Video 23160532274:

I Dream of Wires: Carl Craig - Modular Pursuits.

“I get a little… a little crazy about it. Um. Y’know how many filters does a person really need? I got a lot of fucking filters, y’know?”

Video 21844654968:

All Hail The Beat by Nelson George

A short film overview of the highly beloved Roland TR-808 drum machine. 

“It’s kick drum sound is legendary.”

Audio 21279294068:

Aleph Null
Rocket 303 to Cosmos 808
[April Acid Pattern]
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Aleph Null - Rocket 303 to Cosmos 808

In lieu of anyone more qualified stepping forward, it fell to me to contribute this April’s pattern to the SoundCloud monthly acid group. (A high-resolution transcription of the pattern can be seen here for better legibility and easier programming.)

My version has - at least to my ears - an early 90s spaced-out techno-trance vibe to it; the blame for which I place on finding my folder of miscellaneous astronaut transmission recordings. Also, I’m pretty sure Pete Namlook is partially responsible somehow.

I’m really looking forward to hearing how other folks in the group interpret the pattern. DyLABs has already taken it to a very cool and crazy place.

Audio 20711151454:

ynohtna
Afraid of Sharks (Kane'ae bite)
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Unearthed this old live recording yesterday when rummaging around the dustier corners of my hard drives for other stuff.

Correlating my memories of the recording location (Hove, actually) and the gear used —

  • Roland TR808 & MC202 & Casio CZ-1000 synced and sequenced by a Roland MSQ700*
  • Moog Moogerfooger MF-101 low-pass filter pedal
  • Spirit Folio Rac Pac mixer
  • Overly heavy handed usage of a crappy Behringer compressor
  • Lexicon Vortex and three (!) Zoom 1201 effects units in a mutual feedback configuration

— indicates that this was sometime back in the dark ages of 1998, shortly before I went on an year-long brain-breaking bender of making painfully unpalatable, semi-modular experimental noise nonsense.

1998 isn’t that long ago, is it?

Oh.

* A pretty damn retro setup even in 1998; ridiculously quaint now. Which reminds me that I need to liberate the CZ; it’s been on loan for over a decade and I miss it.

Video 20556490033:

Wow. Social Entropy Electronic Musical Instruments are selling a replacement TB-303 operating system chip called Quicksilver.

As well as supporting MIDI - including remote control of all the machines functionality -  everything can also be manipulated in realtime. That includes entering patterns, editing notes, changing modes, and brand new features like “all accent”, “randomise” and “chop”.

I’ll just let that sync in for a moment whilst your mind races with the possibilities for live performance.

All data is stored in an EEPROM so batteries aren’t required, and the OS can also be updated over USB as they intend to add new features in the future.

This looks to be an essential upgrade for all committed acid heads. If you know anyone selling cheap 303s with dead OS chips then now is the time to snap them up before the prices skyrocket!

[via awesome Australian acid aficionado Dylabs]

Audio 20448056852:

Aleph Null
Technopolis
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Couldn’t sleep so fiddled around in the studio and recorded a live jam.

No relation to the Yellow Magic Orchestra song of the same name, except for a possible common appreciation for the concept of idealised technologically advanced cities.

Photo-set 19538674031:

Program Your 808 by Rob Ricketts:

A series of informative posters detailing how some of the most notable drum sequences were programmed using the Roland TR-808 Drum Machine. Each sequence has been analyzed and represented as to allow users to re-programme each sequence, key for key.

Audio 18448416083:

Aleph Null
Active Annelids [February acid pattern]
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Recorded this two weeks ago as part of the SoundCloud monthly acid pattern.

I’ve got to admit that I enjoy hanging out with the oscilloscope worms: underground, dirty, messy, wilfully unpredictable, surviving on scraps and detritus, just doing your own thing trying to ignore the continual heavy pressure from above.

Surviving without claps is a bit tough, though. Worms have no hands, y’see.