The September Soundbytes magazine is now out at soundbytesmag.net and I have three articles in it.
First is a review of some very high quality pro-audio plugins from Fab Filter and Eventide, both leaders in the field of pro-audio, which are now available for the iPad:
Then there is a short review of Full Bucket Music's free polyphonic modular VSTi synthesizer, ModulAir, which is a very nicely designed small analog synthesizer.
And finally, there is an article in which I discuss electronic modifications of orchestral instrumental sounds, focusing on Stockhausen's Mixtur, and concluding with a review of Spitfire Audio's very complex and useful Kepler Orchestra sample library. Kepler is designed to make both polyrhythmic sample playback and electronically modified orchestral samples much easier to both play and realize.
I also contributed to a discussion between San Francisco based composer Jerry Gerber and Soundbytes editor Dave Baer. This discussion centered around the idea of virtuoso realization of orchestral music using instrumental samples.
Catherine Schieve was one of the keynote speakers at the TENOR 2019 conference on music notations and music technologies held in late July 2019 at Monash University. As part of this conference, two pieces by her were played: Ink Jungle, performed by members of the Decibel Ensemble, and Repentistas, performed by Catherine and Louise Devenish and myself. Here are videos of the events - complete for Ink Jungle, and a 1 minute excerpt from Repentistas.
Catherine Schieve's graphic score Ink Jungle performed by members of Decibel - Lindsay Vickery, clarinet; Louise Devenish, percussion; Aaron Wyatt, violin; and Tristen Parr, cello. Performed at the Performing Arts Centre, Monash University, July 23, 2019. Video by Warren Burt. Ink Jungle is a 3 meter by 3 meter canvas mounted and displayed in a free standing manner in the performance space. Players read the various symbols and gestures on the score in specific ways, following instructions from the composer. This was the opening event in TENOR 2019, an international conference on music notations and music technologies that was held at Monash University Department of Music this year. Catherine was one of the keynote speakers at this conference.
Repentistas are the troubadours of north-eastern Brazil. They play slack-tuned guitars with highly ornate rhyming lyrics in a very rough voice style. Repentistas by Catherine Schieve is a work in homage to these musicians. The work, in this outing, was for toy piano (played by Louise Devenish), viola (played by Warren Burt) and electronics (performed by Catherine Schieve). The original version of the work was for the reconstructed Grainger-Cross Electric Eye Tone Tool (a light controlled synthesizer based on plans by Percy Grainger and Burnett Cross); stringed instrument, toy piano and organ. The large (1 meter by 2 meter) original graphic score for the light-controlled synthesizer was photographed and used in the iPad app Virtual ANS. The organ part was transcribed into another score for another iPad, also with Virtual ANS on it. The toy piano part remained the same, and the viola was used in this version as the stringed instrument. The viola part is a large spiral shape (about 1 meter by 1 meter) which indicates bowing, dynamics and timbre, but not exact pitch or rhythm. The toy piano evokes the slack-guitar strumming style of Repentista guitars. The electronics are played live, and the interaction with them provides much of the sound material of the piece. It is an essential part of the piece that none of the performers are experts on the instruments that they are playing. The entire piece is about 10-12 minutes long. This is a one-minute excerpt from the piece, taken by our colleague Nic Lam, during Catherine Schieve's keynote talk at the TENOR 2019 conference at Monash University in July 2019. Thanks to Nic for giving us a copy of his video. Editing by Warren Burt.
Pictured above is Factory, a lovely new softsynth from Sugar Bytes, now also available for iPads (iOS 11+). It's a lovely machine - very powerful, with lots of modulation possibilities.
And then Arturia has made an update of the classic EMS Synthi AKS. Likewise, very powerful. Everything old is suddenly new again! (And I'm very grateful to have lived long enough to see the "screen-i-zation" of so many favorite synths from the 60s and 70s making them available once again.
Here's a lovely new iPad or iPhone sequencer. It's AUv3 format, which means that with the right host software (Audiobus, AUM, apeMatrix, Cubasis2) you can run multiple instances of it. Lots of fun ways to play with control on this one.
And last but not least, here's a review of a new sample set from UVI - 10 vintage "piano modules" from the 80s and 90s. Still sounding great (in fact probably better than ever thanks to UVI's meticulous sampling), and still extremely useful. And the price is a real bargain.
New World Records has brought out a new CD of 3 late pieces and one earlier piece by Robert Erickson (1917-1997), one of the heroes of West Coast Experimental Music. If you don't know is music, this album is a very good place to start. If you DO know his music, this album will give you wonderful new insights into his composing, his consumate musicality, and his unceasingly questing musical intellect. Erickson's late pieces are, to quote Ronald Robboy, sui generis. It's true - there's nothing quite like them in all of Western contemporary music. And the earlier piece, the Duo, from 1957, is thrilling. I haven't heard a straight-out 50s modernist piece before like this that pulled me along with such vigor and elan. The performers, led by Charles Curtis and Anthony Burr are uniformly excellent. HIGHLY recommended. You can find out more, and buy it on-line as CD or download from http://www.newworldrecords.org/album.cgi?rm=view&album_id=95449. I was lucky enough to be able to study with Bob during my time at UCSD, and I was honored when New World asked me to write the liner notes for the CD. Even without buying the CD, you can download the liner notes from http://www.newworldrecords.org/uploads/filemtuUc.pdf. One friend, on reading the notes, said that they now wanted to hear the pieces. I was very complimented by that. If you do download the liner notes, I hope that you, too, will be intrigued enough to buy the album. I think you'll be glad you did.
My colleague Alex Arsov, from Soundbytes Magazine (soundbytesmag.net) has just released an album under the name of “Unhappy,” called “Contribution to the Common Madness.” It started out, I think, as a straight pop album, and then, because of the massive exposure to all the new technology pouring forth in an endless wave, which all of us at Soundbytes are exposed to, it got weird. And colourful, and gorgeous. I hear each track of the album as consisting of two layers – one is the straight pop underlay, which varies in style, mood and tempo from track to track; and then there is overlay, which consists of all sorts of electronic and acoustic (mostly percussive) sounds, some of which may or may not be synced to the beat. The result is a very rich soundscape that rewards listening on several levels. Listened to closely, all sorts of details in the arranging are evident – this album was put together with infinite patience, it seems, and a great ear for timbral balances. The mixing is transparent, and luscious. On his website (http://unhappy-music.net/), Alex says that he was inspired by the loose and colourful arrangements of early prog rock. For myself, I hear some of that influence, but I hear more of the influence of, as said above, that onslaught of the latest technology we’re all subjected to from the software industry. With all those new tools available, and all the interesting sounds they make, it becomes near impossible to resist the temptation to use them. In Alex’s case, he uses them beautifully. Have a listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RlAupS9YHz0 and if you like what you hear, go to his website and buy the CD for 10 Euro. Alex, with his new performing moniker of Unhappy, reflects the angst so many of us are feeling at the current political situation. But in making his “Contribution to the Common Madness,” he has actually produced a music of quite uncommon beauty.
Monday, September 30, 2019 at 9:37PM 
