For the pseudo-soundtracks? I dig the Geoff Barrow (but I like most everything he does including Portihead, so I'm biased ), the OGRE, HAEX-HRLL, and a couple of others.

[Progbear]

"circuit bent" yamaha ps-3

Wow! Usually when I see circuit bending, it means “short circuited to make it make glitch sounds that are only useful to bands that make sheer noise à la Merzbow,” not “transformed a cheap home keyboard into a real synthesizer.” He did the same thing with another Yamaha Portasound, complete with step sequencer. I wonder what he could do with my old Casio MT-100 (though I doubt I could afford to get it back once he was done with it!).

Anyone up for some gay porn soundtrack music? Fun stuff! Found this on Bandcamp:

"Influenced by Tomita, Wendy Carlos, and Giorgio Moroder, Patrick crafted a singular sound from his collection of synthesizers, percussion, modified guitars, and hand-built equipment. The listener enters a world of forbidden vices, evocative of Patrick’s time spent in the bathhouses of San Francisco."

https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/12/0...owley-feature/

The first track linked in this article is really good!

That’s quite a story! The music is interesting enough that I need to revisit it at some point. And I wonder if Cowley and I actually crossed paths at some time (like with Lou Harrison), only I just don’t remember it.

[battema]

Some cool new synth stuff for those who might be interested...

Carpenter Brut pulled a Radiohead and dropped their new album 'Leather Teeth' this week with little/no warning. It's excellent 80's synthwave music with a couple of vocal songs (one of which features Kristoffer from Ulver, super cool; the other is a bit almost "hair metal" but whatever).

https://carpenterbrut.bandcamp.com/album/leather-teeth

The other is an old/defunct band that some of you might recall, The Nightcrawlers. They did TD knockoff music in the 80's, and had a decent compilation album called 'Traveling Backwards' out some years ago. They just dropped a new double compilation of earlier material (i.e. none of it overlaps with Traveling Backwards) that is in a similar vein and easy to recommend to fans of that sound.

https://thenightcrawlerspa.bandcamp....box-recordings

Good times for electronic things!

[dropforge]

I'm sure a few of us know who Adelbert von Deyen is and own some of his albums. He passed away on February 13.

[dropforge]

The other is an old/defunct band that some of you might recall, The Nightcrawlers. They did TD knockoff music in the 80's, and had a decent compilation album called 'Traveling Backwards' out some years ago. They just dropped a new double compilation of earlier material (i.e. none of it overlaps with Traveling Backwards) that is in a similar vein and easy to recommend to fans of that sound.

https://thenightcrawlerspa.bandcamp....box-recordings

Ah, that's pretty cool. Years ago, I had their Barriers double-cassette. Forgot what I traded it for...

[battema]

I'm sure a few of us know who Adelbert von Deyen is and own some of his albums. He passed away on February 13.

Ah, that sucks. I'll have to pull out Sternzeit in memoriam. RIP

[Rarebird]

I'm sure a few of us know who Adelbert von Deyen is and own some of his albums. He passed away on February 13.

I know he had some albums on Sky Records, but actually, that is all I know about him. Perhaps I might explore him.

But still sad news.

[battema]

I can't find anything online about his passing, save for a post on an e-music forum...not that I doubt you or anything, but...well, this is one case where I'd love this to be an error.