fukushima

March 11, 2011…

In our lifetime…
In our lifetime…

Viewed from the other end of the 21st century, i’m guessing, memories blogged about the Japanese earthquake will seem as antiquated as the eruption at Pompeii does to me at the moment of typing this.. March 11, 2011 marked a milestone for humanity just as the eruption did in 79 AD for the inhabitants on the of Latitude: 40° 45′ 0 N… I’m sure both fateful days were marked countless times by artists attempting to summate the cataclysm. In this regard we’re no different….

A week passed in Phoenix Arizona. A brief meeting spawned an idea… D.A. Therrien and Yves Amu Klein conceived a project that leaves us with this trail of noise and an understanding we are not in control.. A conceptual piece that captures a microcosm of elements unseen.. Particles and waves that permeate the air we breathe and the skin that is defenseless against such encounters. These tiny fragments, once held in complete isolation, now vibrate in the very air we sculpt with our machines. The irony that these isotopes were used in a closed system to power TV’s, hair dryers, ipods, lamps, security systems, and a multitude of other electronic devices including synthesizers has not been lost on us. Broken free and let loose into the atmosphere they now indifferently neglect such obligations…

A Geiger Müller counter is a device to monitor the these anomalies.

The concept:
Build a MaxMsp program to harness the fluctuating levels of radiation in our environment,  then convert the increasing activity into sound waves.  The Geiger Müller is the trigger. Yves Amu will build the program. It is in essence the filter. Elektobahn will convert the information into audible disturbances via analogue synthesizers. D.A. Therrien will control the visual envelope. From a multi dimensional symbiosis a generative environment produces this miasma. A moment of control in the face of uncontrollable circumstances. This is the embodiment of mankind’s struggle with the unknown. The struggle to visualize the unseeable.. The struggle to hear that which has no sound. Our obsessive perversion to control nature and come to terms with our own poignant- temporary existence. It is in effect our admonition of this mortal coil ..

This is an attempt to document a cataclysm in the passage of time…

To Be Continued….

4 minute snip of a 25+ minute live analog session

elektrobahn is a studio and live performance project that works completely with old school cv gate and pre-first gen midi. all the vintage gear that’s in the rack you see here and on elektrobahn.com is pre 85. the moogerfoogers, dp4 and orb sequencer (which has switched out to a doepfer maq) obviously are not vintage, so we bent the rules a bit. in the studio we employ a couple of tape echos, mutrons and other old stomp boxes.

the point of the project is sentimental in regard to a fascination with the simplistic mechanics of old gear, modulated with the aesthetics and sonic sensibilities of the 21st century. its very much a modular approach which is popular again. everything is multi track recorded in one pass to a computer. there is no manipulation of the sequence. it’s eq’d and slightly compressed.

why, you ask? to some, this might seem tedious, and too simple to achieve a well rounded track. to us, the focus is it’s simplicity. it’s about interesting harmonics and the strange behavior of circuits and it’s effect on air molecules as they beat the shit out of the studio/gallery/warehouse walls…

gear heard on this recording: korg ms10, korg sq10, moogerfooger fx, roland tr-808, akai ax60, akai s612, moog memorymoog, ensoniq dp4

all video recorded & edited by Elektrobahn with Canon 5D mk II & Final Cut Pro.

digital versus analogue

PART 1

there is an irony involved with any question containing the word “verses” or vs. depending on your spelling prowess. i’ve been asked one million times this question. which one?? digital or analogue. my answer is always the same… yes….. yes, digital or analogue. in regard to the harmonic content, digital will always challenge analogue in relation to modeling. the second thing to come out of my mouth after yes is… why don’t you waste your time doing something interesting instead of trying to brow beat another musician into submission over this question. usually this is met with the very predictable response… well then what are you using??  i have consistently preferred to work with analogue gear. more importantly old gear. does this mean that i only listen to analogue music?  we all do really. mechanically speaking sound by its very nature is analogue. therefore the only thing digital in digital is the computation used to move numbers that eventually produce sound.  it converts these combinations of numbers into a command. the command at some point is converted  into electrical charges, and that gets sent on its way to a machine that moves air molecules… what are we left with?  is the argument really about analogue or digital?  in my opinion, no.. as an electronic musician i have fought on both fronts. what i have come to realize is these machines in front of me do one thing. they move air.  thats it… these machines don’t do anything else except output a tiny amount of voltage that then gets sent to an amplifier.. this amplified voltage travels down a wire and is converted to mechanical energy. this disturbance of air molecules is the medium we use as a canvas. who gives a fuck what you used to warp time and space and possibly my mind? what really we should be arguing is -how good is my messenger..messenger = sound system..

on that note let me write briefly about my thoughts on why as the purveyors of the next frontier in sound we should be slightly amused at this bait and switch argument. the more time i spend online hailing or eviscerating some piece of gear or composition, the less time i have to work with my ears and truly enjoy sound. we really don’t care what you made this noise with though i might be surprised at your ingenuity in relation to your output. i’ve heard things that blow my mind made with Garage Band and listened to music made with a million €$£ of the nicest studio kit that was the most poorly executed garbage i’ve ever heard. the companies pumping out the newest version of whatever (enter kit name here) loves the banter.  it keeps you focused on buying. as an anthesis to the newest version of (enter kit name here) think Techno. it was invented with zero budget, using old gear that no one gave two shits about because the tech geeks were two busy switching to digital. the next generation starts there. my generation.

it’s my opinion that most electronic musicians have, by in large, settled in and ceased doing anything remarkable. right now it’s about maximizing brand recognition and focusing on demographics, though for a brief period it seemed that sound was being pushed to its absolute limit. the early rave days was the halcyon moment. they took it upon themselves, again mostly with no budget, to maximize the connection between mind AND matter. this was very similar to the late 60′s. bigger and bigger and bigger sound systems, video (visual) artists and every conceivable analog of any drug ever made. (my blog isn’t here to commend or castigate drugs, so please don’t message me about it) what does this have to do with analogue versus digital??   well this… my goal… my goal is to use the sound system to present my sculpture. my machines are my hammers, my chisels and my hands. my ears are my eyes and my eyes are closed while i listen. i don’t have time to argue anymore..

live musik analogen maschine

elektrobahn is an experimental analogue project formed by Scot McKenzie and Dayvid LeMmon.. it relies wholly on the technology of 1984. its machines labour using voltages and the most rudimentary midi to sync, trigger and confuse.. elektrobahn controls problematic circuits to create analogue storms. when voltages align and fracture, children cry. when it’s over you question whether it happened. the only thing you hear now is ringing. another successful gig…

gear used: tr606, tr808, tr727, memorymoog+, korg ms10, korg sq10, moogerfoogers, distortion, ensoniq dp/4, sequential pro ones, akai s612 x2, akai ax60, tascam quad tape, sine generators, crumar spirit, octave cat, arp axxe, oberheim ob-x, tape echos, servodrive BASStech 7 x6, copious amounts deoxit..various modules and other sauce pans…

while we do employ the simplest early midi, elektrobahn is an exercise in mechanics. it by in large explores the mystery of control voltage and midi time code error. it searches for the simplest expression of complex routing and most often finds the machines inability to talk to one another the litmus. the greater degree of error the greater degree of discovery. the result is an amorphous cloud of electrons moving air. piercing silence, and pounding concrete, reconstructing space in the presence of it’s noise. elektrobahn is the exploration of the void between one and zero. between on and off. between silence and a scream.

http://www.elektrobahn.com