Music of Sound

Feb
10
2009

Me? very busy!

sorry, for no posts this week… me? i’m busy as hell – this is week 6 of an 8 week sound editorial schedule so its head down & I am fending off the distractions like a samurai on ketamine. To give that statement some meaning I have had a bunch of new synth modules arrive & I havent even had time to install them! (Literally a MakeNoise Mod/deMod ring mod, AS Synthi Filter, Plan B Model 9 mixer & Model 12 Vactrol filter, Doepfer A147 VC LFO (thanks for tip Josh!) and a couple of Doepfer multiples… But I’ve had two significant thoughts related to all this & the state of being…

First is this: I own lots of EQ plug ins, but none of them are memorable. This isnt due to a lack of research, investment or time spent. But I am starting to have a theory which is so far vaguely titled ‘the Homogenisation of EQ plug ins’ and I since believe I would prefer my EQ plug ins unpasteurised, if only…. By comparison, take my modular for example: I own five very discrete EQ/filter modules. Specifically;

1. Doepfer A105 SSM 24 dB LPF
2. Polivoks
3. Livewire Frequensteiner
4. Plan B Model 12 Vactrol
5. Analogue Systems Synthi Filter

And along with these modules I also own outboard EQs such as the Moogerfooger LPF, an Orban Model 674a paragraphic and a Sherman Filterbank. Plus the filters I grew up with; built into my SH101, MC202, CS01, MS10, SixTrak & Pro One.. And every one of these analogue EQs is SO VERY DIFFERENT. As in someone could A/B them with me & I am pretty damn sure I could ID them, especially with my hands on a sweep/resonance gesture or two.. And I could sure as hell ID them if I was making a sound & patched one of them in.
So why are EQ plug ins so bland? Even with their tacky ‘analogue’ soft switches, my ears just say no thanks…. They are fine if you want to simply reduce/erradicate frequencies (wind/mic rumble removal or hi freq hiss etc) and theoretically thats what the “pro’s” say: always cut… but as to really providing ‘character’ they just make me go WTF? Half the analogue synths I own & love, I love due to the behaviour of their filters, especially pushed outside their comfort zones… So what got lost in the translation? That question just echoes around out there in the interwebs… and where, in the analogue realm I would say EQ is my favourite process, in the digital world it makes me groan…

Second theory/realisation is more to do with the future: I recently spent 4 days sleeping on a futon & accordingly many dreams were interrupted. This might sound trivial but I remember a very long time ago reading about how Dali always slept during the day & never used a pillow, simply because a broken, uncomfortable sleep equated to vivid dreams (ie remembered dreams) which fed his work…. When I sleep in my normal, very comfy bed I dont remember much, other than passing out & waking up at dawn. But when I sleep on my futon in the spare room, I wake up three or four times a night & ALWAYs during vivid dreams that then go remembered (especially if I txt myself about them!)

So I woke up during this dream where I had been asked to QC someones mix (yeah, well dreams eh? WTF?) and the issue was as much about the monitoring environment as about the content… But I was remembering all this backwards & the thing that woke me up was after all the technicals I was hearing some heavy dub tune played on the speakers & a sound woke me up. Literally. Just one sound. You know when you hear a tune & regardless of the content there is a sound buried in that mix that makes you go: whoah! hold up! What is THAT? THAT does not assimilate. It sits in the mix perfectly but I do not know how or where that sound originates… Its like a hook, but its just a sound. Well by the time my conscious brain woke & engaged, my subconscious had it almost worked out – it was a fckng wild envelope triggered on the snare reverb return. Conscious brain said its a spring being manipulated by a module I dont own nor have ever heard. And ever since (Goddamnit!) I’m lusting after a QMMG, cos I am pretty sure thats what I was hearing… before I order it though, I am going to mess with triggering complex envelopes (with my A140? Plan B Model 38 ELF? A143-1? I suspect its a case of a complex envelope applied to a filter on the verb return – multiple envelopes… but the memory was tight, like a beautifull shaped/gated reverb) on my Verona Retroverb spring… Hmmmmmm….