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Mike Dred - Notes On Productions


madisonthorne

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Not sure if this has been posted here but I just remembered that his old site used to have notes on all his albums on how they were produced, the types of gear used, etc. Includes UI records and the mix. I was able to pull it from the IA as his site went defunct in 2007. Good read.

 

Machine Codes. Record Label Established 1990.

The first project was recorded in the summer of 1990. In 1991 the The Mighty Dred EP was eventually released.

The Acid House Track "Escape from Reality" was what initially attracted the interest of R&S Records in Belgium. . (At the time the leading label for Techno Sounding Music). It was also championed by Adam X & Frankie Bones from New York's Sonic Groove.

By 1993 I had enough resources to continue the label and a friend designed me a logo. I decided on a sequence of alphabetic catalogue numbers A TO H that would eventually be followed by Numbers 0 to 9 and afterwards turn into a combination, Machine Code Syntax.

Hence, CODE A, CODE B CODE C, CODE D, CODE E, CODE F, to date.

Chime 2T was also part of the Machine Codes and was released in between code d and code e.

The whole ethos of the label was about music made from machines and to incorporate sounds from machines, both Mechanical & Electronic, that had a non musical purpose, [switches, domestic appliances, office equipment etc. you name it. . . ], with synthesised sounds.

DHVOL1. Mighty Dred EP. 1000 copies pressed. Black Sleeve. 1990.

4 Track EP.

Logo Side (Judge Dredd).

Track 1. Rock The People. Raving Synth Track. Roland SH101 style. Vocal samples. Fun!

Track 2. Escape From Reality. 2 TB-303's, Juno1, etc. Tasty.

Info Side

Track 3. Escape from Reality.

Track 4. Clear Your Mind. Programmed entirely on a Yamaha Rhythm Programmer.

FACTS:
The Mastering Plant accidentally pressed one of the tracks twice and completely left off one!!

A Review in DJ Magazine lead to a phone call from Lee Newman of GTO & Tricky Disco. She in turn introduced my music to Colin Faver from Kiss 100 FM and soon after I was having a DJ Master Mix played on Kiss FM London.

Code A. Fu-Chin-Ra EP. 1000 copies pressed. Red Sleeve. 1993.

An Acid Packed Six Track Black Vinyl Record.

Logo Side

Track 1. F**k Ya Acid! It was made using a Korg MS20 sequenced by a Korg SQ10.
Making full use of the DSP section, I set up a patch that was reminiscent of a voice saying
"Fuck Ya Acid". I love getting synthesisers to to make sounds that quite clearly "mimic' identifiable words. Waveform Based analogue synthesisers are the best for this particularly when the ocillator has a variable pulse width waveform and a ring modulator is present.

Track 2. A very, very aggressive track. The tearing, ripping lead bass line comes from a Roland System 100 model 101 Synth triggered over cv & gate from a TB-303 sequence. The other freaky noises were programmed on a Roland JD800.

Track 3 is a funky Acid track. 3 TB-303s and a TR-909.

Info Side

Track 1. . 3 Roland TB-303s, TR-808 and a Yamaha RY30 Crash Cymbal. The Bass line is a triplet scale sequence. It's fat & the frequency fries ya brain up.

Track 2. A meandering & very funky Acid Track. The Bass line is an old Juno. Strings from a Juno Alpha 1.

Track 3. A recording of my old Casio DA-R100 portable DAT Machine ejecting.

FACTS:
Originally, the tracks were unnamed.
Later I named the 2nd one (Hard Track) 'Helta Skelta' and the 5th one 'After the Tears'. Purely for the compilation CD that followed later.

Fu-Chin-Ra was in the MixMag top 50 dance records of 1993. The reviewers must like acid.

I still have a few left for sale. (Store). Very Collectable.

Code B. Kosmik Konundrums EP. 1000 copies pressed. Purple Sleeve. 1993.

Six tracks featuring - Electro · Abstract · Industrial · House· Acid.

Logo Side

Track 1 is an Electro jam. A Roland 707 for the drum parts and 3 TB303s for the Bass Lines & Melody. One of which passes thru a Pitch Shift Algorithm programmed on a Boss SE70. There are 7 pitch levels to give a Harmonically Rich Polyphonic Bass/Pad morph Effect.

Track 2 is another abstract MS20 / SQ10 combination.
This time I programmed a patch & it began to say "You Wanker, Fuck You... You" in a loop.

Freaked me out a bit. The slightest movement of any parameter was enough to render the speech effect useless. A very precise patch.

Track 3 is an Industrial Stomper. LoFi, Sequenced on a Sequential Circuits Studio 440.

Info Side

Track 1 is a House Style Track. Lots of recognisable Analog Roland Synth's & a TR-909 beat box.

Track 2.is a full on Acid Symphony using 4 Roland TB-303s and a TR-909.

Track 3 is a recording of an old HP Scanner aligning the scan head. Machine Code No.2.

FACTS:
Once again the tracks were originally unnamed. Later, I named the first one on Side-M 'My Bassline Is The Melody' and the first one on Side-C 'Reach Inside'.

This one is fully deleted. Sold out.
Best check eBay or 2nd Hand Stores if you want it on good old Vinyl.

Code C. CODEC EP. 1000 copies pressed. Violet Sleeve. 300 Repress White Slv. 1994.

Six Tracks.

Logo Side

Track 1.'Lowestoft Electro', A terribly lo-fi Electronic workout of home made percussion and synth noises from a Korg MS20 and Roland Sys 100 Model 101.

Track 2. 'Midtro' lots of MS20 shenanigans sequenced on a Sequential Circuits Studio 440.

Track 3*. 'Face The Future'. Industrial Electro. Sequenced on a SCi Studio 440.

Info Side

Track 1. 'Salutation', A cool Acid symphony of 3 TB-303's.
Track 2 'Retrospective'. Softer Electronica. More Composed.
Track 3. 'Outro'. Rough & Ready Expanding Hallucagenic sequence!

FACTS:
Winner of SINGLE OF THE WEEK in N.M.E. Vibes 1994.

Track Names engraved in the lead-out grooves on each side.

Lowestoft Electro was named after an electrical store in Lowestoft, Suffolk UK, that sold domestic appliances on the ground floor with a record shop on the 1st floor.

Ice T did a track called Outro on the Power LP.
I've got a copy of Power signed by Ice-T, DJ Evil E & Darlene.

*I totally reworked 'Face the Future' a few years later. It is entitled 'Well Wicked'. (Something I'm accused of saying alot)

Sold Out. Very Collectable.

Code D. Beyond The Box EP. 1000 copies pressed. Blue Sleeve. 1995.

4 Tracker introducing the concept of fusing Techno with Electro acoustic. DJs v Boffin's!

Logo Side

Track 1. 'Cornucopian 105'. It's a combination of Cutting Rhythms and Electro acoustic Textures generated from transformation of the Rhythmical Parts. A real ground breaker.

Cornucopian 105 recontextualises what are acceptably useful strategies within composition, putting the listener in touch with many musical forms that would otherwise be excluded by purist notions towards music. Cornucopian 105 introduces new ideas into contemporary popular culture, exploring unique hybrids, which exhibit themselves in terms of perceived origin.

Track 2. 'Wash the Telly'. It was made from over 70 home made sounds one of which came from my Korg MS20 and sounds like someone (something) saying "Wash the telly". This track is funny and even inspired the likes of Chris Cunningham, that clever lad who does cool stuff with motion picture, to get more into music making.

Info Side

Track 1. Pete's solo, called 'Modus Vivendi'. It's an orchestral piece.

Track 2. 'Monkey Systems 107'. Another Techno meets Electroacoustic Technique. Rolling, Grating Korg MS20 Synth with transformations using CDP. The odd thing being that it retains a very hard edge without a single drumbeat!

FACTS:
105 Cornucopian later appeared on the VIRTUAL FARMER LP on Rephlex Records.

Signalled the beginning of my brief musical partnership with Peter Green.

Perhaps more significantly it formed the embryo of the revolutionary new music that was to follow over the next two years culminating in the completion of the VIRTUAL FARMER album in 1997
.
This was immediately recognised by Dave Robinson, Assistant Editor of Future Music Magazine, who commissioned a full-page feature outlining our project in Issue FM37 1995.
We were featured artists on the cover CD also with an edited version of Cornucopian 105.

Not bad for a completely underground project from relatively unknown Artists! on a tiny record label with little capital.

The article begins with the following paragraph…
"WE BOLDLY CALL ourselves Future Music. But how often do we bring you something so forward-looking, yet at the same time so contemporary that it might - just might - set the agenda for the next post-techno, post-analogue phase?"

 

MAGIC FEET Magazine said about the Beyond The Box EP, "If 99% of Techno shares the same genetic code, then this is the one that breaks the mould.".

N.M.E Vibes gave it a very favourable review (see reviews page).

Sold Out. Very Collectable.

Code E. Epnom Bymon EP. 700 copies pressed. Black Sleeve. 1996.

This is a Single-Sided EP with a plain Green Label, featuring only Two Tracks.

Track 1. 'Nautilus 110'.
It's a perfect example of combining influences from club land with academia.
A fine example of Electro-Synthetic and Electro acoustic composition.

Nautilus was set out with some strict guidelines for its construction long before composition commenced. The main objectives were the expressive nature of drum parts, spatialisation non-conformity and anomalous behaviour. One of the possible reasons for Nautilus 110's disturbing yet engaging quality is the distinct lack of any spatialisation. This is not simply limited to the non use of reverberation devices, but also engulfs the nature of the work by the non attempt to synthesise spaces on any level (that is, no natural reverb inside of the sound objects and no attempt at building psycho acoustic reverberant devices). The careful use and interplay of transformed elements, as the basis for constructing various sound stages was largely pioneered in Nautilus 110. The imagery of this work is of dark brown, distant cavernous spaces with undisclosed subversive undercurrents, sultanas and a light banana soufflé.

Track 2. 'Grrearra Falcon'. Another fine example of the genre.
Aimed more at the listener.

FACTS:
Grrearra is a Granular Synthesis Algorithm from the Composers Desktop Project. The Falcon part relates to the Atari Falcon computer used for the transformations.

This Release won the TOP TAPE award in SOUND ON SOUND MAGAZINE.

I still have a few left for sale. (Store). Very Collectable.

Code F. CD and Limited 168 Edition Box Set containing Codes A to E. 1993 -1996

Released 1997. There are 12 Named Tracks on the CD.

Helta Skelta
After The Tears
My Bassline Is The Melody
Reach Inside
Face The Future
Retrospective
Wash The Telly
Monkey Systems One Oh Seven
Grrearra Falcon
MarshMallow*
Down On Marne Avenue*
Modus Vivendi

CatCode:

CODE A
CODE A
CODE B
CODE B
CODE C
CODE C
CODE D
CODE D
CODE E
No Code
No Code
CODE D

FACTS:

There are 24 Tracks in total.

Box Sets are now valued on the 2nd Hand market at £200GBP a box in fine condition. There were 167 released and each was hand signed and numbered.

The CD contains a couple of tracks from each of the EP's plus two bonus tracks not on vinyl.

Note that the CD does not contain all tracks from the Vinyl's, Just a selection plus bonus*

I still have a few CDs left for sale. (Store). Very Collectable.

I still have 3 box sets for sale (at the right price). Stupendously Collectable.

Text From CD inside cover. Written by Rephlex Master Control.

Nobody quite knows where Mike Dred comes from. I first hooked up with him around Mayday in 92, when he passed us a truly fierce demo, under the guise of the Kosmik Kommando.

I hadn't heard such inspiring techno music since Warp's launch two years before; and there was plenty to go on. . . tape upon tape, encompassing every genre that I love. However, there was one genre that shone through as Mike's first passion - ACID house! Indeed, he stands with the Chicago legends as one of the few real 303 Masters (how many people do you know that owned four of them at once?!).

Just when everyone thought there were no patterns left to write, he'd flipped everything around and was spearheading the most important dance music movement of that time; where the mood and the machines were just as important as the melody. If you're reading this then you'll know the rest - a host of releases on our label (including the legendary Universal Indicators) as well as several others with Analog USA, Axodya and R & S (who set up the Diatomyc subsidiary especially for him).

With these under his belt, and so many more tracks waiting, it seemed a logical step to evolve his own imprint, MACHINE CODES. It was also a way of introducing his changing direction to the world.

We'd been playing at Drop Bass Network's further party in Wisconsin and he'd come up with some really mad tracks to perform in a P.A: As I see it, THESE tunes marked another major development in Electronic music. He'd developed a totally fresh, highly personal kind of music that boggles your mind, using techniques you can't work out. You can't say that about music any more and that's why you need this album.

I think that you'll get to know Mike while you listen to this musical biography and I'm sure you'll see how his recordings have inspired a whole range of other artists( I've heard his records sampled by DJ Hell, C Tank and countless UK hardcore bootlegs). It will broaden your horizons. It'll give you both a taste of history and a pointer to the future but, most of all, it's entertaining, sincere and deftly crafted music that will survive the test of time.

Rephlex Master Control.

CHIME 2 T. Out of The Valley EP. 1000 Copies Pressed. 1994 /1996.

4 Track EP. Composed in 1994 and released in 1996.

Logo Side (Totem Pole)

Track 1. "I can't remember". A lovely piece of entrancing Techno. Bouncing Bassline from the System 100 Model 101. Drums from the TR-909 and pads and melody from the JD800 and Juno.

Track 2. "Nude Parture". Very sweet Bleeping piece of Electronica. Sequences from `the SH-101 with Much Octave Shifting, Juno, SH09, JD800 etc. Drums from the TR-808 and SCi 440. Listen for the TB303 making a cameo appearance doing an impression of a Spring "Boing!" sound.

Info Side

Track 1. Totem Pole. Smooth and Deep Electronica. Invokes feelings on an ethnic tribal level. Inspired the picture of the Totem Pole on the Logo Side. Percussion from the JD800 as are the Pads.

Track 2. "Inhibitor".Funky Acidic Techno. Funky 303 Bassline bubbling over a gentle rolling 808 Rhythm. Washed with rich pads and a softly stabbing chord sequence. Ummm!

FACTS:
This Ep contains 4 Tracks that were part of 8 originally scheduled for a Mike Dred LP on R&S Records, to follow on from the Macrocosm EP in 1994. Unfortunately we could not agree terms. So i split the proposed LP and released these 4 together. The other 4 are still to this day unreleased.

I chose theses 4 as a kind of sequel to the Chimera "Valley Of The Spirits" Project on Rephlex Records. All tracks were composed in the same era and reflect very well my state of mind at the time.

I still have a few left for sale. (Store). Very Collectable.

 

Rephlex Records. 1992 - 2002

Seeing how it has developed from our early innovations in the dynamics of acid & techno into what is now an eclectic and popular independent label is very satisfying.

I gave 12 projects spanning its first decade featuring 100 full length tracks, using 5 aliases.

I hope that my contributions motivated & inspired many to dance, mix, produce, think, smile & advance.

 

CAT 007. The Kosmik Kommando EP. 1000 clear vinyl. Repressed Black Vinyl. 1991 / 1992

Equipment List: 2 TB303s, Yamaha RY30 , JD800, Juno 1, MC50Mk1. Boss SE50, Alesis QuadraVerb.

 

Side A.
Track 1. Remember the Feeling
Track 2. The Kosmik Kommando (Theme 1).

Info Side
Track 3. Trunky Wants A Trip.
Track 4. Paranoid Jibbering Jawas.

FACTS:
Made during my days as part of the London Dungeon DJ Squad "Solid Groove" along side Bizzy B who at the time started up Brain Records and went on to become a Legendary Junglist Producer!

Met up with a then relatively unknown Richard James who told me he was going to start a label. Was I interested? etc. Would I give him a cassette with some tracks on it? The tracks were re-recorded at his room in Kingston. Listen carefully for some early Aphex 303 tweaking along side the KK.

CAT 007 was chosen for the James Bond Factor it was not the 7th release. It was the 3rd.

Remember The Feeling appeared on the ART 2 CD Compilation
"The Philosophy Of Sound & Machine".

CAT 010. Kosmik Kommando. Freaquenseize (4xLP). 23 Track 2xCD

1993.

1000 Ltd. Blue Vinyl. Rest on Black Vinyl.

Equipment List: 3 TB303s, SH101, SH09, System100M, TR808, TR909, RY30, KMS30, Juno Alpha 1, JD800, MC50, Prophet 2002i

Side A4
Triosphexic Communication
Lost Horizon
Peace & Love
The Futurist

Side 1B
Welcome Home R2
Kosmik Cyber spasm
You Want Me To..
Nonoxynol Nein

Side C2
Don't Look Behind You
Alone Tonite
Cerebral Contour
Then Came The Dreams

Side 3D
Entrance F
Deus Ex Machina
Exospherical Mind Warp
Alien Frequency

Extra Tracks on the CD

Extra Terrestrial Love Affair
Macrocosm
Milieu
Paradigm
Quondam
Remember The Feeling
Thoughts of You

FACTS:

All tracks were recorded at live gigs onto cassette tapes between August 1990 & January 1993.
16 Tracks spread over 4 Vinyl's & 23 Tracks on a double CD edition.

Side E5 was the 5th side of the LP, CAT 010 E5, sold separately.

Pioneering uses of the TB303.
Lost Horizon & Deus Ex Machina use the TB303 to make 4 bar melodies. Previously, 2 bar Bass lines were the only advancement.
The Futurist explored ways to play the 303 from the keys and shift the pitch in semi-tones at will, thus creating choruses of melodies. Macrocosm also uses this real time pitch play technique
.
Nonoxynol Nein was the 1st ever acid track without a kick drum.

A lot of the other synthesizers were sequenced with the 303s via CV & Gate to replicate its fantastic slide feature on the sound of the sequenced synth.


I still have limited edition Blue Vinyl for sale. (Store). Very Collectable.

 

CAT 010 E5. Kosmik Kommando. Side E5. 1000 copies pressed. 1993.

Equipment List: 3 TB303s, SH101, SH09, System100 Model 101, TR808, TR909, RY30, KMS30, Juno Alpha 1, JD800, MC50,

Three Tracks.

Info Side
Quondam
Macrocosm
Milieu

Black Side

Etching of Kosmik Kommando Sign, Rephlex Logo and the words "Kosmik Kommando".

FACTS:
Only 1000 pressings

The 5th side of the Freaquenseize LP sold independently. The Track Macrocosm later got licensed to R&S Records for a 12" Single. Then became the opening track on the In Order To Dance 5 Compilation. It later got licensed to several other compilations and i never got paid.

 

TB303 Universal Indicator Blue. 1992.

Six Tracks.

Equipment List: TB303s, SH101, SH09, System100 Model 101, TR808, TR909, RY30, KMS30, Juno Alpha 1, JD800, MC50, Moog Prodigy, Boss SE50.

Side A
Thoughts Of You
Definitely a Head Doer
Psychic Turbulence

Side One

TSA
Dark Angel
Paradice


FACTS:
The Universal Indicators are somewhat legendary & exchange hands for around £100 a piece.
Thoughts Of You got licensed to a Japan Compilation in 1993.
There are 2 mixes of Psychic Turbulence. The 2nd is not yet released
In 2001 I mixed a special CD only release highlighting the series. CAT 117 on Rephlex.

 

MC202 Universal Indicator Yellow 1992.

Equipment List: TB303s, SH101, SH09, System100 Model 101, TR808, TR909, RY30, KMS30, Juno Alpha 1, JD800, MC50, Boss SE50.

Side M
TARDIS
Wayne's Tantrum

Side D
Lost
Acid Test 901
WW303


FACTS:
Innovation in the dynamics of Acid.
Part 3 of the Series. Wayne's Tantrum is so called because Wayne hated it when i played it and got really upset. The 808 patterns in Waynes Tantrum each have different time signatures and are triggered on the fly, not arranged. They are the result of removing the batteries over night and then replacing them for the next session.

 

CAT 012 Chimera. Valley of the Spirits EP. 1993

Sequential Circuits Studio 440, TB303s, SH101, SH09, System100 Model 101, TR808, TR909, RY30, KMS30, Juno Alpha 1, JD800, MC50, Boss SE50.

Ltd 10 copies 4 Track White Label. 1993. (See Italics.)

2 Track 12" eventually mass released in 1995.

Side One
Valley Of the Spirit
En Route

Side Two
Secret Desire
The Future is Upon Us.

FACTS:
There are only 10 copies of the 4 Track EP version in existence.
The EP was originally scheduled as a release for R&S but I backed out and gave it to Rephlex.
It then got held back for 3 years which was extremely frustrating.

There is a faster unreleased mix of The Future is Upon Us.

 

CAT 012 Chimera. Valley of the Spirits CD LP. 1993

Equipment List: TB303s, SH101, SH09, System100 Model 101, TR808, TR909, RY30, KMS30, Juno Alpha 1, JD800, MC50, Moog Prodigy, Boss SE50.

9 Track CD Album

Valley Of The Spirits
Secret Desire
En Route
Destination Unknown
No Man's Land
The Future is Upon Us
The Seer
Crown Of Light
The Shores Of Destiny

 

 

CAT 070 Virtual Farmer LP / CD. Mike Dred & Peter Green. 1995 - 1997.

9 Tracks composed between 1995 and 1997.

Equipment List. Atari Falcon 030, Logic Audio 2.5, CDP, SCi 440, Casio FZ1R, TB303,Korg MS20, SQ10, JD800, Various Drum Boxes and Synth's.

105 Cornucopian
Kymera
Nautilus 110
Perpendicular Endurance
kosmik@inorbit.com
Cak Kake
Lips On Nips
RASP
Movie Score

Cornucopian 105

Cornucopian 105 recontextualises what are acceptably useful strategies within composition, putting the listener in touch with many musical forms that would otherwise be excluded by purist notions towards music. Cornucopian 105 introduces new ideas into contemporary popular culture, exploring unique hybrids, which exhibit themselves in terms of perceived origin.


Kymera

Vocal sources by Sianed Jones. Kymera is a work of journeying through many distant spheres. Kymera even travels around many continents with elements of yodeling and chanting from many different cultures as sourced by Sianed. The hard, powerful, but staggered bass drum sounds carry connotations of cultures which do not exist and yet are so apparent in their musical form that they seem to clarify other sections, providing a false sense of familiarity. The core of Kymera is formed from transformations using a new time stretch algorithm developed using cdp spectral subprograms. This algorithm was developed as a means of countering the traditional phase vocoder time stretch and produces the unique spacious and staggered expansive textures used on both drum and vocal sources. The vocal sources were chosen to appear as unprocessed session recorded vocals. In reality however, the source material was recorded long before composition commenced and each vocal phrase was cut and pasted note by note giving the illusion of a seamless melodic structure. In some ways, having a melodic content is a default element from the use of variously pitched and phrased vocal sources and this obviously filters its way through to the final form of Kymera. This was then taken further by the inclusion of small fragments of distorted TB303 Bass line. Even the drum parts in Kymera seem to dance around a melody, carefully interweaving their way around the pitched vocal transformations. Kymera's relaxed and accessible nature clearly shows that it is not a predetermined work. Its material has not been forcibly engineered into place no matter what its acoustic nature really was. In fact, for this work, much of the source and transformed material dictated the way in which it could interact with the other parts, which in effect created a natural flow within the dynamic structure of the work.


Nautilus 110

Nautilus was set out with some strict guidelines for its construction long before composition commenced. The main objectives were the expressive nature of drum parts, spatialisation nonconformity and anomalous behaviour. One of the possible reasons for Nautilus 110's disturbing yet engaging quality is the distinct lack of any spatialisation. This is not simply limited to the non use of reverberation devices, but also engulfs the nature of the work by the non attempt to synthesize spaces on any level (that is, no natural reverb inside of the sound objects and no attempt at building psychoacoustic reverberant devices). The careful use and interplay of transformed elements, as the basis for constructing various sound stages was largely pioneered in Nautilus. The imagery of this work is of dark brown, distant cavernous spaces with undisclosed subversive undercurrents, sultanas and a light banana soufflé.


Perpendicular Endurance

Vocal sources by Juliet Russel. Perpendicular Endurance is inspired by the work of J.W. Dunne who hypothesizes on a grand unifying theory of space-time and the way in which the human consciousness can transcend multidimensional limitations. Perpendicular Endurance was originally conceived as a work for dance for the 'practica armonica' dance company.


kosmik@inorbit.com

Neurotic, Erotic and Robotic. An experimental work exploiting the relationships between various synthesis sysytems with the emphasis on fast attack. Every sound is an original synthesised element. The sounds were arranged into banks on an EMU ESi32 sampler and sequenced via midi using Cubase on a Pentium 1 PC. The work explores the harmonic relationships of very short percussive elements, produced using various synthesis types, outside of the restrictive interfaces of traditional rhythm programmers. A style reflecting the elctro genre was chosen to exploit the heavy weight analogue elements. The FM and digitised wavetable sounds complement these as they forge and weave a spikey mid range rhythm around the fat analogue low frequency sounds.


Cak Kake

Clarinet sabotaged from Pete's mum. Like climbing Mount Everest, making a piece from Pete's mum was just one of those things that have to be done in life. If you ever heard her practice you would understand…. Humour is perhaps the strongest feature of cak kake. Its title does not even escape this intention being a tribute to pete's mum's notorious cake baking extravaganzas! Because Cak Kake was exclusively made using clarinet material (apart from the small section of unprocessed speech) and despite the apparent contradiction, it is perhaps one of the purest works made because it adheres so closely to its original state. With its components simply being presented to the listener rather than having been carefully interwoven by many stages of processing.


Lips On Nips

Lips on Nips is an experimental work using multi-layered and recontextualised systems of pre and post technoacoustic developmental strategies aimed at the exploration of non self-referential deployment in rhythmical evolution.


Rasp

Rasp was commissioned by the Sonic Arts Network and the Arts Council of England. Rasp was very much composed with the idea of investigating distortions. Not only distortions in the audio domain, but also distortion of the roles different pieces of equipment played in the composition, challenging their conventional use within a particular genre. This distortion of cultural placement was taken one stage further with the use of extreme distortions placed upon sampled drum loops. Rasp was the first piece which gave direct control of progressive rhythmical transformations, challenging notions of subtle background washes or pads, as is so often the case for indefinable texturally based passages. Rasp took these textures and moved them from being subtle variations to a level that engulfed the entire soundscape with rich stabs of rhythmical power.


Movie Score

Movie Score is an orchestral work evocative for the dual roles of simplicity in presentation and complexity in expression. Developing a hidden path through means of textural counter play, it creates a unique reality within its own temporal sphere.

FACTS:

Composed together with Peter Green. Peter incorporated the Virtual Farmer Project into his Music Master Degree Thesis.

The Virtual Farmer Project was funded jointly by the UK National Lottery & Arts Council of Great Britain 'Arts For Everyone Project'

Virtual Farmer was sponsored by the Sonic Arts Network and CDP (The Composers Desktop Project) Software Company, innovating ideas in Electro acoustic Music.

105 Cornucopian was first released on Machine Codes in 1995. The 1st Track on the 'Beyond The Box" EP. (CODE D) Blue Machine Codes. Featured on Future Music 37 CD with full page article about Machine Codes.

Nautilus 110 was first released on Machine Codes 1996. The 1st Track on the 'EPNOM BYMON' EP (CODE E) Green Machine Codes.

RASP was individually commissioned by the Sonic Arts Network. Performed at the Royal Festival Hall London in 1997 and featured on BBC Radio 3 Mixing It. Part of the X-Static Tour.

Nautilus & Cornucopian were selected to represent England at the FUTURA Festival International D'Art Acousmatique 1997.

 

CAT 069T / CD DJ Mike Dred. 98K GOLD EP & CD.
1998

3 Tracks.
Equipment List: Logic Audio 3.0, JD800, QM 309, SL1200, Emu ESi32, Korg Prophecy.

Side A
Back To The Old School (Scratch Mix)

Side AA
Point 98 Mix
Quiet Storm.

FACTS:
The Scratching on "Back To The Old School" is by DJ First Rate of the Skratch Perverts.

All the Drum Breaks are Programmed by Hand not sampled.

 

CAT 069R. DJ Mike Dred. 98K Live EP 1998

Equipment List: Logic Audio 3, ESi 32, Korg Prophecy, QM 309. JD800

Side A1
98K Live Part 1

Side AA2
98K Live Part 2

FACTS:
A Live Recording of a jamming gig featuring a friendly B Boy Battle at a Hip Hop Electro Night. The Venue was Trader Jacks, Ipswich UK. Recorded on MAY 01 1998.

 

CAT 108 Kosmik Kommando. Laptop Dancing LP & CD. 2000

Equipment List: Mac G3 266. HeadPhones.

Side A (Hip Hop Side)
Amerika Offline
Big Up Ya Self
98K Platinum

Side B (Freestyle Side)
The Krakker Hack Down
Power User

Side C (House/Techno Side)
Fantasy Friction Channel
Internet Exploder

Side D (Braindance Side)
She's Robotik (Automatik)
Tease 130
Phantomz In My Brain

Amerika Off Line

Miami USA

Operation Rice & Beans.
Mixing it up in Miami with Colombians, Cubans & Costa Ricans.
A hip hop crossover with a poke at USA political scandals.


Big Up Ya Self

Reykjavik & Akureyri - Iceland

Operation Northern Lights.
They appeared like a magic carpet of intense colour & flickering light.
Went snow biking, fishing in an Eskimo style & endulging in hot spas, the source of which is a volcanic glacier.
All the central heating is free because extremely hot water is piped direct from this source. You won’t see any trees either. The ground is rock formed from lava.
I checked out the house where Reagan & Gorbachov had their summit meeting.
Continued composing in Reykjavik and hung out with a Swedish girl, Yvonne, who was teaching African dance to Icelanders!

Cutting & scratching. DJ Precise & Scratch Daddy Addy.


98K Platinum

Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo - Japan

Operation Shinkunsen.
A week in Japan. Riding the bullet train at high speed from Osaka to Tokyo.
There are incredible underground malls and those ’girls knickers vending machines’!
Japanese hospitality is impressive and I ate lots of seafood.


The Krakker Hack Down

Glasgow - Scotland & Barcelona – Spain

Operation Radar.
Composed during trips to Glasgow to play a live set at the Radar Rephresh night, Glasgow Arts School. Glasgow is a great city that totally rocks & the people know how to party.

The only track with an acid line using a software emulator of an mc202 that a mate programmed for me.

Continued the Track in Barcelona. Barcelona is full of wicked Gothic architecture. The architect responsible for much of it is Antoni Gaudí (1852 - 1926). Check out the gorgeous Sagrada Família Cathedral, which is still yet to be completed! Gaudí also designed the Parc Güell. I reckon he would have loved acid music and electroacoustic transformations.

I later changed the mix to this version after checking the mosaics in the Parc Güell. You get a great view of the city from here.


Power User.

Gent Belgium, Hamburg Germany

Operation RaveMiester:

I spent a lot of time in Belgium & Germany and worked on this track finishing it in time to play at a rave in Hamburg.
In Gent i would often visit my favourite cocktail bar – The Sous Sol (now ceased trading). Once, I got so wrecked on their cocktails, I fell down a manhole. Gent also has some fine Gothic architecture and enough churches!

Hamburg is chilled city with a great park & has good artistic karma.


Fantasy Friction Channel

Leeds, Sheffield Twin Towers, up and down the M1 - UK.

Operation Sublevel.
Composed over several sorties up & down the M1 with my friend Dave Noyze on the wheel.

Dave is now doing a PhD researching Cellular Automata in Sydney Australia.

The Power Book was constantly plugged into the cigarette lighter socket. Composed as a big respect to all the people we met in Leeds during 1999 & 2000.
This one has a really fresh Techno buzz about it. I reckon it’s shaped by the gateway to the Industrial North!

Sublevel - Hyde Park, was the place to buy records.


Internet Exploder

Aricebo & Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

Operation 151.
Made on a 5-day trip to Puerto Rico with my mate Dave Noyze, where I did a live gig in Old San Juan. Composed after visiting the Radio Telescope at Aricebo, home of the SETI project. (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence). You have to check out this awesome piece of engineering.
Made a low altitude flight in a 4 -seat propeller plane over the island, circling above the SETI institute. The pilot was drunk & smoking - right next to the fuel tank!

Old San Juan is the place for gorgeous girls & 151 Rum that knocks your head off! Checked out a Rain Forest too. Full of Keoki frogs. A really beautiful place to be.


She's Robotik (Automatic)

Melbourne, Sydney & Byron Bay - Australia. London UK


Operation Long Haul.
Split up with a girl & went on a 3-week tour of Australia full of negative emotion that had to be released. A difficult thing to do stuck on a plane for 24 hours so I started composing.
I wrote the lyrics for the intro and used speech synthesis and FX for the voice. Then layered it with moody textures made in Metasynth. It’s the closest I’ve come to translating immediate feelings into music. Worked on it while travelling up the East Coast from Melbourne through Sidney to Byron Bay & back. I had the luxury of 3 batteries for my Power Book– Essential for the flight.
I squared up to a wild 10ft Green Python and saw a Wallaby, Sea Eagle, Hump Back Whales and Fireflies.

Byron Bay is a little piece of paradise.

The track was finally finished on the way to a live set at the Fabric Club in London.

Tease 130

London N16, Kessingland - UK & Dublin – Ireland

Operation Chamber.
Composed with Peter Green. The geezer with whom I pioneered the blend of Club & Electro acoustic Music back in 1995 on my Machine Codes label. (We went on to make the Virtual Farmer Album, CAT070).

Laptop Dancing had to reflect several styles including Classical.
Pete gave me a score (not £20) and I produced the rhythm section around it. I programmed most of the drums in Dublin and we mixed it down in Kessingland near Lowestoft, not far from where I grew up.
I’m surprised I got anything done in Dublin. They definitely invented the ‘Hard Rocking Lifestyle”. I love it there.


Phantomz In My Brain

Tel Aviv, Galilee, Tiberius, Jericho, Tzfat – Israel

Operation Mystic.
So far the album encompasses the essentials of Braindance but I needed to explore my passion for sound design in greater depth.
In order to achieve this a fresh charge of inspiration was required.
So, I went to Israel for the Millennium, stayed for 3 weeks and did Christmas & New Year gigs in Tel Aviv. I also visited Galilee, Jericho, Tiberius, Jerusalem & Tzfat.
These places are fundamental to both Christianity & Jewism. And as well as the history there is the gorgeous scenery. Shame about the politics.
Galilee is beautiful. I visited the ‘church of the hearts’ which is the location the loaves & fishes miracle from the bible.

Tzfat (pronounced safed) is a city on a mountaintop, sometimes referred to as the city of mystics & kabalists. It contains a holy Jewish Cemetery. This was very interesting.

 

FACTS:
Recorded during a Random World Tour.

The Lyrics on She's Robotik are not a vocoder effect. They were written in the MAC Simple Text Program with the Speaking Voice of Victoria which i then simply Sliced to fit around the music adding a touch of EQ and Pvoc on certain letters & Syllables. No one who reviewed it picked up on this technique. Oh Well!

Phantomz In My Brain consists of sounds generated from waveforms in MetaSynth, using abstract pictures by me.

 

CAT 117 Kosmik Kommando. Universal Indicator 21st Century MegaMix 2000 -2001

A Non Stop DJ Mike Dred MegaMix of selected tracks from the 4 Universal Indicators.

TB303 Blue TR606 Red MC202 Yellow SH101 Green

Very important to the foundations of Rephlex. They are much in demand and exchange hands for insane prices. So we decided to make a CD only mix.

FACTS:
Non Stop. With 21 index markers for Rewind & Fast Forward reference.
Total time of 57m57s.
57m57s is dividable by 1:01, 2:02, 3:03 & 6:06.
Reflecting the CAT numbers 101, 202, 303, 606 derived from TB303, TR606, MC202, SH101.
Therefore the marker (track times) sequence goes like this:
1:01, 2:02, 3:03, 6:06, 3:03, 2:02, 1:01, 2:02, 3:03, 6:06, 3:03, 2:02, 1:01, 2:02, 3:03, 6:06, 3:03, 2:02, 1:01, 2:02, 3:03 = 57:57.

The last track is from MC202 and finishes at 202bpm.
It finishes on 3m03s index because of the 303 'Innovation in the dynamics of Acid' principle.
I mixed it so that no 2 tracks from the same piece of vinyl or colour appear back to back.
So, anyone who owns 1 copy each of all 4 Universal Indicators can do the mix too.
I also mixed it so that it is a constantly increasing in tempo & intensity. Constantly gathering energy.

It took about 3 months to find the formula that fitted the above criteria perfectly and then perform the mix.

 

R & S Records and Diatomyc Records. 1992 - 1996

R & S Records was the only label I ever sent a demo to.

The earliest demo's sent in 1990 resulted in the formation of the DIATOMYC sub label.
I did 8 of the first 10 releases using various artist names.

"Nervous Distortion" was the 1st ever Minimal Techno track and spawned a whole genre..

Macrocosm first appeared on the obscure Rephlex CAT 010 E5 release 1993.

 

DT001. DJ Judge Dred. Ghost Train / Nervous Distortion. EP.
1992.

Side A.
Track 1. Ghost Train
Track 2. Morbid Isolation.

Side B
Track 3. Nervous Distortion.
Track 4. Two Worlds Become One.

FACTS:
Ghost Train was the 1st ever track to feature a 909 Snare Rush

Nervous Distortion is the 1st ever minimal techno build track.

Equipment List: 2 TB303s, Yamaha RY30 , JD800, Juno Alpha 1, MC50Mk1. Boss SE50, TR808, TR909.

 

DT002. Machine Codes. Crowd Eruption EP.

1992.

Side A
Crowd Eruption
SleepWalker

Side B
Magnetic Storm
Talk Twister

Equipment List: 3 TB303s, SH101, System100M, TR808, TR909, RY30, 2x KMS30, Juno Alpha 1, JD800, MC50.

 

DT003. Machine Codes. Sensory Deception. 500 copies only..
1993.

Side A.
Sensory Deception
Exosperical Mindwarp Pt2

Side B.
Squash It
Flight Of The Pterradactyl.

Equipment List: 3 TB303s, SH101, SH09, System100 Model 101, TR808, TR909, RY30, KMS30, Juno Alpha 1, JD800, MC50,

 

DT004. DJ Judge Dred. Mind Patching EP.
1993.

Side A.
MindPatching (Original)
MindPatching (SpaceDog Mix)

Side B.
Attack Phase
Mephistopheles

Equipment List: TB303s, SH101, TR909, RY30, 2x KMS30, Juno Alpha 1, JD800, MC50, Fx.

 

DT005. Space Avenger. Gorf One EP.
1993.

Equipment List: TB303s, TR808, TR909, 2x KMS30, Juno Alpha 1, MC50, Fx.

Side 1
Molecular Mutation
Madame Blanche

Side 2
Katkon
No Way Back

 

DT006. Space Avenger. Gorf Two EP..
1994.

Side One
HoverDroids
Tormentum Insomniae

Side Two
Squidged Up
MindProbed

Equipment List: TB303s, SH101, TR808, TR909, RY30, KMS30, Juno Alpha 1, JD800, MC50, Boss SE50.

 

DT009. Mike Dred. Three Quarks EP.
1995

Equipment List: TB303s, TR909, RY30, 2x KMS30, Juno Alpha , MC50, Fx.

Side 1.
Rhubarb.

Side 2.
Lysis.
Oscuro.

 

DT010. Mike Dred. Needle Cracker EP.
1996

Side 1
Crack One.

Side 2
Crack Three.
Crack Two.

Equipment List: TB303s, TR909, JD800, RY30, 2x KMS30, Juno Alpha , MC50, Fx.

 

RS94039. Mike Dred. Macrocosm EP. 1994

Equipment List:2x 303s. SH09, RY30, JD800, SE50.

Side 1
Macrocosm

Side 2
Oxycute

FACTS:
Anthem, Got Ripped Off....Still waiting for royalties.

 

RS94051. Mike Dred & Dr. Fernando. 1994

Equipment List: Arp, Roland, Emu.

Side 1
Caverna Magica

FACTS:
Originally recorded in 1993. Renaat of R&S turned it down. One year later he denied this & released it!

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didnt want to make a new thread for this so thought I'd bump the last mike dred related topic..

does anyone have this and could PM me the moosik.. he deleted it and doesnt seem to reply to PMs. the picture is from waybackmachine. I remember listening to it over and over, loved it, and now I regret not buying it.. would be sweet :sleep:

image.thumb.png.61cf22ec1282bebe9ca07bb95f68bd1b.png

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