Jump to content
IGNORED

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


Joyrex

Recommended Posts

I'm struggling to phrase this in a non-stupid way but I'm just kind of in this nice mood this morning and this thread is running nicely parallel to it I guess... here goes.

 

I'm sure you guys have had tracks that really resonated with feelings you've had in dreams. I don't have a lot of experience with hallucinogens, etc. and I would guess that there's a bunch of them (i.e. DMT) that a quality similar to dreams. But I think (naively?) that dreams have this very direct connection with the subconscious, this really direct resonance with thoughts that basically nothing else really does, but tunes can really reflect this. Not looking for specific examples per se but could you describe an experience where you made a track and you really recognized the ideas or sensations from a dream? For example (and I could be WAY off here) irlite (get 0) really seems to have this quality for me although it doesn't remind me of any of my own dreams.

 

Thanks again for doing this, this thread rules. Sorry if this is a shit question or if it's already been asked, I feel like I have a good one in me but I'm struggling to squeeze it out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just wanted to say thanks that you keep a consistent quality release flow. Aphex and BOC left us alone most of the time during the recent years but you keep quality and quantity up all the time. I do not know many artists that release so much by still keeping it fresh. Is it a "do it first and think later" approach? What keeps your "they don't need me" thoughts out of the room? How do you stay focused? Do you avoid surfing the internet during production?

Edited by o00o
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you rate Die Antwoord? They had a video interview, in which Ninja made a big deal about buying Oversteps which was at the time your latest album (he also made a big deal about buying every single Aphex Twin CD). What do you make of that? Do you think he's just a fan?

 

Do you like any Christmas music? If so, name a few tunes?

 

The development in os veix at around 1:41 is really nice, and sounds a bit more classical than your tracks are usually. Any memories about how that happened? It kinda reminds me of Amber, specifically Further.

 

st epreo kind of sounds like when you're chewing a really chewy piece of meat and it just don't break apart (someone on here mentioned that and I cannot unhear it). Did you intend st epreo to call forward any particular experiences or emotions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

What is your favorite/most memorable "happy accident" moment in the studio?

 

It's been said Sean recorded numbers stations samples, specifically the samples heard in Gyroscope by Boards of Canada. Do you often record radio transmissions or participate in shortwave radio as a hobby, or was that just a small part of your general interest in field recording?

 

As producers who have used notably incorporated field recording into their productions, any recommendations of gear or general methods when it comes to field recording? Especially for someone starting off with a smaller budget?

tbh we don't have much gear specific to recording outside. nothing fancy or expensive either. mbe try using really small scale stuff like micro setups and use cheap mics very close. change scale (perception of size) of it back in the studio.

 

 

That's encouraging to know, thanks!

 

Related question - in the SOS interview from 2004 you mentioned mostly recording to 44.1 kHz. Is this still the case? I've personally found myself second-guessing the sample and bitrates I use but if AE is mostly done at 44.1 kHz...well then I'll truly feel anything over that is redundant! :emotawesomepm9:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest extherium

Cheers for answering Qs guys.

 

You mentioned earlier in this thread you've been discussing more tour dates. What's the word on hitting Australia again? Please tell me that's on the agenda. A Brisbane show would be so good.... and convenient. :emotawesomepm9:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Over the last year I've bought waay to much stuff (Max6 with Jitter & Gen, Ableton 9 Studio with ~£300 worth of plugins/packs, Chromaphone (percussive modelling synth), Corona (virtual analog and wave synth) and Ableton Push) and have now got myself a little overwhelmed with far too many options (and not sure what the hell to learn first). Have you ever gone on a software/hardware spree, and how do you get yourself out of possibility overload ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest cult fiction

Are you interested in exploring mechanical instruments, Pierre Bastien style?

 

I think it'd be fun to have some good general purpose mechanical instruments, like a percussion system with a handful of surfaces and mallet types that could be combined easily, or a box with a few different tunable strings and various plucking and bowing attachments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dope you’re doing this guys, thanks

 

Long time fan here, since listening to incunabula on a long drive to wales in 94 (my brother, who was driving as I was only 14 at the time, picked it up from Phunk Chunk records in Ipswich), and like most on here I've continued to be blown away on each release.

 

Do you have any memories of playing at the Golden Lion pub in Ipswich in 95, with freeform? I still have second bad vilbel ringing my ears from that night, a real life changer for me.

 

I’m not asking you to name my stuff or any future children (ffs) but I’d like to know how you guys feel about the relationship between your work and space/architecture/ infrastructure.

 

I’m an artist making sculptural installations and work with the environment of gallery spaces all the time, I find your work extremely sculptural and each album seems to compliment a specific environment or space in a unique way, its like each album is a kind of exhibition in my mind, very weighty, very visual.

 

Not sure how to make this sound clear or how to ask a direct question but simply I wonder if it’s something you consider an important element of your work? Either through the construction of an individual track or when compiling tracks for an album.

 

yeah we're both quite visual people i think

at least, when we met and we didn't really have much knowledge of how music was made we'd use a lot of visual metaphor to communicate about music

that and tactile things - which occur to me really frequently when i'm listening to stuff altho i rarely have actual words i can translate it into other than basic long-range words like rough/smooth which i hear everyone else using

not sure if other people hear all the detail or not cos text is probably limiting what people can actually say about it

 

and yeah it totally translates for us, i think brains have so much shared modal processing that it would make sense that it does for most people, but i might be wrong, maybe my brain didn't develop properly, or i listened too hard as a teenager or something - but i reckon we're prob not that unique really, given that rob shares a lot of this

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, guess I should check watmm more often - can't believe I'm so late to the thread!

 

RE:Valis, what Wilson & Dick experienced actually happened to me as well. I've told the story on here before, years ago, but when I was in the hospital receiving chemotherapy I used to practise self-hypnosis as a way of dealing with the crippling nausea. This would usually result in me falling asleep, but one time I left my body & found myself in what appeared to be a spaceship. There were 2 people there who conversed with me & explained what they were doing to me. Unfortunately I can't recall our entire conversation but I do remember them making me feel very welcome. After introductions they asked me if I wanted to meet their "pilot" - a sentient computer housed in a basketball-sized sphere. They told me to look into a laser aperture, which is how the computer would communicate with me. Once I did so, I got the image of a woman with the head of an eagle, which I believe was the computer's image of herself. She "downloaded" all of my thoughts instantaneously; I'm not sure if any information was sent my way, as all I remember of the experience is a blistering rush of imagery. I didn't see the people on the ship after that - I returned to my body & woke up shortly thereafter, feeling very convinced that it was not a dream.

 

I didn't tell anyone about the experience for years (except for one online friend) until I read The Cosmic Trigger by Robert Anton Wilson, where he mentions a spaceship piloted by a hawk-headed man (I still think it's a woman) who beams people with a red laser & calls itself SPECTRA. There's also mention of a robotic voice that called kids in the 50's and convinced them to become scientists. Naturally, I was excited to learn that other people have "met" the computer & started telling people what had happened to me.

 

So, my questions are: have you ever heard of this happening to anyone, besides reading about it in Valis & The Cosmic Trigger? Also, do you think the ship's passengers are humans from the future, or from another star system (I've heard people say they're from the Pleiades).

 

Thanks for reading, and Rob - I appreciate you tagging my Confield poster!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Over the last year I've bought waay to much stuff (Max6 with Jitter & Gen, Ableton 9 Studio with ~£300 worth of plugins/packs, Chromaphone (percussive modelling synth), Corona (virtual analog and wave synth) and Ableton Push) and have now got myself a little overwhelmed with far too many options (and not sure what the hell to learn first). Have you ever gone on a software/hardware spree, and how do you get yourself out of possibility overload ?

 

i learned really early on not to do this

the first time i thought it was while in college, and then it happened agin when we were using daz fitton's studio in 1990

 

just shelve a ton of it and learn one thing at once

try making whole tracks with just one thing. it will push you into figuring out novel ways to use it

rinse and repeat, then swap to using something else when you feel comfy with it

learn one thing at a time

Link to comment
Share on other sites

while eating the prawns in tokyo, did u imagine the bladerunner. was it raining?

can u name one detail that comes to mind, that u might not have otherwise noticed if u had not been walking?

have u ever mashed yr finger or something into the plug socket? maybe as a child?

could either of u plees name a noteworthy experience u had as a child? good or bad

could u plees name a piece of music that is nostalgic for u, maybe a nursery rhyme or anything really that has lodged itself in yr memory more dominantly then others? u could name several if u prefer.

while mining for vinyl plates tapes and digital discs in the shops, what r several great finds u can think of which gave u the warm fuzzy feelings and the big grinny face?

plees name some of yr favourite insects?

do either of u have any tremendous phobias that ud care to mention or u feel comfortable in describing?

did u gather up the wild mushrooms john cage style?

what is something u enjoy more then other things when walking along the sea coast?

would u name the piece of clothing that u have kept the longest. is it showing extreme wear?

what is the outgoing message on yr voicemail or answering service? yr ring tone?

which do u prefer slightly more maybe, the time in the evening with the delicate light and soft sounds and feelings or do u enjoy the morning with its unique characteristics?

what is the longest uv ever been away traveling from home for adventure or tours or whichever?

what's for lunch today?

what music r u listening to at this exact moment?

if u could play live shows with hip-hop producers, who would u most like to play alongside, past or present?

what is the most distant location in the world u have thrown-up (graffiti) artworks on the street?

describe noteworthy (graffiti) artworks u have seen on the street and maybe describe their location?

strangest music u have heard in passing? like u just walked into a room or came upon it in the street or whatever. describe it?

strange thing u have eaten?

fukk

 

overload

 

- i was tucking into my Tuna Cheek actually

- the sound of veins inside my ear on a cold day

- I've done that a few times

- invisible BMXing

- tales of the unexpected theme tune

- i found cassette of 'doris norton - personal computer' amongst some porn tapes at a dusty service station on tour in italy

- giant scutigera

- no

- kind of

- gradients per grain size

- my warp AI tshirt from 92

-

-

- few weeks

- i burned it while trying to read this - would've been a really nice spicy bean burger with jack daniels sauce u twat ;)

- ippondemo ninjin 10"

- hard to choose, but would get them round the studio instead

-

-

- cake music

- zest bar (deodorized soap)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Over the last year I've bought waay to much stuff (Max6 with Jitter & Gen, Ableton 9 Studio with ~£300 worth of plugins/packs, Chromaphone (percussive modelling synth), Corona (virtual analog and wave synth) and Ableton Push) and have now got myself a little overwhelmed with far too many options (and not sure what the hell to learn first). Have you ever gone on a software/hardware spree, and how do you get yourself out of possibility overload ?

 

i learned really early on not to do this

the first time i thought it was while in college, and then it happened agin when we were using daz fitton's studio in 1990

 

just shelve a ton of it and learn one thing at once

try making whole tracks with just one thing. it will push you into figuring out novel ways to use it

rinse and repeat, then swap to using something else when you feel comfy with it

learn one thing at a time

 

 

thats a really good suggestion

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I stated in another thread spl9 was the hardest track you've done since gantz graf, would you agree or is there unreleased Ae that would prove me wrong?

 

What question from interviewers really gets under your skin?

 

What is your opinion on SAW 85-92?

 

Last video game you played?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you interested in artificial intelligence in the realistic sense? Do you think machines can become conscious, if not very intelligent? It seems to me we are well on the way to machines learning pattern recognition and becoming smart. Check out "Qualcomm Zeroth", a neural processor. It actually doesn't have a von neumann architecture. It learns by feeding it info and it did image recognition without being programmed to do so. I wonder if in a few decades we'll have convincing robots etc.

 

ai is a funny thing, i mean, if i was to use the average game programmer's definition then we're already using ai in our work, but i would never make that claim outright cos i think describing a series of if statements as ai is a bit reaching and self-congratulatory

but i'm pretty interested in it from some angles, but most of them to do with analysis and mining tbh, and that's not really the way i like to make things

 

it would be fun tho if one day we just turned a machine on and it wouldn't make us a track cos we had ignored it for a fortnight, and just started spitting out really bad trance tracks out of spite

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm struggling to phrase this in a non-stupid way but I'm just kind of in this nice mood this morning and this thread is running nicely parallel to it I guess... here goes.

 

I'm sure you guys have had tracks that really resonated with feelings you've had in dreams. I don't have a lot of experience with hallucinogens, etc. and I would guess that there's a bunch of them (i.e. DMT) that a quality similar to dreams. But I think (naively?) that dreams have this very direct connection with the subconscious, this really direct resonance with thoughts that basically nothing else really does, but tunes can really reflect this. Not looking for specific examples per se but could you describe an experience where you made a track and you really recognized the ideas or sensations from a dream? For example (and I could be WAY off here) irlite (get 0) really seems to have this quality for me although it doesn't remind me of any of my own dreams.

 

Thanks again for doing this, this thread rules. Sorry if this is a shit question or if it's already been asked, I feel like I have a good one in me but I'm struggling to squeeze it out.

not really, not a shit q, but i haven't ever had a flash of a dream while making a track for example.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Over the last year I've bought waay to much stuff (Max6 with Jitter & Gen, Ableton 9 Studio with ~£300 worth of plugins/packs, Chromaphone (percussive modelling synth), Corona (virtual analog and wave synth) and Ableton Push) and have now got myself a little overwhelmed with far too many options (and not sure what the hell to learn first). Have you ever gone on a software/hardware spree, and how do you get yourself out of possibility overload ?

i learned really early on not to do this

the first time i thought it was while in college, and then it happened agin when we were using daz fitton's studio in 1990

 

just shelve a ton of it and learn one thing at once

try making whole tracks with just one thing. it will push you into figuring out novel ways to use it

rinse and repeat, then swap to using something else when you feel comfy with it

learn one thing at a time

 

thats a really good suggestion

 

Agreed - I know in post #2 Joyrex mentioned to keep things 'question only' but yes, thank you. I guess I've just got to learn discipline and focus and not act like a kid on Christmas Day - spending only 5 minutes on every toy and not appreciating any of them properly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

in your experience should you meet your heroes? is anyone you ever really wanted to cross paths with?

 

you spoke years ago about wanting to do a kraftwerk remix/collab, might this ever occur?

 

argh loaded as fuck

(not that u know that - but ppl who i met know i met them)

 

anyway, nah is it fuck a good idea, you're bound to get some bubbles burst if you do

i would say one time out of ten they prove to be as cool as u imagined

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The hembsy pontins set sounds like the Glasgow arts-chool set (2007) but put through an "autechreizor"........I mean its more twisted and glitchier.

 

Was this a sound system thing. hardware thing or both?

 

..............and do you listen to your past live shows like "we do"?

 

I drive an hour to work each way every day and your sets are bloody perfect especially on a cold winters evening!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

- zest bar (deodorized soap)

Was it good? I haven't taken the plunge yet, but some of these scented/deodorized non-edible items smell so good I am tempted to take a bite thinking it would taste as good. Which it probably doesn't. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

What did you guys think of the new boards of canada promotion/record?

 

i prefer it when mike gets more busy on the keyboards, just cos he's so unbelievably good at it

 

Could you expand on this? I am intrigued.

 

nah i'm not getting dragged into some long boc critique

 

i like TH a lot but i do miss the little keyboard runs, i hope they return after the harvest

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

 

What did you guys think of the new boards of canada promotion/record?

 

i prefer it when mike gets more busy on the keyboards, just cos he's so unbelievably good at it

 

Could you expand on this? I am intrigued.

 

nah i'm not getting dragged into some long boc critique

 

i like TH a lot but i do miss the little keyboard runs, i hope they return after the harvest

 

What about the harvest album, yay or rather nay?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The hembsy pontins set sounds like the Glasgow arts-chool set (2007) but put through an "autechreizor"........I mean its more twisted and glitchier.

 

Was this a sound system thing. hardware thing or both?

 

..............and do you listen to your past live shows like "we do"?

 

I drive an hour to work each way every day and your sets are bloody perfect especially on a cold winters evening!

 

i think we just advanced it a bit between gigs iirc

 

we prob don't listen to them as much as some people but we do check them when they appear, out of curiosity. things always sound really different when you're not interacting with it/each other

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.