• Welcome to ASR. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Experimental music, modular synth, 21st Century, field recording, new electronic, and ambient - tracks, artists, and instruments you have discovered

Chr1 said:
Ignoramus question for those in the know:

Is the whole modular synth thing sort of akin to the vinyl revival?
And the obsession with "analogue sound"

ie. Objectively there is no advantage to modular synthesisers. Presumably their sound can be perfectly emulated these days?
But they are kinda cool tech, in a nerdy, hassle - no object kind of way.

...Like building a computer for floppy discs or punch cards or whatever.
Click to expand...
It is a social trend among musicians and is drawing in a whole new generation of new musicians. Like any instrument people enjoy the challenge of learning the instrument. Some established musicians have added modular synths to their performances. Some musicians include or alternate on software-based synths with plugins such as Native Instruments. Incorporating field recordings, or a microphone for processed voice or an instrument is popular with some.

Larger towns will have a dedicated synth retail store. Our town has a synth library / learning center. I'm also seeing a lot of growth in ambient and sound healing with glass bowls and small percussion. A rock musician friend in her 30s has retired to ambient harp music.

I mentioned earlier on this topic, there is a worldwide free concert series of modular synth music performed in parks to an audience under the name Modular on the Spot. You can do a videos search for Modular on the Spot.

https://www.reddit.com/r/modular/comments/8wwqsw/a_modular_on_the_spot_performance
 
Last edited:
Nice one. I am certainly for anything goes and diversity in all forms of music.

Ultimately it's all about creativity and the music/art... and I love reading about the range of gear being used these days.
Retro, modern. Software/hardware. Bowls. Whatever.

... Even if I don't actually understand a lot of it.

Bring it on, I say!

Edit : One of my biggest regrets gig-wise, was passing up on a ticket to see Laurie Anderson and Adrian Below live. Aparently she had various triggers attached to her body, which activated an assortment of synths when she moved. Meanwhile Belew played his guitar with chop sticks through a load of effects pedals, whilst sitting on the floor cross legged.
As you do.
 
Last edited:
Got nothing Youtube to add, but am a huge fan of ambient. The genre has many faces though, so things are highly subjective.

Those with backgrounds in electronic/techno/industrial could know them, but if interested check out these exceptional artists:

- Lustmord
- Biosphere
- TROUM

Should be all on Bandcamp (FLAC available). Possibly on streaming services.
 
Highly recommended ambient compilation albums:

Air Texture is an acclaimed experimental electronic music record label founded by James Healy . The label is famous for its compilation series where two different producers/musicians are invited to curate a double CD worth of ambient, leftfield, and "not main floor" unreleased music

 
Last edited:
Great thread - just came across, still reading/listening...all great.
So much more going on out there in this regard than I ever knew....

I fell for one of these (Bastl Kalimba), and can't wait to see if I will be able to make anything of it or not.

 
Chr1 said:
Is the whole modular synth thing sort of akin to the vinyl revival?
And the obsession with "analogue sound"
Click to expand...
a little bit, yes. after all, everything that can be done with (expensive, fragile, sometimes even rare!) modular gear, and much much more, can also be done in a DAW or max/msp environment on a computer you probably already own.

that said, I get that some experience pleasure with the modular workflow that they don't experience with a computer, and if they have the bucks for it, no harm no foul.
 
Multicore said:
Or think of it in terms of gear acquisition syndrome. This should be something some ASR can recognize if not necessarily admit to.
Click to expand...
ime asr is the antidote to traditional audiophile gear acquisition syndrome. discovering asr made sure I never got onto that cycle: I found the right equipment for me right away and have no need to "upgrade".

modular folks version of acquisition syndrome is interesting--the ones I know exist in a state of constant churn, traipsing to and from the post office very week or less, often reselling modules for more than they paid for them.
 
RexrothPigeon said:
ime asr is the antidote to traditional audiophile gear acquisition syndrome. discovering asr made sure I never got onto that cycle: I found the right equipment for me right away and have no need to "upgrade".

modular folks version of acquisition syndrome is interesting--the ones I know exist in a state of constant churn, traipsing to and from the post office very week or less, often reselling modules for more than they paid for them.
Click to expand...
I agree and i wasn't talking specifically about you or me. Rather i think we can understand that for some people the attraction to physical things can exceed that to software. Likely corresponds to the difference in attraction to some people of LPs versus data files.
 
The Alan R. Pearlman Foundation celebrates the centennial of its namesake, the electronic visionary whose marvelous ARP synthesizers changed the landscape of music forever. The nonprofit Foundation, in conjunction with Projekt Records, presents SOUL OF THE MACHINE, a 36-track ARPF fundraising compilation: honoring the man and his creations as interpreted by a diverse range of recording artists.

Available on Bandcamp...

projektrecords.bandcamp.com

Soul of the Machine, by Various

39 track album
projektrecords.bandcamp.com projektrecords.bandcamp.com
 
Not electronic, but a composition for an unusual instrument that took me places I hadn't been to before:

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
Swiss Museum and Centre for Electronic Music Instruments collects vintage instruments and recording equipment
Replies
1
Views
506
MCH
M
Back
Top Bottom