quoted 6 lines Hardfloor, do these guys have a formula down or what). Minimalism and>Hardfloor, do these guys have a formula down or what). Minimalism and
>use of the 303 is like painting in black and white, there have been some
>incredible pieces of art. However, I am ready to hear the sound of
>shit-brown,
>neon green, piss yellow, flourescent orange, etc..........We have the
>motherfucking technology, now would someone please blow my mind with sound!
To have your mind blown with sound, just plug in an oldie or a crazy new synth
and twiddle. Spend hours and hours mutating sampled noises with synth sounds
like I used to do. It's fun.
But placement of that sound, *effective* placement of that sound, is quite
difficult. I think Dan Bell was talking about this a while back. Also
Jamie Hodge was talking about the emotion in old Derrick May pieces.
Some black and white pieces are mindblowing...you just have to sort
through the hundreds of uninspired peices first. This is sort of off-topic,
but the color analogy reminded me...that embossed, all-white "Wired" cover
was the most intriguing, eye-catching magazine cover I've seen in years! :)
I think my attraction to that cover is the same reaon I was attracted to
DBX, some excellent acid tracks, Dance Mania etc...there is an incredible
amount of energy with very few ingredients.
I agree to some extent about the idol-worship Detroit thing, but there
are also huge gaps where there shouldn't be. Sorry, but I think it's true.
A lot of this has to do with racism, I'd say...after enough "coincidences"
things start to reek of racism, even subliminally...a lot of black artists
I've read about seem to have had many "coincidences" eh? Plus I really doubt
all of the Detroit guys got together and did a master plan for the press about
Electrifying Mojo and all of that....c'mon eh?
I'm biased in two directions: 1) I love Detroit sounds and records 2) I
hate hype and "cool"... Therefore, I trust my perceptions because the
two biases balance each other to some extent. Yeah, Detroit stuff is
hyped by Europeans etc. but I think much of that enthusiasm (in the form
of hype) is well-deserved.
Lastly, there was mention of the 303 and the same machines being used over and
over. Well...point taken. I agree in some respects here, especially with the
floods of boring acid records. It's also a little disturbing that with a
little know-how and the right machines, many, many people can pump out
songs which by chance emulate greater songs using the same machines. I also
admire people who carve their own non-Roland path...I was glad to see
Reload's gear list last year w/ the HR16 etc... HOWEVER! I think there
are some misunderstandings about the same machines being used over and over.
I personally use many commonly-known Roland machines because I love their
sound! It bothers me that I'm using equipment that everyone else is
using, but the love of their sound and workings overpowers the unoriginality
nuisance. I'm probably not succeeding, but I try to use that "common machine"
problem as a motivation to make each track that much more emotional or
energetic or inspiring. Whatever... It just pissed me off reading the
Rephlex manifesto where they're like "R.I.P TR909!!!".... I know that
may have been tongue-in-cheek, but I think they're really missing a point.
I could very easily make my own drum sounds and carve a nice groove out of
them...those crunchy Rephlex beats kick!...but I, and many others, consciously
choose to use a 909 or and 808 or what have you because of love for the
machines.
This is getting pretentious! But it's true eh!
-morgan geist