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theburglar

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    Rolando Simmons - World Building

    in New & Upcoming Releases

    Posted · Edited by the burglar

    On my third or forth listen to this album, it is growing on me, starting to love it. Seems slower and more layered than his past releases.

    Nice, seems like tracks that take a long time to make are the ones that grow on people slowly- i like that.

     

    Happy new year everyone!

    Rolando Simmons - World Building

    in New & Upcoming Releases

    Posted

     

     

    CD came yesterday, presently having a deep listen, this is great shit. Stray observations:

     

    - I like that you haven't been afraid to leave in the hum at the end of Free Analogue.

    - Really like the liquid vibe of Uncertainty Pond

    - I love that fluting, rising synth line at the centre of Spirala

    Thanks! Haha yeah the hum is pretty noticeable. I re-recorded every single channel through my bedroom mic with a bass amp and had to spend most of the production time EQ-ing and noise gating to keep the hum to a minimum and not phasing at intersecting frequencies.

     

    Uncertainty pond was inspired by Millais "Ophelia" painting

    What is the lineage between these tracks and the tracks from the Bridgeland sessions? I’m hearing similar vibes...

    I think there was some overlap with the recording sessions, using similar synths and patches though bridgeland had a lot less emphasis on detail and iteration. Both bridgeland and world building came about after i got rid of some cumbersome analogues so the sound is a bit more digital.

    Rolando Simmons - World Building

    in New & Upcoming Releases

    Posted

    CD came yesterday, presently having a deep listen, this is great shit. Stray observations:

     

    - I like that you haven't been afraid to leave in the hum at the end of Free Analogue.

    - Really like the liquid vibe of Uncertainty Pond

    - I love that fluting, rising synth line at the centre of Spirala

    Thanks! Haha yeah the hum is pretty noticeable. I re-recorded every single channel through my bedroom mic with a bass amp and had to spend most of the production time EQ-ing and noise gating to keep the hum to a minimum and not phasing at intersecting frequencies.

     

    Uncertainty pond was inspired by Millais "Ophelia" painting

    Rolando Simmons - World Building

    in New & Upcoming Releases

    Posted

    Thanks for the insight on Strange Poet. Also, unrelated to this album but can we expect more Trackermatte material, or any other aliases or collabs in the near future?

    No trackermatte planned or being worked at currently. It's a frame of mind sort of thing. Trackermatte is a lot of (only) computer work and that's not inspiring atm. It's easier to combine RS stuff with other non-music aspects of life as I can take little synths with me and work from anywhere. There are some collabs in progress, however. Not sure how and when they might materialize, but it's good and with awesome people :)

    Rolando Simmons - World Building

    in New & Upcoming Releases

    Posted

    Bp3414FIAAIU30B.jpg?itok=04XPOVGM

     

    Question about Strange Poet from someone with no recording/mastering experience. What did you do to generate those early sounds (it almost sounds like pots of water being struck and gliding by a mic from different directions or something)? The whole song seems to have a lot of depth and does a great job of crossing channels in my headphones, as do other songs, but this one more so for some reason. Also, that humming at the end, did you use a vocal sample on that? it sounds much more organic near the conclusion of the track before everything dissipates. Basically, was it your, or maybe Hardwood's intention to give that song that much depth, or am I just imagining this shit?

    Strange poet was one if the last tracks I did for the album and I had gotten pretty deep into reworking, analyzing and detailing by then. The intro is me striking a cast iron pan. I was going to use the individual sounds to complement some other percussive noises but ended up trying out different doppler effect treatments on the whole thing in Adobe Audition and Cecilia5.

     

    There's more room/time for playing with space, depth and texture in tracks with little to no percussion and that one is a good example. Many layers of voices, field recordings and digital and analogue synths basically. That is my voice in the track and I just mixed out much of the processing near the end to bring it to the front.

     

    Robin Harwood is amazing at identifying and isolation the different ranges of sounds to make everything crystal clear. We also had the same idea as to what the overall texture of the album would be, as I had in mind something that would sound vaguely like Isao Tomita.

    May i ask how old free analogue is? I stuck it on youtube about 5 years ago and it had already been about for a bit before that i think....

    Yes I must have made that in 2012. It was the first Rolando track.

    Rolando Simmons - World Building

    in New & Upcoming Releases

    Posted

     

    Big thanks to anyone who's bought/listened! If you like it - spread the word. If there's any questions or comments I'll be online here all day.

     

    Do you think you'll approach your next album/release with the same process? I find it kind of awkward to include 2 year old tracks on my releases, and generally my approach to composing changes somewhat quickly. Just wondering if you're already off on another idea, or trying to remain with a bit of continuity for the future.

    Good question! I also have a big problem with including older tracks on new releases unless it's a good fit. At the time of release even newer tracks are pretty old to me so I've moved on since, at my own pace. Finishing tracks takes a long time nowadays as methods change and develop. I'm getting more picky and patient with stuff. I'm probably going to continue on the same path for a while if it yields interesting results. I'm interested in stripping away as much of the conventions and habits as possible and see what I can replace them with. Hopefully it'll take me someplace weird and interesting.

    Rolando Simmons - World Building

    in New & Upcoming Releases

    Posted

    Everything I'm hearing so far is good, Loom is particularly nice.

     

    Was the art something you planned or had a hand in? It's simple but strange and somehow pretty fitting with the general tone.

     

    Also that flutey sound that's prominent for the first minute or two of Girl of Uchter Moor is so nice, I've heard it elsewhere, on Planar Mists I think. It's a lovely tone, sounds the same at first glance at least. Can I ask what synth/whatever that's coming from?

     

    Oh and Spirala is quite lovely as well :)

    The artwork is an approximation of what I had in mind as I continually listened back. The idea was that the artwork and the title would emulate the feeling of finding a new unheard record in a dream. So simple and strange is pretty much what I had in mind.

     

    I don't think I've used that flutey sound before (might be completely wrong there), don't remember what I used but like many of the sounds on this it's probably a hardware synth (guessing blofeld) combined with a vst synth.

    Rolando Simmons - World Building

    in New & Upcoming Releases

    Posted

     

    I had a TX7, really loved that one and still use what I recorded from it. Recently bought the volca FM, mainly because of its size but I use it for everything FM at the moment. Usually layered with something warmer!

    I take it you did some thorough multi sampling to get that expressivity? Or do you record whole performances and use them later?

    Haha yes I do a ridiculous amount of multi sampling :)

    Both individual notes and whole performances. I try to use different media to record onto to tint the layers differently. My studio isn't set up like a studio anymore, it's more of a workshop environment where I bring out different bits of gear and work with them separately for a couple of weeks at a time, switching up sequencers and working on patches. Final product is always insane patchwork and pretty counter-intuitive, but i like the sort-of-rough edges around a track built up like that.

    Rolando Simmons - World Building

    in New & Upcoming Releases

    Posted

     

    Big thanks to anyone who's bought/listened! If you like it - spread the word. If there's any questions or comments I'll be online here all day.

    What would you say the general “theme” behind World Building is?

    It took a long time to make and I went through different phases of perceived themes. I started reading Jeff VanderMeers Southern Reach trilogy and was really inspired by that (and Umberto Ecos "Baudolino" which I haven't finished). There's a lot of Sally Mann in there as well, mostly because our house is full of her pics of people and rotting flora/fauna. I've started playing around with stripping back elements that are usually found within the genre and adding detail in other areas that I identify as my own to see where I end up. That's the theme of this one I'd say.

    Rolando Simmons - World Building

    in New & Upcoming Releases

    Posted

     

    Big thanks to anyone who's bought/listened! If you like it - spread the word. If there's any questions or comments I'll be online here all day.

    Yeah, already told a few friends about the new album. You have a great grip on micro pitch/blue notes, and an original twist to harmony/melody in general, lush as hell!

     

    Love your dynamic bass tones, what's your favourite FM synth?

    I had a TX7, really loved that one and still use what I recorded from it. Recently bought the volca FM, mainly because of its size but I use it for everything FM at the moment. Usually layered with something warmer!

    Rolando Simmons - World Building

    in New & Upcoming Releases

    Posted

    So does this qualify then as the first full-length Rolando Simmons album?

    I would say it does. There's the volumes collection but I don't really count that as an album.

     

    I'm not really a fan of going to the archives for tracks either. If someone asks me to make an album I sit down and make something new (with a few exceptions).

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