__             __   __                __        ___
/__` |__|  /\  |  \ /  \ |  |    |  | /  \ |    |__ 
.__/ |  | /~~\ |__/ \__/ |/\|    |/\| \__/ |___ |   
                                                    
 __       __   ___  __  __         ___          __  
/  ` \ / |__) |__  |__)  / | |\ | |__        | /  \ 
\__,  |  |__) |___ |  \ /_ | | \| |___       | \__/                                                         /

                                               
/\    /
               |\___/|            /\           /  \  /
              /       \   ___    /  \    /\___/    \/
   ////      /  o   o  \     \  /    \  /           
  /  /       /   \ /   \      \/      \/      
  \  \_______/    T    \                   |\___/|
   \______            /____    _          /       \
          \          ____  \  / \        /  o   o  \
          /         /    \  \/__////     /   \ /   \
         /         /      \_______/   ___/    T    \____
         \         \        /   /    /                  \
          \         \______/  _/    /               __   \
          /    _     ________/     /  /\           /  /  /
         /    / \   \              \  \ \         /  /  / 
         \    \  \   \              \  \ \        \_/  /______
          \   /   \_  \           ___\  \___________\\\_____  \
           \  \     \  \         |   /   \                  |  \
            \  \     \  \        |   \ \\\ - - -  - - - -   |\  \
           ////       \\\\    ___|  ----------------------- | \  \
                             / |_|  ||||||||||||||||||||||| |  \__\__
                            /_/  |__|||||||||||||||||||||||_|   \____\

Internet's Most Controversial Underground Cyberzine Since 2014

28 December 2021
Welcome to the 10th issue of the ShAdOw WoLf cYbErZiNe!!!
WHat a fine mess humanity is in once more - its electronic music scene probably the most pathetic example of its lack of intelligence....and SHADOW WOLF CYBERZINE is proud to add an extra dose to that!

We got a packed issue with Studio tips, letters, DIY projects, music reviews, interviews with Japanese Far East Dub artist Mystica Tribe, gothwave star Alina Valentina, Canadian snowwave synth artists Alan Harman, Dekadence demo crew and many more items! This year we went for a minimal classic green monochrome color just like the very first issue.
I just didn't feel like coloring everything.

For the second time we have a covertape: A compilation with
various artists from the Shadow Wolf-o-shere. It's pay what you want so you can get it for free but any donation is always welcome of course. Remember, the Shadow Wolf Cyberzine doesn't get any grants like some other "online music magazine and community platforms" and we also don't tell you what to think and do (or DO WE?!?!?!?)

Some articles are 'sarcastic' but there also 'serious' articles. I am not going to put disclaimers anymore just figure it out for yourself. If you can't see the difference you shouldn't even be allowed on the internet.

Nevertheless - thanks to all contributors, well wishers, readers and all other freaks! See U around in 2022!!!

SW

INDEX:

1...Readers' Letters
2...Shadow Wolf Covertape II
3...The Cat XTC Problem
4...Mystica Tribe and his Melodica
5...Music Reviews
6...An Interview with Alina Valentina
7...RNA Memory Transfer Experiments with Planarian Worms
8...Backstage Drama
9...Hot Studio Tips
10..ASCII Art by  Jonninscii
11..The Lost Magic Noise of Computer Artefacts
12..Canadian Snowwave with Alan Harman
13..Korg AX1500G Secret Weapons of Electronic music production
14..Techno Simulators
15..The Eminent 310 Unique - Cult Dutch Biblebelt Organ
16..Build your own Electric Water Xylophone
17..Jupiter 8 Sample pack

18..Demo Scene Report: Boozedrome 2021
19..Poetry Corner
20..What Creature is this?
21..Alchemulator & Baglover Tapes on Hunger!
22..
A Glimpse into the Present by Kamilė Rimkutė
23..Meandering thoughts about hardware and why you should
    never read an operation manual


----------------------------------------------------------------------

 __   ___       __   ___  __   __                             
|__) |__   /\  |  \ |__  |__) /__`                            
|  \ |___ /~~\ |__/ |___ |  \ .__/                            
                                                              
                              ___ ___ ___  ___  __   __ 
                        |    |__   |   |  |__  |__) /__`
                        |___ |___  |   |  |___ |  \ .__/
                                                              
    _      o                    _
   / \                         / \
  | |\\        O              //| | 
  | | \\          O          // | | 
  |     \      _______      /     |
  |      \___--       --___/      |     
   \   __--  \          /   --__  /
    \ /       \        /        \/         \
     /         \  ||  /          \         \\
    /           \ || /  ___       \        \ /
   /        ____ \||/ ____ \      \        /  /
 __|       /    \    /_   \        |__    /    /
 \         |_____\  // \  |          /   |     /
  \        \  \_/|  |\_/ /          /   \      /
___\        '----/  \___/          /___ \      /
\               /    \                / \     /
 \__           / ____ \            __/ \      /
    \   \____   \_\/_/  _____/    /    \      /
 ___/             \/              \___ \     /
/    \         \_____/                 \\_  /
/     \/\  /           __----------___    \/
/        \/           /                    \
/       _________    / / / / \___________   \
/                \                          /
 \        / \ \ \ \                        /
________ -----------------------------,_____________
        /  - - ================== - / |            /|
       /  - - - - - - - - - - - -  / /            / |
      /  - - - - - - - - - - - -  / /            /  |
     /___________________________/ /            /   |
    |                           | /            /    |
     \__________________________//            /     |
                                             /      |
More letters from frusties, weirdos and all kinds of humans:

ELECTRONIC MUSIC BRANDING
Hello!
I've got some ideas for companies to infiltrate the electronic music world and be hip with the kids. Now Red Bull Music Academy is gone there is a gap to fill! My proposals:

WHISKAS PET SEMINARY - The next step in the techno business is having music releases from your pets, or animals in general. Making electronic music is the simplest thing - every human can do it. Even if you are REALLY REALLY stupid you can still make music and release it - so I am sure animals can also do it! Nobody will hear the difference.

KNORR RAVE GYMNASIUM - packs of instant Knorr Sauce & soups (with alcohol?) are served while we get training in electronic music production. Topics such as 'how to freezedry your beats', 'Marinate your MIDI' or 'spice your snaredrums' tought by guest lecturers such as Heino, 2 Unlimited and Scanner.

TOBLERONE THINK TANK - if you love discussion panels this is going to blow your mind. The Toblerone Think Tank will present endless drivel about all kinds of current topics in the electronic music industry. The seats of the panelists are made out of giant Toblerone chocolate bars. If the discussions get too heated the chocolate will melt and the contestant slowly sinks to be encapsulated by a warm sludge of Toblerone. Their only escape: to eat their way out of it.

Petulia Von Staufenberg, Vadus, Liechtenstein.

SW: Those sound excellent I am looking forward to get sponsored by those brands and eating my way out of a Toblerone prison. What about UNOX UNDERGROUND UNIVERSITY, NIVEA NIGHT SCHOOL and DURACEL DJ CAMP???



/\/\/\

YOU CANNOT MAKE A REVOLUTION WITH SILK GLOVES
We are a stalinist activist DJ collective from USA and we think your Shadow Wolf magazine is capitalist imperialist propaganda indoctrinating the youth with your FOUL sarcastic humor and endless drabble of irrelevant ASCII ART and texts. We are against any text and reading because it is imperialist as it locks out our illiterate comrades from society while you are in your privileged reading bubble. And we happen to KNOW THAT ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, ultimate PROOF of your European capitalist propaganda efforts to Americanise all information interchange!!!!!!!
Your imperialist clown boot shall never trample the revolution!
Comrade Belisarius Hoxa & Peter Poth, Pittsburgh USA.


SW: We can do a special about your collective in the next issue. In simplified pictures or we just post it on instagram or tiktok where your illiterate stalinists probably spend most of your time frustratedly foaming in anger about our European imperialist shenaningans!


/\/\/\

PLAGUE RAVE IN NORTH KOREA
I heard rumours that Legowelt played a plague rave in Pyong Yang, North Korea last summer. Apparently by invitation of the supreme leader Kim Jong Un himself so
Legowelt could ghost-produce Kim's debut album. The great leader is a big fan of electronic music and visited many Berlin techno clubs in his European based student days. Among his favorites are Scanner, Applebim and Tiefschwarz. His dearest synthesizer is the Teenage Engineering OP-1 and he's got a subscription on both DJMag and Electronic Sound magazine. Evidently the recorded project was sent to Berlin's PAN records under a secret pseudonym and is scheduled for release early 2022.

Count Igor Tupolev, Consulate of Transnistria, Zurich, Switzerland.
 
SW: Ehhhhhhhhh ???????????


------------------------------------------------------------------------

 __             __   __                __        ___ 
/__` |__|  /\  |  \ /  \ |  |    |  | /  \ |    |__  
.__/ |  | /~~\ |__/ \__/ |/\|    |/\| \__/ |___ |    
                                                     
 __   __        ___  __     ___       __   ___       
/  ` /  \ \  / |__  |__)     |   /\  |__) |__     | |
\__, \__/  \/  |___ |  \     |  /~~\ |    |___    | |
                                                    
 _____________________________________________
|    ___________             _____    _____   |
|   |           |   _  _  _ |  \  |  |  \  |  |
|   |   O    O  |   _  _  _ -------  -------  |
|   |___________|            o  o   o   o  o  |
|   __ __ __ __ __                            |
|_____________________________________________|
   ======                            ======    

Just like last year we are super excited to have a digital 'covertape' again! A  compilation of songs from artists that are either featured in here or we are just happy to have on the compilation :)!!!

The compilation is free/ pay what you want you can get it here at bandcamp:
https://legowelt.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-wolf-cyberzine-covertape-ii
 

The term 'covertape' comes from when paper music & computer magazines had cassettes on their covers with music or software (Old computers like the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 could use cassette tapes to load and store their software)


TRACKLISTING:


CASSIOPEA BLUMENTHAL - HAVE THOU FELT IT TOO?
Cassiopea aka Dim Garden lives in an attic on the Rue d'Auseil in the
old part of town. There she plays her Casiotone 304 keyboard under the
dim december moon light.


MYSTICA TRIBE - SARK ISLAND DUB
Far east style dub version of Legowelt's Sark Island Acid by Tokyo
based Mystica Tribe who is also interviewed in this issue!


SMACKOS - PLAYS LUCIANO BERIO'S WASSER KLAVIER ON SYNTHESIZER
A Smackos interpretation of Berio's 1965 classic Wasser Klavier.


ALINA VALENTINA - ACHERON
The Hague gothwave from the upper shelf! Check out an all exclusive interview with her in this issue!


FRED SIN - BENZO PRESSURE
A very sinister dark alter ego of Identified Patient. Is it about a
Mercedes Benz or Benzodiazepine, a drug which lowers brain activity just like this cyberzine!??!! You decide!


ALAN HARMAN - GROUND ZERO
Canadian Snow Wave electronix from Port Hope, check out the interview with Alan in this issue.


VOT'RESS - FAIRY INTERFERENCE
You want some Psychotic ASMR on a bad shroom trip??? Puck Schot (Acidic Male) & RJM Vanderheyden deliver it right here...


OKKIE - BOOMFEESTDAG 2
From OKKIE (part of DEKADENCE dEmO CrEw) which we talk with in this issue for his BOOZEDROME event..A happy C64 faux chiptune (secretely it is a 4 channel .mod file with very competent c64 samples! + 20 Life XP points if you know what that means)


EARGOGGLE & 240 INTERCEPTOR - EINSTEIN VAMPIRE
Gothenburg electro legends  with a rather 'gothic' electro banger,
it's like Swedish version of Drexciyas Vampire Island meets Beatbox Boys
Einstein I reckoN!


CALINE WITH C - FINALE
Caline with C closed her live set at Mėnulio Smūgis gathering (Lithuania, summer of 2020) with her track titled “Finale”. Gushing electro beats and swirling rave sirens ebbed into the night, seemingly summoning some uninvited guests. The cops shut down the party. A definite showstopper. Check out her article in this issue about her neurosound experiment!


HERMIT IN A RAVE CAVE - SENTIMENTAL PROVERBS
Lofi introspective chi-house to sooth your melancholical memories


BATTERY DUCK 202 - INTO THE VALLEY OF SMACK
A rubbery sweaty crowd controller from the archives of the North Sea Institute for the overmind.

THE NORTHERN TRASHMAN - WORLD PHASER RM1X
A slab of soulful deep old school house music all made on a Yamaha RM1X



LEGOWELT - MACHO GYM
An ancient italo style Legowelt track from around 1999 (???) never released before and recently found by Luke Eargoggle whom I had send it to as a demo in the nullies. Ingredients: Classic Nordrack 1, Roland JS30 and Commodore Amiga.


ALECTO RAMMER - CHARGE OF THE BUCKET BRIGADE
A growling maelstrom barrage of bucket brigade chips. Not for fans
of minimal techhouse...probably only for freaks that want to ram their head into an Alecto mixer.


IAN MARTIN - CONCRETE HEAD
Sewer electronix DJ tool from Rotterdam from SEER boss Ian Martin


OCCULT ORIENTATED CRIME - MENTALE GABBER TELEPATIE
The art of the hardcore kick meets the occult orientated crime

 
MAX SCHREIBER - ROOM 102
Max Schreiber is the abstract side project of Mule Driver. Room 102 was recorded around 2004 as a sketch for a solo dance performance called room 102. The dancer disappeared in the old alleys of Jaffa and the  performance got cancelled. The score was then forgotten on an old hard drive for 16 years.


JENTLEMEN - WORTH IN DIRT
Poetic avant Garde electrowave from New Haven Connecticut USA. Also
check out her poem in this issue's poetry corner!



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___       ___     __       ___      ___  __
 |  |__| |__     /  `  /\   |    \/  |  /
 |  |  | |___    \__, /~~\  |    /\  |  \__
                                                        
 __   __   __   __        ___                           
|__) |__) /  \ |__) |    |__   |\/|                     
|    |  \ \__/ |__) |___ |___  |  |                     
                                     


              |\____/|     _   |\____/|         |\___/|    _
              | ' '  |    //   | _  _ |   _     | O O |   //
              |  ^ . |    \\   |  ^ , |   \\    |  ^  |   \\
              |      |    //   |      |   //    |  X  |.  //
              |       \   \\   |       \  \\    |      \. \\
              |        \   ||  |        \  \\   |       \  ||
              | |  | |  \__||  | |  | |  \__||  | | | |  \_||
              |_|__|_|______/  |_|__|_|______/  |_|_|_|_____/

                 1                 2                3

Cat 1 hides the XTC but sometimes cat 2 steals it

Cat 2 doesn't have the XTC

Cat 3 Only Knows Cat 1 doesn't have the XTC

Which cat hides on the XTC?



----------------------------------------------------------------------

           __  ___    __          ___  __     __   ___
 |\/| \ / /__`  |  | /  `  /\      |  |__) | |__) |__ 
 |  |  |  .__/  |  | \__, /~~\     |  |  \ | |__) |___
                                                      
           __             __                          
 /\  |\ | |  \    |__| | /__`                         
/~~\ | \| |__/    |  | | .__/                         
                                                      
       ___       __   __     __                       
 |\/| |__  |    /  \ |  \ | /  `  /\                  
 |  | |___ |___ \__/ |__/ | \__, /~~\                 


We chat with Tokyo based Mystica Tribe, an electronic artist and melodica player that fuses 'far eastern' dub style reggae with techno influences. In the 2010s he released many EPs on The Hague's SD (Syncom
Data) and his own Mystica Tribe records. His 2017 debut album 'Island
Oasis' appeared on the Canadian Silent Season record label and became
an overnight ethereal cult classic.

  \  o      o          o            o     .    .      o     o
   .    .      .    .    .      .                   .   / .
  /                         o          |||||||||||||  \ \    \
  \  o   .   o    o   o                |_______   ||  / /    /
  /             \   .            o     |__| |__|--||  \     /  \
 /     .   /    /            __________|  (        |   \_   \   \
 \   /    /     \  o        /          |  __      /_____ \   \  /
  \ /    /      /          /    _____  |__||_____ |     | \  / /
   /     \     /          /    /     \    ||            | / /  \
  / \     \   /          /    /       \  _||__     |    | \     \ 
 /   \    /  /          /____/         \| ____|    |    |  \    /
/    /   /  /   _______/ __/_________   | __----___|    |  /   /
\   /   /  /  |\      //_/           \  | __---         |  \  /
 \  \  /  /   | \     \\ o o o  -\\---\ | __----________|   \
  '-----------== \        o o o  --\\--\| ____|       \     /
    / '--------== \        o o o  ---\\-\ ____|        \   /
    \    '------== \        o o o   ----\\____|_________\  \
   / \      \    \  \        o o o  -\\---\___|         /   \
  /   \      '----== \        o o o  ----\\\__|        /     \
  \    \           \  \        o o o  -\\---\_|       /\     /
   '----------------== \_____________________\ /     /  \   /
        '------------== |                    |/     /    \
                      \ |____________________|     /\     \
                       \|_________________/
           
Mystica Tribe is Japanese producer Taka Noda. Born in the green lush forest hills of Beppu on the island of Kyushu, a strange unearthly spa resort town, home to 2000 onsen hot springs that eternally evaporate calm plumes of mist into its streets. Growing up in this strange landscape must have had a profound impact on his musical vision, something that would not blossom until his early adulthood: "I loved music very much since my early teenage years and wanted to do it myself...but I grew up in a very rural area so I couldn't form a band" Taka calmly explains. "My taste in music was maniacal ha!".

In the 1990s Taka enrolls at Tokyo university. In a big city he finally gets a chance to explore his'maniacal' music taste. He starts to play in psychedelic soul and r&b bands and not much later he would discover house music.

"I've been a fan of psychedelic music and soul music since I was a teenager. Then gradually I became interested in House and things like Paradise Garage Classics and dub. The concept of Deep Space, a party started by Francois K in New York in the early 2000s, and its mix CD was a big influence on me. It was a mixture of house, techno, tribal music and dub, with influences from Paradise Garage. I went to New York to experience that party and it was amazing. During that trip to the U.S., I saw the reggae group Israel Vibration perform at a live music venue in New York, and it made a huge, huge impact on me. I was hooked on reggae, dub, and the "Far East Sound". Far East Sound is deep roots reggae with minor keys and melancholy, and it deepened my interest in its originator, Augustus Pablo, a melodica player. When I first heard Ausustus Pablo play the melodica on a killer dub, I was in a big shock. I was very surprised that an instrument meant for children could make such dope music." 
                                                           ______
                                                          / _____|==
          _______________________________________        / /
         /                                       \      / /
        /  ____________________________________   \____/ /
       |  || | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |   _____/
       |  || | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  /
        \ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | || /
         \|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_||/


For those who are unfamiliar with this instrument: A Melodica is a portable reed instrument, a sort of mini portable reed organ were you blow air into its reeds while you play the keys. Sort of a Harmonica with keys but with a deeper fuller, less trebled sharp sound.

For some, the melodica has a bit of an image problem - an unhip instrument for the feeble minded, just like a keytar. For the general public portable instruments with keys are for dorks. It is inherently cheesey but it is also an incredible expressive and deep instrument, emitting a haunting and lamenting sound...ghostly, full of sorrow.

The modern version of the Melodica we know was invented by the German Hohner company in the 1950s. It was always associated with the educational market until Augustus Pablo made it also popular within Reggae dub music circles in the 1970s.

Taka: "Japanese people learn the melodica in elementary school music classes. And before Mystica Tribe, I was a bassist in several bands and projects,and in some of them there were melodica players. So, for me, the melodica was the first instrument I touched, and it was very familiar to me."

why does this instrument work so well with Dub music?

Taka: "I think the melodica tone works well with the melancholy and simple power of reggae. It does not lend itself to complex interplay, but allows for easy control of ADSR and volume. In this respect, the melodica is similar to vocals. It can be very soulful in its expression. This is also the reason why it is so suitable for reggae dub."

"The melodica is an instrument that is easily affected by effects processors. A deep delay or reverb creates a unique and mysterious atmosphere. I like the random effect of delay on the melodica because the attack is slow and erratic. Add chorus to it, and it sounds like an analog synthesizer. It is used a lot in dub because it works well with effects processors."

"I like the sound of Hohner's inexpensive melodica. I think that is its original tone. I owned a cheap Honor melodica for kids. It is the best one for me but the one I usually play is this Hammond-Suzuki PRO-44H
It is a melodica with a pickup so it is easy to record because it can be connected directly to an audio interface. I then process the tones in a DAW with VST's."

Do you have any advice for aspiring Melodica players?

"I suggest you buy a melodica first and try playing it. If you want to play something complicated with it, you will need training, but if you just want to play simple phrases, anyone can do it quickly. If you want
to use that for recording, you could try mic'ing an inexpensive
melodica. I think it will sound more natural than a melodica with a
pickup. If you are using it for a live set in a club, you will also get a more natural tone if you use a microphone to pick up the sound, but it is also more likely to cause feedback. A melodica with a pickup is easier to control."

Thank you Taka! don't forget to check out his version of Legowelt's Sark Island on this issue's cover tape!

SW


------------------------------------------------------------------------


            __     __      __   ___         ___       __ 
 |\/| |  | /__` | /  `    |__) |__  \  / | |__  |  | /__`
 |  | \__/ .__/ | \__,    |  \ |___  \/  | |___ |/\| .__/     /
              _      _____                                 /\/
    ____      \      \  \                           /\    /
    \ \       o      o  o                  /\      /  \  /
    o  o                      /\      /\  /  \____/    \/               
                   /\        /  \/\  /  \/
           /\_____/  \    /\/      \/
__________/           \  /
                       \/

Here are some random reviews. Just stuff found by doing an hour of digital bandcamp 'crate' digging. It's amazing how much cool stuff you can find there. We are not paid nor were they sent to us, it's just'hey this cover or album title looks cool let's check it out' ...then we listen for 2 seconds and decide to move on or go hmmmmmmmmmmmm intriguing! Anyways let's go to the reviews.....


TUNE ZITOUNE - COMME PAR HASSARD *****

French Algerian freak electro from Metz. A bit in the same jolly eccentric vein as Ceephax meets uhmmm? Quoting zitoune's bandcamp blurp:"Le prince de la zitounade et de la tajine-synthwave". Despite
the eccentricity and humorous direction all the tracks are of an
exhilarating enchanting quality. For sure they will have a most spectacular effect on any dancefloor. RAW analog succullent dripping melodies over hypnotic smudgey rhythms...very much inspired by Algerian Rai music. Effective entrancing vocals too all over the place. Maybe a bit loud production/mastering going into the distorted regions but in its defense, that fits this style very good. All I can say this is a timeless masterpiece !!!
https://tunezitoune.bandcamp.com/album/comme-par-hasard
 


EVA NOXIOUS - CHINGONA SOY *****

We know Phoenix based Eva Noxious from her last year's CULT release on The Hague's Bunker Darknet records called ANTI-TODO, quoting its press blurp then: "From the Western Blood Meridian Desert of Phoenix, Arizona, former Spanish Nuevo Mexico, its very own Suburban Sun Belt Waste Lands, and surely 'no country for old men', comes a full album of genuine punk-ass-kickin' 'trap and drill rap' bass music, its sharp and syncopated sniper-ladylike machine gun vocals shot in both the Castilian and the English language. Mastered by Guy Tavares"..but hey owwwow there is more! like this fantastic tape produced by JAEM BEATZ . A HEAVY DOSE OF G-FUNK, THICK warm beats and thumping basslines YESSSS SO AWESOME don't fucking sleep on this get it now! EVA NOXIOUS for president!
https://noxiouseva.bandcamp.com/album/chingona-soy-prod-jaem-beatz



SUICIDE COMMANDO - ELECTRO CONVULSION THERAPY *****

Suicide Commando AKA Johan van Roy is apparently legendary - people have logos of this artist on their cars and tattoo his face on their back. His modern stuff is way too trancey for me (like JP8000 tribaltattoo supersaw hopsasa music) but OMG WTF his first tapes are pure GOLD. They can be bought at the ABSOLUTE BODY CONTROL bandcamp (a historical treasure chest of Dirk Iven's & related Belgian electro to begin with!!!!!). Originally released in 1993 this album has some mindblowing
tracks such as Time. Ultraraw arpeggiated basslines with roughed 808 beats and lyrics in almost black metal shrieking voice going "Time is runnin fast - How long will it last It could be an hour It could be a day We won't survive the time We'll die anyway TIMEEEE!". Fun and uplifting!
https://absolutebodycontrol.bandcamp.com/album/electro-convulsion-therapy



CUCINA POVERA - LUMME (primordial Void, 2021) *****

Lumme is the fourth album by Finnish sound artists and musician Maria Rossi (aka Cucina Povera) which was recorded in Rotterdam, London, Luxembourg and Glasgow. It is one of the most stunning albums of the year. Over minimalistic layered harmonies and organ drones, Cucina Povera’s vocals  plunge the listener into a warm sonic bath of cedar and winter honeysuckle. Lumme is entrancing and meditative, delicate and emotive. It is an album to do nothing to, that invites deep listening and contemplation.
Bandcamp link:
https://cucinapovera.bandcamp.com/album/lumme



OUR UNSEEN GUEST - ALWAYS A WAY ****

This sounds sort of like Jandek doing minimalsynthwave, also reminds a bit to some early Moon Duo but then without that raunchy vanilla soft boiled egg LA hipster sauce. Discretely epic deep hazy songs with lots and lots of background noise which is already a plus. Advanced melodies but not too difficult for the brain, Our Unseen Guest shows great compositional skill. The vocals manifest quite a few different directions and it's all impressive. Towering like a giant granite deity statue above all the musical drivel that is thrown at us today.
Bandcamp link:
https://ourunseenguest.bandcamp.com/album/always-a-way

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An interview with

                                       
 /\  |    | |\ |  /\                    
/~~\ |___ | | \| /~~\                   
                                        
                ___      ___            
\  /  /\  |    |__  |\ |  |  | |\ |  /\ 
 \/  /~~\ |___ |___ | \|  |  | | \| /~~\
                                        
  ___________________________________________________
 |                                                   |
 |     (   )   ______         ______     ) )  (      |
 |         (         \       /         (   (  )      |
 |               ____          ____      )    (      |
 |      (       /__0_\        /_0__\     (           |
 |      )       " " "    |    " " "         )(       |
 |     (                 |                 (    )    |
 |       )               |_n                 )  (    |
 |       (                              _    (       |
 |              _  _                 _ | |      )    |
 |      )      | || | _          _  | || |      (    |
 |      (      | || || | _    _ | | | || |  _        |
 |          _. |J||U||N||O|  | || | |6||O| | |   )   |
 |         | | | || |/ // /   \ \\ \| || | | |   (   |
 |         | | |         /     \          \| |       |
 |         |  \|        /       \            /       |
 |          \          /         \          /        |
 |           \        /           \        /         |
 |            \      |             \      /          |
 |            |-----|              |. , ,|           |
 |            |. , .|              |     |           |
 |            |     |              |.....|           |
 |            |     |              |     |           |
 |                                                   |
 |___________________________________________________|    

Shadow Wolf Cyberzine sent correspondent Cassiopeia Blumenthal to meet with the prolific synthpop/wave Hague-based producer Alina Valentina, whose track “Acheron” is featured on the Shadow Wolf Cyberzine Cover Tape #2 available on bandcamp.

Alina Valentina’s music is infectious; her production level is sky high; her audience is wide-ranging; her songs are profound; her approach is unique and passionate. Gothic synthpop at its best, with a sound that is so distinctly hers.

Life is like a Fairytale

After recently releasing her first full length album “Works and Days” – a reference to Hesiod’s poem – Alina Valentina is already on her way to releasing her second album “Life is Like a Fairytale”, an eight-track journey through a fantastical land of wonder, starring heavy synth leads, beautiful arps, and vocal harmonies. Whereas Alina Valentina’s first album leaned towards the haunting – inspired by horror, sci-fi, and film noir – “Life is Like a Fairytale” tilts toward the more fantastical and light, while at the same time maintaining a brooding atmosphere.

When asked how the second album came album, Alina Valentina explained: “the last track I wrote for ‘Works and Days’ titled ‘True Romance’- which was very well received - became a sort of precursor to the next album. I was in that kind of mood, I felt the need to play more fun stuff”. The track ‘True Romance’ set the tone for the next album.” Despite being more jovial on its surface, just like in fairy tales, beneath lies darkness. Just like in fairy tales, people die”.

“Life is Like a Fairytale” is more a vocal-oriented album than the first. The purchase of a professional microphone, in a way helped define her new album, as it enabled for all the nuances, details, and characteristics of her voice to be recorded and less effects were used on the vocals: “There is more of a focus on vocals, choirs and harmonies on this second album”.

Alina Valentina has a long history of artistic production. She has been involved in music, theatre and dance since the age of nine; she attended an art school until the age of eighteen, before pursuing higher education at the legendary Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht.

Earworm Energy

Alina’s Valentina’s music is incredibly catchy and guarantees earworms for days. After listening to her music, one has an inescapable urge to hum her songs throughout the day. This isn’t necessarily intentional on Alina Valentina’s part; it is more a product of her skilled composition style. “I don’t try to write additional lyrics, if a song already contains all I have to say for that song. So I use repetition as a way to convey my message” explains Valentina. For instance, ‘That Thing Behind the Wall’ on the first album ‘Works and Days’ has a very deep meaning about the evil side of human nature, where people sometimes sugar coat the wicked: “Sometimes people build walls around their personalities” and when they do harm to others, this feeling never leaves them. “They are the ones who have to sleep with it at night”.

One of the distinctive characters which defines Valentina’s sound relates to the instruments used in her music. Although she changes gear a lot, synthesizers such as the Juno 60 and the Moog Grandmother are significantly present in her recordings and live sets. “The June 60 is my first analog synth, my real first baby which I got in 2009, and it was love at first sight” says Alina Valentina, who has JUNO 60 tattooed across her knuckles. “It has that powerful and kitsch sound”. When asked about her dream synthesizer, if she had unlimited budget, Valentina chooses the Yamaha CS-80. A more realistic future acquisition would be, however, the Prophet 5 by Sequential.

Dream and Actual Collaborations

When asked about any future collaborations, Alina Valentina says “I’d love to work more together with other artists/producers musicians. One day, I would love to have a full band to perform my songs live”. Alina Valentina expressed an attraction for analog-style production, where songs are produced in a very raw but polished way. “I grew up listening to the Human League, a band who in the beginning, was very raw”. Currently, Alina Valentina is collaborating with artists such Bernard Grancher on an upcoming release, made remixes, such as for Vinx and OGMH, and is working on upcoming collaborations with artists.

Check out Alina Valentina’s music available on most platforms, and catch her live in a concert venue near you (for instance, don’t miss Alina Valentina opening for Heaven 17 at Poppodium Boerderij in Holland).  ‘Life is like a Fairytale’ will be released around 25 February 2021.
For bookings, contact: info at alinavalentina.com

Don't forget to check out her amazing track called Acheron on this Issue's Covertape!

C.B.

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      __  ___     __  ___       __     __     ___    __   __ 
|__| /  \  |     /__`  |  |  | |  \ | /  \     |  | |__) /__`
|  | \__/  |     .__/  |  \__/ |__/ | \__/     |  | |    .__/

                                  ______
         S     s          -----[][______)------_____
                    S       _____      ______       \_______  S
           s                  \\\\    /////      s
             _  ____           \\\\  /////
        ----|_||____)----_____  \\\\/////    S        S
                                |||||||| ____
                  S            /        \    \___
       S                   ___/_________ \       \__________
             S             \__________/   /           
                       ___----    \       \      _________
        s          ----____________\       \    //////___
                           ---_____/        \  //////___
                            /                \//////___
                           /                  \_______
                     _____/                           \
           _________/       __________________ _      /___
          /   / / // / /  / / / / / / / / / / / \    /  / \
         /   / / / \/_/__/ / / / / / / / / / / //   /  /  /
        /   /_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_//   /  /  /
       /______________________________________/   /__/  /
       \                                      \_\_\  | /
        \____________________________________________|/
            

Some magic studio tricks revealed...

SLOW TIME CHANGE TRICK
An ancient producer trick to give some more character to a track. If you use a Computer DAW or hardware sequencer the tempo is often very tight. Maybe too tight...having the exact same BPM throughout the whole song, even a house or techno track gives it a clinical robotic static feel.
By changing the BPM slightly and gradually throughout the track it will feel more natural and 'human'. For example: you can go slowly from 123 to 124 BPM in the first minute and then go back to 123.5 and go up again to 124.3 at the end. Sometimes it doesn't have to go gradually and you can just make it 0.6 or whatever BPM's faster straight away after a little drumbreak. It is a very subtle trick but it might just be the push into a more adventerous dimension for your track!


PITCHBEND ON BASSLINES
When you program a bassline use pitchbend to make slides up or down
on certain notes, this will, hopefully, make your bassline instantly more interesting and catchy. Works good on the last note of the bar or the first note, but everything in between works too! If you can't play by hand or are too slow to use the pitchbend, program the pitchbend with MIDI. Experiment on the placement of the bend on the note, let it come in later or just a short bend at the beginning to emulate a pitch envelope on the sound, giving it a little energetic 'thump' instead of a slide.

KORG MS20 EXTERNAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR
I know a lot of people that have an MS20 (either big or mini one) and they never use the external signal processor, which is a shame because it is the MS20's MAGIC feature. Just connect a drummachine or DAW audio out to the SIGNAL IN - Program a few simple rhythmic patterns on the drummachine or DAW with just bassdrums, toms. Maybe some percussion and hat sound and tweak the MS20 until you are happy - you've got an entire scumelectro track in no time!

KITCHEN SINK DRUMS & PERCUSSION
Tired of the same old drummachines? Go into the kitchen with your recorder and sample all sorts of kitchen tools and appliances. USe your DAW/Audicity whatever to pitch them way up or down, distort, filter and EQ the sounds...you might be surprised at the world of new fresh original sounds at your disposal! Pans, wooden/metal spoons, scraping forks on raspers, using a handblender in thick soups etc.etc.etc.


MAGIC SAMPLING BASS FROM A RECORD TRICK
An old school sampler trick to just sample the bass/lower frequencies of the source material(like a record). Just plug in the source cable halfway into the sample input. You will only hear a muffled version of what is being played in the source material, most of the high frequencies are filtered out. Great for making low end bassline loops.

OLD SOCK MICROPHONE
A simple trick for if you use a microphone and have too much high frequencies and don't have a plop filter. Just put an old sock over the mic. Use thick Wooley socks for a vintage warm muffled sound, no need to get a 1000$ vintage mic ;p

ABLETON DRUM MAP WITH SYNTH SOUNDS
Instead of drum sounds, load some synth and effects sounds in an Ableton
drum map. Now make some patterns/clips with those sounds the same way you would make a beat. Most probably you will get some inspiring groundlayers for a weird banging track!


----------------------------------------------------------------------
      __   __               __  ___
 /\  /__` /  ` | |     /\  |__)  | 
/~~\ .__/ \__, | |    /~~\ |  \  | 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::                                
:::+::::::::::::::::::+::::.----.::::*:::::: 
:::::::::::::/),::::::::.´        `.::::::::
::::::*:::::/   \::::::/            \:::::::
:::@:::::__/    <_3\::|              |:+::::
:::::::/ ´6     `  /::|              |::::::
::____/  \_ ,     /::::\            /::::+::
::\  _)    |     ´|:::::`.        .´::::::::
:::`-_      - ´  /),:::::::`----´:::::::::::
:::/            /   \::::::::::_,(\:::::::::
.´           __/    <_3\::::::/    \:::::@::
           / ´6     `  /::/ €_>     \__:::::
         _/  \_ ,     /:::\   `     9` \::::        
      _-´_     |     ´|::::|      , _/  |:::
     `-.__)     - ´    \::/        |    |:::
        /              \/`    ` _    _  |:::
      .´               /            ( \ \:::
    ´                 /              `-._\::
                      /                 \:::  

THREE SHADOWWOLF MOON              JONINSCI


Check out more Joninsci's cool ASCII art here:

https://www.instagram.com/joninscii

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___       ___          __   __  ___            
 |  |__| |__     |    /  \ /__`  |             
 |  |  | |___    |___ \__/ .__/  |             
                                               
            __     __           __     __   ___
 |\/|  /\  / _` | /  `    |\ | /  \ | /__` |__ 
 |  | /~~\ \__> | \__,    | \| \__/ | .__/ |___
                                               
 __   ___                                      
/  \ |__                                       
\__/ |                                         
                                               
 __   __         __       ___  ___  __         
/  ` /  \  |\/| |__) |  |  |  |__  |__)        
\__, \__/  |  | |    \__/  |  |___ |  \        
                                               
      __  ___  ___  ___       __  ___  __      
 /\  |__)  |  |__  |__   /\  /  `  |  /__`     
/~~\ |  \  |  |___ |    /~~\ \__,  |  .__/     

                  __  *                          *
                  \                 *        /'
     *            o         *               o      *              
                            __________                  
        ____,         _____/         /|___    ________,
       /   /         /____/         /____/|   \    \
      o   o         _____/         /____ |/    \    \
                   /____/         /____/|      o    o
         ___,     _____/         /____ |/               *
        \  \     /____/         /____/|
        o  o    _____/         /____ |/    ______,
               /____/         /____/|     /   /      
              _____/         /____ |/    /   /       
  *          /____/         /____/|     O   O       *
            |/   /_________/ /   |/
                |          |/
                 ----------

These days even the cheapest audio interface will give a clear pristine sound from its outputs. Spotless and clean, only desired sounds can be heard in the audio path.

Once upon a time let’s say about two and a half decennia ago, this would most of the time not be the case. Especially if you had a Commodore Amiga with its direct stereo RCA outputs or a PC with something like a Sound Blaster audio card jamming your latest tune from its minijack output.

Digital artefacts in the computer would seep through the audio outputs. Hard disks operating, screens refreshing, chips crunching, obscure computational processes and even just moving the mouse pointer would all have their distinct sounds that would softly ‘bleed’ into the audio path. Static buzzes, clicks, crackling, humming drones and a guaranteed medium or high noise floor would always be audible in the background.

It never felt out of place and in time, they became an indispensable part of your sound. They were the sounds of a ‘living’ computer , a ‘sentient’ being with its own quirks and moods. It was your friend, your fellow musician, your co-producer…whatever quirks it felt like adding to your music you would respect. It was a comforting sound, the background noise of the mystery of electronic music production.

Magic started to happen when these artefacts were put through filters, delays and reverbs.
Hidden in the shadow of the music you were making these sounds would take on a life of their own. One must take in consideration that at that time these effects were mostly outboard or an old analog synth with a filter input.  You would connect the computer outputs through an outboard unit and mixer and record on tape, DAT or Minidisc.

VST software synths and effects didn’t really exist: it was mostly crunchy short samples played in a tracker sequencer. The little background clicks and buzzes became a meandering soothing stream of random pleasant sounds, a soundscape of circuits, a field recording of a digital forest. It would ‘glue’ the music that floated on top of it together and even the most simplistic mindless arrangements would be inhibited with a sparkle of sorcery.

Today I often hear new music that sounds so clinically perfect, so pristinely polished with not one artefact in sight for a thousand miles…and it is so mind-bogglingly boring, like a plastic sterile vacuum of nothingness. Every day the world is flooded with thousands of soulless electronic music tracks that could be injected with life. If only they were made on an old noisy computer, our forgotten friend and co-producer that has been lost in the sands of time.


Typical setup as used by Legowelt circa 1998 in Scheveningen Holland:

                                           ______________
                                          | o  o  o      |  audio
                          __ L audio __\__|___ o  o     ___ out__
                         /             /  |    o  o      |       |
                        /                / //////////// /        |
                       /                 \_____________/        \|/
                      /                   KORG MS10 synth        |
                     /                    filter input           |
                    / _____R audio____                           |
                   / /                |                          |
                  / /                 |     ______________       |
             RCA L R OUT              |    | o o o o o o  |audio |
                 || ||                |___\  o o o o o o  |out   |   
   _________________________              /|              |__    |
  |                         |              | |||||||||||| |  |   |     
   =========================                --------------   |   |  
  |              Amiga 1200 |               SCI PRO ONE synth|   |  
  | - - - - - - - -    ...  |               filter input    /    |
  | - - - - - - - -    ...  |                              /     |
  |  -  -------- - -        |                         __/_/      |    
   -------------------------                         /  \        |
   Commodore Amiga 1200 computer                    /           \|/
   Running Octamed                        _________/_______      |   
                                         |  ZOOM FX UNIT   |     |  
                                          -----------------      /    
         ______/_______________________audio out_/       _______/____
        /      \                                        |YAMAHA REX 50|
       /                                                |  MULTI FX   |
      /                                                  -------------
     /                _____________/_________________audio out_/
     \____          /               \
          \         |
     _____ | _____ \|/___________              _______________________
    |\                           \            |                       |
    | \  D&R SERIES 1000 MIXER    \ ________\ | |/\ /\ |  o   o  o    |
    \  \                           \        / | |______|  - - - - -   |
     \  \   \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \          \_____________________/
      \  \   - \ - \ \ - \ \ \ \ - \ \           ---             ---
       \  \   \ - \ - - \ - - - - \ - \           Sony Cassettedeck
        \  \___________________________\
         \ /___________________________/


SW

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 __                      ___        __   __                           
|__) |\ |  /\      |\/| |__   |\/| /  \ |__) \ /                      
|  \ | \| /~~\     |  | |___  |  | \__/ |  \  |                       
                                                                      
   ___  __             __   ___  ___  __                              
    |  |__)  /\  |\ | /__` |__  |__  |__)                                  |  |  \ /~~\ | \| .__/ |    |___ |  \                             
                                                                      
    ___      __   ___  __           ___      ___  __                  
   |__  \_/ |__) |__  |__) |  |\/| |__  |\ |  |  /__`                 
   |___ / \ |    |___ |  \ |  |  | |___ | \|  |  .__/                 
                                                                      
       ___                                                            
|  | |  |  |__|                                                       
|/\| |  |  |  |                                                       
                                                                      
 __                       __                       __   __         __ 
|__) |     /\  |\ |  /\  |__) |  /\  |\ |    |  | /  \ |__)  |\/| /__`
|    |___ /~~\ | \| /~~\ |  \ | /~~\ | \|    |/\| \__/ |  \  |  | .__/
                                                                      

           _
       ___/ \_______                     __/\
      /  .          \__________       __/   /
     (   .                     \_____/     /
      \___   _____                       _/
          \_/     \________             /
                           \___________/


A Useless snippet of history copy pasted from Wikipedia:

The Worm Runner's Digest (W.R.D.) was created in 1959 by biologist James V. McConnell after his experiments with memory transfer in planarian worms generated a torrent of mail enquiries. The W.R.D. published both satirical articles, such as "A Stress Analysis of a Strapless Evening Gown", and scientific papers, the most famous of which, "Memory transfer through cannibalism in planaria", was a result of McConnell's RNA memory transfer experiments with planarian worms and was later published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry.

After complaints that the satirical articles and the scientific publications were not distinguishable, the satirical articles were printed upside down in the back half of the W.R.D. along with a topsy turvy back cover. In 1966, the title was changed to the Journal of Biological Psychology in an effort to make the publication more accessible to the scientific community.

In 1979 the magazine ceased publication.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 __        __        __  ___       __   ___     __   __                 
|__)  /\  /  ` |__/ /__`  |   /\  / _` |__     |  \ |__)  /\   |\/|  /\ 
|__) /~~\ \__, |  \ .__/  |  /~~\ \__> |___    |__/ |  \ /~~\  |  | /~~\
                
                                  
                     |                 
     \|||///   _____ |          
 @@@@|   o |  |      |              ______
 o # |    _\  \ o  o |             /______\
 /  /    / --,    |  |          __/________\__
 __/_____\==. .    @ |            |_/     )
/          . . .  __ |            _|      |__
|  |      .... ..    |     ______|  \ ___ /  |__
|  |     .. .. .     |    /          \   /      \
|  |   .. . . ..     |   /    /       \ /        )
\  \ . . . . .    ___|   \    \               |  |
 /\\\  . . .  .  / o |    \    \_____ \\      |  |
   . . . . . . . .  o|     \        /__\\_ ___\__|_
 . . . .. . .. . .). |      \_______\____//       /-_
   . . . .. . ..  .  |         \         /     ---  /
     . . . . . . . . |          \______ /      \___/
   |  | | . . . . . .|           \_____/        / 
   |  | |   |  . . . |           /    /________/\
 __|__| |___|__ . . .|          (                \
 \____/ \_____/  . . |           \        /\      \
                  . .|            \______/  \______\
   __--------       .|             \     \    \     \
 ||__        |       |              \     \    \     \
     --------        |___________  __\_____|  __\_____\ _______
                                  /________\ /_________\


CONFESSIONS OF A MUSIC JOURNALIST...

Our special reporter Thiery Mangetout goes undercover in the world's most prestigious clubs and infiltrates the backstage to give you
all the SMUT and DRAMA that goes on there!

29 NOVEMBER BERLIN

As dark clouds overshadow the sparse beams of moonlight a few futile
raindrops pour on my Burberry trench coat. I stand before an European nightclub...one of so many...and all the same.

A huge line sprawls endlessly for the entrance. I am not on the list nor have any tickets, but that doesn't matter...a 'pro' like me always gets in. I use the old but proven "plastic bag with equipment that the artist forgot" trick. Always works: all you need is a plastic translucent bag with some random cables and adapters, maybe even a broken circuitboard
for some extra dramatization.

I walk to the backside of the building and ring the backstage doorbell. Assured I hold up the bag to the security camera. "Bringing some stuff for the live set he asked for" I say through the intercom. A buzzing sound - the door opens and I sneak in.  Nobody gives a fuck. I find my way through the smokey corridors. Muffled loud bass sounds thump and resonate throughout the building, adding an otherworldly disorder to its reality.

After some purposeless loitering I invite myself into the 'green' room. That raunchy place lit with cheap fluorescent tube lights, were all failed existence comes together in a spectacular show of apathetic shallow lunacy.

On the couch we find the headliner tonight - let's call him X. A spoiled narcissistic brat having no clue what it is to be a normal human being.

To make matters worse, he is surrounded by ludicrous idiots who want to be in his aura of cheap fame. The usual dumb conversation. Their frequeny flyer status, Airline complaints, Ibiza, cryptocurrencies, Ayusca retreats, luis vuton bags, how great minimal techhouse is , NFTs, shopping in Dubai and an infinite number of other boring subjects pass in review.

I keep my ears open, there is always a chance to get some insider gossip for an interesting exclusive scoop...but it seems futile tonight. As
copious amounts of drugs go round on the coffee table the conversation turns into unintelligible speech.

All of a sudden X stands up in silence. In a haze of confusion he starts to projectile vomit all over the backstage attendees. I am well out of his reach as I slowly slip around the door. Experience learned me that it is best to observe these events from a bit of distance.

DJs like these have, and as this situation shows, - need - a manager. Another useless expense for the promoters. What does the DJ manager do? Carry their bags. Check them in at the hotel, pour drinks, wipe their lips after they eat too much choco mousse...in the end the manager cleans up the mess.

Years of treatment like this have turned X into naive sedated man-toddler. But that is all OK...for me the manager is a welcome sight.

After the manager apologizes to the vomit covered backstage entourage and demands some cleaning staff he nods to me and waves a discrete envelope. In it a 'contribution' that most likely will make me write a favorable review about this event. Reassured I take the envelope and put it in my inside pocket. I can pay my electricity bill again.

As for his gig....He probably plays what 85% of all other DJs in Europe will play tonight - the same boring tracks they all got from that one online promo agency. Thumping beats devoid from any melody, any experimentation or soul. A facade of uninspired boredom just like X himself. I won't even see it, even before X starts to play I am already home. Settled in my cosey chair with a glass of brandy and my collection of Chet Baker records slowly dozing off into a calm world devoid of any DJ stupidities.


Thierry Mangetout.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

An interview with CANADIAN SNOW WAVE artist
                                  __                 
 /\  |     /\  |\ |    |__|  /\  |__)  |\/|  /\  |\ |
/~~\ |___ /~~\ | \|    |  | /~~\ |  \  |  | /~~\ | \|
                                                     

\         \      \        \        \   \         \        \        \
     \              \        \            \    \        \     \   \
___________________________________  \       \        \         \
______________________________ |   |       \        \   \    \   \
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______________________________ |   |  \
______________________________ |   |       __-------___   \     \
______________________________ |   |       \__         \
______________________________ |   |  \ \   / --_       \    \
______________________________ |   |       |___  -       )
______________________________ |   |       /      \  _   )  \
       o           o      o    |   |   \  /___      == ) /
  o         o          o       |   |       /__|        | | \       \
/\    /\       /\/\      /\    |   |        |_____     \\      \
  \/\/  \ o   o    \  /\/  \/\ |   |  \   \       \______\  \       \
/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\//\/\/\/\/\\|   |              /       \ 
====================================             /         \  

Buried deep in the snow of the Canadian internet one will occasionally find a great authentic undiscovered artist who lives in obscurity devoted to their art. An artist like ALAN HARMAN. Just randomly listening to a track like SIGNAL - 1 (
https://alan-harman.bandcamp.com/track/signal-1) one might be struck by its cold otherworldly misery. Check out that strange soothing dark synth samba vibe...that sweet simple everlasting squelchy synthesizer riff!  In a perfect world music like this would be the christmas hit and sell 10 million spotify plays instead of pedestrian mindnumbing aural laxatatives from the likes of Ed Sheeran or Simply Red.

We sat down with Alan Harman and asked him some questions...

SW: Can you tell me a bit about yourself? Were are you from how did you get into music?
   
AH: I’m 22, a graphic designer/artist, and happily married, living in a very quiet small town called Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. I originally got into music because there’s really not much to do here and became an escape from a mostly bland town that doesn’t have a scene for anything except folk art. I had to really go searching for interests and art because there was no way I would be exposed to it here. The instrumental moment for me was when I heard The Absence of a Canary by Ceramic Hello and Hangin’ At the Beach by Delroy Edwards for the first time because it really changed my view on what music could be and that was really my first initial step into creating the minimal synth stuff that I make now.

SW: You have this ‘typical’ Canadian Toronto/Burlington poetic minimal synth wave sound…like Ceramic Hello  but a bit more sombre… and maybe some Quebec influences like IKO 83?! Whats in the air, the water, the weather, is there a typical Canadian sound?
   
AH: In terms of Canadian minimal synth I think I can count the amount that I’m aware of on one hand (most of my influences are actually Belgian). I think Ceramic Hello is a perfect embodiment of Canadian sound because it gives you this cold, distant feeling which is exactly how it feels living here; isolated and far away from the rest of the world.


SW: What influences your lyrics?

AH: I read A LOT of science fiction and the past couple years I’ve been working my way through as much Philip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov as I possibly can. Something about the way Philip K. Dick writes really resonates with me a lot of inspiration to write the things that I do, as well as following a lot of modern conflict journalism and reading about war events of the last 100 years.


SW: What are your favorite writer/books? And Movies?

AH: My favourite writer is definitely Philip K. Dick  with my favourite books being a tie between Dr. Bloodmoney, for the really weird character, and Now Wait for Last Year, for the really weird story. Isaac Asimov is a close second for his short stories. My favourite movie of all time is Brazil because Terry Gilliam is a genius. That movie is a beautiful cross between hilariously dreamy sci-fi with that 80s cheesy magic that you can’t recreate.

SW: What is your gear setup like? What makes this cool lo-fi sound on some of your tracks (like on the  I walk unscathed album)?

AH: My setup has had a lot of different iterations over the past few years. I like to switch things up as I refine the kinds of sounds that I want, but always keeping it all analog. Currently I have a CR78 clone, a Korg MS20, a bunch of analog guitar pedals, and a hacked together spring reverb (made from a few amps and a spring tank to use as a send effect), with a Beatstep pro sequencing everything. The most special piece of the studio is my Yamaha MT4X 4-track cassette mixer which handles all recording/mixing duties.For my earlier stuff I was tracking to a crappy cassette deck on crappy type 1 tapes and then mixing in digital resulting in some super lo-fi sounds.


SW: Any future plans /shows/ album /projects you want to talk about?

AH: As far as shows go, I’m playing my first ever show in September 2022(would be nice to play before that too), but that will be a local show in collaboration with my good friend Oli Goldsmith. I’m gonna continue just putting stuff out as I record because my output has increased substantially as of late and I’m bad for sitting on recordings for far too long.


SW: Thanks for talking to us and best wishes and good luck with your music!
 
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 __   ___  __   __   ___ ___          ___       __   __        __ 
/__` |__  /  ` |__) |__   |     |  | |__   /\  |__) /  \ |\ | /__`
.__/ |___ \__, |  \ |___  |     |/\| |___ /~~\ |    \__/ | \| .__/
                                                                  
 __   ___              __     __                                
/  \ |__    |\/| |  | /__` | /  `                               
\__/ |      |  | \__/ .__/ | \__,                               
                                                                  
 __   __   __   __        __  ___    __                           
|__) |__) /  \ |  \ |  | /  `  |  | /  \ |\ |                     
|    |  \ \__/ |__/ \__/ \__,  |  | \__/ | \|                     
                                              
We take a look at the 2000's KORG AX1500G a guitar multi fx
processor...and it turns out to be much more fun with synths!

    ____________________________________________________________
   |  _____   _____   _____   _____   _____  __________ |=======|\
   | |  _  | |  _  | |  _  | |  _  | |  _  ||toneworks ||=======| \
   | | / \ | | / \ | | / \ | | / \ | | / \ ||  korg    ||=======| |
   | | \_/ | | \_/ | | \_/ | | \_/ | | \_/ || [023] [9]||=======| |
   | |drive| | cab | | mod | |pedal| |Ambi || ---------||=======| |
   | | [ ] | | [ ] | | [ ] | | [ ] | | [ ] || - -  -   ||=======| |
   |  -----   -----   -----   -----   ----- | - -  - - ||=======| |
   |    __       - __    ___     ___  __  - |__________||=======| |
   |     o       o       o       o       o              |=======| |
   |   ______ 1 ______ 2 ______ 3 ______    _______     |=======| |
   |  | ____ | | ____ | | ____ | | ____ |  | _____ |    |=======| |
   |  ||    || ||    || ||    || ||    ||  ||     ||    |=======| |
   |__|______|_|______|_|______|_|______|__|_______|____--------- |
   \_____________________________________________________________\|

KORG TONE WORKS PEDAL AX1500G

A significantly underrated piece of gear is the mighty 'vintage' AX1500G
Tone Works multi-effects pedal from the late 1990's/early 2000s. Designed for guitarists/bassists to have a compact amplifier/cabinet simulation with multi fx. But these also work amazingly well with synths
and drummachines. If you want RAW as F***** ENERGY this is what you
need.

Amp simulators patches such as 'FAT DIST' and 'METAL DISTO' will instantly fatten up bass lines and presets such as 'IMAGES' will give any sound instant industrial energy. Put this over a drummachine and you are in business, no more feeble weak meandering buttwater beats!

The Tone Works has some freaky and fun effects including its spring reverb, a mighty pitch bend effect, a badass ring modulator, and a cool 'U-VIBE" effect which are all controllable using the pedal. The strength of the Tone Works is it wide range of both amp simulators and other classic effects and the power of these effects which can easily transform a boring track into a punchy hit. It also has an attractive silver casing with a late 90's /early 2000's vibe to it and is easily programmable with large arrow shaped dial knobs.

Its little sister, the AX100G, is similar but more compact. Don't be fooled by its toyish allure, the AX100G includes first-rate and original presets, and is complementary, rather than redundant, to the AX1500G.

The best part is that you can find both are available at your local flea market, or on eBay, marktplaats etc for under 100 euros.

C.B.

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___  ___  __             __                      
 |  |__  /  ` |__| |\ | /  \                     
 |  |___ \__, |  | | \| \__/                     
                                                 
    __                         ___  __   __   __ 
   /__` |  |\/| |  | |     /\   |  /  \ |__) /__`
   .__/ |  |  | \__/ |___ /~~\  |  \__/ |  \ .__/

                                      _______
                                     /       \
                                    /         \
                _____________       |          |
               /  __________ |      |          |
              /  |          ||      |         /
             /   |          ||      |        /
            (    |          ||       \       \_____
            (    |__________||   ____/             \
            (_______________/   /                   \
                    ___________/                     \
                   /\ - - - - /                      /
                   \ \ - \\\\/                      /
                    \_\___\                        /
                           \______                 \
                                 /                 /


TECHNO SIMULATORS - a new range of software titles that will bring the
excitement of the techno club culture right into your own home. Three titles available now:

CLUB SECURITY SIMULATOR - you play the club security on the dancefloor, not at the door but that person standing with their arms crossed watching the dancing crowd in surreptitious bewildered disdain. Scan every nook for punters trying to smoke, being too drunk or drugged out or doing something suspicious. Act fast and discrete while maintaining efficient crowd control. At the end of the party clear the dancefloor as quick as possible.

ARTIST LIAISON SIMULATOR - Collect the artists from the station or airport (or in some levels like "LONDON" you don't have to pick them up yourself but you have to make sure the Addison Lee taxicab comes at the right place). After that you have to manage the artist dinner - using multiple choice questions/answers you will have to keep the conversation going while not dropping the artist boring meter too low. If that happens their head will explode (In David Cronenberg SCANNERS style)...At the party itself you have to make sure they get enough drinks and drugs but not let them fuck up too much (like you got to find
the right dealer and if you give the wrong drugs the DJ set will go
really bad and you get fired)

ARTIST VIRTUE SIGNALLING SIMULATOR - Whine about all sorts of subjects on virtual simulated versions of twitter, facebook, tiktok, instagram etc.etc.etc.. Try to get more followers ...watch out what you post...are you desperate enough? Post something boring and you may loose hundreds of followers...wear some funny clothes and you get more likes...or you might even get cancelled if you post the wrong stuff! As used by professional artists in social media training by the Hermy Brood DJ Producer school in Tilburg.


Available at your local computer shop. On Commodore 64 / 128 / VIC 20 / PET / SONY HITBIT / MSDOS PC TRS80 / ZX SPECTRUM

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 ___               ___      ___     __    _               
|__   |\/| | |\ | |__  |\ |  |     __/ / / /                
|___  |  | | | \| |___ | \|  |    __/ / /_/                   
                                                      
             __        ___     __   __   __           
|  | |\ | | /  \ |  | |__     /  \ |__) / _`  /\  |\ |
\__/ | \| | \__X \__/ |___    \__/ |  \ \__> /~~\ | \|
                                                                       
 __                __________________________                 __
|  |--------------|                          |---------------|  |
|  |______________|__________________________|_______________|  |
|  |  ____ _  _  _  _  _   _  _  _  _  _   _  _  _  _  _  _  |  |
|  |       U  U  U  U  U   U  U  U  U  U   U  U  U  U  U  U  |  |
|  |_________________________________________________________|  |
|  | .--.  .-.   ||||| ||||||| ||||| ||||||| ||||| |||| - - -|  |    
|  |=============||||| ||||||| ||||| ||||||| ||||| |||| - - -|  |
|  |_____________|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|__|______|  |
|  |---------------------------------------------------------|  |
|  | .--. .-. ||||| ||||||| ||||| ||||||| ||||| | .-..-..-.  |  |
|__|==========||||| ||||||| ||||| ||||||| ||||| |============|__|
|  |__________|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|____________|  |
|  |_________________________________________________________|  |
|__|_________________________________________________________|__|
|  |_________________________________________________________|  |
|  |_________________________________________________________|  |
|  |_________________________________________________________|  |
|  |_________________________________________________________|  |
|  |                                                         |  |
|  |                                                         |  |
|  |                                           _____         |  |
|  |                                          |     |        |  |
|  |     __  __  __  __  __  __  __           |     |        |  |
|  |    |  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  |          |     |        |  |
|  |    || ||| || |||  || ||| |||  |          |     |        |  |
|__|----U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U|----------|_____|--------|__|


Unbeknownst to many, The Netherlands has a blossoming electronic organ industry spanning all the way from 1950s tube organs to digital sampled waveform organs. This organ industry is closely tied to the Dutch biblebelt, a topographical strip of land penetrating the country with a high concentration of conservative orthodox Calvinist Protestants. These people are not allowed to have any fun by normal means. Watching movies or listening to non religious music will send you straight to the deepest pits of hell. The only thing they are allowed to do is sing songs about Jesus and his buddies accompanied on the organ.

One of the most famous and cult dutch organs was the EMINENT 310 UNIQUE.
Developed and manufactured in 1972 by the EMINENT organ company in Bodegraven. This organ had the worlds very first string synthesizer. Using an innovative design of several bucket brigade delay circuits to create its lush unique (ha) string sound.

Inadvertently the 310 became the sound of 1970s synthesizer muzak.
The machine's lush haunting strings were heard by millions on
Jean Michel Jarre's Oxygene and Equinoxe albums. Very much to the dislike of Eminent who were offended that their devout holy instrument was used for this sinful unsanctified music.

But the sound of the Eminent 310 was unstoppable. Eminent themselves in 1974 would release the string section as a self contained instrument: The Solina String Ensemble. A, for that time, slique 4 octave keyboard which was much more portable then the heavy 310 organ and thousands of bands would have one in their setup. It was even licensed to ARP synthesizer which had tried to develop their own string synthesizer but couldn't figure it out themselves.

For years and maybe still today, one could find a dusty Eminent 310 in Dutch thrift stores for cheap prices. Last one I saw must be around 2015 somewhere in a thrifstore in Diemen were they had one for 25 euros. Nobody really wanted them, a cumbersome affair to transport and taking up too much space in your abode. Only hardcore Jean Michel Jarre fans would indulge into this instrument. Nowadays, especially outside The Netherlands, they go for ridiculous prizes (there is one on Reverb for 2250 euros). You probably can find one for free or really cheap if you search a bit still but maybe Behringer could make a re-issue of the entire 310 organ in a lightweight mini version!?
Pleeeeease...that would really be so awesome!

Your Shadow Wolf theological bible belt organ correspondent,

Miep Mus


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BUILD YOUR OWN

 ___       ___  __  ___  __   __          __ 
|__  |    |__  /  `  |  |__) /  \ |\ | | /  `
|___ |___ |___ \__,  |  |  \ \__/ | \| | \__,
                                             
          ___  ___  __                       
|  |  /\   |  |__  |__)                      
|/\| /~~\  |  |___ |  \                      
                                             
              __   __        __        ___   
\_/ \ / |    /  \ |__) |__| /  \ |\ | |__    
/ \  |  |___ \__/ |    |  | \__/ | \| |___   
                                             

A fun activity to do by yourself or with the family. Build your own
electronic water xylophone.

You need:
 
5 empty (beer) bottles
5 contact mics/piezo elements
5 construction tape
Audio wire/cable
Jack Plug
Stick with a little bead or marble on it


 _____________________wire_________________________
|      |        |      |         /                 |
|      |        |      |        /                  |
| ===  |  ===   | ===  |  ===   | ===              |
| | |  |  | |   | | |  |  | |   | | |              |
| | |   \ | |   \ | |  |  | |   | |~|              |  jack
 \   \   \   \   /   \  \/   \  |/   \            [ ] plug
| O   | | O   | | O   | |~O~~~| -O    |           [ ]
|     | |     | |~~~~~| |     | |     |           [ ]
|     | |     | |     | |     | |     |            H
|     | |~~~~~| |     | |     | |     |            H
|~~~~~| |     | |     | |     | |     |            U
|_____| |_____| |_____| |_____| |_____|     __ _________________
                                           |  |    [  ]  [  ]   |
Bottles with contact mic/piezzo element    |   \  \  \  \  \  \ \
                                           |    \  =  =  =  =  = \
                                           |_____\________________\
                                               audio mixer
  
Fill 5 bottles with water, going from almost empty to full. Close
the bottles with tape or if you still have them, the caps.
Tape the contact mic/piezo element on the bottles, around halfway
before the neck starts. Wire them so they come all together into
one wire. Attach a jack plug to the end of the cable.
Put that one into a mixer, you might need a pre amp or put the gain
up pretty much. Use a stick with a bead or marble on it an
play the bottles.  Put FX over the sound and you got a mindboggling
exotic instrument!

Experiment with the amount of water to make the right notes.
YOu might want to use a keyboard or tuner to see how much
water makes which pitch if you want existing scales.
Of course, it's more weird to get out of tune alien tuning.

Instead of wiring all the wires into one you can also make a
plug for each element/bottle so you will have 5 plugs to put in
your mixer having individual channels for each bottle!
Now you can pan each bottle in a stereo field or put individual
FX over them.
                                                             
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           __    ___  ___  __     __           
   | |  | |__) |  |  |__  |__)   (__)          
\__/ \__/ |    |  |  |___ |  \   (__)          
                                                
 __              __        ___     __           
/__`  /\   |\/| |__) |    |__     |__)  /\  |__/
.__/ /~~\  |  | |    |___ |___    |    /~~\ |  \
                                                

    _____________________________________________________
   |     ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||    |
   |                                        JUPITER 8    |
   |_____________________________________________________|
   |    |LFO |MOD |VCO1 |VCO2 ||HPF VCF|VCA | ENV1 |ENV2 | 
   |    | | |  = |  | =  |    | |  | = = = =| | = |||= = |
   | o o| = =  | =  = |  = o o| = o| | | | || = | =|=| | |
   |____|________________________________________________|
   |      |         |   | _____ |           |      |     |
   | O |_ ||_|_|_|  | |_||12 23|||_|_|_|_|_||_|_|_|||_|_ |
   |-----------------------------------------------------|
   |         _________________________________________   |
   |  .. .  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |
   |  |||__ | ||||| ||||||| ||||| ||||||| ||||| |||||||  |
   |  = = = |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||  |
   |=====================================================|


The sounds of one of the most coveted vintage synths at your finger tips! Ready to load in your sampler! Load them up in Ableton - Fruityloops - MPC - OCtatrack - SP404 - Polyend Tracker - Renoise - Electribes - Microsampler - OP1 - Kurzweil - Mirage - EPS - ASR etc.etc.etc. Luscious pad sounds, growling basses, splendorous synths, exalting FX, mindwarbling arpeggios and lots more!!!

350 samples in 16 bit wav format - all free for you to use!
coming very soon on legowelt.org!

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 __   ___        __      __   __   ___       ___
|  \ |__   |\/| /  \    /__` /  ` |__  |\ | |__ 
|__/ |___  |  | \__/    .__/ \__, |___ | \| |___
                                                
 __   ___  __   __   __  ___                    
|__) |__  |__) /  \ |__)  |   .                  
|  \ |___ |    \__/ |  \  |   .           

 __   __   __  __  ___  __   __   __        ___
|__) /  \ /  \  / |__  |  \ |__) /  \ |\/| |__ 
|__) \__/ \__/ /_ |___ |__/ |  \ \__/ |  | |___
                                                

THE ULTIMATE GABBER COMPO OF 2021!!!
    o       o   .     .        o           o      .     .    .
          .        .     .         .   .      .      .
/\ .  /\/\    /\/\                                       /\   /\/\/\/\
  \  /    \  /    \/\/\   o           o      .   o      /  \ /  \ \ \ \
   \/      \/   o  \   \     _____                     /    \    \ \ \ \
    \  .    \           \   | ||  |       ___      @@@@      \    \ \ \
     \   ___     #####   \  | / \ |      / __\    @@@@@@@     \    \ \ \
        /   \   ## . .|   \ |(   )|     /O=O\ \   @ _ - @      \    \ \
        | x x|  ##  ) |    \| \_/ |      \F  \/   |   X |       \    \
        \ ---|   | ( )|     |_||__|   @@@@----__ _|_____| @@@@   \
       --------  \  @@@@    |_____|   ||||\___  |       |_||||
      /        \  ==||||              ||||$_____| |    ___||%%        
     / /  @@@@ _\ %%||||               -- /     |_|    |   --
     | |  ||||%__\   --                  /_____/\\\____|
     )))__||||__|      \                /  __  \ |   _  \
       |  __  |   ____/                /  /  \  \|  | \  \
       | |  | | | |  |                 \  \  /  /|  |  \  \
       |_|  |_| |_|__|__                \__\/__/ |__|   \__\_
      (__)  (__)(____)__)              (___(___) (___)  (____)


On Saturday 7th of August 2021 the annual BOOZEMBLY was held in Helsinki Finland. The BOOZEMBLY is a little obscure side event of the giant ASSEMBLY creative tech demo/game convention.

At the BOOZEMBLY votes are cast for the BOOZEDROME. An initiative of the Dekadence demo group, the Boozedrome is a yearly competition where the contestants make a gabber song on a Commodore AMiga computer with the Protracker sequencer software.

The rules are simple:
1)  It must be a 4 channel MOD. file playable in Protracker V.2.3D.
2) The Maximum filesize can not be bigger then 500kB (thats half a floppy more or less!)
3) A maximum length of 3 minutes.

The event, or 'ritual' takes place at the BOOZEMBLY HILLS somewhere in
what looks like an acient nordic forest (probably nothing more then some
park shrubbery behind a Helsinki suburbian stripmall)

Two economy-sized budget portable PA speakers stand on an ancient glacier rock...like biblical slabs blasting the 10 commandments of chosen gabber tracks to the pilgrims of the BOOZEMBLY.

Those 10 best ones are compiled on a cassette and the bandcamp page of
BOOZEDROME: https://boozedrome.bandcamp.com/music

Shadow Wolf asked some questions to the DEKADENCE crew to see what's up with all this!


(SW): Can you tell a bit about the Dekadence group, when did it start - whre is it based, how many members, where are they from? what is the most famous demo or the one you are most proud of???

(Britelite): Dekadence started back in 1997 and is based in Finland,
although we do have some members from Germany and Norway too.
We probably have some 20 members currently, but with only a handful
actually being active. The Beertime series is probably among our most
well known demos, and some of our Amiga 64k intros have also been very
well received. One of my favourites is Chaotic, which won the oldskool
democompo at Assembly 2011.


(SW): What are your favourite classic gabber tracks from the early days (made on an amiga)?


(Ricky Martin): If being made on an Amiga’s the requirement, I guess I’d go with Nasenbluten. “Cocksucker” in particular is a banger. Other than Amiga I’ve always been really partial to Explore Toi’s sound, like “Body Suburb Beat” by Suburbia + Ethnox + Mosmacrew.

(okkie): Have to start with Neophyte as they wore their Amiga love on their sleeves with the "3 Amigas" and "Protracker" EPs, "Back in my Brain", "Komen wij uit Rotterdam", they're all bangers made in Protracker. I reached out to them for Boozedrome IV as there is a fantastic Windows/Mac clone for Protracker, but unfortunately Jeroen never responded. I'm a big of fan of early hardcore, the orginators, DJ Rob '1992 for you' Dyewitness 'Observing The Earth', King Dale 'Utter', Vitamin 'Alice in Donderland'. The time where it was all new and people were just fucking around with synths and samples.


(SW): What is the significance of Boozembly Hills? Where is it? Is the boozedrome always held there?


(Ricky Martin): Tiny bit of Finnish demoscene history: Boozembly Hills is the nickname for an area close to the Assembly demoparty in Helsinki. It hosts an informal event called Boozembly, which is where Assembly visitors go to drink, well, booze, and socialize, since alcohol has traditionally been forbidden inside the Assembly hall. It’s been a convenient location for the Boozedrome competition (and the obvious inspiration for the name), since there’s always a lull early on the Saturday of Assembly where nothing happens inside, and thus people are also still sober enough to listen to a bunch of gabber tracks.

Boozedrome has been held there for three times, except this year (2021) due to the weather being just awful on the day of the compo. So we did it online on Twitch instead, which worked surprisingly well.


(SW): Why are ATARI ST's so bad?

(Britelite): Have you heard the sound chip?

(Ricky Martin): As Britelite mentioned, the sound capabilities are just abysmal. Although ironically enough, I’ve probably made more Atari ST chiptunes in recent years than Amiga MODs. Sometimes, shall we say, extreme limitations are a boon for creativity.


(SW): Is there any good ATARI computer or thing?

(Ricky Martin): I’m going to have to be honest here: I’ve barely ever used an Amiga, and been more of an Atari ST and PC guy. Please don’t kick my ass due to some unfortunate circumstances!

That doesn’t really answer the question though. Well, when I was a kid, I thought the Atari Lynx was insanely cool and I was super jealous of a friend who had one.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s always been slim pickings with this company, you know?


(SW): Why does the Amiga computer make the best gabber kicks?

(Ricky Martin): [pointing to my response to the previous question:] uhhhhhhhhh. Magic?

(Okkie): Cause you can easily steal them from other records!
But even if you don't, an 808 kick through your guitar distortion pedal
straight into your 8 bit Amiga 500 gives enough crunch for that classic
gabber sound.


(SW): What Amiga digitizer/sampler do you use?

(Ricky Martin): I don’t! I either rip my samples from others, or prepare the samples in an app called Sound Studio on my Mac, and it does a really poor job of converting them too. I can’t say audio fidelity has ever been my priority when making mods.


(Okkie): ProTracker 2.3D is the one and only sequencer you should ever use on Amiga. Rip your samples from other people, or use Audio Master III for sampling.

SW

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 __   __   ___ ___  __          __   __   __        ___  __ 
|__) /  \ |__   |  |__) \ /    /  ` /  \ |__) |\ | |__  |__)
|    \__/ |___  |  |  \  |     \__, \__/ |  \ | \| |___ |  \

       __  _  __     
      _\ \|_|/ /_            o   _     _   o   .    .   o
     /  \/   \/  \    o         | \   / |    o    o    .  __/
     \__/\___/\__/        ___.  |  \_/  |      __  _  __ /          
       /_/|_|\_\     ____/      | .   . | __  _\_\|_|/_/_  o
___      _ | _      /      \\\  |   o   |    |___(__)____|
 . \    \ \|//  ___/  o   o \ \_/    -   \__   /_/|_|\_\    .
    \__  \ |/__/     . .     \__        ___ \    _ | _   o
  o    \__\|     . o     o      |       \  \\\   \\|//  .  .
     .  .  |  .        .        |        )        \|/
                               /___//___/          |

What is the Shadow Wolf Cyberzine without the poetry corner,
once more some cool poems sent in by our readers...


The commute    by Jentlemen

Diving through, I land among clots of wet snow
and soggy christmas trees.
White dots float on in the fluid space.
I am swimming where I need to go.

Spineless and unseen,
passing through seaweed and algae,
not knowing an unfiltered sun from a salty one.
Drinking deep what I must pass through,
weight was never meant to be carried on these knees.

You slumber on at the water’s edge
where waves break, carving out a coastal shelf.
You, lone bird,
who will not be here when I return to shore.

_-_-_-_


When it smiles I feel afraid    by Vera Vleermuis

A secret
subtly muted
througout time
under a faded
valiant
grim fantasy

A forest wave 
cascades gently
onto vanished
petrified
emerald fields

A shadow evening
sings
whilst waiting
for an eternal
dark
spring dream


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

               ___                       
|  | |__|  /\   |                        
|/\| |  | /~~\  |                        
                                         
 __   __   ___      ___       __   ___   
/  ` |__) |__   /\   |  |  | |__) |__    
\__, |  \ |___ /~~\  |  \__/ |  \ |___   
                                         
   __     ___         __  __             
| /__`     |  |__| | /__`  _|            
| .__/     |  |  | | .__/  .             
                                         


SOme rather dIstUrBing AsCII art from Cassiopeia Blumenthal from an
ASCII art theraphy session:



                                  ++++++++++++++++++++++++
                                ++++++++++++++++++++++++
                           ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
                        +++++++++++++++++++++++++      
                     +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++          
                  +++++                         +++
                ++++++                            ++
               ++                                  ++
              ++                                   ++
             ++                                    ++
            ++       +++           +++              ++
            ++      ++++          ++++              ++
            ++     +++ ++         ++ ++              ++
             ++   +++   ++       ++   ++              ++
              ++  ++   +++      +++   ++               ++
               ++                                        ++
               + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++           ++      
             + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++                ++    
            + ++++++++++++++++++++++               ++++++++        
          ++ +++++++++++++++++++                   +++++++     
         ++ ++++++++++++++++                       ++++++++          
        ++ ++++++++++++++++                        ++++++++
       + +++++++++++++++++                        ++++++++
       ++ +++++++++++++++                        +++++++++
        + ++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++              
         + +++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++                 
          + ++++++++ +++++.    ++++++     ++++++++++++++++++            
           +   +++   ++++++++.   +   ++++++++++++++++++++++++     
           +  +++++++++++++     +++++      ++++++++++++  ++++
           + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   +++++++
           + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   +++++++
           + +++ ++++++++++++++++  ++++++++++++++++++  +++++++
           + +++ +++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   +++++++
           + +++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  +++++++++
           + ++++ +++ +++++++++++  +++++++++++++++++  +++++++
           + +++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  ++++++++
            +++++ ++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++
             +++ + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++            
            ++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++
            +++    ++++++++++     ++++++++++++++++ +++++++
             ++   +++++++++       +++++++++++++++ +++++  
                  ++++++          ++++++++++++++ +++         
           ++++++     +++++++++++++++        ++++
    +++++++++         ++++++++++               ++++++++++          
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


What creature is this?
A duck? A gnome? Something else?
What sound does it make?
Does it laugh?
Does it cry?
Does it growl?
Does it talk normal?
What do its footsteps sound like?
Is it sad?
Is it happy?
Is it evil?

Maybe its somewhere in your home right now, hiding until you go
to sleep...



----------------------------------------------------------------------


      ___                         __   ___  __    /           
|\ | |__  |  |    |__| |  | |\ | / _` |__  |__)  /            
| \| |___ |/\|    |  | \__/ | \| \__> |___ |  \ .             
                                                              
___       __   ___     __   ___        ___       __   ___  __ 
 |   /\  |__) |__     |__) |__   |    |__   /\  /__` |__  /__`
 |  /~~\ |    |___    |  \ |___  |___ |___ /~~\ .__/ |___ .__/


 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo     ooooooooo
 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo  ooooo  ooooooo
 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo    oooooo     oooo        o  ooooo   oooooo
 oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo   ooooo      ooo  oooo   o  ooooo   oooooo
 ooooooooooooooooo  oooooooooo   oooo  ooo ooo  ooooo  o  ooooo   oooooo
 ooooooooooooooooo  ooooooooooo    oo  ooo ooo  ooooo  o  oooo   ooooooo
 ooooooooooooooooo    ooooooooooo   o  ooooooo         o  oo   ooooooooo
 oooooooooooooooooooo   oooooooooo  o  ooooooo  ooooopo     oooooooooooo
 ooooooooooooooooooooo     ooooooo  o  ooooooo   ooooooo     ooooooooooo
 oooooooooooooooooooooo     oooooo  o  ooo           ooo   ooo    oooooo
 oooooooooooooooo   oooo     ooooo  oo  ooo oooo            oooo   ooooo
 ooooooooo    ooo    ooo   o  ooooo  oo  oooooo   oooooooo  oooo   ooooo
 ooooooooo    ooo   oooo   oo  ooooo  oo  ooooo   oooooooo  ooooo  ooooo
 o  ooo  oo    ooo   ooo   ooo  ooooo   oo  ooo   oooooooo  ooooo  ooooo
 o   oo   ooo   ooo   oo   oooo  ooooo   oo       ooooooooo  ooooo ooooo
 o   oo   oooo   ooo   oo   oooo  ooooo   ooo   ooooooooooo  ooooo ooooo
 oo   oo  ooooo   ooo  ooo   oooo   oooo   ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
 oooo        oooo  oo   oooo   oooo     oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooppo
 ooo   oo    oooo  o   ooooo   ooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop
 oooo   oo   ooooo    ooooo  ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooppo
 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
                                                             
Alchemulator and Baglover's new releases on Hunger!

Check out The Hague’s own Hunger! two latest releases available on bandcamp: Alchemulator’s “Larping at Fairsnake Hamlet” and Baglover’s “Throw Down the Gauntlet”.

Alchemulator is the new fantasy RPG larpwavpe alias of Legowelt/Danny Wolfers. All tracks were made on the legendary Yamaha PSS-480. Revel in Alchemulator’s fantasy world of larping druids, brought to life with the infamous Yamaha PSS480 keyboard. The history of the Yamaha PSS FM range keyboards of the late 1980’s is fascinating and niche: a cheap consumer semi-toy home keyboard with spartan synthesizer functions based around a specially designed FM sound chip.

The chip, which is a low cost and cut down version of FM synthesis found in the mighty Yamaha DX7 - the digital synthesizer that defined pop music in the 1980’ - brings forth a mere sketch of its distant DX7 cousin. Feeble attempts to emulate the mighty DX7’s electric piano or staccato bass sounds on one of these keyboards are futile. Instead, a plethora of unique lo-fi tones resound. Unexpected artifacts are plentiful: cracks and hisses are present, giving the sounds a strange otherworldly and organic undercurrent, which are to be heard on the album.

This chip found its way in a number of 1990’s computer sound cards, scoring the music of many RPG adventure game worlds, exposing an entire generation of geeks and cyberpunks to its digital dusty yet crystalline warm spectrum of sounds. The instant association with fantasy adventures makes it ideal for old school dungeon synth composing. Escape this savage life and enter Alchemulator’s great gardens of Thalamere, located Southwest of Fairsnake Hamlet.

“Throw Down the Gauntlet” is The Hague’s elusive duo Baglover's first full length album. The album is dark and atmospheric, channeling a wide range of instruments: incantations summoned by casio organs, vintage atmospheric choir pads, and various noise makers. On the battlefield, distant cries of death and detonations resound. A horse’s neigh and bray. Conjurations of La Pucelle d'Orléans aka Joan of Arc’s military campaigns at Orléans, before meeting their fate of wrongful conviction and burning at the stake.

Baglover’s debut album evokes themes of chivalry, crude theatres of war, and manuscript illuminations such as the book of hours Très riches heures du Duc de Berry, and celestial phenomenons, not unlike that which befell Nuremberg on 14 April 1561. Woven into the sonic landscape is the melancholically beautiful and gut wrenching hurdy gurdy, an enigmatic melodic and drone-producing medieval instrument as seen in Dutch painter’s Bosch’ The Garden of Earthly Delight, skillfully performed by Jimi Hellinga on tracks 'Mire of Dregs Pit of Misery' and 'Nourrit Parmi les Lis'.

Both releases are available on cassette tape and digitally as a bundle which comes with a poster. A limited edition Hunger! organic t-shirt is also available. The artwork was made by Clara Lezla and Rebecca Joly and both albums were mastered by Jimi Hellinga (Elektrovolt, Zandvoort & Uilenbal) and available at: https://hunger.bandcamp.com




-----------------------------------------------------------------------

         __                __   __   ___    
 /\     / _` |    |  |\/| |__) /__` |__    
/~~\    \__> |___ |  |  | |    .__/ |___   
                                           
       ___  __     ___       ___           _________
| |\ |  |  /  \     |  |__| |__          _____________  
| | \|  |  \__/     |  |  | |___       _________________    
                                      ____________________     
 __   __   ___  __   ___      ___    _____    ______    ___      
|__) |__) |__  /__` |__  |\ |  |     ______________________
|    |  \ |___ .__/ |___ | \|  |     ______________________      
                                     ______________________                                       ______       ______
                                       _________________             *
                                                ______              *
                             ________________                      *
                          ________________________                 * 
           ***         ____________________________               * 
          *   *       ______________________________       ***   *    
      ****     *      _______     _________     _____     *   ***
     *          *  * _________________________________   *    
    *             ** _________________________________ **         
 ***     _________   _________________________________               
  ____  | _______ |  __________             __________
 /    \ ||       ||   _______________________________
/    /| ||       ||     ____________________________
    /_| ||_______||        _______________________
   //__  _______ //            ______________
__/    \------  //
        \//--  //
     |\__/-----'

By Kamilė Rimkutė aka Caline with C


“a glimpse into the present” is an interactive sound installation that enables visitors to generate sound real time with their brainwaves, in particular in states of relaxation. The installation uses BCI (brain- computer interface) technology with an EEG (electroencephalogram) headset. The headset contains eight hybrid electrodes that collect small currents of electricity from the brain, amplifies and converts them into numbers which are received by a computer. “a glimpse into the present” is originally made for an eight channel sound system, where each EEG electrode corresponds to a speaker in the space. The first channel of the EEG headset is associated with the first speaker, the second electrode with the second speaker and so forth, creating a spatial sound experience, where the spatiality is dependent on the participant’s alpha wave presence. Alpha waves are associated with the state of relaxation and have a frequency range of around 8 - 12Hz.


“a glimpse into the present” in the setting of an eight channel sound system was presented for 8 consecutive days, from June 16 23 June 2021, in a WWII bunker in Den Haag next to café “de Waterkant” in Westbroekpark. More than 50 people experienced the installation during those days and each person had a one-hour slot, with the possibility to leave the installation at free will. The amount of time spent inside the installation by participants varied from 20 minutes to 60 minutes.

 
The sound installation can be seen as a training for reaching a meditative state. Even people who may not be experienced or devoted listeners are put in a situation where they are responsible to the outcome of the sound. In a way, the brain is just another muscle in our body, which can be trained. I am using the neurofeedback method in my sound installation as a training, aiming to increase the appearance of alpha brainwaves. By becoming more aware and present in the moment, participants are given opportunity to learn how to self-regulate emotional or mental states, a skill which they can later apply while under pressure.


How it works: channeling the brain's data into sound

I will briefly explain how I developed a software communication system in order for this installation to work technically. In this setup I used a Unicorn EEG device from the g.tec medical engineering company, based in Austria. The Unicorn EEG headset sends the brainwave values through a Bluetooth dongle to the computer. The headset records every channel at a rate of 250 frames per second, and therefore it generates a large amount of data which can be used creatively afterwards. In this project I wanted to have the device running in real time. Therefore I needed to find a way to send the brain data from the headset to the computer program SuperCollider. The g.tec company also created Unicorn LSL (Lab Streaming Layer) extensions, which make it possible to send the values through the LSL protocol to the software of one’s choice. In order to send these values to SuperCollider, I needed to translate them into OSC (Open Sound Control) messages. For that reason I used the OpenVibe program, which is able to receive messages sent through LSL and apply a bandpass filter at 0.5-30Hz to filter out noise from the brainwave data. OpenVibe also has an “OSC controller” object, which translates values into OSC messages, which I then direct to the 255.255.255.255 IP address on my computer. This means that messages are broadcast on my local Internet network. I receive the data in my SuperCollider program running on another computer. I use two computers because the Unicorn headset is only compatible with Windows computers and not yet with MacOS. I run SuperCollider on a MacBook also in order to protect the computer from CPU overload, because too much data can lead to a computer crash.


In SuperCollider I created an OSCdef in order to filter incoming messages so that the OSCdef is only activated if they are in the frequency range of alpha waves, which is between 8Hz to 12Hz or -8Hz to -12Hz. In order to reach the alpha state, the participant needs to feel calm and relaxed. Problem-solving and other higher mental function activities can prevent a person from reaching the alpha state, and therefore a quiet, calm resting state, without external distractions is recommended. When SuperCollider receives a message in the frequency range between 8 and 12Hz (also negative range), a synthesizer inside an OSCdef is triggered. When the program receives 2 to 5 messages in a row in the aforementioned range, the synthesizer changes. When the program receives 5 to 10 incoming messages in a row in that range, the synthesizer changes again and so forth. It means that the longer people stay in the relaxed state of mind, the more changes in sound they receive.


The code consists of smaller blocks of code which are activated when a participant is relaxed for a certain amount of time. I am more interested in synthesizing sound than using prerecorded samples in this project. Because the installation gives real time responses, I want to use them for synthesis in order to reach a more direct translation from brain activity to sound. My goal is to encourage flow, which in this case is a stream of data, which I then direct in certain ways and let it sound. I mapped incoming messages to frequency in most of the synthesizers that I wrote. Therefore, every time a synthesizer is triggered, the frequency is different. Alpha range is from around 8Hz to 12Hz, therefore a multiplication is needed in order for it to be audible. If I seek for slight changes in frequency, I multiply incoming messages with one number. If I want more varied frequency range, I multiply the incoming message with an array of numbers, from which SuperCollider randomly chooses the multiplication number. I used envelope followers to create tones in some segments of the code for each channel, by following the envelope of incoming messages. If it happens that these tones are triggered in a few channels at the same time, it creates a melody. Segments of code for each channel are written in a way that in the beginning, when only a couple of messages in the range of alpha are received, sounds are more subtle, slowly fading in and fading out. Eventually, more immersive envelopes appear, which stay there, until another segment of the code is activated. However, the order of priority in synthesizers does not define how composition will evolve. Some EEG channels might show more alpha activity than others faster, therefore in some speakers continuous envelopes might appear sooner, for example. Low frequencies of 40Hz are generated in order to achieve bodily sound experience. See the full code on https://github.com/rkamile/glimpseintothepresent.

 
Gaining control by giving up control: therapeutic sound


The reason why I chose this project to be an interactive installation rather than a performance is because I wanted to create a space that enables an experience which is intimate and personal; a situation where people can stay in isolation with themselves while experiencing the system. The perfect goal is a kind of emptiness, which in this case means that a person does not have any thoughts. Experiencing a clear and empty state of mind can be highly therapeutic and help people rest.


Through my therapist, I learned about the defusion technique. It is widely used in acceptance and commitment therapy and encourages individuals to step back while in the middle of experiencing a certain emotion and reflect on it by starting with “I notice that...”. This method of distancing from thoughts enables people to stay centered without identifying with them. I encourage this defusion technique in my sound installation, by instructing participants to view their thoughts from a distance. In this way, participants don’t have to feel pressured to have a clear mind, or have only certain relaxing thoughts. Various research shows that suppressing thoughts or trying to control them too much has an opposite effect and prevents relaxation and blocks alpha waves.


The verdict: Feedback from participants


All participants that have tried the installation reported reflective experiences. Some people found it intimidating that their brain will be evaluated how well it can perform. Some people found it frustrating, since in most interactive installations, participants need to physically do something in order to shape sound and in this case, the act was happening in their thoughts. Some individuals reported that once they were able to let go of control on their thoughts, they were able to go into a deeper state of relaxation and experience sound differently. Some people even had an out-of-body experience. Interestingly, people who are diagnosed with ADHD experienced the sound installation differently. For them, complete darkness and silence creates anxiety, therefore during their time inside the bunker, they were looking at their hands, or grabbing their phone or found another way how to distract themselves in order to stay relaxed. Overall, I was excited to hear such different feedback and I think I was able to communicate the principle that I was aiming for. Gaining control by giving up control can be a counterintuitive idea, but sometimes life is exactly that.


Kamilė Rimkutė aka Caline with C

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DJ MATCHSTICK THERAPY
       _______________
      /              /|      ________________
     /_____________ / |     /               /|
    |   ______     |  |    /_______________/ |
    |  |  ____|    |  |   |   __      __  |  |
    |  | |____     |  |   |  | |     | |  |  |                
    |  |  ____|    |  |   |  | |     / |  |  |
    |  | |         |  |   |   \ \   / /   |  |__        _
    |  | |         |  |   |    \ \_/ /    |  |\ \      / /
    |  | |         |  |   |     \   /     |  | \ \____/ /
    |  |_|         | /    |      \_/      | /  /        \
    |______________|/     |_______________|/  /     O  O \___O
           _______________      __________________      _____)
          /              /|    /                 /|    (_______
         /_____________ / |   /_________________/ |___  \____  \
        |   _______    |  |   |   _________     | |   \____/ \_/
        |  |___  __|   |  |   |  |  _______|    | ---_
        |     | |      |  |   |  | |____        | --  \
        |     | |      |  |   |  |  ____|       | --__|
        |     | |      |  |   |  | |_______     | |
        |     | |      |  |   |  |_________|    | |
        |   __| |__    |  |   |                 | |
        |   |______|   |  /   |_________________|/
        |______________|_/  

                         
TRICKS TO DO / SHOW WHEN YOU ARE BORED BACKSTAGE
For many DJs and performing artists the most loathed moment in their life is waiting in backstages before a gig. This brings great amounts of anxiety and stress to the artist. An empty void of unsufferable mental pain. Psychologist Fiona Knorrepot from the university of Lelystad worked with many DJs analysing their behaviour and the mental implications of the job.

She devised a coping strategy to deal with this state of mind and make the backstage experience tolerable, even fun and an uplifting experience.

You need a box of matches around 30.

Put them on the table and ask yourself the following question:

If you could spell numbers using the matchsticks only, for which number would you need the same amount of matches as the number you are spelling. It must be in capital letters and only for numbers whose spelling only consists of straight lines (like FIVE and TEN) and no curves (like TWO, SEVEN, THREE, EIGHT etc.)


----------------------------------------------------------------------


       ___            __   ___  __          __                       
 |\/| |__   /\  |\ | |  \ |__  |__) | |\ | / _`                      
 |  | |___ /~~\ | \| |__/ |___ |  \ | | \| \__>                      
                                                                     
___       __        __       ___  __                                 
 |  |__| /  \ |  | / _` |__|  |  /__`                                
 |  |  | \__/ \__/ \__> |  |  |  .__/                                
                                                                     
            __   __       ___                                        
       /\  |__) /  \ |  |  |                                         
      /~~\ |__) \__/ \__/  |                                         
                                                                     
                 __   __             __   ___                        
      |__|  /\  |__) |  \ |  |  /\  |__) |__                         
      |  | /~~\ |  \ |__/ |/\| /~~\ |  \ |___                        
                                                                     
           __                                                        
 /\  |\ | |  \    |  | |__| \ /                                      
/~~\ | \| |__/    |/\| |  |  |                                       
                                                                     
           __           __        __             __                  
      \ / /  \ |  |    /__` |__| /  \ |  | |    |  \                 
       |  \__/ \__/    .__/ |  | \__/ \__/ |___ |__/                 
                                                                     
            ___       ___  __      __   ___       __                 
      |\ | |__  \  / |__  |__)    |__) |__   /\  |  \     /\  |\ |   
      | \| |___  \/  |___ |  \    |  \ |___ /~~\ |__/    /~~\ | \|   
                                                                     
 __   __   ___  __       ___    __                                   
/  \ |__) |__  |__)  /\   |  | /  \ |\ |                             
\__/ |    |___ |  \ /~~\  |  | \__/ | \|                             
                                                                     
                                                                     
 |\/|  /\  |\ | |  |  /\  |                                          
 |  | /~~\ | \| \__/ /~~\ |___                                       
                                 

            /\
            \ \                      _________
            | |                     /         \_____--.
            \ \                    /   /    O       --/
             \ \                  /   \      ________/
             | |______________----|   /    /\/\/\/\___
             |                     \_/     \/--- -/__/
             |       \                      \-- --\ \
             \       /                      /--- -/_/
        ___---\     /     ___________\     |\- ---\
       /  _____\    \____/        /   \    | \--- -\
       \_/      \_  /            /   / \_  | /- -- /
                 / /         ___/   /   |  | \ -- -\ 
                / /_        / _____/     \ |_/- ---/
                \__/        \_/          /__/\--- -\
                                              \_____\___

Meandering thoughts about hardware and why you should never read an operation manual. (by our special reporter BoeufStroganoff)


Some weeks ago I had an alcohol-infused opportunity to meet, very late at night, with an asian-pop singer who used to be a big deal in his country back in the early 90's. We talked music and somehow ended up at his place, where he showed off his home studio. I was astonished to notice he composed music with only a handful of items : an iPad, running some multicoloured cubase clone, a mic and a mixer. Quite minimalist for a “famous” singer.

At the risk of sounding judgmental, his music was this kind of emotional overly-romantic,  predictable crap. He used cheap general-midi sounds and, in a way, you could say he was making “preset music”. But ok, his voice was good so let's just say he was a good singer, but no composer. I was watching him, frantically hitting his Ipad while uttering frustrating squeaks and I realized that this was the opposite of how I make music myself, which is lyrics-less and composed with old smelly hardware machines. Loads of them. That triggered some thoughts during the next day's inevitable hangover. Why do I use hardware and only deals with computer for editing/mastering ? Why don't I indulge with the efficiency of a DAW like this guy ? Why did it all snowball into this weird article ?

A couple of days later I was at a freak-slash-friend's place to geek around about modular synth as he showed off his setup. I've got a small collection of simple modules myself but I was surprised about the complexity of some of his, the nature of which I just couldn't guess by simply looking. He started patching and desperately pushing buttons to try to show me how this stuff worked... but it just never did ! He concluded his demonstration by saying “well, you just need some time to really sit down and wrap your head around it”.

I guess the modular ecosystem has only two kind of modules : Simple ones, that have one purpose and one function per knob. They are generally fully analog but there is some cool digital stuff in there too. Think first-gen stuff (like Doepfer), WYSIWYG, easy, and playable in a dark environment. Then the other type : tacky blinking RGB lights, buttons galore, OS updates and secret complicated push combination to switch to different modes (each brand having their own logic about it). Loaded with a hefty amount of these modules, a system can quickly become too complex and nightmare-ish to be able to remember everything.

I guess in this regard, only the former could be called “instruments” while the latter are more like “studio tools”. That's an interesting divide. An instrument should be a window into your delicate soul, being able to be controlled with extreme precision to reflect the intricate emotions at play in your beautiful juicy brain. So maybe a real instrument should be as simple as possible. I don't think anybody has ever needed to read a manual to play on a piano or with a guitar. Most traditional acoustic instruments are a hands-on, direct affair. In contrast to a 90's groovebox, simplicity is the only choice for acoustic instruments. They make one type of sound over several fixed or non fixed pitches, that's it. From the humble triangle to the most complex brass contraption the spectrum is large, but they're never too complicated. Put your fingers on it, push air with your mouth through it, or hit it with some kind of mallet and, after training, that process will become more unconscious and seamless, allowing you to concentrate on musicality and expression. Congratulation, you are now capable of transmitting beauty and emotions (or despair and mayhem if you're into that stuff).

The first generation of electronic instruments like the Trautonium, the Theremin or the Ondes Martenot followed the principle of acoustic instruments. Simple sound, simple interface. Things got complicated when some freaks started to make music using laboratory equipment. But this equipment was simplistic enough to be considered a musical instrument in that context. Keyboards from the 60's and 70's, because of their analog one-knob-per-function nature, could still be considered descendants of their acoustic cousins. During that era, more complex instruments could also take a life on their own. The case of the EMS synthi is interesting in that regard. Quite difficult to master at first, the battleship looking matrix is a singular interface that allow intuitive patch construction. Turns out that the lack of keyboard and the unique layout generated an instant urge to craft some trippy drone that sounded like a new language used to communicate with the Insect world. So, more complex yes, but still an inviting, logic, and a darn sexy instrument !

But in the early 80's, something happened. Something weird, something new, something that scares me to the max. Something that came out of the rib of the devil himself  : The birth of the Shift Button.

Suddenly, a knob could have two uses. The sweet comforting reality of knowing at a glimpse what is going on just got shattered. New machines now have abstraction layers added to them by the virtualization of their functions. Like the opening of a new dimension, you have to know what the knob does, but also what MODE your machine is on.  Meh...This is when things got head-scratching confusing. Of course  “shift button” here is also a metaphor meaning “complexifying computerized interfaces” in general.

The worse happens when your mind is elevated by some weird enchanting chemicals, or when you are playing in a dimmed atmosphere, because suddenly your instrument can stop responding in a friendly predictable way, triggering a HORRIBLE consequence : you have to THINK !

It's nasty because, while being able to just surf on your musical inspiration wave before, thinking forces you to pause that vibe, delay your musical impulses, fight with your instrument interface to get it to do what you want it to do, then go back into music performance mode... But like the surfer who is busy strapping himself on his board for too long and misses his wave, the musical wave might have passed you already and you'll end up just floating in a motionless ocean of evaporated inspiration. If your motivation was thin to start with, you could now be tempted to abandon making music and go back to watching videos of cat terrified by cucumbers.

This problem arose when the design of electronic instruments left the hands of dedicated craft(wo)men, or “luthier” as french say, to land on the lap of engineers and their paradoxes. What I call the engineer paradox is something weird and insidious, that I experienced first hand. It consist of the act of developing an electronic music instrument and trying to cram as many features as you can in the software or hardware of a project while retaining the same part-count. At the beginning of the project you have a clear vision of what you want to make : a simple synth with some knobs and faders. Old school and easy. Quickly, you decide that it could be nice to add an OLED screen and a couple of press-buttons in order to save some presets. Then, as you develop the instrument further, you start thinking about all this ROM space available in the processor and that you could add more features, especially since you now have that OLED screen. And before you know it, your machine has several modes accessible with long-press bullshit and color-coded led blinking madness. Even if your machine can indeed do what you envisioned in the beginning, it is now also able to wash your dishes and fill-in your tax return for you. You have over-engineered your instrument and turned it into... a Studio Tool ! full of features but not inviting!

So what... Is it a black and white situation ? Are all keyboards and drum-machines from the late 80's crap ? No I don't think so, and for another interesting reason : the creative power of the crappy interface.

This touches my love for hardware at its core. Yes, I do prefer old-timers and one-trick ponies that don't have CPU's in them, because technological advancement does not necessarily means better instruments. But some less perfect machines have quirky details, some simple function that, for whatever reason, talks to you. While fiddling with a simple little feature you suddenly discover some interesting unpredictable musical results. A magical instant, unforeseeable and quite impossible to stumble upon on a computer. A little feature that the engineer didn't think would make any difference at all, but the implementation of which can make or break the instrument for you. There are thousands of them perks. It can be the way a machine glitches when exposed to an overload of midi messages (Tom Jenkinson, i'm looking at you). It can be a chord memory function that behave funny when used with the on-board sequencer. It can be a smooth type of switch that the hardware guys have chosen instead of another, like in the Roland CSQ-600 sequencer for example. Switching memory banks while playing allow to mix the data on the fly, very unique and musical for a hardware CV seq.

And boy, If you connect many machines together the chance of magic multiplies even more, almost in a logarithmic way !  Simple example : using a sequencer to control a keyboard with an arpeggiator (The Juno-60 / JSQ-60 is a great combo here). When playing back a sequence with the arpeggiator ON, the results are completely unpredictable and can create some nice off-beat rhythmical patterns. Playing with the arpeggio clock speed while recording, will make people think you're a composer genius. Only you know it : the machine did it on it's own!

An engineer is not a luthier. But if we think about it, we could almost say that these little hardware perks are akin to some unintentional random yet clever luthier gesture, turning shittily-interfaced machine into... an instrument!  We might imagine that some engineering decisions can develop the career of an artist that would specifically build “his sound” on a quirky option of a hardware synth. That's kind of cool. For example and at the risk of referring to the synth enthusiast's Godwin point, I am definitely certain that the 303 got its place in history not really because of its sound, but because of the way engineers from Roland made the sequencer capable of  programming slides and accents into the sequence. That is the 303 fact that made it a legendary instrument.

Note that these perks can go both ways. Of the top of my head I'm thinking about the under-engineered Korg Trident. While being a beautiful sounding instrument full of unique character, one cannot help but thinking that the electronic inside was capable of generating a much wider palette of sounds if the designers though it a bit more through. For a poorly chosen resistor value, the detune of OSC2 can't offset beyond a semitone, while it could have been easily capable of being detuned to play a fifth and unlocking many more cool sounds. It also has multiple LFO's for various elements (vibrato, flangers), but doesn't allow you to route it to anything else. No LFO on filter ? Come on Korg! A good tech would have no problem modding it though.

Graphics and form-factor design also have has an impact on an instrument. It gives it a character of its own, an identity. But more importantly a matter of immediacy. The way the information is laid down should allow you to understand, in a flash, every feature of the machine. Realizing you have a doubt about a function, means there is a design flaw.

A brand that used to be very “free-thinking” about its interfaces was 80's Yamaha.
If you ever tried a CS30 with it's weird destination layout, you will understand how a complicated design can hinder your ability to control an instrument that should, in theory, not be so complex.
But of course, that leads to more happy accidents so I guess it's not too bad in the case of the CS30, an analog wonder-board.

I can only imagine the nightmare if  the CS30 was digital and if it had a two line LCD. Wait... I don't have to imagine, because there is the RX-5 drum-machine. This box, born in the depths of hell, came to earth to make human suffer. If you look at a pic of it, you wouldn't know. But trust me, the philosophy behind this machine is effed-up to the tits and it will turn you soft instantly.  Using one for the first time made me think the unit was non-functional. I simply couldn't deduce how it worked just by looking at the labels. That's a big no-no, which is even more sad when you know how cool RX-5s can sound. At this stage it is not even a studio tool, but a way to make the studio intern regrets his life decisions and keep him off your back.

Another reason to like old venerable machines is that they sometimes have a cool feature that simply didn't catch on in further generations of keyboards, making them unique instruments.
The Korg PE-1000, with its amazing independently tunable VCO per note (60VCO in total !) have a function called “Pitch Expand” that detunes the VCOs relative to their distance from the central note on the keyboard. Instant melancholic buttery vibe if crammed all the way.

Music runs the risk of being bland and characterless when made on computers. Hardware on the other hand can add a level of unpredictability that permits the musician to keep being interested in making music. The composer never really creates alone when using hardware as it will keep injecting its weird DNA into your music to corrupt it, in a good way. Hardware generate mutations, that allow your musical offspring to be something else than just a bunch of clone tracks (no, not the Rotterdam institution). Of course sometimes you will need to fight with a dumb interface. But bear with it. Fighting is actually a healthy process. The same way it is the essence of Democracy, It appears that a bit of a fight can lead to interesting compromises and new results. The pain of the fight is only temporary and will dissipate very quickly. But when you  listen to your hardware-composed music, you might be blown away by how good it sounds, how it has a soul. Don't be a dictator by imposing your composition style onto the music, be a democrat instead and let the hardware have a say in your work. Give it co-writer credits. The amazement of your audience, thinking how fresh you sound, will soothe the wounds of hard work.

Even if you are very careful with the audio signal path, there will invariably be sonic characteristics getting injected into your sound when passing through a hardware machine. It can be noise indeed, or a subtle distortion on a specific part of the audio spectrum. It's up to you to use it wisely. Get dirty, see what sound texture you get when you crank the gain of an old mixer, slightly distort those hi-hats coming from your 606, or run your synth through a chain of cheesy spring reverbs to add a sens of realness to it.... You can argue that the computer could do the same thing, but then I'm actually not sure. Digital sound-path has to remain digitally clean in a computer, and digital glitches usually feel like torture. Try feeding back two cheap analog BBD delays into each other through an analog mixer : hours of fun ! Do it in a DAW with VSTs and after a few minutes, your ears will bleed. Hardware machines act like spices in a instrument based sound recipe, while the computer delivers a clean factory-made, reliable,studio processed-product. Where is the fun in that ?


BoeufStroganoff

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Answer for DJ Matchstick therapy : 29

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SEE YOU NEXY YEAR!!!!!!!!!

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