Classical Composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass are from said era. These musicians, especially Reich, could be considered masters of hypnotic droning rhythms and out of phase instruments using different time signatures. This is all stripped down to an essence and the result is mesmeric.
For some of the music, especially that which transforms itself according to strict rules, the term "process music" has also been used. Recently, Minimal techno has started gaining popularity among dance music enthusiasts and sound orientated visual artists as well. It takes the same idea that "less is more" from classical composers and applies to this new genre, using technology and modernism to take this ‘ergonomic aesthetic’ to a different place.
In his essay Digital Discipline: Minimalism in House and Techno Philip Sherburne also proposes what the origins of Minimal techno might be. Sherburne states that, like most contemporary electronic dance music, minimal techno has its roots in the landmark works of pioneers such as Kraftwerk and Detroit Techno's Derrick May and Juan Atkins. Minimal techno focuses on "rhythm and repetition instead of melody and linear progression", much like classical minimalist music and the polyrhythmic African musical tradition that helped inspire it. By 1994, according to Sherburne, the term "minimal" was in use to describe "any stripped-down, Acidic derivative of classic Detroit style".
Having investigated the origins of where the style of music I wanted to create began, it gave me a substantial foundation for beginning to think about the audio side of the project. Having seen Quayola and Ikeda live, that inspired the decision to use a Minimalistic style of Techno as for some reason, the aesthetic and symbiosis of minimalistic visuals and sound appear uncanny. I feel it is more attractive to represent a concise sound visually as opposed to one comprised of resonance and ethereal sounds. This is a fluid motif and purely down to individual taste, not something that is regimented or rule based.
From here, I needed to endeavour to research into contemporary minimal sound artists.
Having a little knowledge of the scene at present, I decided to pick artists I knew and admired to keep motivation and enthusiasm at a high level.
Gaiser:
“a musician who lives off his instincts, channelling his moods and emotions directly into his computer, translating new experiences and sensations into sound.” – Minus interview
Following a string of finely crafted Minus EPs Gaiser has become one of the most exciting producers of his generation. With an instinctive feel for the intricate mechanics of minimalist sound sculpture, his music contains the perfect balance between rhythmical energy and sonic finesse.
One of Richie Hawtins label mates who is also involved in a project called The Cube which will be analysed later.
In researching Gaiser, I was especially drawn to the ‘dryness’ of sound he created. Deep base tones and rubbery naturalistic timbales and wood wind instruments as rythematic melodies.
I have also been drawn to his artwork. Simplistic, clean, expressionistic yet subtle and to my interpretation completely ad hears to how the music sounds. I feel this can be heard distinctly within the audio I created, all be it rather naively.
Richie Hawtin:
His first mix album, for the Mixmag Live series, he used extra effects and drum machines. (1993), “Decks, EFX & 909” cut laser-style between tracks and now, “DE9: Closer To The Edit”, sees Hawtin use his sampler to deconstruct tracks until there’s just a skeleton left, which he reassembles into something new.
Hawtin describes this unique process
“I recorded, sampled, cut and spliced over 100 tracks down into their most basic components. I ended up with over 300 loops, ranging in different lengths. I started to recreate and reinterpret each track and then put the pieces back together, as if an audio jigsaw puzzle – using effects and edits as the glue between each piece”.
Studying Hawtins’ unique style and approach, I notice this is minimalist practice at work. However there is still some essence of reductionism in there. It appears that no matter what happens, it is rare to see a piece of work that is legitimately minimalistic in construction. This has definitely allowed a bit of manoeuvring should it be needed in readjusting my conceptual desires as they are bound to evolve along with the construction of my A/V piece.
His general approach, attitude and philosophies have helped me contextualize my concepts into a more contemporary medium.
The Cube (Contakt - Richie Hawtin (interactive visuals with Minus)):
The Cube an interactive cube structure covered by LEDs that recognizes people who’ve signed up for Contakt membership.
Hawin states
“If you join Contakt as a member you get a special card which is embedded with a microchip.
The Cube can detect when a member is in the club.
It also broadcasts messages via bluetooth and LAN.
So when you come to a Contakt event, anyone who has their bluetooth turned on can interact with the cube, triggering it into different states”
This is an incredible idea in terms of viewer participation and interactive art. It is not the innovation of the idea necessarily, its that it is being delivered in a format that has not really been attempted by anyone else in the field.
This has got me thinking about the delivery and execution and delivery of my project. In my brief I stated and was hoping to keep this aspect relatively ambiguous, as it was easier. I really think considering this angle will help give my project focus and attention as it uses a finite point in time to aim towards. In other words It would aid the narrative and conceptualisation of my project to evolve with a purpose as opposed to a misguided stab in the dark. I feel this may be able to evolve by getting in touch with people in industry such as Test Space or Onedotzero and asking for exhibition space or advice on said topics, and entering competitions. Onedotzero has an A/V competition on at the minute, (last entries before the 24th May) that I will endeavour to enter. One for the experience of entering a competition or industry standard practice and the other to learn more about the technical and aesthetic aspects with regards to environment and exhibition.
This was confirmed in our crit by the tutors as something that should definitely be taken in to consideration for similar purposes.
There are a few more minimal sound artists looked at on the blog but they don’t bear much relevance to the project other than to site other examples and interpretations of the style for contextualization and realization of conceptual desires.
Making the audio:
Details of the construction process of the audio are on the blog and will be referenced here for analytical purposes.
To begin with, knowing I was going to be using Quartz, I needed to be able to send midi signals from the music software, (Ableton) to be able to assign them to different parameters in Quartz. I have chosen this method as I have used it before and wish to further develop my understanding of it, thus maximising my chances of realizing my concepts..
(Having looked at Max, seeing the price and the learning curve I would have to undergo in two weeks would be far to much to deal with when I feel my concepts can be realized in a free piece of software that if used correctly can be just as effective.)
This is my reasoning for making the decision to use Quartz and After Effects.
The kick drum is the heart and soul of any good minimal techno sound. In others practitioners work (Oizo, Heartthrob, Hobo, Hawtin) so much care and attention is taken over constructing the right kick sound as it dictates so much of the overall feel of a track.
-Examples of which can be seen on my blog.
They are also simple and usually repeated in a regular 4 hits per bar structure in 4/4 time or 2/4 time.
The clever bit with the kick came with layering an 808 sub over the first hit on every bar in the last half of the track. This dramatises and exaggerates the effect of suck and pull, or ‘side-chaining.’
Having studied Gaisers’ sound, the main thing I took away was the dryness and naturalistic elements of the woodblocks and timbalas’ he uses in the ‘snare position’ within his music. He also uses double hits, or ‘ghost hits.’ These add another great dynamic to the track, creating an illusion of aspects slipping out of time. I wanted to use this idea in conjunction with a rubbery, dry bass tone as I feel it creates an interesting, sometimes angular sound and i feel this is evident within the audio I created.
The hi-hat pattern I decided to characterize a lot more as it is another dynamic aspect of the track that commands a lot of space, in terms of the ‘head room’ on a track. I wanted to stylize it and use lots of modulation to individualize the audio and craft a unique sound for it.
I feel I achieved this with the hi-hats, however the sound still doesn’t have the ‘brilliance’ or vibrancy of a Hawtin or Gaiser track. The effect is present but not concise enough. This needs to be tweaked.
The base in the track I feel is where you have to be careful. In a lot of minimal techno the bass can be an atonal wobble or pulse, and I wanted to incorporate one aspect of melody into my audio.
In trying to think laterally about this potential problem, I decided to create 2 separate bass sounds, along with 6 different patterns.
The first part was a mid-range, dry rubbery bass sound, that acts as the variant. There are only ever 3 different notes used that wander over 6 different patterns.
The second was devised through the sub hit off the 808 sample used in the second half of the track that was discussed earlier. This created a unique blend of traditional minimal techno technique, counter balanced with a subjective twist.
The shuffle and noise patterns were created out of static and glitch samples obtained through the 'Tim Exile Sample pack' curtsey of Native Instruments. This is one example of the pattern. The noises are all samples that were put together in a drum rack and played through midi, then re sampled into audio, as before, due to the samples being easier to manage as a single clip of audio. The patterns also swings slightly in and out of time, again creating the illusion of more humanism influence.
This means that this element to the track will have to be manually animated, due to the fact that is not made with MIDI, which contradicts the brief but I don’t think will be detrimental to the overall effect of the audio.
Arranging the track really just happens as a follow on to creating the parts. The track was almost made as the final arrangement suggests, as a natural progression. I created a beat, then the bass, then the rhythms then Dynamic.... In a similar sort of work flow to that the arrangement just appears out of no where with a few hours playing. (Obviously without dynamic)
The latest tweaks will surely not be the last as i will soon be picking fault with my own creations as i should do, i want to resist the temptation to do anything other than add complementary dynamic and possibly re-master, sorting the levels and mix as i go.
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