Anticipating SYRO the new (2014) album by Aphex Twin

lots of abstract buchla jams. playing this simultaneously is making that new pink floyd album go down a lot easier.

ha, just got to the point in the interview where hecker forwards him a ludicrous french TV documentary about them installing the 4X at IRCAM. I hope this is a ten part interview, I wouldn't get bored

he's right that barely anyone used the Publison apart from Parmegiani on 'Creation du Monde' (those things were expensive) -- the only other person who went to town with it, specifically as a live instrument, was Carl Stone, on 'Dong Il Jong' & 'Shibucho' - http://www.sukothai.com/v.2/CSMusic.html

the tracks are in that interview that Branwell linked! (amazing btw)

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvX6nX1_P7vmBX6pwTjEHgV6FKSPuYZpJ

none of the tracks on syro were multi tracked into the computer , they were all recorded live to 2 track, which is kinda insane but the way i like it.

um wat

i mean i know he made his loops and patches beforehand and the tracks do sound kinda loose and live BUT STILL

the 3XLP is like $10.50 on US amazon right now

...only on Prime, currently out of stock :(

recording electronic music live to 2 track is really not a big deal, lots of people do it and at some point most people did it. It doesn't mean the parts aren't sequenced by any number of hardware sequencers and computers. Most of the structure can be defined in sequencers, changes can be improvised on the fly or pre-determined and played, and the mix is set then you just hit record and play it. Even glitchy bits that sound computer processed can be chopped up and edited in the computer or in a hardware sample...and triggered live with the sequence.

due to my era of recording I still can't quite understand that process. how do you orchestrate so many parts with multiple sequencers? how do you move parts around? try stacking different parts in different combinations? when you record everything to 2 track do you have to have all of your synths on, and sequenced live from some series of sequencers that are all synced up? I guess I'd understand this if I spent time with the hardware but it's so foreign to me.

It's like ableton live but with lots of MIDI and CV and DIN sync. Remember editing multitrack audio wasn't commonly feasible until the mid 90s. Some pretty impressive stuff was done before that. There are parts of Syro and other new stuff that I think is sonically influenced by sounds and structures that were derived from more current styles of computer processing, but that doesn't mean you need a computer to do it. And adding samplers adds a whole level of glitchery. Instead of triggering a sequence, you're trigging a sample of a measure of music for instance, and maybe you cut and pasted it in the sampler. You'll be able to do things similar to what you'd be doing editing audio in a computer. I mean, Public Enemy wasn't recorded to a computer and most of it wasn't even sequenced, people were triggering sample loops by hand.

I guess I understsand it in principle, but it's just very hard for me to imagine doing. I'm so used to hitting 'record' on a synth line (or anything really) and then working on it further from there (dragging it around, adding effects, chopping it up etc.).
some day I'll buy a sequencer and things will be illuminated.

I'm trying to get better to sticking with hardware because the more I work in the computer, the more lost I get, just recording track after track and bit after bit figuring I'll edit it down later and then getting stuck with tons of crap in my software (I use Digital Performer for what that's worth). I do my initial sequencing with an MPC1000 and am trying to do more of the structuring/"composition" in that and only transferring to computer (multi-track) at the end allowing me to do final edits. But just using an MPC can be limited, which is sometimes a pro. However there are other forms of sequencers that are more flexible or interesting, like the Circlon that's clearly all over Syro or stuff like the Elektron samplers/sequencers/drum machines. But also as mentioned, all the editing and structure may still be in the computer, but he may be using the computer as a non-digital sequencer, which is how most people did it for years and years. If you couldn't afford a Synclavier or whatever. Why 'record" a synth line, making it static audio to be edited, when you can sequence it, grab the notes, move them around, tweak them however, and still be able to tweak the sound as it's being played back during the final mix.

interesting geek talk here: http://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/2fkavm/full_gear_list_used_on_new_aphex_twin_album/

I just like to record things then turn the synths off I guess. I use DP too btw.
I'm trying to change the way I work lately though, so a sequener might be my next step. But I guess this is "I Make Music" territory now. xpost

I actually started IMM and was the orig moderator but then I wasn't doing much with music for a while and stopped looking at it!

The way you work was a revelation to me because there were a few years when the last time I had worked on music, everything had to be sequenced, and now suddenly audio was possible, and I thought, why wouldn't you prefer to sequence it? That way you could quantize it, edit it, change the sound later etc. But I understood the benefit of just recording parts live, including non-quantized parts, and just the ability to record something that doesn't have midi or sync. I have an old track where almost all of the melody is just me tracking riffs on my Arp Solina, thinking I'd find one or two to use, and just basically editing out the really shitty ones and repeating the ones I like, but still you can hear me running through/tracking these solina riffs. https://soundcloud.com/newyorkendless/new-town-altered

I actually tend to do a lot of quantizing and adjustment of midi followed by endless tweaking of the patch I'm working with, but when I've gotten the midi and the sound "right" finally I'm usually eager to turn it into sound that can be chopped, filtered, and moved around (all the effects I've got these days are in the computer too, which isn't romantic but is cheap).

It *is* a problem sometimes when I've got one of those perfected and recorded lines and then weeks later I realize I want to change a few notes.

New Die Antwoord single is based around Ageispolis. It's a great song to sample but kinda wished someone else had used it.

Ugh, I mean, I know they're friends and all, but still... ugh.

Have gotten to the point with this album where I couldn't care less if it's "innovative" or whatever.

(and this is worth mentioning, for me, because that used to be part of what I valued in his music. most of ya'll were already there I guess.)

congratulations! ps if you listen to it another 1000 times you unlock the 'album of the year' badge

never change

Trying to work out if 'innovative' is a strawman at this point. I'm in the 'Syro is good but disappointing' camp, myself, despite being very prepared to accept that it wouldn't be innovative before hearing it, whatever that may mean. I don't think this is quite the appropriate word for why I appreciated his earlier work though. 'Innovation' can mean a lot of things and it's all relative. Innovative in relation to what - the current musical climate, or his own work?

So it's nothing groundbreaking, sure, but I just don't get the same buzz from Syro as I did from his earlier stuff, nor from a lot of recent analogous electronic music. I was listening to some Siriusmo tracks from a couple of years back and thinking how exciting and fluid they sounded. That Objekt album just jumps out so much and keeps me interested far more than Syro. I also think the last Autechre is more interesting and worthy of 2014 listening to Syro, which really isnt much different to the more beaty stuff on Druqks with improved sound design.

So maybe I do prize innovation but it's something else too. This music is kind of restrained for Aphex, despite the crazy beatwork. I kind of hear him drinking a nice red wine while making these tunes, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I can't really discern much between the individual songs while some of them, like 180dB is only remarkable because it sounds so basic and clunky.

I think the issue is that Syro doesn't appear to defy belief, as his earlier records did, where the listener was overwhelmed by all the audio data and struggled to process/understand it. Syro is...easier to comprehend, and in comparison, a bit disappointing. I mean, I like it a lot! But it's not making my top 10, or even top 20.

which really isnt much different to the more beaty stuff on Druqks with improved sound design

for some reason way more engaging to me than Druqks, but I should revisit that album.

it's absurd that there's some 'standard of innovation' that people are holding aphex twin to... i started listening late (post-drukqs) and it took me a bit to recognize the level of craft going on in the music. i've come to regard (analord, the tuss) as high quality music. Syro, while it's a bit more refined or whatever, maintains that level of quality and detail. A couple of the tracks are dud-y, but then there are usually tracks on his other albums i'll skip.

the beatier tracks on Drukqs sound more painstakingly crafted and detailed than the dense tracks on Syro. The action/detail going on in the last couple tracks (papat4 + earth portal) before the piano bit is fucking ultra.

i mean, is saw vol. ii regarded for its innovation, or because it contains affecting ambient tracks?

still waiting to get bored of this album. it's very comforting.

i mean, is saw vol. ii regarded for its innovation, or because it contains affecting ambient tracks?

― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Tuesday, December 2, 2014 9:39 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Both, maybe?

I mean, there's a reason it's largely regarded as being in its own category outside most other 90s ambient.

i think aphex twin just gets lazily conferred status as a great innovator b/c for many he is the godhead of idm, a genre partially defined by a mythology of innovation.

again, 'innovation' isn't really the word here. I think Raymond is OTM above - it's not a matter of 'oh rdj, he's seriously innovating on this record', but part of the fun (for me) was the shock of the new and/or the rush of remarkable ideas. I never thought of Aphex as an innovator in the same sense as Delia Derbyshire or even Eno; but there was always a feeling that he was pushing his personal boundaries (and the listeners' senses) to the extreme - whether it was Bouncing Bucephalus Ball, Windowlicker or SAWII there was always the sense of the unsafe, like the whole train could just buckle and derail at any point.

Syro, to me, is nice music but it sounds very 'safe' and almost fussily so, like he's spent so long carving out this space for himself and now he's happy to just live in it. Of course, it's fair to say that if it's good music then what's the problem and that we shouldn't hold artists up to these high standards. But man... this is RDJ we're talking about here. Sounds maybe a bit ridiculous but in my eyes he was the Simpsons or the Star Wars of leftfield electronic music, and like these other franchises there came a point where the surface quality didn't so much dip, but the initial thrill was dissipated. And yeah, I'm a high-maintenance, over-demanding fan, but when a release is 'good enough', it's not really good enough for me, sadly.

fwiw he mentioned that he has more "difficult" music that he hasn't released

idk if that does not include the soundcloud tracks

i was looking for those soundcloud tracks the other day and it looks like they've been taken down?

the soundcloud uploads were mostly fragments & demos, not full tracks

played bit 4 and papat4 for my parents, while driving them around town. my mother's all "I LIKE this." and "is somebody playing those drums?" ....first time she's ever said such a thing about music I listen to.

probably cuz it sounds like 80s shit. the title track (9?) sounded kinda lame in the car.

apart from the two opening tracks, which are incredible; the rest of this album doesnt stand up for me tbh

this is fun: http://www.groove.de/2014/12/25/25-questions-for-aphex-twin/

Really cool!

Posted in the Luke Haines thread, this amused me somewhat:
http://thetalkhouse.com/music/talks/luke-haines-the-auteurs-black-box-recorder-talks-aphex-twins-syro/

http://warp.net/records/aphex-twin/computer-controlled-acoustic-instruments-pt2-ep

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t31.0-8/s960x960/10917222_10152611287302686_4880093193200248072_o.jpg

um, hello!

wow!

good morning!

13-track EP, I suppose the songs are fairly short

pt 1?

ah he's always doing weird shit like that. remember analord?