Results 1 to 12 of 12

Thread: Electronic Music by Adam Grzyb ... or the benefits of COVID-19

  1. #1

    Electronic Music by Adam Grzyb ... or the benefits of COVID-19

    Within the music created specifically in relation to the isolation due to COVID-19, it is not unusual to find clips/streams from known artists; however, it is quite exciting to find someone totally unknown and yet producing some quality music. For me this has been the case with the electronic music by Adam Grzyb. At first I spotted his music on You Tube and immediately was fascinated that someone can create and play a quite good quality electronic music live and seemingly effortlessly.

    I am not the expert on electronic music, especially from the musician's side, but undoubtedly we have quite a few such experts here. It would be great if some of you could share what you think of it, of course with the nod to the fact that it is music played live. The videos for all the tracks can be accessed from the link below:

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPV...hyGOcBg/videos

    There is also the bandcamp site for it, embedded here. The music is the same as in the videos but here it is more in the proper album format, that also can be downloaded. If you go to the bandcamp page itself you will find a couple more albums by Grzyb, although, in a different style. Both are quite interesting as well, although, one seems to be music for children "Bajki" (Fairy Tales) and the other one "Naprzod" (Onward) with more instruments and vocal as well.



    What you think, is it or ?
    "Confusion Will Be My Epitaph"

  2. #2
    Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2019
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    3,297
    Like you, I am not an electronic music expert or a musician. However, as a lay person who is an avid fan of electronic music and even electronica, I like what I am hearing in the Adam Grzyb album above. It reminds me a little of what Vangelis was doing early on (circa "Spiral"), but it moves to a more ambitious beat, if you will.

    Thanks for posting this.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by SunRunner2 View Post
    Like you, I am not an electronic music expert or a musician. However, as a lay person who is an avid fan of electronic music and even electronica, I like what I am hearing in the Adam Grzyb album above. It reminds me a little of what Vangelis was doing early on (circa "Spiral"), but it moves to a more ambitious beat, if you will.

    Thanks for posting this.
    Thank you for your comment. Glad you responded as reading back my message it almost looks as if I were expecting mostly comments from experts, and that's not what I meant.
    Anyway, not sure you or anyone else had a chance to look up the videos but perhaps these recordings should have been titled "Music from the Bedroom" ... it looks so casual, down to earth.
    "Confusion Will Be My Epitaph"

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by PCMusic View Post
    Thank you for your comment. Glad you responded as reading back my message it almost looks as if I were expecting mostly comments from experts, and that's not what I meant.
    Anyway, not sure you or anyone else had a chance to look up the videos but perhaps these recordings should have been titled "Music from the Bedroom" ... it looks so casual, down to earth.
    Below are the first three clips in the order of the album:





    "Confusion Will Be My Epitaph"

  5. #5
    The next three:





    "Confusion Will Be My Epitaph"

  6. #6
    And the last two:



    "Confusion Will Be My Epitaph"

  7. #7
    Cool, thanks for sharing this Nice sense of melody and he keeps the underlying arrangement from getting too static. Pretty neat that he did the whole thing as a video series too.

    Fun tech fact: the middle controller he's using is a CME XKey 37, which is a super thin keyboard (not sure, but it looks as if it was made to visually compliment most Apple systems) and one of the first of the more recent keybeds to offer polyphonic aftertouch. This is the first time I've seen an XKey being used in the wild, and I am pretty sure I can hear Adam using the polyAT in a few of the songs...so, very cool!

    It's always fascinating to see how different folks manage to pull off a fairly lush sound in a live context. Apparently the whole "Direct" system created for Vangelis in the 80's (and his primary tool since) was a mix of footswitches, pedals and controls to basically let him "compose, arrange, perform and produce" all his music spontaneously in the moment. This video was part of a documentary on the dude, released a few years ago, showing him with the system in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b1xJYCrKDU
    If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
    https://battema.bandcamp.com/

    Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com

  8. #8
    Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Sussex, England.
    Posts
    3,092
    Sounds good, thanks.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    Cool, thanks for sharing this Nice sense of melody and he keeps the underlying arrangement from getting too static. Pretty neat that he did the whole thing as a video series too.
    I guess it means

    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    Fun tech fact: the middle controller he's using is a CME XKey 37, which is a super thin keyboard (not sure, but it looks as if it was made to visually compliment most Apple systems) and one of the first of the more recent keybeds to offer polyphonic aftertouch. This is the first time I've seen an XKey being used in the wild, and I am pretty sure I can hear Adam using the polyAT in a few of the songs...so, very cool!
    So great to have experts here on board, I would have no clue with regard to the technical side of it. What struck me most there was the fact that usually I have envisioned someone playing a music like this to be surrounded by tons of keyboards, synthesisers etc. , and here you have a guy who fits everything (true - three keyboards) on a small bedroom desk and under it, and yet with lush live sound ... I find it quite amazing.

    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    It's always fascinating to see how different folks manage to pull off a fairly lush sound in a live context. Apparently the whole "Direct" system created for Vangelis in the 80's (and his primary tool since) was a mix of footswitches, pedals and controls to basically let him "compose, arrange, perform and produce" all his music spontaneously in the moment. This video was part of a documentary on the dude, released a few years ago, showing him with the system in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b1xJYCrKDU
    Thanks for the cool video, it seems Adam's set-up is quite similar to that of Vangelis - keyboards, foot switches etc. ... just on the smaller scale perhaps
    "Confusion Will Be My Epitaph"

  10. #10
    IMHO it's all about workflow: in the Vangelis video you can see, he doesn't just sit down and magic happens...he has to sit there and kind of "set everything up" in advance so that once he starts playing, the the right sounds and the right pedals are all working. I'm sure Adam's setup is very similar...he clearly knows what happens where.

    As for the smallish scale...he's using an open-source digital synth module (maybe he built it himself?). That tech has reached a point where you can have a CRAZY amount of power in a very small form factor. There's a sacrifice, of course...a small synth module doesn't have the inherent tweakability of a big fat synth with a zillion knobs...but that's not always everyone's cuppa either. And he clearly uses expressive gestures (velocity, aftertouch, etc.) to maximize the performance.

    So...very cool
    If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
    https://battema.bandcamp.com/

    Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    IMHO it's all about workflow: in the Vangelis video you can see, he doesn't just sit down and magic happens...he has to sit there and kind of "set everything up" in advance so that once he starts playing, the the right sounds and the right pedals are all working. I'm sure Adam's setup is very similar...he clearly knows what happens where.

    As for the smallish scale...he's using an open-source digital synth module (maybe he built it himself?). That tech has reached a point where you can have a CRAZY amount of power in a very small form factor. There's a sacrifice, of course...a small synth module doesn't have the inherent tweakability of a big fat synth with a zillion knobs...but that's not always everyone's cuppa either. And he clearly uses expressive gestures (velocity, aftertouch, etc.) to maximize the performance.

    So...very cool
    Wow, thanks for these interesting clues as to the set-ups, I guess it takes musician to see these, wouldn't have a clue as to what is what. It just adds to my amazement and curiosity of Adam's music there. Like you noticed it must have taken him a lot of work and ingenuity to pull off what he has achieved, and all this in the true spirit of pioneers of the electronic music ....
    Btw, thanks for the thumbs up
    "Confusion Will Be My Epitaph"

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    ....

    As for the smallish scale...he's using an open-source digital synth module (maybe he built it himself?). That tech has reached a point where you can have a CRAZY amount of power in a very small form factor. There's a sacrifice, of course...a small synth module doesn't have the inherent tweakability of a big fat synth with a zillion knobs...but that's not always everyone's cuppa either. And he clearly uses expressive gestures (velocity, aftertouch, etc.) to maximize the performance.

    So...very cool

    Well, I am a bit embarrassed for not finding it earlier and kudos to you for catching the synthesiser used there. The information is right there at the You Tube websites underneath his videos. Not sure of what significance is the Zynthian name there other than being, as cited there, "The Open Synth Platform" ... but this seems to indicate that he built it himself. Again, kudos for catching it

    *******************************
    Lockdown Bedroom live - 14.05.2020
    Sounds:
    Zynthian - The Open Synth Platform - zynthian.org
    &
    Yamaha QY70
    Music by Grzyb
    www.grzyb.waw.pl
    grzyb.bandcamp.com
    "Confusion Will Be My Epitaph"

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •