"Cloud Deck" new electronica from Seen From Space

"Old Earth" - new Berlin School track by Seen From Space

A bit of a homage to Ashra Temple's "New Age of Earth", a classic Berlin School album that I used to play obsessively long ago. Not that I buy all that cerebral "New Age" stuff - hence the "Old" in the title - but the musical influence is massive.

Elektron Analog 4 tutorial #4 - how to do Berlin School sounds

My new tutorial shows how to programme typical "Berlin School" sounds on the Analog 4. Especially useful for those new to the A4 and/or new to synthesis.



Berlin School as defined by Wikipedia: "...a style of electronic music that emerged in the 1970s. Berlin School was so named because most of its early practitioners were based in West Berlin. It was shaped by artists such as Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and Manuel Gottsching. Innovative Berlin School recordings were a precursor of ambient music."

Elektron Analog 4 tutorial - performance controls

This is my new tutorial video on how to programme the performance controls on the Elektron Analog 4.

More Ebotronix genius - Buchla, Moog Prodigy etc

"Flame 4 Vox quad jungle"

I don't think Herr Ebotronix sleeps, eats, or has any sort of social life. His productivity amazes! Quality is consistently high too.

Live jam #107 (looping with Ableton Live)

Rheyne lights his videos using his lighty-up instruments and controllers, plus some "music visualisation" software that drives the screens (and a bit of studio lighting). They're always visually lovely and the music is at the serene end of down-tempo. He describes this one as "Live looping with USB controllers, iOS devices, and Ableton Live. Performed in one take with no pre-recorded loops or samples".

Fugenn & The White Elephants "Narcissus"

From Japanese ambient/IDM label ProgressiveForm.

A beautiful vocal treatment of "I vow to thee my country" - originally an orchestral section from "Jupiter" by Gustav Holst.

Dave Smith Instruments - Pro 2 [Spacewhales]

Legendary synth designer Dave Smith has a new instrument on the market, the Pro 2. I want one of course, but it's not especially cheap. Trooper Starship has done a Space Music demo all with voices programmed on the Pro 2, apart from the percussion parts.




The Pro 2...

"New August Moon" by Seen From Space

I know it's not August any more. Never mind about that!

This is ambient dubstep with a drum and bass groove, and a middle section lifted from an oratorio by J.S. Bach. Who says baroque music, especially Bach, doesn't lend itself to the synth treatment?

Hearing "Blue August Moon" by Brian Eno for the first time in years, I was prompted to try something similar. As usual things turned out utterly different from the first idea, but the homage remains in the title at least.



More music from Seen From Space...

EMS Synthi E moondrone - more from Ebotronix!

I can't keep up with this guy! He keeps on turning out these many layered soundscapes with synth voices of real quality. Where does he find the time to do all the programming involved?

From Ebotronix.

In the Seen From Space studio

Just updated my website with a montage of the studio hardware; of interest perhaps only to hardware geeks like me! See a larger image and more info on the website.

Carl Oliver - Experiment Thirty Seven

More musique concrète from Carl Oliver, where the modular synth provides its own steampunk sci-fi set, lighting and self-generating soundtrack.

EMS Synthi E, Jupiter 6

The prolific Ebotronix keeps on putting out these intricate improvisations on a huge sound palette. The blue synth is a machine made by British company EMS for the education market in the early '70s. If you're at all familiar with Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, Roxy Music, Tangerine Dream, BBC Radiophonic Workshop and others from this period, you'll certainly know the EMS sound.

Waldorf Nave patches: iPad synth - 3

Not a finished piece of music; it's more to showcase the expressive sounds you can programme on this amazing synth.

You're hearing the raw sound output from Nave with no additional effects on the iPad. Just a touch of compression afterwards in Logic to tame the spikes.

Best enjoyed in stereo!

Waldorf Nave patches: iPad synth - 2

Not a finished piece of music; it's more to showcase the complex and unpredictable sounds you can programme on this amazing synth.

You're hearing the raw sound output from Nave with no additional effects on the iPad. Just a touch of compression afterwards in Logic to tame the spikes.

Best enjoyed in stereo!

Experiment Forty

From Carl Oliver.

In Carl's videos, the synths provide their own steampunk sci-fi set, lighting and self-generating soundtrack. Very economical video making!

"Silent" concert at Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art, St Petersburg

From Nicholas Lem.

This concert is silent in that the live audience wear wireless headphones. Lemnik is one of the recognised masters of these very complex Elektron instruments (from Sweden) and one of the top exponents of "dark ambient".

"Driving the Spaceship" by kv3x

From kv3x. "So I snuck the spaceship out of the garage the other night. Once I got it started, wow, what a ride!"

That ship is quite a character. Gets a bit temperamental after the asteroid shoot!

AsteroidKiller: "Live in the Studio"

From AsteroidKillerMusic. "This is a patch I've been working on over the last days. It's recorded live and nothing is added in post."

The way the arpeggios syncopate randomly keeps the old attention going. Unlike so much of what I rail against in this genre i.e. a 1 bar groove that goes on for 8 minutes with no variation, so doing in one's head. I also appreciate the stereo production - a sense of space in a mix lifts the whole thing out from the steel box, and if you're listening on headphones, out from your sinuses!



See the two keyboards on the left, close to the camera? I once owned both, but sold them for next to nothing when such gizmos were right out of fashion. They fetch 4-figure sums on eBay now. There's many a similar tale told by gentlemen of a certain age who lived through the arrival of digital synths in the early 80s.

"Synths that block out the sun" - number 4

"Cyrusrex + Baseck", from Muff Wiggler.

We may entertain the delusion of free will, but in fact HERE is where it's ALL controlled from.