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

[awepittance]

 

I'm curious too about the Oval question, and it ties into the mysteriously unanswered physical modeling questions as well. Real guitar manipulation or simulated?

 

no guitars on our stuff, if you're hearing strings it's simulated

 

unless u mean oval

 

yes i meant Oval (do you think hes using a real guitar like all the press claimed, or is he simulating a guitar with synthesis?), and for luck I'll ask the original question. How much physical modeling synthesis have you guys employed on your more modern works? A lot of the plucky string stuff sounds almost in-between FM generated and physical modeling, and I know you said Simm's title has a clue as to what you used in it, I have no idea what it could be I'd guess an FS1r? I'm probably wrong.

I'm just curious since you guys are probably the most innovative act right now using dsp and new synthesis technology, how fond are you of physical modeling as a type of synthesis. It feels like it's in oversteps here and there, but it's not used in a realistic/mimicking a real instrument sort of a way.

 

I'm also curious if you guys ever had a Yamaha Vl1 or VL series hardware, which came out in 1994 but as far as I'm concerned is still more impressive than where most physical modeling technology is currently at.

[Salvatorin]

Hey guys! Apologies if the question is too late, has already been asked, or is silly. (Every time I come back to this thread it's doubled in size and I can't read through it all in time)

 

 

Just something I'm curious about, do either of you have sort of a 'specialty' between yourselves when you're making your tracks? Like say Sean focuses on a drum beat more often while Rob has a certain kind melodic thing he does himself more often. Or is it more of each of you share doing everything?

 

Thanks for doing this by the way, you and your stuff is brilliant.

they ended up saying that nearly 2/3s of the work is solo work from either and they try to one up each other

also they are not online we should just let this thread rest and let them bump it when they get back imo

Edited November 7, 2013 by Salvatorin

[Guest Grimmie XII]

 

Just something I'm curious about, do either of you have sort of a 'specialty' between yourselves when you're making your tracks? Like say Sean focuses on a drum beat more often while Rob has a certain kind melodic thing he does himself more often. Or is it more of each of you share doing everything?

 

just fyi, this has been asked a few times already, specifically the Rob=melody/Sean=beats dichotomy which they have stated is false

 

Well shit. Thanks for letting me know. I guess I don't have any other decent ideas for questions.

[Dale]

in case rob/sean read this tomorrow -

thanks guys for coming out and doing this for us - much appreciated.

just want to mention that the thought of the quaristice live set remaining as pre-programmed patterns on your elektrons, not seeing any kind of release just brings about a small amount of musical depression in me. would you guys consider putting this live set out to the community or even on sale? i notice you guys sometimes avoiding questions like this but there are a lot of people who would greatly appreciate such a release. i know i would enjoy this particular live set a lot. the 2005 glasgow untilted live set which got put online became incredibly popular as you know... i'm sure the 2008 live set would get an equal amount of attention.

[jaderpansen]

dear autechres,

 

i'm asking you... FOR TRACK IDS:

https://www.wetransfer.com/downloads/42153ebde00da4ae6f3c365cf234323320131107012338/28db1ea876de3c1c242941ff01aa726f20131107012338/6ff2c8

 

 

'specially the first one, please! (were mostly played during 2006 xltronic autechre marathon)

[goonstock]

Hi guys,

Can you give us an example of tunes that have been completely just your own solo work?

i.e. "Rob made fwze by himself" or something.

[Ivan Ooze]

we only got about 2hours and a half music this year by you guys and less then 700 answered questions

can you plz make us a 2-4 seconds rubber fart jingle that we can use whenever our mom or work is calling us on the phone

[baph]

I think it was mentioned that 6852 was just finishing up around the time the request for it was made? Was that also the case with Ts1a? I think a few watmmers have suggested that it sounds like an older track, but to me it has a similar kind of forward momentum and (dunno how to say this) information density in the melodic bits as 6852 and (struggling again to describe it) the same kind of tonal color palette (wtf, I know) as some of the bits on oversteps and exai.

 

Guess what I'm saying is are 6852 and Ts1a contemporaries of each other (or maybe just coming out of the same kind of headspace)?

 

Really love both of those tracks, even if I can't convert any thoughts about them into meaningful english. They're, like, overwhelmingly fun to listen to.

Edited November 7, 2013 by baph

[Guest synthesizerpatel]

Hey guys, so you are using a large Analogue Systems eurorack modular? Do you use modules by any other manufacturers? Where do you see the future of hardware modular going?

[Bob Dylan]

Anyone of you care to say what was you trying to achieve in 1995 with that Plaid/Autechre set?

 

 

[youtubehd]9_yoHHdBE1Q[/youtubehd]

[hoggy]

If you live to be old men, will you still make music?

 

If when you die you cease to exist and it becomes for you as though you never existed (the obvious truth as the brain matter in which you exist decays), what's the point in doing anything at all?

[Mellow U]

Okay so I haven't read the entire thread yet (but plan on it), so hopefully this hasn't been brought up yet...

 

Can you guys identify this track please? You played it in the liveset you did for Xltronic a while ago. It's always stuck with me, and I've never figured out what or who it is...

 

And for an actual question:

 

Is Nuane = N-vane = Envane? As in, are the four quarters actually remixes/versions of Nuane? They seem like they could be to my ears, but I'd be interested to hear the official answer.

 

Also, any chance of a digital release or a reissue of the Quaristice Versions material from the deluxe edition of that album? I'm an obsessed collector like many others here, and I don't listen to things unless I own them in some official form...help!

ae xlt show excerpt.mp3

[fizzkinz]

Is Nuane = N-vane = Envane? As in, are the four quarters actually remixes/versions of Nuane? They seem like they could be to my ears, but I'd be interested to hear the official answer.

I asked that and they both responded

Sean said there is only slight truth to Envane being born from Nuane

And rob said they came from same gear/time, but the name is what they have most in common

 

Sean, rob, if I have misrepresented you with my summation, sorry, and please feel free to correct me. Just didn't want to dig up the exact quotes

[lumpenprol]

 

 

Is Nuane = N-vane = Envane? As in, are the four quarters actually remixes/versions of Nuane? They seem like they could be to my ears, but I'd be interested to hear the official answer.

 

 

 

this was already answered by both S&R

[coconuthead]

 

You've got a few fans here in Houston, Texas that I know about, you should come play a show here!

 

 

+1 for Houston.

 

 

I live in Dallas, but I would for sure drive up to Houston to see you guys, so +2. It's a dream, but who knows?

[Guest exper]

1) Do emotions ever play into your music, or is experimentation the driving force, and any emotional feel to a track just develops from that experimentation? I ask because tracks like Dropp destroy me. The melody/bassline and chords sound so forlorn to me, and then when the beat drops in, it feels like the weight of the world is on my back. To me its the closest electronic music gets to Joy Division.

 

2) Have you embraced the huge resurgence in modular synths, particularly the eurorack format? Any particular modules or brands that grab your attention?

[Person90]

Just want to say a big thank you to Sean and Rob for making themselves available for this! So very cool!

 

I've been a fan since '96, and I still look forward to every new release. Managed to catch ya'll live in Austin in '01, but if you put on a Houston show, I'll catch you there as well...

 

Question - prolly been asked, but I haven't made it through the whole thread as of yet...Do you have any plans for an audiovisual release, akin to Animal Collective's Oddsac? Tangentially related, I recall a video installation website (Rutterford?) from about two-three years ago that featured some music that certainly sounded like your work, but perhaps an alternate take or remix. Any details on this track/video?

[Person90]

One more thing, not a request really, but I'd kill for a Surgeon megamix of some of your material, BMB's sampling notwithstanding...

[Guest locusvulpes]

So like the rest of the folks here thanks for doing this Sean and Rob, love what you guys do. My questions:

 

- What advice can you give to people who are trying to get their music heard? There is a lot of noise out there and it's not easy to get noticed by any of the labels, they appear to have a lot of material thrown at them and rarely seem to respond so it's hard to know if they even get around to listening to your tracks or not. Or maybe my tracks are total crap which is a strong possibility :)

 

- Do you ever record "found" sounds yourselves and use them in tracks or do you just procure them from elsewhere (sound libraries, sounds from web sites, etc)?

 

- What do you wish you could do with the software that is out there right now? Is there any kind of major functionality that you wish existed or do you think the sky is the limit with what is out there today?

[Atop]

my initials dream state ideas on Draft 7.30, written at some point in 2003, for your records if needed:

 

1. XYLIN ROOM: Ahhhh, the Ae sound, I think they played a
   version of this song live when I saw them here in Austin,
   it's got this back and forth type rhythm, with some sort of
   industrial plumbing being pummeled, and then of course the
   trademark click track sped up and slowed down to a rhythmic
   perfection, comes in with this rhodes type sound,
   the rhythm starts to disentegrate, goes back and forth,
   stability to chaos
   
   02. IV VV IV VV VIII: starts with a demonic sound, into a
   futuristic clash between a drum beat, a keyboard melody,
   and some sort of creature like sound, like a gremlin being
   crushed, very unstable rhythm, is on the edge of falling
   apart,
   and it does, and comes back, the drum rhythm sounds like a
   break they fucking chopped to all hell and made it not
   what it was, Ae ambience ends it
   
   03. 6IE.CR: this is what all the fuckers who thought Ae
   would never doing anything accessible again have been
   waiting for,
   bad ass fucking rhythm, a delayed rhythm track battling it
   out with a ambient one, this track.........yeah, this is
   like Ae and Aphex having sex, moves into a breakdown of the
   original rhythm with a beautifully fucked harpsichord
   sounding track
   and a trademark Ae synth sound riding on top, beautiful
   melancholy strings
   
   04. TAPR: Mommy, I'm scared, these guys are trying to hurt
   me, Chaos with a motive, sounds like a fucked piano track
   being slammed onto tape, with Ae rhythms clicking away
   behind it, crazy
   
   05. SURRIPERE: oh yes, Philip K Dick has awoken in his grave
   and thanked Booth/Brown for writing this one,
   sounds kind of like something off of SAW2, amazing tribal Ae
   rhythm with an ambient synth on top, riding the rhythm like
   a spacecraft on it's way to Jupiter, this is as accessible
   as Ae wants it to get, but just when you thought it was
   safe,
   a fucked rhythm comes in, definitely one of the coolest
   tracks on the album, at the ends Ae morphs into Kay/Del
   Castillo
   and then back again to their alien selves

 

06. THEME OF SUDDEN ROUNDABOUT: loose rhythm, very unstable
at the beginning, out of the chaos comes a break that is all
fucked, ambience, click track(sped and slowed), an eerie
piano melody, very unstable, but then.........something
comes in that reminds of a giant walking through a forest, a
keyboard track that is very pwerful and constant
rhythmically

07. VL AL 5: the atmosphere of some bar in a different
galaxy, dirty, skanky rhythm, with an ambience
hidden(synth),
a contant rhythm that is very loose, pulse width madness
playing on top and in the background, fucking amazing,
some chopped ass sample comes in, almost like a TV station
that in being interfered with by an alien force,
beckoning us, ends with the sample chopped

08. P.:NTIL: another one of the more accessible ones, like
a Machine Drum track remixed by Ae, a very hip hoppish beat
but with fucked up click tracks bombarding it, a keyboard
melody and a distorted melody battling it out,
reminds me of alien cultures having conversations, this
track is the fucking shit! can the rhythm stay together,
sounds like it can't, and then a crazy fucked up string
melody comes in like a dulcimer looped, alien ass shit,
the rhythm falls apart

09. V-PROC: has a steady rhythm at the beginning, with
reverbed ambience on top, and then comes in with this
programmed
break beat that's all choppy but stable, sounds like Perfuse
on a lot of acid, fucking great, Ae and Devine having sex,
nutty samples(very playful yet loud and in your shit) going
back and forth on top of the beat

10. RENIFORM PULS: another Philip K. Dick wet dream, the
future, Ae rhtythm at it's finest, reverbed high pitched
hits,
like twinkling stars, a wierd ass melody, and then some LP5
sounding ambience comes in on top of the rhythm,
the rhythm starts to become hectic but not abrasive, just
changes, tribal Ae rhythms duking it out with the ambience,
oh yes, this is the way to the end, staticky
keyboard.....................

thanks for this thread guys, a fan for life.

Atop

[xfxf]

has the demoscene had any influence on your work, particularly generative programming techniques and such?

[Guest Retrig]

Hi ae. I have a friend wondering about this white label copy of EP7. Is this legit? Any light you can shed on it?

[YEK]

do each of you specialize in a department when it comes to making a track ?

[Polymershapes]

can you put out something that sounds like this looks next album?

[Salvatorin]

Autechre, can you listen to some of my track and tell me what you think? (this isn't a demotape request, this is just a loving, autechrian-forumulative fan, asking my idols to take a listen) i understand if you don't have the time. Thank you autechrian gods on high. thank you.