This Friday I’ll be playing live at Squid Party! Come down to The Glasshouse in Collingwood for fun times. I’ll be playing from 10.30/11-midnight. Follow your ears to the Square Room for some tasty electronica dished out live from the hardware. Info here.
Lately I have been refining songs and practicing my live set to get it as sharp as possible for some upcoming gigs.
I’ll be posting a practice recording of the live set here soon. Until then, enjoy this uptempo tune:
Broken Clock – Scuba Manoeuvres (live demo 20 September 2010) by drewzle (Broken Clock)
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
_
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.
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!
My mate Stu drew up some excellent designs for the website recently:
Sadly, these sketches have since been lost. So it goes….
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.
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)
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
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! 
Recorded this live demo of Mottled Wattle recently as I recover from a broken leg.
Broken Clock – Mottled Wattle (live demo March 2010)
