More Exquisite Released
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
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
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
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
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.
Less Exquisite Released
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!
0 Plural Album and Limited Edition Prints Release
I’m excited to announce the release of my new album, 0 Plural. My excitement is twofold. First, the album is a return to longer form works after a decade of nearly obsessive focus on the short character pieces that comprise the Character Weekend and 1 Vox series as well as most of the Exquisite series (a collaboration with John O’Brien). But this release is also different since it introduces the first sets of limited edition prints to be produced with Tentacle, an algorithmic drawing program that I developed with Amir Hariri. Three editions are available – one 12”, from the cover art, plus two 7”, one for each track on the album.
The album and the prints are all available on on Bandcamp.
Thanks for listening.
1 Vox, Vol. 2 Released
Better late than never, the follow up to 1 Vox, Vol. 1 finally makes it out into the world. 1 Vox, Vol. 2 is the second set of etudes that employ tight constraints to encourage focused exploration of the capabilities of my small modular synthesizer. Each piece uses only one voice (that is, one sound generator) plus the small set of modulation and utility modules in my rack. In order to center my attention on the capabilities of the system, I used no external controllers or sequencers. I’ve long focused on radical constraints in my work, so while this performance interface is more limited than many of the instruments I’ve built, a tightly controlled possibility space is a natural place for me to explore.
Available now on Bandcamp. Coming in June to select streaming services.
Exquisite Two Released
Sneaking in just before the end of the year, Exquisite Coast Two is the second in a series of albums of synthesiser improvisations created in collaboration with John O’Brien. In the spring of 2020, as the Covid-19 lockdown got under way, John and I started talking about ways to collaborate remotely after realizing that we both owned a Make Noise 0-Coast semi-modular synthesizer. By sharing patches—the state of the synthesizer, including the positions of the knobs and how the signals are routed from one part of the synthesizer to another—we created pairs of solo pieces that shared a common configuration. Each week, we made two recordings: one based on an original patch—the Prompt—and then a Response based on the other person’s patch.
You can get it now on Bandcamp.
Exquisite Coast One Released
I’m excited to announce the release of a new album in collaboration with John O’Brien. In the spring of 2020, as the Covid-19 lockdown got under way, John and I started talking about ways to collaborate remotely after realizing that we both owned a Make Noise 0-Coast semi-modular synthesizer. By sharing patches—the state of the synthesizer, including the positions of the knobs and how the signals are routed from one part of the synthesizer to another—we created pairs of solo pieces that shared a common configuration. Each week, we made two recordings: one based on an original patch—the Prompt—and then a Response based on the other person’s patch.
Exquisite Coast One is the first of many albums in a series that we will roll out over the next year or so. You can get it now on Bandcamp.
You can play Exquisite Coast too! If you and a friend have any of the small semi-modular synthesizers from Make Noise or Moog and would like to play the game yourselves, we have publicly released the web app we used to notate and share patches. Visit ec.rustle.works to learn more.