AAA - Ask Autechre Anything - Sean and Rob on WATMM!

[Guest jasondonervan]

Along with JJOS, did you trick out your MPC1000 with the improved pads modification? Seeing how the original pads are supposed to go dead pretty quickly, just wondering how much of a consideration accurate velocity interaction via the MPC hardware is to you.. if at all

Edited November 5, 2013 by jasondonervan

[Soloman Tump]

I went to see Underworld at Brixton academy in 2008, they recorded (professionally) the whole gig then released it straight afterwards as a limited edition 2CD set. In fact they did this for every gig of the whole tour - LINKY

 

A fantastic memento of the gig, and you could probably do it in such a way that only ticket holders could get a copy of the CD (initially...)

Thoughts on this process? Shirley you could do this or something similar for your next tour? pls?

Edited November 5, 2013 by feltcher

[Rob Ae]

jeez, Joyrex! can someone point me to the 'kill spellchecker' switch we're autechre FFS, we don't spell anything like this.

 

hahha

[xox]

Another problem arises in the production of electronic music in particular in the 'conversion of ideas in a consumable forms of art' part, especially if we are talking about computer music. Large part of the cognition that's part of the conversion is not strictly intellectual in character, and computers require constant vigilance wasting brain's RAM space on trivialities leaving very little room for spontaneity and subconscious.

 

Question:

Are your designs in MAX primarily designed to overcome these barriers?

[Sean Ae]

You guys say your mainly software based now when creating (max/msp), does any tactile interface come into play with sound sculpting or are you just as happy tapping a mousepad with a brew?

 

What's your opinion on the direction of new electronic hardware from the 5yrs?

 

 

Thank you both for giving your time the most awesome watmm thread ever btw :)

 

i like all methods tbh, but pads and max are two fave opposite approaches

i also like using trackers, when u get into a groove with them it's dead fast

 

i like the fact that there are tons of tiny companies making modules but i wonder how much of the trend is fuelled by lazy thinkers who would rather go shopping than actually have to make anything

[Guest WNS000]

 

 

 

 

 

Sean, Rob,

 

when composing do you find it easier and more spot-on to do it live by pressing pads and keys and turning knobs or you prefer editing in DAW by mouse? I know you jam a lot but when you need to get some part of a track right after it was already put in sequence what would you do?

 

I mean, for example when I do some ambient pads composition I am often completely unable to do the tempo and dynamics to feel right. But when I play it live it turns out mostly in what I wanted it to be (which is not the case when trying to do those things with mouse). Also when dealing with the whole track structure (here is a "chorus/climax", here gradation here it stops and so on) I also find it much more intuitive and natural to do it live than sequencing it step by step. Editing is of course inevitable after that most of the time but you know what I mean.

 

yeah i think the screen gets in the way

the sequencers that we build ourselves don't have much visual feedback at all, fwiw

 

 

So you have made your sequencers and mapped it to midi controllers and control it hands on? I mean I don't mind screen that much, the mouse is the problem most of the time when composing.

 

I mind screen when mixing, so I turn it off often when making judgement but can't do completely without it - and closing my eyes does not work for me because I feel like I am concentrating too much and lot of other thoughts comes almost instantly :-)

 

 

well kind of yeah, our own seqs have varying degrees of control, and we sometimes use midi input to alter params (the seq is doing the actual pattern gen but might have some variables)

the mixing aspect is entirely controllable usually, altho it can be automated

 

only time i use a screen really is to check things like position or whether a param is on that i'm not on the right page for with my interface, or when i'm editing, which is later and obv requires a screen

 

 

I see. So you use something similar like Mackie Control Universal Pro for mixing? I am thinking about such interface for mixing but I can't really imagine controlling EQ and compression with it if resolution of knobs (or steps) isn't good and flexible enough. And neither I want to use hardware processors for this as I see them as a pain to use with 40 + tracks.

 

 

nah i'm using a kenton killamix mini atm

i only have 8 channels running usually

 

but i also have a bcr2000 here for bigger tasks

 

Hm, that leads me to a possibility I am not very economic with my projects' housekeeping (track count, number of FX etc.). So you are completely able to do EQ and compression stuff with killamix? Is it sending midi or something with better resolution? Or are you doing just rough adjustments to processors and then do more polishing with mouse?

 

I am sorry if I am asking something really boring and basic.

[Sean Ae]

I went to see Underworld at Brixton academy in 2008, they recorded (professionally) the whole gig then released it straight afterwards as a limited edition 2CD set. In fact they did this for every gig of the whole tour - LINKY

 

A fantastic memento of the gig, and you could probably do it in such a way that only ticket holders could get a copy of the CD (initially...)

Thoughts on this process? Shirley you could do this or something similar for your next tour? pls?

 

this has been discussed a few times

if we can get it so the mix sounds decent enough in both contexts then yeah i reckon we might give it a go sometime

the last tour we recorded everything as a kind of feasibility test and we liked the results

[Rob Ae]

Sorry to be a pain guys, but I made a tune back in 2006 which another user on here recently made a video for (Triachus) and I was wondering if you guys would mind providing a critique, maybe a short review that I can use on the EP cover when it inevitably gets a vinyl release?

 

"better than EBN for all the wrong reasons"

 

 

 

 

 

 

just to be clear - I'm trying to be humorous.

[Guest 21B]

are you at all interested in sound installation work?

 

given your heavy max backgrounds, have you ever tried your hand at doing this sort of thing?

[Rob Ae]

 

is this Autechre song used in the onedotzero advertisement part of a much longer song?

 

is it sampling bits of old autechre tracks? I feel like I hear a pieces of tri repetae tracks in there. Awesome track though, wish it was longer.

 

 

no, this was tailored to fit to his short film,

 

it has some salvage in there, but nothing from that far back.

[Soloman Tump]

 

I went to see Underworld at Brixton academy in 2008, they recorded (professionally) the whole gig then released it straight afterwards as a limited edition 2CD set. In fact they did this for every gig of the whole tour - LINKY

 

A fantastic memento of the gig, and you could probably do it in such a way that only ticket holders could get a copy of the CD (initially...)

Thoughts on this process? Shirley you could do this or something similar for your next tour? pls?

 

this has been discussed a few times

if we can get it so the mix sounds decent enough in both contexts then yeah i reckon we might give it a go sometime

the last tour we recorded everything as a kind of feasibility test and we liked the results

 

 

Mint. Perhaps have a unique download code on the ticket stub / purchase link or something.

 

I expect people purchased tickets for that fundraiser gig a few years back just so they could get hold of your exclusive download track from warp lol.

 

Glad you liked the results - next tour please!

 

 

Question..

 

If you recorded your Peel sessions at home, did you ever get to meet John? I still miss his unique radio voice and music content, the BBC (imo) has not been the same since his departure. I like to think that if he were still with us, he would be owning 6music these days. Do you have any stories of JP that you can share with us? A true legend.

[Sean Ae]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sean, Rob,

 

when composing do you find it easier and more spot-on to do it live by pressing pads and keys and turning knobs or you prefer editing in DAW by mouse? I know you jam a lot but when you need to get some part of a track right after it was already put in sequence what would you do?

 

I mean, for example when I do some ambient pads composition I am often completely unable to do the tempo and dynamics to feel right. But when I play it live it turns out mostly in what I wanted it to be (which is not the case when trying to do those things with mouse). Also when dealing with the whole track structure (here is a "chorus/climax", here gradation here it stops and so on) I also find it much more intuitive and natural to do it live than sequencing it step by step. Editing is of course inevitable after that most of the time but you know what I mean.

 

yeah i think the screen gets in the way

the sequencers that we build ourselves don't have much visual feedback at all, fwiw

 

 

So you have made your sequencers and mapped it to midi controllers and control it hands on? I mean I don't mind screen that much, the mouse is the problem most of the time when composing.

 

I mind screen when mixing, so I turn it off often when making judgement but can't do completely without it - and closing my eyes does not work for me because I feel like I am concentrating too much and lot of other thoughts comes almost instantly :-)

 

 

well kind of yeah, our own seqs have varying degrees of control, and we sometimes use midi input to alter params (the seq is doing the actual pattern gen but might have some variables)

the mixing aspect is entirely controllable usually, altho it can be automated

 

only time i use a screen really is to check things like position or whether a param is on that i'm not on the right page for with my interface, or when i'm editing, which is later and obv requires a screen

 

 

I see. So you use something similar like Mackie Control Universal Pro for mixing? I am thinking about such interface for mixing but I can't really imagine controlling EQ and compression with it if resolution of knobs (or steps) isn't good and flexible enough. And neither I want to use hardware processors for this as I see them as a pain to use with 40 + tracks.

 

 

nah i'm using a kenton killamix mini atm

i only have 8 channels running usually

 

but i also have a bcr2000 here for bigger tasks

 

Hm, that leads me to a possibility I am not very economic with my projects' housekeeping (track count, number of FX etc.). So you are completely able to do EQ and compression stuff with killamix? Is it sending midi or something with better resolution? Or are you doing just rough adjustments to processors and then do more polishing with mouse?

 

I am sorry if I am asking something really boring and basic.

 

 

yeah the killamix is just for setting things quickly, we have finer control on screen - and internally (there's a fair degree of self-management going on using conditionals)

[xox]

 

Have you come across any praiseworthy modern 'academic' computer music? Any recommendations?

not for ages

think the last thing i really liked that could really be described as academic was a horacio vaggionne thing in like 2003 but i can't even rem the name of it

was on GRM anyway

 

 

Ah ok...i can't find any myself either... i thought it was me. Thnx!

 

 

IMO the biggest mistake of the academic world in what they do is degrading music to the level of scientific thought (as 'knowledge' in the narrow sense - just what’s measurable is valid, being method or cognition).

I understand that they are pushing some ideas and methods but also refuse to understand how human beings and music work on non-intellectual levels. I don't think things gonna change any time soon regarding this.

[khov]

sorry for asking it again, but you are the 2 single person on earth i can ask this :

we r are why, 33 or 45 ?

[Sean Ae]

 

 

I went to see Underworld at Brixton academy in 2008, they recorded (professionally) the whole gig then released it straight afterwards as a limited edition 2CD set. In fact they did this for every gig of the whole tour - LINKY

 

A fantastic memento of the gig, and you could probably do it in such a way that only ticket holders could get a copy of the CD (initially...)

Thoughts on this process? Shirley you could do this or something similar for your next tour? pls?

 

this has been discussed a few times

if we can get it so the mix sounds decent enough in both contexts then yeah i reckon we might give it a go sometime

the last tour we recorded everything as a kind of feasibility test and we liked the results

 

 

Mint. Perhaps have a unique download code on the ticket stub / purchase link or something.

 

I expect people purchased tickets for that fundraiser gig a few years back just so they could get hold of your exclusive download track from warp lol.

 

Glad you liked the results - next tour please!

 

 

Question..

 

If you recorded your Peel sessions at home, did you ever get to meet John? I still miss his unique radio voice and music content, the BBC (imo) has not been the same since his departure. I like to think that if he were still with us, he would be owning 6music these days. Do you have any stories of JP that you can share with us? A true legend.

 

 

i only met him once, really briefly on the south bank the day after we played at his meltdown

 

 

(that's the name of a festival, he didn't actually have some kind of meltdown)

[Guest thisfieldisrequired]

Hi !

Would you guys mind sharing a screenshot of a MAX patch used on Exai or L-Event ?
Or a studio pic ? or a cat pic or anything ?

Thanks

[Rob Ae]

Along with JJOS, did you trick out your MPC1000 with the improved pads modification? Seeing how the original pads are supposed to go dead pretty quickly, just wondering how much of a consideration accurate velocity interaction via the MPC hardware is to you.. if at all

for the most part i would fit single replacements in, i have the very 1st model, not pad grid mod. but i like the full level to get timed events into the system so velocity isn't my main concern at those times.

[pattern recognition]

i've just purchased eps 1991-2002 off itunes, mainly because of this thread. you both seem like great dudes, and i love your reverence for all things depeche mode, particularly the alan wilder years. they were pretty much my life mid to late '80s.

 

i figured i'd start at the beginning with ae. with such a varied catalog, is this the recommended way to proceed into it?

 

what are your favorite DM remixes/12" singles, from that alan wilder period?

 

thanks for this, brilliant thread.

 

also, it seems you were well into hip hop in the '80s, any thoughts on the native tongues collective?

Edited November 5, 2013 by pattern recognition

[Guest WNS000]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sean, Rob,

 

when composing do you find it easier and more spot-on to do it live by pressing pads and keys and turning knobs or you prefer editing in DAW by mouse? I know you jam a lot but when you need to get some part of a track right after it was already put in sequence what would you do?

 

I mean, for example when I do some ambient pads composition I am often completely unable to do the tempo and dynamics to feel right. But when I play it live it turns out mostly in what I wanted it to be (which is not the case when trying to do those things with mouse). Also when dealing with the whole track structure (here is a "chorus/climax", here gradation here it stops and so on) I also find it much more intuitive and natural to do it live than sequencing it step by step. Editing is of course inevitable after that most of the time but you know what I mean.

 

yeah i think the screen gets in the way

the sequencers that we build ourselves don't have much visual feedback at all, fwiw

 

 

So you have made your sequencers and mapped it to midi controllers and control it hands on? I mean I don't mind screen that much, the mouse is the problem most of the time when composing.

 

I mind screen when mixing, so I turn it off often when making judgement but can't do completely without it - and closing my eyes does not work for me because I feel like I am concentrating too much and lot of other thoughts comes almost instantly :-)

 

 

well kind of yeah, our own seqs have varying degrees of control, and we sometimes use midi input to alter params (the seq is doing the actual pattern gen but might have some variables)

the mixing aspect is entirely controllable usually, altho it can be automated

 

only time i use a screen really is to check things like position or whether a param is on that i'm not on the right page for with my interface, or when i'm editing, which is later and obv requires a screen

 

 

I see. So you use something similar like Mackie Control Universal Pro for mixing? I am thinking about such interface for mixing but I can't really imagine controlling EQ and compression with it if resolution of knobs (or steps) isn't good and flexible enough. And neither I want to use hardware processors for this as I see them as a pain to use with 40 + tracks.

 

 

nah i'm using a kenton killamix mini atm

i only have 8 channels running usually

 

but i also have a bcr2000 here for bigger tasks

 

Hm, that leads me to a possibility I am not very economic with my projects' housekeeping (track count, number of FX etc.). So you are completely able to do EQ and compression stuff with killamix? Is it sending midi or something with better resolution? Or are you doing just rough adjustments to processors and then do more polishing with mouse?

 

I am sorry if I am asking something really boring and basic.

 

 

yeah the killamix is just for setting things quickly, we have finer control on screen - and internally (there's a fair degree of self-management going on using conditionals)

 

 

Cool. I have my music style quite sorted after those few years in terms what I want to do and achieve but this technical/organization aspect of things is really work in progress for me as I did not put a lot of attention to it until I realized it really affects quality of my production.

 

Thanks, Sean.

[Sean Ae]

 

 

Have you come across any praiseworthy modern 'academic' computer music? Any recommendations?

not for ages

think the last thing i really liked that could really be described as academic was a horacio vaggionne thing in like 2003 but i can't even rem the name of it

was on GRM anyway

 

 

Ah ok...i can't find any myself either... i thought it was me. Thnx!

 

 

IMO the biggest mistake of the academic world in what they do is degrading music to the level of scientific thought (as 'knowledge' in the narrow sense - just what’s measurable is valid, being method or cognition).

I understand that they are pushing some ideas and methods but also refuse to understand how human beings and music work on non-intellectual levels. I don't think things gonna change any time soon regarding this.

 

 

yeah it's ironic that most of the best composers in that area were actually blagging it a fair bit (parmegiani comes to mind) and were really doing their own thing, but had to present it as though it were a lot more conceptually simple in order to get it listened to or funded

 

i mean these places are basically ruled by stuffy old men with huge egos, it's not so much about the academia itself more about the way people inhabit these kinds of institutions imo

[Guest jasondonervan]

 

Along with JJOS, did you trick out your MPC1000 with the improved pads modification? Seeing how the original pads are supposed to go dead pretty quickly, just wondering how much of a consideration accurate velocity interaction via the MPC hardware is to you.. if at all

for the most part i would fit single replacements in, i have the very 1st model, not pad grid mod. but i like the full level to get timed events into the system so velocity isn't my main concern at those times.

 

 

Cheers. Glad to know I'm not the only one saddled with *that* colour scheme!

[Sean Ae]

are you at all interested in sound installation work?

 

given your heavy max backgrounds, have you ever tried your hand at doing this sort of thing?

 

not really

i know that's how a lot of people use max but it's not why we got into it

max has a pretty diverse userbase, a lot of people with very specific requirements

[Guest]

 

 

 

 

What advice would you give a class of 5th graders in regards to pushing creativity in an ever-more regimented public school environment?

 

(This is a constant struggle of mine.)

ok so i'm from the uk and we don't have graders here, how old is that?

also i assume by public school you mean a school for the public (cos that's not what that means here)

 

About 11 or 12 years old. Public, as in freely available school for students of any socioeconomic status.

 

I'm sure you've grown up in some sort of oppressive system/era...how did you cope as an 11 year old?

 

tbh i kind of lost faith in school around that age, i rem my science teacher saying that atoms were the smallest thing and i was going what about protons neutrons and electrons and he said 'ah i don't need to teach you about them' and i said 'well i could do your job then'

that's the same age when i really got into music, it kind of filled the void for me having mates asking me for mixtapes so i just kind of went with that

 

 

 

 

"the Elektrons", do you still use them a lot? Sounds like they are used on Exai, but more heavily processed than on earlier material?

nah they've been in a box since the quaristice gigs

 

apologies if it seems OCD or pointless coming back to this, but most of my dev revolves around Elektron gear so it's simply a topic that interests me more than just tangentially...

 

in Fleure @ ca. 3:59 there is a single 'knock' sound which sounds pretty much like a snare sound in the Perlences, most notably in Perlence Subrange 3, which very much sounds like it's the TRX clap from the Machinedrum. this was actually discussed in the forum, kind of a single percussion hit reaching back to Quaristice:

 

yes i was referring to the trx-clap from the elektron machinedrum, which is the source of this sound. but maybe it can also be done using a tomato in a closet.

is this intentional? is it the TRX clap? is the hit in Fleure sampled from earlier material then, or a different sound source which just sounds like it by chance?

 

the clap:

 

no its not anything elektron, its a sound taken from a recording using JJOS on MPC1K to smash another custom sound around. then smashed around on an MPC1K using JJOS.

 

lol yeah it is u melon

 

lol

 

 

lael

 

[Rob Ae]

sorry for asking it again, but you are the 2 single person on earth i can ask this :

we r are why, 33 or 45 ?

 

do we tell him? her?

[Sean Ae]

i've just purchased eps 1991-2002 off itunes, mainly because of this thread. you both seem like great dudes, and i love your reverence for all things depeche mode, particularly the alan wilder years. they were pretty much my life mid to late '80s.

 

i figured i'd start at the beginning with ae. with such a varied catalog, is this the recommended way to proceed into it?

 

what are your favorite DM remixes/12" singles, from that alan wilder period?

 

thanks for this, brilliant thread.

 

also, it seems you were well into hip hop in the '80s, any thoughts on the native tongues collective?

 

breathing in fumes

leave in silence longer

the end of the 12" of love in itself

see you extended mix

now this is fun extended mix

in your memory slick mix

every mix of fly on the windscreen

 

i mean shit, there are so many things

 

native tongues was slightly after my time in a way, there was a brief spell where i wasn't listening to much hip hop cos the emphasis and audience had moved to a place i didn't recognise

i got back into it when wu showed up

 

sorry for asking it again, but you are the 2 single person on earth i can ask this :

we r are why, 33 or 45 ?

 

do we tell him? her?

 

 

i think our original intention to not write it on the record should be honoured