Watmm's Drone Club

[Lachesi]

New release by ELEH

A real drone master, back on the stunning Touch Records after 7 years

[cwmbrancity]

head flossing drone sections from Ellen Fullman. love her work

 

[Lachesi]

Wow never seen this great footage before thank you 

[droid]

This may be of interest:

 

 

[Enthusiast]

On 11/11/2019 at 9:18 AM, droid said:

This may be of interest:

 

 

I have heard your show and it is outstanding, welcome 

[droid]

Ah, thanks, that's very kind of you. I was actually a member here, many, many moons ago, but have been unable to re-register... until now.

[Lachesi]

3 hours ago, droid said:

Ah, thanks, that's very kind of you. I was actually a member here, many, many moons ago, but have been unable to re-register... until now.

So you’re directly involved in this project?

anyway, glad you’re back! 

[Joyrex]

Hey guys!

I just got a refurbished DJI Phantom 4 off Ebay and it came with extra batteries and supplies...

Oh, wait - wrong kind of drone

[droid]

1 hour ago, Lachesi said:

So you’re directly involved in this project?

anyway, glad you’re back! 

Thanks. Yeah, its the culmination of many years of ambient and drone obsessions. 

Didn't mean to spam, but it was literally the first thread I saw and it seemed relevant.

Great choices BTW, Kyema is an all time fave.

Almost too much great drone to recommend individual releases... here's one very special tune though, devastating at high volume. Recommended if you want to destroy the minds of a large number of people at once:

 

[droid]

Oh, and this is worth checking out. Some of the best (and only) writing about drone Ive read. Lovely lady as well.

https://music.usc.edu/joanna-demers-drone-and-apocalypse/

[Lachesi]

Check out swedish XKatedral label. 
They mainly publish drone music played on classic instruments tuned in just intonation. Many young composers now quite famous started from this label/collective

https://xkatedral.bandcamp.com

[Lachesi]

13 hours ago, droid said:

Thanks. Yeah, its the culmination of many years of ambient and drone obsessions. 

Didn't mean to spam, but it was literally the first thread I saw and it seemed relevant.

Great choices BTW, Kyema is an all time fave.

Almost too much great drone to recommend individual releases... here's one very special tune though, devastating at high volume. Recommended if you want to destroy the minds of a large number of people at once:

 

Wow didn't know Anthony Child is Surgeon!!

Track is stunning

Edited November 12, 2019 by Lachesi

[droid]

Yeah! He's a dark horse, both the Maui albums are excellent. His recent Bandcamp things have also been really good.

Suspension in transit is ultra-droney, reminds me a bit of France Jobin.

On 11/12/2019 at 5:13 AM, Lachesi said:

Check out swedish XKatedral label. 
They mainly publish drone music played on classic instruments tuned in just intonation. Many young composers now quite famous started from this label/collective

https://xkatedral.bandcamp.com

Seconded. Kali Malone is brilliant and that last Maria Horn album is outstanding.

[EdamAnchorman]

hey droid, thanks for the awesome links and recommendations.

when i got into this type of music, it was mainly through the Japanese artists Hakobune and Nobuto Suda, which i considered to be full-on drone and i would describe it as such to my wife and others who were ignorant about the associated genres.  after seeing this thread though, i would classify them not as real hardcore drone, but something more toward ambient, but not ambient either as it seems much more toward the drone side of the spectrum than what most people consider ambient.

what would you consider music like this (some of the links i posted earlier in this thread), is there even a sub-genre between drone and ambient?  i'm asking because this is where i find most of my sensibilities to lie, i love it much more than most other "ambient" music, but these hardcore drones are sometimes too much for me.  thanks!

[Lachesi]

On 11/12/2019 at 11:22 AM, randomsummer said:

hey droid, thanks for the awesome links and recommendations.

when i got into this type of music, it was mainly through the Japanese artists Hakobune and Nobuto Suda, which i considered to be full-on drone and i would describe it as such to my wife and others who were ignorant about the associated genres.  after seeing this thread though, i would classify them not as real hardcore drone, but something more toward ambient, but not ambient either as it seems much more toward the drone side of the spectrum than what most people consider ambient.

what would you consider music like this (some of the links i posted earlier in this thread), is there even a sub-genre between drone and ambient?  i'm asking because this is where i find most of my sensibilities to lie, i love it much more than most other "ambient" music, but these hardcore drones are sometimes too much for me.  thanks!

Personally I distinguish a drone sound made by extra long reverberation from a drone made with a sustained tone. 
Japan has a tradition of reverbered drone music, Chihei Hatakeyama's style is very similar to the artists you mentioned. Calibrate long tail reverbs is way more difficult than how it seems. For this kind of drone music I really enjoy Rafael Anton Irisarri who's oceanic sound is massive and soft at the same time

 

 

That being said, sustained tones drone music starts being interesting when you start focusing on the harmonics and the creative sum of tones, which can produce a wide range of emotive transport, from magnificence to softness. Plus you start notice how much movement there is in what seems so static during the first minutes of exposure. 
I find super interesting the use of acoustic instruments as source for long tones, from cello to organ, but recently many new sonorities have been reach by the use of digital softwares such as Pure Data or Super Collider where you can have no limits in the tuning features. 

http://isakedberg.com/Λ.wav

Bonus suggestion:

[EdamAnchorman]

Thanks for your response!  It's hard to explain what I mean by more "hardcore" drone, because I was never trained in music and I really don't know the terms, I only go by what my ears tell me, which is subjective of course.

I guess a lot of the suggestions I've heard in this thread sound more "harsh" and don't have as much shifting around (to my ears) as opposed to the artists I referenced earlier.  I've found that I prefer "drone" music that is a little "softer" with more shifting and perhaps tonal layers(?), if that makes any sense.

If that's still considered "drone" and not some sub-genre, then so be it!

It's interesting that Hakobune, one of my favorite drone artists, is also in a harsh noise band.

Edited November 12, 2019 by randomsummer

[Zephyr_Nova]

How have I remained uncultured to the work of Éliane Radigue all these years?  

*currently one half hour through Kyema and loving it.  Also made a correction to her wiki page, as it had a blurb about this being her first recording, but then contradicted itself in the discog section... which is also missing a couple releases prior to Kyema.  Shit...  

[Lachesi]

3 hours ago, randomsummer said:

Thanks for your response!  It's hard to explain what I mean by more "hardcore" drone, because I was never trained in music and I really don't know the terms, I only go by what my ears tell me, which is subjective of course.

I guess a lot of the suggestions I've heard in this thread sound more "harsh" and don't have as much shifting around (to my ears) as opposed to the artists I referenced earlier.  I've found that I prefer "drone" music that is a little "softer" with more shifting and perhaps tonal layers(?), if that makes any sense.

If that's still considered "drone" and not some sub-genre, then so be it!

It's interesting that Hakobune, one of my favorite drone artists, is also in a harsh noise band.

Sorry for my non-brevity! I would write too much if I didn't have my non-native english language as limit
I think you should share some of your favorite tracks of the artists you mentioned 

 

2 hours ago, Zephyr_Nova said:

How have I remained uncultured to the work of Éliane Radigue all these years?  

*currently one half hour through Kyema and loving it.  Also made a correction to her wiki page, as it had a blurb about this being her first recording, but then contradicted itself in the discog section... which is also missing a couple releases prior to Kyema.  Shit...  

She's a milestone for me and Kyema is my favorite composition! Perfect example of ultra-minimalistic work where the resonance and harmonics dominate

[droid]

The delineation between reverberated drone and sustained tones is interesting, and there is definitely a big difference in the aesthetic, and there's also people like Windy & Carl,  Kyle Bobby Dunn and Celer who use guitar and loops to create dronish music. Ive heard the sound described as 'ambient drone', which I think is a subtle but important distinction.  

I guess Id see the major qualities that distinguish drone from ambient in general as being around approach, intent and genealogy. Whereas ambient is a fairly amorphous fusion of ideas from new age, environmental music and the avant garde, 'hardcore' or pure drone is a much more restrictive sub genre of classical minimalism that is based in ideas from the academy. The originators of the modern genre - the likes of Phil Niblock, Alvin Lucier, Radigue, La Monte young etc. all come from a classical avant garde tradition, which is reflected in the austerity and intensity of the music. Drone isnt music designed to be 'ignorable'. Its intended to be a serious, radical offshoot of experimental modernism. 

[YangYing]

Just for reference, the old drone thread: 

I remember a couple of gems from there but maybe the links have died by now

[prdctvsm]

posted this new drones by レディーフィンガー up in the vaporwave thread, but they shd rly b hear insted : 

 

[EdamAnchorman]

On 11/12/2019 at 7:07 PM, Lachesi said:

I think you should share some of your favorite tracks of the artists you mentioned 

On 9/3/2019 at 8:30 AM, randomsummer said:

Love this thread.

Hakobune is probably my favorite drone artist, although you might say he borders on drone / ambient.  This track is so beautiful:

 

 

Some more Hakobune:

https://hakobune.bandcamp.com/track/maps

https://hakobune.bandcamp.com/track/garden-of-ghosts

 

He used to collaborate a lot with Nobuto Suda, who also released some great drone / ambient:

https://somehowrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/in-search-of-may-apples

 

 

On 11/12/2019 at 7:22 PM, droid said:

The delineation between reverberated drone and sustained tones is interesting, and there is definitely a big difference in the aesthetic, and there's also people like Windy & Carl,  Kyle Bobby Dunn and Celer who use guitar and loops to create dronish music. Ive heard the sound described as 'ambient drone', which I think is a subtle but important distinction.  

I guess Id see the major qualities that distinguish drone from ambient in general as being around approach, intent and genealogy. Whereas ambient is a fairly amorphous fusion of ideas from new age, environmental music and the avant garde, 'hardcore' or pure drone is a much more restrictive sub genre of classical minimalism that is based in ideas from the academy. The originators of the modern genre - the likes of Phil Niblock, Alvin Lucier, Radigue, La Monte young etc. all come from a classical avant garde tradition, which is reflected in the austerity and intensity of the music. Drone isnt music designed to be 'ignorable'. Its intended to be a serious, radical offshoot of experimental modernism. 

Thanks for the great explanation.  It seems that I do prefer the guitar-based looped drone which I tend to call "ambient / drone", hence my post asking if there was a sub-genre.    I am familiar with and do like the other artists you mentioned under that umbrella.

[Lachesi]

17 hours ago, droid said:

I guess Id see the major qualities that distinguish drone from ambient in general as being around approach, intent and genealogy. Whereas ambient is a fairly amorphous fusion of ideas from new age, environmental music and the avant garde, 'hardcore' or pure drone is a much more restrictive sub genre of classical minimalism that is based in ideas from the academy. The originators of the modern genre - the likes of Phil Niblock, Alvin Lucier, Radigue, La Monte young etc. all come from a classical avant garde tradition, which is reflected in the austerity and intensity of the music. Drone isnt music designed to be 'ignorable'. Its intended to be a serious, radical offshoot of experimental modernism. 

Very good point. Totally agree on this.

And Phill Niblock is never mentioned enough, one of the finest drone producers of all times, still publishing top quality records at 86. He's even older than Riley and the other famous minimalist composers. 

 

[droid]

I'd highly recommend  this release. Saw a live performance of it a few years back that was overwhelmingly good:

[chenGOD]

On 11/12/2019 at 6:51 AM, Lachesi said:

Wow didn't know Anthony Child is Surgeon!!

Track is stunning

Sorry, at work right now so can't see any youtube embeds or anything, but Anthony Child's ambient sets at freerotation (and live improv material) is all excellent, as is his work under the Transcendence Orchestra moniker. For something along these lines from way back in the past, his release with Mick Harris from Scorn "Certain Beyond All Reasonable Doubt" is not exactly drone per se, but it's fucking good.