Fresh jams for August

A few recent recordings to share, in this final month of Winter.

This is an older song, mostly written in January. I rediscovered it recently, refined it, and recorded the results.

Here’s one of the recordings:

Obscure Acronym (live demo 28 August 2010) by drewzle

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As well as working on my hardware productions, I’ve recently begun using Nanostudio – a portable music app for iOS – to compose music while I’m away from the rig. This app is amazingly capable, and should become even more complex with future updates.


Below is a recording of a jam I wrote in Nanostudio, this is recorded live as if it was from my hardware. I’ve programmed 3 synths and 8 drums in a 4-bar loop. I then tweak some parameters and mute/unmute channels to change dynamics.

Broken Clock – Nambient (live Nanostudio jam)

Miniature Airlines remix

I first heard Miniature Airlines’ music over at EM411, and was immediately drawn to the rich textures and bewildering, glitchy rhythms. When the opportunity arose to remix a track from his new album, I was quick to jump on board.

I chose to rework the song ‘Horses Never Know the Odds’, as the acid drones and high-end percussion really appealed to me.

Miniature Airlines and Friends – The Arrivals and Departures Remixes

This remix took the better part of a month, after an initial period of inactivity due to a broken leg. I composed this in Bhajis on my Palm TX; this is the first non-hardware piece I’ve produced in over a year. It was great to delve into Bhajis again, it is well suited to sample manipulation and allowed me to chop, edit and reinterpret Dylan’s tune, piece by piece.

Of course, I highly recommend the originals as well:

Miniature Airline – Arrivals and Departures

Big thanks to Dylan/Mini Air for the opportunity to rework his song!

Designs via Stu

My mate Stu drew up some excellent designs for the website recently:




Sadly, these sketches have since been lost. So it goes….

Melbourne International Film Festival

Just a heads up for anyone who is going to see any films at the Melbourne International Film Festival this year; one of my early songs, “Rustic Brass”, is being used as the soundtrack to the announcement reel. This will screen before every film at the festival, so hold off on the popcorn and enjoy the beats!

I submitted a number of songs, and “Rustic Brass” was selected. It is about 7 years old, written with software while I was at uni. It’s not a song I would’ve guessed anyone would want to use, so I was pleasantly surprised.

Going viral

Another quick update to share some recent recordings, fresh from the hardware! The synth parts of these two tracks were originally written for the Waldorf Blofeld. However, I have now switched to a Virus Classic for synth tones, as it allows me greater options for live tweaking, plus the added bonus of a dedicated output for bass.

The MIDI sequences for these songs remain the same, and all Machinedrum voices (i.e. rhythmic elements) are unchanged. The bassline for these tunes is now made from a synth voice, rather than an altered kick-drum. Re-crafting patches for the melodies was difficult, as I had grown quite attached to the patches I’d made on the Blofeld. Letting go of this attachment was quite healthy though, and will allow further evolution of these songs and patterns in future months. Onwards and upwards….

Broken Clock – Porous Walrus (live demo 17th July 2010)

Broken Clock – Lost Plot (live demo 17th July 2010)

A tune for June

Just a quick update to share a tune I recorded recently. I have been getting into the Virus Classic, learning how to program and perform with it. Thus, this jam has some pretty constant synth tweakery…perhaps a bit too much at times! Cactus Mattress is a more uptempo tune than those previously shared here, and represents the genesis of a faster, more dancey live set which I am currently writing. I hope you enjoy:

Broken Clock – Cactus Mattress (live demo June 2010)

duo

Updates and new demo

Had a very busy three weeks, playing live at house parties three Saturdays in a row! Great fun and practice, and I’m grateful to Simon, Luke/Sash/Kelly, and Ian for the opportunity to play my music at their respective events.

"an orgy of cables"

Blasting out beats

Here’s a fresh tune. I recorded this performance a few weeks ago, shortly after writing the song. I’ve refined the performance and programming since, but this gives you an idea of how it began:

Broken Clock – Cleansed Lens (live demo)

and finally, snagged a Virus Classic last week:

Virus meets padKontrol

Expect to hear some sonic madness out of this in weeks to come! :)

Fresh tunage – Mottled Wattle (demo)

Recorded this live demo of Mottled Wattle recently as I recover from a broken leg.

Broken Clock – Mottled Wattle (live demo March 2010) 

Live tunes from Joy Sessions

Here are two of the songs I performed on the Joy Sessions radio-show a few weeks ago, individually separated for your easy listening pleasure. I’ve chosen not to present my performance of Tuned Rune as an individual download, but you can still hear it in the full radio podcast.

Broken Clock – The Ossom Possum (Live on Joy FM, March 17 2010)

Broken Clock – Porous Walrus (Live on Joy FM, March 17 2010)

MD runway

The Joy Sessions – debut show

On Wednesday night, Nick and myself took to the airwaves for two hours of electronic music goodness. We each took in our hardware rigs and played a few songs, and also showcased some music from our friends around the globe.

Joy's control desk, my rig in background

This was our first radio show, so some parts are a little rough.It was great fun though – very hectic as we both handled the on-air duties as well as performing live. We hope to do this again soon, and look forward to refining our radio skills.

You can download the show on the links below. Over the weekend, I will provide individual download links for the live songs performed.

The Joy Sessions – Wednesday March 17 2010 – Hour One

The Joy Sessions – Wednesday March 17 2010 – Hour Two

I performed three songs. In the first hour you can hear Tuned Rune and Porous Walrus. In the second hour I performed The Ossom Possum. Minor mistakes aside, I was very pleased with how the songs went and will use the experience of playing on-air to refine future performances.

My rig, Nick in background