Ae - Solo tracks vs. Booth+Brown tracks

[Dragon]

i've been thinking about this for a while. during the AAA, Sean revealed the bombshell that the majority of their tracks are solo tracks - easily one of the most surprising things to come out of that thread.

so which tracks do you think are collabs, and which are solos? time for a whole load of speculation.

obviously there's no way of knowing whether it's rob or sean who composed a solo track, so i'll mark these as solo and B+B.

Garbagemx36 - this is a very sophisticated track with a lot of different elements playing off each other - but it all blends together so seamlessly. i think it may be stitched together from separate solo tracks that worked really well with the mix, rather than different lines playing together at the same time. also, i have a feeling that their EP material - particularly the leading tracks - are more likely to be collabs. i'd say this is B+B.

Cichli - i think this is another collab, but here there are elements from the two of them running at the same time. Chris Randall, who did a great cover version of Cichli, pointed out that the different layers have very little to do with each other. the percussion line in particular is extremely detailed but it generally stays the same, and it present thruout most of the track. i think this is an example of both of them composing parts and then fine-tuning them - possibly together, with ideas swapping. B+B.

Drane2 - this is an interesting one. rob and sean talked about a war between themsevles and RDJ, who apparently created Bucepahlus Bouncing Ball from CTD as a response to one of their tracks. they created Drane2 as a response, and RDJ is said to have created a "revenge track", which may or may not be even more lush than Drane2. i guess that means they worked on it together? B+B.

Goz Quarter - i think Envane is an exception to what i said earlier - since this is four different remixes of another track, i would guess they're more likely to be solos. this one in particular is quite straightforward and settles into a groove (then another groove). solo.

Bike - i think a lot of tracks on Incunabula are solo. definitely Bike, Autriche, Doctrine, Maetl, and probably Windwind and 444 give-or-take some ideas going back and forth. solo.

Rotar - ever get the feeling that an Ae track is getting into a groove, and something unexpected happens? even subtle things like every third bar of Rotar getting an extra scratch, and then two out of three with a scratch, despite the whole thing playing at 4/4. this is what i'm talking about! B+B.

Cfern - this goes with Rae as an example of a beat locking into place and staying that way. again, it shows that the ideas going on have changed - parts of it being tweaked and re-composed, and other parts left the same. B+B.

Outpt - the thing about this track is that it follows a particular mood and stays there, taking it as far as it can go. that's what makes me thing it's solo, along with Dropp, Maphive 6.1 and Pir. solo.

Pn.:til - one of my favourite Ae tracks, blows my mind how those sounds can deliver something so personal, so devastating. i'd say this is solo, it's got a vision.

Reniform Puls - on the other hand, here we can see several very novel techniques going on. maybe one of them finding a method and then the other checking it out? B+B.

Flutter - the story behind this track clearly shows they worked on it together. this allegedly uses 65 separate drum patterns and carefully switches between them, so there's a lot of preparation before it's all layed out over the 10min~ timeline. B+B.

Second Scepe - i think this one is solo. also notice it has elements in common with the Keynell (Ae Mix), which i think is going to be very common - a track coming out with certain elements and then re-using them, getting a new take on it. solo.

Altibzz/The Plc/IO - same as before. maybe this entire album is solo? probably with remixes going back and forth, leading to multiple versions.

Vletrmx21 - i think this is a solo track. this is because it captures such a particular mood and takes it as far as it possibly can - it doesn't just develop structurally, which can be done with collab tracks, but it develops by getting even closer to that mood. you have to be working solo for that. solo for sure.

so come on over and speculate! if you're a DJ or musician, i'd love to hear your take especially because i don't make much music myself.

[toaoaoad]

I was under the impression that earlier stuff was more collaborative and then once they were living in different places the workflow changed, with more stuff being done solo. And more recently they were saying that even the "solo" tracks are still using patches written by each other. Also that they would try to imitate each other's style, which would probably make it harder to distinguish if we even did know each of their individual styles. I could be wrong idk, don't feel like looking for sources rn but the links are probably in the SIGN thread. Anyway I figured there was still some element of collaboration involved in all their tracks, even if not directly.

Pretty sure Sean did say maphive was all him tho.  Tac lacora and m39 diffain were also hinted at being solo works but can't remember whose was which.

Edited March 11, 2022 by toaoaoad

[splesh]

20 minutes ago, toaoaoad said:

I was under the impression that earlier stuff was more collaborative and then once they were living in different places the workflow changed, with more stuff being done solo. And more recently they were saying that even the "solo" tracks are still using patches written by each other. Also that they would try to imitate each other's style, which would probably make it harder to distinguish if we even did know each of their individual styles. I could be wrong idk, don't feel like looking for sources rn but the links are probably in the SIGN thread. Anyway I figured there was still some element of collaboration involved in all their tracks, even if not directly.

Pretty sure Sean said maphive was all him.  Tac lacora and m39 diffain were also mentioned but can't remember whose was which.

I want to echo all of @toaoaoad's words wrt some of the difficulties in piecing out what is by whom, although maybe early things were more often solo before their merging approaches happened gradually over time. But I want to add, however, that I am really eager to hear solo releases from the lads.

Note: this absolutely does not mean I want Ae to break up

 

Edit: That said, it is a good subject to bring up, and it's hard not being curious what is by whom especially if there are examples from before their ways of doing things became next to impossible to tell apart

Edited March 11, 2022 by splesh

[splesh]

I think Quaristice is highly unlikely to be a solo album, as we know it to be the sound of Booth and Brown sorta jamming in the studio. I think something like Exai is more likely to have a decent amount of solo numbers. That said, I very much doubt that each disc is by a different one of them. Likewise, I think it is vanishingly improbable that any album has much if any of either extended sections of alternating authorship or a similar thing happening with an A- or B-side being entirely by one of the two. Similarly, it seems implausible to me that all of SIGN is by one half of our beloved dynamic duo and PLUS the other. Yes, it is indeed a bombshell that about 2/3 of Ae's music is produced by only Rob or only Sean, but I still doubt very much that there could be any single album that could be 100% exclusive. I think there may be albums where more tracks are by a single musician than either the other or both, (hey that's kinda like the Monty Hall problem) but probably not half or almost.

[cern]

Tracks by Rob Brown: 

Spaces How V
Sublimit 
Gantz Graf
M39 Diffain 
Blyz Castl

 

[Satans Little Helper]

The thing about them competing with each other has me a bit puzzled. You're competing if you're trying to achieve the same. But just better. Or faster. As opposed to collaborating and adding different things or styles to the whole.

So it's not the case of one being more melodious than the other, if you will. Even if one of them finds a different style, the other will soon try to do that as well. As it's all a matter of competition. In the end even if you knew who made which track, you probably couldn't hear it. (pure speculation...)

And besides, it's all Autechre.

[AnwarAutokino]

4 hours ago, cern said:

Tracks by Rob Brown: 

Spaces How V
Sublimit 
Gantz Graf
M39 Diffain 
Blyz Castl

 

source? or are you just speculating? i know spaces how v (mentioned by sean in the 2020 mixlr chat iirc) and m39 diffain (mentioned by rob in 2013 quietus interview) are rob trax, but i've never seen those other ones confirmed by either one of them.

[kausto]

3 minutes ago, AnwarAutokino said:

source? or are you just speculating? i know spaces how v (mentioned by sean in the 2020 mixlr chat iirc) and m39 diffain (mentioned by rob in 2013 quietus interview) are rob trax, but i've never seen those other ones confirmed by either one of them.

Rob's authorship of Gantz Graf was confirmed somehow by Sean too in mixlr chat or twitch iirc

like 'rob'll beat me if i'll say how he made gantz graf'

[AnwarAutokino]

59 minutes ago, kausto said:

Rob's authorship of Gantz Graf was confirmed somehow by Sean too in mixlr chat or twitch iirc

like 'rob'll beat me if i'll say how he made gantz graf'

interesting, thanks. I still like to take these chat messages with a grain of salt though, they might just as well be trolling/having a laugh.

In the end, it's all AE anyway. It's actually quite remarkable how singular/unique their style is. With a lot of other bands, you can easily differentiate the influences of the various members, once you listen to solo releases or whatever. With AE, it's the opposite. Sean (I think it was him anyway) once mentioned how they actually both want the same end result, they just might go about doing it in a different way. It's quite fascinating, really.

[kausto]

Yeah i suspect they reuse eachothers snippets pretty often. Like 'spaces how v' was claimed to be in production for years and then it clicked some day, kind of.

[kausto]

also regarding sunvox usage by Rob i guess 'YJU UX' and 'newbound' were made so

[cern]

Sean have mention that he likes repetitive sounds/beats.
This doesn't mean that he is doing all the "repetitive" tracks or that he doesn't do non repetitive tracks ofc but 
Cichli has that kind of beat and was mentioned in the AAA-thred and someone asked how it could be so good etc.. 
Only Sean answered something like "I dunno just sitting with the DX pressing keys."

In my Amber album on the computer, the track "Nil" says Composed by Sean Booth. 

This subject is really for pro Autechre fans 

[ooqpoo]

M39 Diffain inspired by 'rain hitting surfaces' while Rob was en route to a gig (as I recall) 

[mTesc]

Sean has said in the past that they never reveal who does what, but since then, in a few interviews, there has been talk of certain things as having come from one or the other. I've found a few examples, but I'll keep looking for more:

Specifically, Sean has talked about his and Rob's sending M4 Lema back and forth to one another and the rhythm section becoming more and more recessed in the piece per Rob.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/arts/music/autechre-sign-interview.html

Rob did an interview about L-Event where he specifically talks about his contributions to the tracks on the EP.

https://www.factmag.com/2013/10/25/autechre-interview-rob-brown/

There's this bit from the recent Groove interview (Google Translated from German):

"Since we first met, we've been pursuing different approaches that lead to the same result."

Rob Brown
So producing and remixing are the same for you guys?

SB: All the same. I find it arbitrary to differentiate between them.

RB: To justify that ends in the semantic. I'm a little more focused on details than Sean, which is why we work so well together. If I can't recreate something myself, it drives me crazy. Sean, on the other hand, would turn it all upside down.

SB: I like to get Rob's tracks into my setup and destroy them. In the process, completely new directions develop in which I can go. I enjoy working on something that already exists more than starting from scratch.

How do you like it when Sean shreds your tracks, Rob?

RB: Culturally that's totally fine, geographically we grew up in the same region. That suits Manchester. And our approach has always been this constant editing.

SB: I am also jealous of him sometimes because he makes such weird stuff out of my patches that I would never have thought of. So he uses my ideas in a critical way, just more subtle.

RB: Since we met for the first time, we've been pursuing different approaches that lead to the same result.

SB: With Rob it happens gradually, I'm more volatile.

[mTesc]

6 minutes ago, mTesc said:

 

Rob did an interview about L-Event where he specifically talks about his contributions to the tracks on the EP.

https://www.factmag.com/2013/10/25/autechre-interview-rob-brown/

 

This is actually the one I meant to share:

https://thequietus.com/articles/13899-autechre-interview-exai-l-event

[Alcofribas]

the ones with R in the title are Rob; S are Sean: R+S are both. 
 

tracks without R or S are done by me

[chronical]

This is all assuming Rob and Sean are two different people. Now if the leftist media would have you know about their propaganda you would soon realise they were one and the same person all along..

[xox]

all i want to know is who made subrange 6-36

[Alcofribas]

1 hour ago, xox said:

all i want to know is who made subrange 6-36

literally sean pressing play on the system and going out for brunch

[ignatius]

7 hours ago, kausto said:

also regarding sunvox usage by Rob i guess 'YJU UX' and 'newbound' were made so

wow. that track is amazing. these fucking guys just consistently wreck shop on whatever they use.. and it's always autechre music  

[toaoaoad]

8 hours ago, mTesc said:

SB: I like to get Rob's tracks into my setup and destroy them. In the process, completely new directions develop in which I can go. I enjoy working on something that already exists more than starting from scratch.

 

How do you like it when Sean shreds your tracks, Rob?

RB: Culturally that's totally fine, geographically we grew up in the same region. That suits Manchester. And our approach has always been this constant editing.

SB: I am also jealous of him sometimes because he makes such weird stuff out of my patches that I would never have thought of. So he uses my ideas in a critical way, just more subtle.

RB: Since we met for the first time, we've been pursuing different approaches that lead to the same result.

SB: With Rob it happens gradually, I'm more volatile.

Fanboy fantasy:  an EP that tracks the development of a track in this way: 4-6 different versions of the track as it gets passed back and forth, that would be sickkk

Or maybe they have already done this

Anyway the thought came to me as I was reading this again, how cool it would be to hear more of that process, and see if the changes made by each party were things we could detect by listening or if it was more structural/systemic and a complete 180 change in sound.

Hearing the development of M4 Lema would be pretty interesting

Edited March 12, 2022 by toaoaoad

[ignatius]

9 hours ago, toaoaoad said:

Fanboy fantasy:  an EP that tracks the development of a track in this way: 4-6 different versions of the track as it gets passed back and forth, that would be sickkk

Or maybe they have already done this

Anyway the thought came to me as I was reading this again, how cool it would be to hear more of that process, and see if the changes made by each party were things we could detect by listening or if it was more structural/systemic and a complete 180 change in sound.

Hearing the development of M4 Lema would be pretty interesting

just make one 20 minute track w/all the ideas in it over time. 

[flacid]

On 3/12/2022 at 3:20 PM, mTesc said:

Sean has said in the past that they never reveal who does what, but since then, in a few interviews, there has been talk of certain things as having come from one or the other. I've found a few examples, but I'll keep looking for more:

Specifically, Sean has talked about his and Rob's sending M4 Lema back and forth to one another and the rhythm section becoming more and more recessed in the piece per Rob.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/arts/music/autechre-sign-interview.html

Rob did an interview about L-Event where he specifically talks about his contributions to the tracks on the EP.

https://www.factmag.com/2013/10/25/autechre-interview-rob-brown/

There's this bit from the recent Groove interview (Google Translated from German):

"Since we first met, we've been pursuing different approaches that lead to the same result."

Rob Brown
So producing and remixing are the same for you guys?

SB: All the same. I find it arbitrary to differentiate between them.

RB: To justify that ends in the semantic. I'm a little more focused on details than Sean, which is why we work so well together. If I can't recreate something myself, it drives me crazy. Sean, on the other hand, would turn it all upside down.

SB: I like to get Rob's tracks into my setup and destroy them. In the process, completely new directions develop in which I can go. I enjoy working on something that already exists more than starting from scratch.

How do you like it when Sean shreds your tracks, Rob?

RB: Culturally that's totally fine, geographically we grew up in the same region. That suits Manchester. And our approach has always been this constant editing.

SB: I am also jealous of him sometimes because he makes such weird stuff out of my patches that I would never have thought of. So he uses my ideas in a critical way, just more subtle.

RB: Since we met for the first time, we've been pursuing different approaches that lead to the same result.

SB: With Rob it happens gradually, I'm more volatile.

They really are a great partnership. The right mixture of focus and experimentation. 

[kausto]

Gescom 'Skull Snap EP'
who is who?

[someguy]

dunno about skull snap ep, but it's practically confirmed somewhere that sean did all of iss:sa i think?