More Exquisite Released

April 3rd, 2023

The latest release in the Exquisite series, my collaboration with John O’Brien, is now available. More Exquisite continues and expands on the work done for Exquisite Coast, which used a tight set of technical constraints as an artistic challenge to encourage a deep exploration of an instrument. While Exquisite Coast focused on a single instrument (the Make Noise 0-Coast synthesizer), with More Exquisite (as we did with Less Exquisite), we have expanded the concept to allow for a second synthesizer, the Moog Werkstatt, as well as a small complement of external synthesizer modules. Though the sonic palette has grown, More Exquisite continues in the same spirit of sonic creation within a strictly defined set of constraints. As before, a prompt piece is created, then the connections and settings of the instruments—the patch—are shared and used to create a response piece.

Learn more and get it now on Bandcamp.

Slower now Finished

March 29th, 2023

Though you may have seen the album develop over the past three months, I am now declaring the album Slower finished so you may now get my latest release in its entirety. Clocking in at just over an hour, it’s my longest solo release since 2004’s Adams & Bancroft! I enjoyed the process of releasing the album over time rather than all at once. That this is possible is a great benefit of a platform like Bandcamp, so much thanks to them for creating a platform that can host experiments like this.

April is going to find me working on other projects, but I will return to this idea soon. In the meantime, I’ve got another similar experiment going with John O’Brien in our Exquisite series that you can watch develop on our Bandcamp.

Both albums are free/pay-what-you-want, as all my releases have been for some time now.

Thanks for listening.

Less Exquisite Now Streaming

March 10th, 2023

Less Exquisite is now available on select streaming services.

And of course it’s still available at Bandcamp for those who prefer a download to a stream.

Another New Release (in progress) – More Less Exquisite

January 6th, 2023

John O’Brien and I have a new release in our Exquisite series – More Less Exquisite. While the original Less Exquisite (also available on our Bandcamp) continued the original pattern of creating pairs of solo pieces asynchronously that we developed in Exquisite Coast, More Less Exquisite is our deep exploration of Less Exquisite in real time. Twice a month, until we decide we’ve had enough, we will record a new version of the piece and add the track to this album.

Get it now on Bandcamp.

Stay tuned for more Exquisite releases coming in 2023!

New Release (in progress) – Slower

January 3rd, 2023

I’m ringing in the New Year with the first track of an album that will grow over the coming months. Slower is a continuation of the work that started with the Character Weekend and 1 Vox series. This time, however, each track proceeds at a more measured pace. Not quite drone, not quite ambient, Slower develops sounds with patience. A new track will be added every week or so until…well, I decide that it’s done.

Get it now on Bandcamp.

little words

December 22nd, 2022

no notifications
no achievements
no stats
no streaks
just little words

little words is a jigsaw puzzle with letters. it’s a game with a simple goal: to break big words into smaller words. the game resets at midnight and noon local time.

littlewords.rustle.works

little words is the second game from rustle works, a software studio created by betsy nagler and me.

Less Exquisite Released

November 1st, 2022

A new release in the Exquisite series is now available. Less Exquisite is an evolution of the game developed by John O’Brien and I for Exquisite Coast One and Two that uses a tight set of technical constraints as an artistic challenge. The instrument has been expanded – the Make Noise 0-Coast is now augmented by the Moog Werkstatt and a handful of Eurorack modules – and we’ve added a conceptual constraint. In the original Exquisite Coast we had defined only the instrument and a rough time limit. For Less Exquisite we came up with a textural/formal constraint that we came to simply call “slower.”

Get it now on Bandcamp.

Stay tuned for one more Exquisite release coming in 2023!

Bandcamp Pricing

October 26th, 2022

All of my Bandcamp albums — solo, the Exquisite project (with John O’Brien), and Donkey (with Hans Fjellestad) — are now available at the “pay what you want” price tier. Have at it.

Disting mk4 Quick Guide Update

October 20th, 2022

My Disting mk4 Quick Guide — a web-based cheat sheet for the Expert Sleepers Disting mk4 — has been updated for the latest firmware (4.23).

Moog Mavis Added to Exquisite Coasts

October 18th, 2022

The Moog Mavis synth has been added to Exquisite Coasts, a shared patch game I developed with John O’Brien that uses a tight set of technical constraints as an artistic challenge to encourage a deep exploration of your synthesizer(s). In addition to the Mavis, you may play Exquisite Coasts with the rest of the compact semi-modulars from Moog (Mother 32, DFAM, Subharmonicon, Werkstatt) as well as those from Make Noise (0-Coast, Strega, 0-CTRL).

Learn more and join in at ec.rustle.works.