I remember when I saw Autechre play at the cooler a couple years ago..
What I distinctly noticed was that much of the synth sounds they were using
were coming out of a sampler.. The variation came in the form of filters, etc..
I'm in no way against the use of filters to dampen/alter sounds, but everybody
knows what a filter sweep sounds like.. I totally agree about the use of
harmonic modulation: AFM is the only technology (I'm aware of) which can
DYNAMICALLY alter the harmonic stucture of a timbre over time.. Filters simply
subtract and add (resonance) certain harmonic intervals, but the sound of
motion in the structure is really strange and creepy.. When it's slow enough,
you get these sounds that mimic the sound of bending steel or rubber.. Pretty
fun stuff..
Although I deeply respect the stuff Mike Paradinas does, my own work
heads in a different direction: While he tends to pump up that grating mid-
range of those cheesy-ass FM patches, I'm always softing up my sounds with
filters or amplitude algorithms.. I don't think it's come out yet, but there's
a cut I did for my buddies over at Plug Research that sounds like it's under-
water.. This is partly because of the really weak patch I used for the melody,
and the tile floor reverb on the drums, but alot of it is because of these
resonance heavy blurts that shift in and out of harmonic phase (see above)..
I went and saw Shellac on thursday and ran over to Steve Albini after
the show.. One of the things I asked him was his recommendations on how to
give patches acoustic properties.. He answer was that he always fed his sounds
through speakers, rerecording them through a room mike.. Without this kind of
approach, synthetic sounds rarely have the kind of spatial depth that say a
cello or a drum kit would hold..
BTW, a neat piece of gossip Mike told me was that Space Pimp (clear),
is none other than 'ardkore's Acen. Funny how times change!..
I hope this stuff isn't too dry, but it seems like a better balance
between production and consumption needs to circulate here.. Later.. and keep
it coming!..
Jamie