Sunday, December 27, 2015

announcing electronic pieces in a primitive style (inri066)

some major updates to my discography will be completed and finalized over the next few days.

one of the bigger changes is the introduction of this record, which will be sequenced in the compilations section at the end of my second period. it's an idea i've been slowly cultivating for quite a while, and has finally taken shape.

it is conceptually similar to the thru compilation, but it utilizes a different collection of gear. for thru, the focus was on scorewriting and reproducing those scores using software synthesizers - it's entirely computer generated music. this material was initially scored out over 2001 and 2002 and initially meant to be played by live musicians, so little attempt was made to utilize the gear i had around me to actually create anything out of it. this had to wait until my most recent active phase, where i completed the tracks using a mixture of vst technology and live recording - but the thru compilation is purely vst-based.

this takes a similar approach to some of the material i recorded from 1998-2000, mostly. however, the instruments at the time were not vst-based: the drums were programmed entirely on an ry30, the synths are all from a classic jx-8p and the sequencing is done using a windows 95 system, with what was possibly an 8-bit soundcard.

the result is something like a collaboration between brian eno, autechre and trent reznor. if that sounds like a swell production team to you, you might dig this.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/electronic-pieces-in-a-primitive-style

26-12-2015: suicide is a personal choice & electronic pieces in a primitive style

tracks worked on in this vlog:
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/suicide-is-a-personal-choice
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/electronic-pieces-in-a-primitive-style

carnigeon

written 1999-2000. reconstructed from electronics source files in dec, 2015.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/carnigeon

rept

these parts were all written and recorded over the first half of 2002. this section was remixed repeatedly in late 2014 and finally isolated and rendered in this form on dec 27, 2015.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/rept

insp

written in the summer of 2001. remembered over july, 2014. completed august-september, 2014. isolated on dec 27, 2015.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/insp

deus ici

initially written in 1996. recreated in mar, 1998. reclaimed july 20, 2015. corrected to control for malfunctioning electronics on dec 27, 2015.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/deus-ici

finalizing suicide is a personal choice

this track is now closed. this is the first time i've uploaded an instrumental version of the track, meaning i'm finally over the hump and moving forwards again.

this is not the file i rendered on july 20. however, i have not modified the cubase file since then, either. i was unable to create a null...

the common theme in being unable to recreate the output seems to be when i'm doubling tracks and rendering before i re-open the save. i'm going to guess that it's essentially a cascade of run-off and floating point errors; stuff ends up phased differently, routed differently, etc. i might be able to recreate the exact output if i stripped the project down completely and tried to recreate my steps, but...

...i can't hear the difference in an a/b, anyways. so i just rerendered.

regarding the phones...

i was testing with this track for quite a while this evening and led to the conclusion that it needs a bit of a boost in the high end, and a bit of a cut in the low end. but, before i actually saved over the project, i swapped back to the old phones to verify....and realized i was compensating for the exaggerated bottom end.

it would have been a mild cut - a db around 100 hz. but, it's enough that my ears picked it up, and i'm consequently swearing off mixing with them.

i don't want to reflect overly badly on the new phones. they otherwise sounded great. but the 440-IIs are just flat as saskatchewan, and the difference really was immediately noticeable. it's more that i'm used to mixing with very flat phones. like i'm a real producer or something.

the reality is that almost everything sounds better with a bit of a boost on the bottom, especially material that's been compressed to mp3. i will find a good use for these phones. but, i can't go from what would be $500+ studio phones today to $150 consumer phones and not notice the difference.

i knew that. i was just hoping i could maybe double with them in a pinch. and, i think i still might be able to. but i need to finish this project with my tinfoiled over archaic babies and hope a new cord fixes what ails them...

initially written in 1996. recreated over 1998 and finalized in dec, 1998. reclaimed july 20, 2015. corrected to control for malfunctioning electronics on dec 27, 2015.

https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/suicide-is-a-personal-choice


i mean, i gotta be clear...

the record sounds very dynamic through the new phones. it's a bass-heavy disc, and they do a good job of stretching it out without losing the rest of the spectrum. i'd recommend it, even.

but i can't mix with them, because they're not flat.

or, at least, i'd have to spend a long time getting used to them. and i'd rather fix my flat phones.

it's just a question of what the proper application is for a tool. you don't hammer a screw, right. and you don't mix with bassy phones. well, unless you make particularly lame hip-hop.

i think the proper application for this pair is stationary listening to material that has already been mastered, probably while reading or daydreaming. they really seem to be orthopedically designed for reclining. so, you'll get your extra db or two of bass without killing the rest of the signal, and it will mostly sound good.

but if you want totally flat phones, they don't do that.