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Interview

Interview: Joseph Branciforte (greyfade)

To coincide with his recent record collab with Theo Bleckmann, the gorgeous new ambient record named LP2, we had a chat with Joseph Branciforte – an electronic music magician and owner of possibly the most elegant and spotless record label on the planet – greyfade.

How would you describe your musical style as Joseph Branciforte & Theo Bleckmann?

I’m terrible at this kind of thing, but the writer Philip Sherburne recently described it as “oval reworking meredith monk” — or something to that effect. it’s improvised music created with voice, electronics, Fender Rhodes piano, and different analog & modular synthesizer elements. very texturally focused, but with a compositional bent & harmonic exploration that one might not usually find in traditional “ambient music.”

Can you share some insights into your collaborative creative process? Are you working remotely or in person?

this collaboration began with a series of completely improvised live performances between vocalist Theo Bleckmann and i back in 2018. so the foundation of the music (and the albums LP1 and LP2) has always been the two of us improvising together in a room. that said, I tend to spend a lot of time editing our recorded materials, so there is also an element of meditation/post-production involved, at least on the recordings. that is mostly me alone at my studio, sending versions to Theo to get his thoughts as things progress.

in a couple of instances on LP2, I decided I wanted to orchestrate things more explicitly, so I transcribed the improvisations and wrote some parts that Theo came back in to sing. but that was very much the exception. it’s usually very spontaneously created with a bunch of sifting to find the most compelling bits.

What software and hardware do you use in your music production setup, and how do these tools contribute to your sound? 

I’ve used a lot of different tools throughout the years, but the backbone of my setup for this music is the Fender Rhodes electric piano and a live looping system that I built in max/msp (or, earlier, pure data, back when I was using a critter & guattari organelle). the looping system does some very simple & specific things that I’ve always wanted in a hardware looper, but have never been able to find off-the-shelf. it allows for multiple asynchronous loops to be running simultaneously, all with independent playback speed, playback direction, stop/start points, panning, hpf / lpf cutoff frequencies, and a couple of aux sends. so it’s sort of like a multichannel mixer that has an independent looper on each channel.

using looped materials provides a built-in sense of harmonic & thematic unity, but the ability to vary the loop lengths and zero in on smaller sounds and patterns allows me to really react to what Theo is doing, which is often quite dynamic. it helps move the improvisation forward in interesting and unexpected ways, rather than being locked into a static environment for 45 minutes.

How do you approach sound design and synthesis as a duo, to create unique and distinctive sounds in your tracks?

I’ve known Theo’s music for many years, so the choice of collaborator is probably the most important element of “sound design” in this case. because theo has such a harmonically rich voice & a wide range, I always think in terms of “framing” the voice… moving toward the edges of the spectral canvas… super low and super high frequencies… and keeping my sounds drier and more precise. if I’m always in the middle register and using a bunch of effects, things can get soupy quickly. That informs my choice of sound sources, spectra, envelopes, etc.

Could you talk about your mixing and mastering techniques? What are some of your go-to plugins or effects?

I mix with a hybrid setup, using a DAW like pro tools with plugins, plus a variety of outboard gear as inserts, aux sends, or 2-buss processors. I’m a recording engineer by trade, so i really like to pay attention to how sounds are recorded on the way in. For the records with Theo, we tracked his voice with a pretty complicated chain including 3 microphones (chandler redd, aea r84, copperphone), each multed to different compressors, and then his looper and effects chains recorded to their own stereo tracks. so mixing becomes less about inventing a sound, than it is about blending the sources you already captured. it’s a similar approach to my looping setup, where different elements are recorded onto different tracks, which allows some flexibility in mixing.

I like analog tube compressors for voice, like the Chandler rs124, Highland Dynamics bg 2, and Acme Opticom. for the 2-buss, I use a dangerous liaison routing unit with a dangerous s&m, thermionic Phoenix compressor, neve 33609, and API 5550 eq on inserts. I’m a big fan of outboard spring reverbs like the Benson studio tallbird, the Roland space echo’s built-in spring, and other tanks that I have routed through a doepfer eurorack spring reverb module. also a big fan of using guitar pedals when mixing. plugins never really excite me that much, but I use all the regular stuff… uad, fabfilter, soundtoys, etc.

Are you planning on performing this material live?

there are some shows in the works, yes!

What’s next?

I’m currently editing a duo album I recorded with a great Belgian keyboard player named Jozef Dumoulin. jozef really influenced my approach to using the Fender Rhodes piano with effects, and so it’s a real thrill to be able to make an album with him. That should be out sometime later in 2024. 

my record label greyfade is heading into its sixth year and we’ve got at least 3 large-scale records coming out in 2024. one is a project that i produced, arranged, and recorded for Taylor Deupree that will be jointly released by greyfade and his label 12k in April. the other two are follow-up releases from greyfade artists Kenneth Kirschner and Christopher Otto that I recorded and produced. all three projects will arrive in a new album release format that I’ve been working out over the last few months, as an alternative to vinyl and CD.

LP2 is available now on vinyl and digital via the label’s website and Bandcamp.

Categories
Ambient Electro-Acoustic Premiere

PREMIERE: Kosmorama – Your Path You Must Decide

Serein – Oct 14th 2022
Flatland Frequencies · PREMIERE: Kosmorama – Your Path You Must Decide

Ahead of the official release this Friday, Kosmorama have shared with us the opening track from their new LP of same name, via the Serein label. We’re loving the juxtaposition of horns, electronics and decaying textures in this piece.

After studying and living together, Christian Grothe (Kryshe) and Gregor Lener come together ten years later under the name Kosmorama. Inspired by science fiction, they create improvised cosmic jazz music with trumpet, home made DIY synths and samplers.

Pre-orders via bandcamp!

Categories
Ambient Minimal Premiere Synth

PREMIERE: Loula Yorke – Silverweed

Tigerforce: 23/9/22
Flatland Frequencies · PREMIERE: Loula Yorke – Silverweed

Ahead of her new album ‘Florescence’ coming this Friday 23rd Sept, Loula Yorke has kindly shared the opening track from the release.

‘Silverweed’ is one of a number of synth improvs recorded between January and May this year and takes influence from the growing season of the wildflower meadow outside her window in Suffolk.

We’re loving this focused, yet free-form approach across her fourth solo album and strongly suggest setting a reminder to pick up a copy from her bandcamp on Friday.

Categories
Ambient Drone Interview Premiere

Premiere: Polypores – Secretions Of Memory (Woodford Halse)

Woodford Halse – Release: August 2022

Woodford Halse and Polypores are two musical entities that encompass the term prolific, as label and artist both outputting a shit ton of great music and with impressive regularity. Seeing Polypores’ upcoming return to the label with new album ‘Infinite Interiors’ felt like a good opportunity to give a taste of the sounds, as well as some exclusive insights from the artist himself.

Grab a brew, hit play and read on…

Flatland Frequencies · Premiere: Polypores – Secretions Of Memory (Woodford Halse)

So, this is by no means your first rodeo, how did Infinite Interiors come into being?  

Like most of my albums in recent years, it wasn’t something I thought about too much, it was just sort of spewed out from the mysterious and perhaps mystical source from which all my music comes. I just had to create the environment (and the synth patches) to allow it to happen. It was kind of a dark time for me, there was a somewhat difficult personal situation which had been going on for some time, which I’d sort of dipped my toe into trying to process. And I think that fed into the music a fair bit, there’s a sort of darkness to the album. And a distinct lack of control. I think I perhaps made something that sounded vast and maybe a bit intimidating in places, which reflected the idea that I was processing stuff that I’d perhaps been in denial about. 

So it’s kind of a subconscious exploration where a few internal barriers are broken down. I was reading “Piranesi” by Suzanna Clarke at the time, which I think influenced it to some extent. I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone but a lot of the same themes are there. And perhaps the vast halls in that story were an influence on the deep, cavernous sound I was going for too.

Are you using a particular or unique approach to this cassette, compared to whats come before? 

Well obviously it’s a lot more personal than most other Polypores records. Or at least it came from a place that I’m less comfortable sharing with people. Mining a different seam, so to speak. I fought it at first, because I generally like to make music that’s ultimately uplifting, or at least leaves a fairly pleasant taste in the mouth. Whilst this isn’t totally depressing, there are darker elements that I wouldn’t have included in previous albums. But it turned out to be quite cathartic by the end, the process of finishing it. The second half is a bit more uplifting, and eventually there’s a resolution to it. It’s not like obviously so, but I think that sort of confusion works for it. It’s like anything in the subsconscious – it can be both beautiful and frightening.

Technique – wise it was my first use of the Soma Pipe, which is a very weird voice synthesizer (like a psychedelic space kazoo) that ended up on a couple of tracks. So technically it’s the first Polypores album to feature my own voice too. It was also my first album using the Make Noise DPO as a primary oscillator, so it’s got a sort of raw, dirty sound to it. The two albums I’d recorded previously (Hyperincandescent and Crystal Shop) was very clean and bright sounding. Most albums I record tend to be a sort of sonic opposite to the previous one and I think this is no exception. It’s also got a track called The Flux which is 19 minutes long and was recorded on the afternoon of Christmas Day, which was my 40th birthday. I thought I’d give myself a present, and that present was that I got to record a massive big drifty 19 minute track. I didn’t worry about length, I just sat there in a nice wine/food haze and made this massive soundscape, which I think really is the heart of the album.

Does your recent foray into live synth practice, influence your studio work (and visa versa?)

I have been playing synths live for a good 6 years or so now, but it did definitely (and still does continue to) influence my studio work. So when I first started out with Polypores it was purely a studio project. But then Joe from Concréte Tapes (who released my first proper album and is at least 75% responsible for any success I’ve had) kept asking me to play live, so I found a way to make it happen. 

I was never happy with it at first – then i worked out that was because I was trying to replicate my studio tracks in a live environment, and putting too much pressure on myself. So I started writing pieces of music specifically to be performed live. That made the whole thing easier because I wasn’t trying to replicate any kind of multitracked perfection. But then I started to move increasingly towards just recording live, to a point where, for every album I’ve done since Azure, I just record totally live with no overdubs. Sure I have less control over the mixing etc, but it has that magic feel to it that you just can’t replicate with overdubbing, in my opinion. It’s like that excitement and energy that comes from a performance. My background was really always in rock music, playing guitar/drums in bands and stuff. I learned there that it’s better for me to get the energy of a live take, than pore over multtracking and overdubs. I just lose interest and it sounds too forced.I’m not interested in perfection, I’m interested in getting something down that has my heart and soul in it. And multitracking sucks my soul. Because it feels like work rather than play.

I’ve recently done a few gigs with the Lyra 8 synthesizer, which kind of takes that to another level because it’s somewhat unpredictable. But I sort of enjoy that. Even though I’m someone who very much needs certainty and routine in most areas of my life, when it comes to music, I like to be able to escape that a bit. 

What’s Next?

Gig wise I have plenty coming up, all which will be on my modular system rather than the Lyra, as I feel like I was abandoning it a bit. I’ll list them below. I have an album out later in the year for Castles In Space, which has been delayed big time due to all the vinyl manufacture problems, but it’s going to be a really special package and I can’t wait for you to hear it and see the gorgeous cover. I’ve also just recorded an album using the Lyra, which we’re finalising the cover for now. That should be out next year via Frequency Domain. That’s as far as I’m going into the future for now, but if I die or retire after answering this questions then there’s two more out there which are musically finished, and I’m confident that the labels will treat them with respect and donate a portion of the money to a suitable charity.

I’ve also got some more stuff planned for my sample-based side project ZENYA, and as always more niche treats for my subscribers on Bandcamp. I think it’s important to keep busy!

Polypores live:

  • 19/08 – Carnival Brewing Company, Liverpool
  • 23/09 – The Ferret, Preston
  • 01/10 – Just Dropped In, Coventry 
  • 20/11 – The Continental, Preston (supporting Zombie Zombie)

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Categories
Interview Minimal Software

Interview: Greg Davis

greyfade – release: 23/9/22

We caught up with Vermont-based producer and record shop owner Greg Davis, for a chat on his sublime new record, upcoming on the greyfade label. ‘New Primes’ is based on a bespoke max/msp patch, to translate prime number sequences into a web of pure microtonal sine waves and Greg gives us some insights on his compositional and technical process.

  • Tell us a bit on how this record came to light.

Joe Branciforte, owner of greyfade, emailed me back in 2016 because he had discovered my Primes CD (released on my own Autumn Records label in 2009) and was really into it. The conversation started with a back and forth about how i made that music & geeking out about the max/MSP patch i built for it but after awhile Joe encouraged me to make a newer, updated version of my software system & try to develop some new music from it. in 2018, he was starting to launch greyfade and asked me to make a record for his new label. i kept working on my patch and rebuilding it for an 8 channel performance at the Fridman Gallery in 2019. then from 2019-2021 i worked on finalizing the current patch and recording many different prime number set outputs from it. in 2020, i spent a couple of days with Joe at his studio mixing a bunch of pieces intended for the record. then we worked on selecting, editing, and sequencing the 6 pieces you hear on the record. New Primes is a distinct evolution from Primes but still retains a similar soundworld and tuning relationships.

  • Which came first, composition or software (for you)?

For this specific New Primes music, the idea of using prime number sets as a way to determine frequency and tuning relationships came about in 2008 when i was invited by Duane Pitre to compose something for a compilation of music in Just Intonation for Important Records. i wanted to find a unique and personal way to approach JI and this is what i came up with. once i landed on the idea of using prime number sets to set the parameters for all aspects of this generative music then i set about building a max/MSP patch to realize the ideas. I think that when i was first starting with max/MSP i did alot more experimentation, breaking apart existing patches, messing with stuff, building things up from basic tutorial patches, just seeing what specific objects could and discovering cool sounds and things that way, but now, since ive been programming with max/MSP for over 20 years now, i usually start with an idea and build a patch to realize it. as you know though, there is always exapnsion and exploration whenever you build something, it starts as one thing but keeps growing and evolving over time, especially the more you use it. 

  • Any tips you can share on your patching  process? How does a session begin for you on max/msp?

my patching process is always a bit different, but usually it is in service of a musical idea that i want to create. once i build up some basic parts of what im trying to do then it grows and develops from there as i try to refine it and use it make whatever music im trying to make. a patching session can begin in a bunch of different ways for me, sometimes i like to experiment and play around with different sets of objects and their tutorial patches, ripping and pulling bits of patches from different places as i start to put things together. but usually i just start with the blank page! which is one of the most beautiful things about max/MSP. in the end, my patching is always guided by my ear and trying to achieve something that im trying to do sonically / musically. experiments & messing around with patches are good starting points but i always try to refine them to create some sort of sounds that im really resonating with or discover some new sounds that really turns me on or something that im imagining ahead of time for a certain piece of music. 

  • What’s next? Any plans to perform this material live?

as for this Primes material, i think this is my final statement with this software system and music. it feels like a good resting place for it after the initial ideas sprouted almost 15 years ago now. its cool to take a longer arc of time on something and watch it develop over many years and im really happy with the results of New Primes. i would like to perform this music live a bit after the record comes out. my time and energy for touring and playing shows is super limited these days (i have a family and i own a record shop here in Vermont) but id like to get out there a bit and present this music in different spaces and contexts.

‘New Primes’ is available to pre-order on vinyl/digital at greyfade and their Bandcamp

Categories
Electro Premiere

PREMIERE: FRB BIOSCAN DEVICES (LUZ1Es MECHANICAL CUT)

Censor Music – Release: 15/7/22
Flatland Frequencies · PREMIERE: FRB BIOSCAN DEVICES (LUZ1Es MECHANICAL CUT)

Clean n crispy electro in from the Censor Music base. Tasty premiere of the forward driving remix here from LUZ1E, who takes the bass-weighty F.R.B title track and gives it a more spacious landing pad. Production on this is top-notch, check it on some decent speakers!

Categories
Premiere Techno

Premiere: Komo B – Orbit (EPM Music)

‘Orbit’ is the title track for Komo B’s debut EP on EPM music. We present a short interview below:

1. You’ve been collecting records and mixing for some years now. What inspired you to begin and what has been the most memorable thing along the way?

Yes indeed.  It is all about the music.  I grew up in Maastricht and there were squat parties with different music like techno, electro, acid, deephouse, disco etcetera… So, it were the local DJs that inspired me to start playing records and buying synths and drummachines.  The squat parties at Vendex were memorable.  After, there were others like 10daysoff in Gent but can’t say really which one is the most memorable.
 

2. What was the inspiration for taking the leap into producing your own music? Was it a straightforward process?
 
I was already playing trumpet and piano when I got into electronic music.  I just wanted to explore the (new) electronic sounds of synthesizers, effects, drummachines etcetera and to create.  So yes, it was a straightforward process and still is.
 
3. What are your hopes for the future? Musically or otherwise.
 
I hope to make some more EPs, records and an album.  I would like to do some radio shows and to continue DJing as well.

4. What is your message to the world? What do people need to know?
 
Dance like a bird
Don’t judge someone
Enjoy nature

Categories
Ambient Feature Premiere

PREMIERE: Jo Johnson – Track 3 – Less Popular Than Cats

Flatland Frequencies · [PREMIERE] Jo Johnson – Track 3 – Less Popular Than Cats

We’re pleased to share this exclusive premiere of track 3 from ‘Less Popular Than Cats’ compilation, by Jo Johnson – released next week on Verdant Recordings. A beautifully pulsating long-form piece, which gently ebbs and flows in a particularly organic manner, like leaves floating on an expansive loch.

Categories
Feature Premiere Techno

PREMIERE: Tudor Acid – A Static Electricity Overload (Tudor Beats)

A highly personal theme for Tudor Acid on this new release is close identification with the emotions of cyborg and robotic characters in fiction. The character portrayed by the album (who Tudor Acid says is “obviously a stand in for me”) is on a mission to prove that its machine-generated or machine-mediated emotions are as equally valid as purely organic ones.

Following a two-year hiatus, he returns to the Tudor Beats label with a new album, ‘Empathy for Cyborgs’.

Flatland Frequencies · PREMIERE: Tudor Acid – A Static Electricity Overload (Tudor Beats)

What results is an album which represents the conflict between one’s own sense of self – and external, negative perceptions from others.

The cover drawing of Tower Bridge was intended as a counterpoint to this – the sense of a digitally constructed brain demonstrating its sentience and humanity in the process of the art being generated.

Artist: Tudor Acid
Title: Empathy for Cyborgs
Label: Tudor Beats
Cat. No: TB-2626
Format: Digital
Released: 27 January 2022

Categories
Dub-techno Electro Feature House Techno

2021 Flatland Favourites – Electro / Techno / House

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V/A – Mood Compiled 2 (Greyscale)

Star_Dub – Voodub EP (Dubwax)

Jon Dixon – Detroit Get Down (4evr4wrd)

V/A – Dark Planet (Avoidant)

Roi – Crunia EP (Fanzine)

Detroit’s Filthiest – Fight To The Finish EP (Defrostatica)

V/A – Consortium Vol 3. (Motech)

CYMBA – Secret Loser (Obole)

Jayson Wynters – Filtered Xploits (Eon)