APHEX TWIN - SYRO

[pizza]

also, let's not forget windowlicker (acid edit)'s impact on the world!

[Himelstein]

On 11/12/2021 at 1:44 AM, MIXL2 said:

I should clarify, when I say windowlicker is 10 billion times more interesting I mean specifically this track

which it is

edit: honorable mention also

 

Do u think windowlicker is better than drukqs? 

[YangYing]

7 minutes ago, Himelstein said:

On 11/12/2021 at 7:44 AM, MIXL2 said:

I should clarify, when I say windowlicker is 10 billion times more interesting I mean specifically this track

which it is

edit: honorable mention also

 

Expand  

Do u think windowlicker is better than drukqs? 

na, its after and including syro when I find his stuff less interesting.. note its not bad, just less interesting, less.. daring? idk

[Himelstein]

7 minutes ago, MIXL2 said:

na, its after and including syro when I find his stuff less interesting.. note its not bad, just less interesting, less.. daring? idk

Gotcha- I read it like “anything post wl, including syro” but now it makes sense. I agree 

[Audioblysk]

The more I listen to the record the more I think:: If he really did sequence the bulk of it on a cirklon and record the stereo out of the mixer - This album is probably the most complex piece of sequenced hardware music ever. Regardless, it really has so much put into it that is so refined that the amount of time spent on the tracks must be mind-boggling. 

 

[psn]

Don't forget Go Plastic.

[Audioblysk]

9 hours ago, psn said:

Don't forget Go Plastic.

I’d say Syro takes the cake only because of the sheer amount of equipment being controlled and automated + the modern/expensive ass mixing. 
 

go plastic is neck and neck. Every time I hear that record I’m shocked it was made with no DAW sequencing. Automating and programming eventide shit like Tom does deserves its own tier lol

[Lachesi]

On 5/27/2021 at 8:40 PM, thefxbip said:

Syro u473t8+e is one of his best.

Funnily enough it was my least favorite on the album when it came out. Found it weird and awkward. Now its in my top 10. Never understimate the weird trx.

SAME HERE!

[Brisbot]

Time Flies. This album has been around almost as long as the gap between The Tuss releases and Syro.... over 7 years. That's like 1992 aphex to 1999 windowlicker. Within which Aphex changed his style like 5 times.

[YangYing]

25 minutes ago, Brisbot said:

Within which Aphex changed his style like 5 times.

time for another change in style!

[Key]

1 hour ago, Brisbot said:

Time Flies. This album has been around almost as long as the gap between The Tuss releases and Syro.... over 7 years. That's like 1992 aphex to 1999 windowlicker. Within which Aphex changed his style like 5 times.

True

It doesn't feel as bad to me this time. At least we've had some e.p.s, 12" live tracks and the sc dump to tide us over. 

Last time we only had youtube recordings and maybe Steinvord.

[Brisbot]

This is just a guess but I think now he is going back into semi-hibernation to focus on making new tracks. I bet the next time he starts releasing he will have finished a few EPs/LP's... in a few years.

[Brisbot]

On 5/28/2021 at 6:55 PM, yekker said:

I hope the next one is more like collapse

Edit: more glitchy

 

On 2/8/2022 at 12:01 AM, MIXL2 said:

time for another change in style!

These days it seems he prefers to shift his style between releases rather than do 180s like he did in the 90s. 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Brisbot

[cern]

Is Syro too perfect sound wise?

I have even heard many people complaining because it is too well mastered sound wise.. 
Many producers using the first minipopstrack as a referens track cus every sound is perfectly delivered. 

Is it too much? 

[exitonly]

9 minutes ago, cern said:

Is Syro too perfect sound wise?

I have even heard many people complaining because it is too well mastered sound wise.. 
Many producers using the first minipopstrack as a referens track cus every sound is perfectly delivered. 

Is it too much? 

no its dope. ive said it before but its the dad-rock idm record. it represents where rdj was at in his life, in his 40s(?). it wants you to sit back and turn on your hifi and appreciate the smooth sounds of aphex.  would be worse if he was wearing skinny jeans and slammin everything through a mackie to DAT to try and recapture his youth.

[cern]

30 minutes ago, nikisoko said:

no its dope. ive said it before but its the dad-rock idm record. it represents where rdj was at in his life, in his 40s(?). it wants you to sit back and turn on your hifi and appreciate the smooth sounds of aphex.  would be worse if he was wearing skinny jeans and slammin everything through a mackie to DAT to try and recapture his youth.

Oh yeah you are so right! You want it to be perfect for that kind of comeback. It is very playful and intense but with that super clean sound.
And that he list the gear in the album is like: If you gonna sound like this u better have this 2 million worth of rare analoge synts lol.

to be honest: most of the synths listed on the track are pretty bs he included. But it is a nice showoff for sure 

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by cern

[chim]

3 hours ago, cern said:

Is Syro too perfect sound wise?

I have even heard many people complaining because it is too well mastered sound wise.. 
Many producers using the first minipopstrack as a referens track cus every sound is perfectly delivered. 

Is it too much? 

Is this another cern troll post? What kind of people use it as a reference? 

The Syro master is a mess, RDJ made a hi-fi record that got chewed thru the Warp hype machine who, anticipating the return of a pop sensation, likely demanded the sound of a pop album. Mandy Parnell & Beau Thomas are legendary cats but can't do miracles on a stereo mix recording, they did some great work with the low end, especially the huge near infrasonic sub bass on Minipops. (no surprise Beau Thomas is an old DNB head). The trade off is cutting all the body on a bunch of synth lines. The Arp 2500 and moogs on Xmas got through unscathed thankfully. There probably wasn't much else to do except make the upper mids harsh and ugly, totally defeating the point of running vintage gear thru tape. Dynamics on the busy circlon tracks are inexcusable. RDJ probably couldn't care less what his CD sounds like on Spotify. 

B Thomas did a great job on Collapse as it's more balanced with woolly sounding mids and again the bass & drums are deep & full sounding, probably due to the mix stage as RDJ must've ran the bass thru some vintage EQ+comp chain - I've never heard a single Pro One sound that big. 

Edited February 23, 2022 by chim

[YELLOW]

My two favorite tracks from the album, PAPAT and XMASEVE, don't sound like great mixes to my ears. Admittedly, I'm not an engineer or anything, but something like the Rushup Edge EP sounds amazing

Edited February 23, 2022 by YELLOW

[psn]

PAPAT is my favourite track on the album, and it sounds completely fucked up by HiFi wanker standards. 

Edited February 23, 2022 by psn

[cern]

23 minutes ago, chim said:

Is this another cern troll post? What kind of people use it as a reference? 

The Syro master is a mess, RDJ made a hi-fi record that got chewed thru the Warp hype machine who, anticipating the return of a pop sensation, likely demanded the sound of a pop album. Mandy Parnell & Beau Thomas are legendary cats but can't do miracles on a stereo mix recording, they did some great work with the low end, especially the huge near infrasonic sub bass on Minipops. (no surprise Beau Thomas is an old DNB head). The trade off is cutting all the body on a bunch of synth lines. The Arp 2500 and moogs on Xmas got through unscathed thankfully. There probably wasn't much else to do except make the upper mids harsh and ugly, totally defeating the point of running vintage gear thru tape. Dynamics on the busy circlon tracks are inexcusable. RDJ probably couldn't care less what his CD sounds like on Spotify. 

B Thomas did a great job on Collapse as it's more balanced with woolly sounding mids and again the bass & drums are deep & full sounding, probably due to the mix stage as RDJ must've ran the bass thru some vintage EQ+comp chain - I've never heard a single Pro One sound that big. 

I know Im trolling alot on watttmb BUT

Byou saying in other words SYRO is too god damn masterd? 

Just now, psn said:

PAPAT is my favourite track on the album, and it sounds completely fucked up by HiFi wanker standards. 

Is it closed back or Open headphones the best way to listen to the album u think? 

[psn]

22 minutes ago, cern said:

Is it closed back or Open headphones the best way to listen to the album u think? 

Whichever bring out the crackles and the hiss in the pads and the supreme mononess of the breakbeat sample.

[psn]

In general, I've noticed that the hiss and imperfection of the vintage analogue approach has been emphasized as a prominent feature in nearly all his releases from Syro and up. The heavier compression used, plus selective gating, suppresses the hiss in certain sections of the tracks, and then really brings it to the fore in others. 

Examples: Intro to CHEETAHT2, when the pads enter on MARCHROM, the breakdown in end E2, all of 42DIMENSIT + em 2500 (basically the whole Field Day album), when the kick drum drops out in the stillsons, when the drums and the bass and later the pads drop out towards the end of prememory, the pumping on m11stN. Etc. 

Edited February 23, 2022 by psn

[Brisbot]

On 2/23/2022 at 2:05 PM, chim said:

Is this another cern troll post? What kind of people use it as a reference? 

The Syro master is a mess, RDJ made a hi-fi record that got chewed thru the Warp hype machine who, anticipating the return of a pop sensation, likely demanded the sound of a pop album. Mandy Parnell & Beau Thomas are legendary cats but can't do miracles on a stereo mix recording, they did some great work with the low end, especially the huge near infrasonic sub bass on Minipops. (no surprise Beau Thomas is an old DNB head). The trade off is cutting all the body on a bunch of synth lines. The Arp 2500 and moogs on Xmas got through unscathed thankfully. There probably wasn't much else to do except make the upper mids harsh and ugly, totally defeating the point of running vintage gear thru tape. Dynamics on the busy circlon tracks are inexcusable. RDJ probably couldn't care less what his CD sounds like on Spotify. 

B Thomas did a great job on Collapse as it's more balanced with woolly sounding mids and again the bass & drums are deep & full sounding, probably due to the mix stage as RDJ must've ran the bass thru some vintage EQ+comp chain - I've never heard a single Pro One sound that big. 

I think that loudness is because of Richard, not Warp. Well Warp may have been the one to go overboard on the mastering, but Richard I am pretty sure did want that loudness mastering in his record.

I remember AFX saying in an interview that he was a lil nervous about releasing something to a wider public so long after, and he seemed to imply, but didn't say, that he wanted the master to have more loudness like the trend has been in general, and that before when he was releasing his 90s and early 00's stuff he said he never cared about all the post production after he finished mixing, as long as it still sounded fine. But since then he had changed his mind to some extent and that he felt it was EXPECTED of any release.

IMO, I personally think that it was because it was focused on the synths more-so than the drums in Syro.  Kinda like what PSN said, So drum transients took a back seat to making the synths as upfront and in your face as possible. 

By the time of Collapse, again imo, that record had way more emphasis on drums than the synths. So making sure the drums work was the primary concern. Leading to much more interesting drum and drum transients, with the synths sounding more like what we would expect from Aphex Twin. Imagine if Collapse had the same loudness mastering as Syro had. It just wouldn't work nearly as well and would have been the wrong direction. 

Edited March 21, 2022 by Brisbot

[Lane Visitor]

On 2/23/2022 at 9:34 AM, cern said:

Is Syro too perfect sound wise?

I have even heard many people complaining because it is too well mastered sound wise.. 
Many producers using the first minipopstrack as a referens track cus every sound is perfectly delivered. 

Is it too much? 

I think part what is making Syro so perfect sounding is the super lush reverb especially on those already very lush pads, which just sort of swallows everything into like this hypnotic cocoon. This element I think sort of contains the dynamics and makes everything sit in this glowy floating space. The compression style used is very buttery and chocolatey and pillowy which just adds to that. Esp when you hear some of those old school drum machines crushed hard and super dry juxtaposed against all the wetness of the other tracks. It's  super thick chunky goodness.

He set out to make an ear pleasing, chill groovy album and he succeeded!

It would be a fun treat to hear some abrasiveness or more rawness in an upcoming release of course

[thefxbip]

I think Syro sounds pretty gritty in a way. It has far from perfect sounding mixes. You can feel the dust off the mixer. The electricity. And the noise gates being put through overwork hahaha

Didnt he mention how he prefered his mixes a bit more on the lo-fi oldschool side than on the super clean, ultra HQ mixed side?

Edited April 14, 2022 by thefxbip