Electroacoustic Piano Concert via Modular Synthesis

The last time I performed a series of electroacoustic piano pieces was November of 2016 (click the link for an audio example). However, I am always imagining interesting ways that the piano, one of the most ancient of all synthesizers ;-), can be processed, resampled, or re-synthesized. To that end I was recently offered an opportunity to play at Berlin, Not the city in Germany but the music venue in Minneapolis, on April 15, 2024.

In my previous performance I had used a Korg KP3+ and a Minifooger delay to simply sample and process the piano. While that simplicity allowed me to focus more on composing, this time I wanted to take a more flexible and unique approach to the electronics. Modular allows for this so I pillaged some modules from my main system and purchased a Happy Nerding FX AID XL to make an electroacoustic skiff designed for sampling, resampling, filtering, and processing incoming acoustic piano signals. From right to left the system includes Bela.io Gliss, Make Noise Morphagene, ALM Pamela’s Pro Workout, Make Noise Maths, Shakmat Dual Dagger, Electrosmith patch.init(), Happy Nerding FX AID XL, and Intellijel Outs. Continue reading

Places Above the Air Debut Release

Places Above the Air is a collaboration between myself and Jesse Whitney. Out today, the album features eight tracks of “a surreal blend of IDM, ambient techno, and Berlin School work, with the song titles encapsulating a passage from the Egyptian Book Of The Dead” (as translated by Normandi Ellis). Mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios. Pick it up on Bandcamp or give it a listen below.

Jesse also produced this video for the second track, yet I see with the eye of the sun as if it came to rest on my forehead.

ACB Live Volume 4 Stream Archive

If you missed the Twitch.TV/AudioCookbook stream from May 2023 featuring Cody McKinney the entire performance is archived in four parts on YouTube. Unfortunately my GoPro Hero8 failed to connect as a webcam, so I ended up using the camera on my MacBook Pro. My Hero8 turned out to be defective and GoPro is kindly sending me a Hero9 to replace it.

Although the video quality is not what I’d like I recorded the audio in multitrack then, mixed it, and applied some rudimentary mastering. As a result the archived videos sound better than the original stream. Enjoy!

Sample Glitching on the Dirtywave M8

The Dirtywave M8 has been consistently sneaking its way into my music workflow these days. One of the things I really enjoy doing with it is sample glitching. There are so many generative techniques possible when it comes to the tracker and how it is integrated with the sampling instrument. Things like chance, playback rate, direction, start position, randomization and anything else that makes the sample instrument get weird are really interesting and effective approaches to sample manipulation.

In this clip I have several rows of chains which include instruments, each with different samples and ways that the samples are being juggled and twisted. This involves chance and randomness applied to everything from delaying the note to reversing the playback direction. All the samples are sounds that I either recorded or made using synthesis or other sound design techniques. The range of possible textures is remarkable even without a wide range of samples to work with.

ACB Live, Volume 2: Video Artist Chris LeBlanc

AudioCookbook Live, Volume 2 is happening tonight, Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 7:30 and will feature video artist Chris LeBlanc. This fundraiser for The Link is a free streaming concert with optional donations. I will be improvising music based on LeBlanc’s improvised visuals creating a vicious cycle of mind melding, psychological, feedback loops. A special thanks goes out to Charles Hainsworth for donating his time and expertise in videography and streaming. Check it out on Twitch.TV/AudioCookbook at 7:30pm.