the technical approach on Oversteps

I read somewhere that they basically just conquered fm8 and used it on the whole album. I think this is an interesting and pretty reasonable idea of how they approached putting it together. Generally speaking it sounds like they used very little analog gear, the predominate tone of the album is very digital/FM with "known 1" probably being the most obvious and over the top display of FM twiddling. A lot of the sounds surpass the programming capabilities of a dx7 or similar hardware FM synths.

If what I assume is true then it shows that what they were really going for with this production was convenience. I can imagine Booth and Brown creating and sharing patches and basically building up an album around the capabilities of this one synthesizer. Its why the general color of the album is so uniform I think. Its also a sort of process-oriented album in that they are more interested in the process of arriving at a sound then the sound itself at times.

I wouldn't be surprised if they used Max/MSP to trigger sounds from FM8. That was my initial impression of the album anyway.

very interesting, i'd love to poke around at fm8

  On 7/13/2010 at 4:20 PM, theSun said:

very interesting, i'd love to poke around at fm8

do it. it's quite a good plug to say the least.

  On 7/13/2010 at 1:46 AM, maersk said:

I read somewhere that they basically just conquered fm8 and used it on the whole album. I think this is an interesting and pretty reasonable idea of how they approached putting it together. Generally speaking it sounds like they used very little analog gear, the predominate tone of the album is very digital/FM with "known 1" probably being the most obvious and over the top display of FM twiddling. A lot of the sounds surpass the programming capabilities of a dx7 or similar hardware FM synths.

 

If what I assume is true then it shows that what they were really going for with this production was convenience. I can imagine Booth and Brown creating and sharing patches and basically building up an album around the capabilities of this one synthesizer. Its why the general color of the album is so uniform I think. Its also a sort of process-oriented album in that they are more interested in the process of arriving at a sound then the sound itself at times.

Interesting point! Do you hear specific FM8 sounds/presets in there?

I don't think they are the types to use presets and I haven't heard any. But all of the sounds seem to be within the capability of fm8 to create..the general tone of the synth I hear as well but that could just be my subjective perception.

  On 7/14/2010 at 8:12 PM, encym said:

Interesting point! Do you hear specific FM8 sounds/presets in there?

I've been playing around with FM8 for quite some months now, but I've yet to hear any presets. Doesn't exactly sound like something Ae would do, but didn't someone mention a while back they heard some Nord or other synth presets in a track?

  On 7/15/2010 at 4:08 AM, maersk said:

I don't think they are the types to use presets and I haven't heard any. But all of the sounds seem to be within the capability of fm8 to create..the general tone of the synth I hear as well but that could just be my subjective perception.

Overall, Oversteps has a very "twangy" kind of sound to it, most evident with known(1). A lot of the FM8 presets have that sort of vibe or quality to them. Also great for lowkey/spaced out/dark stuff too, which Oversteps is compared to some previous material.

does anyone have a copy of the AE interview where they mention specific Yamaha fm synths they've been using lately? I recall FM8 but also remember them mentioning either the TX or FS1R model.

the big pads could well be a NL2x and i'm not ruling out the G2 either

the FM8 is interesting but i'm guessing it was used for a lot of processing

the whold album and tour reaks of well tuned algorythmic composition but not so much in Move of Ten

i don't hear any analogues on oversteps but there could well be a few on Move of Ten

the Monomachines FM synths can do a twangy harpsichord type sound but it sounds very different on oversteps like they set up a similar configuration on another FM synth

anyone more familiar with modular sequencing on max? Its a doddle on the G2 but for some reason I think they've left that one the shelf this time round and explored max instead

  On 7/13/2010 at 7:53 AM, extherium said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they used Max/MSP to trigger sounds from FM8

Logic and Max, yeah.

  On 7/15/2010 at 12:58 PM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

I must admit a lot of the synths sound quite digital...not just because they are FM but also the way they are processed with obviously digital reverbs. no doubt digital reverb gets used all the time on nearly everything these days but it was definitely much more noticeable on move of ten + quaristice.

i love digital reverbs :emotawesomepm9:

  On 7/15/2010 at 12:58 PM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

I must admit a lot of the synths sound quite digital...not just because they are FM but also the way they are processed with obviously digital reverbs. no doubt digital reverb gets used all the time on nearly everything these days but it was definitely much more noticeable on move of ten + quaristice.

Yeah, there's more reverb. Saying digital reverb is almost like saying digital video, though. The only analog reverbs in common use anymore are spring reverbs and of course, room reverbs (captured with mic.) Maybe you meant something else by "digital?" Sorry to nitpick.

FM8, really? Wouldn't have guessed. I kind of assumed they were using a conglomerate of hardware FM synths.

  On 7/15/2010 at 11:12 PM, Bubba69 said:

FM8, really? Wouldn't have guessed. I kind of assumed they were using a conglomerate of hardware FM synths.

they are for sure, i just don't remember which ones. There was a recent interiew post Oversteps where they fire off about 3 obscure hardware Yamaha FM synths they used on the album, none of which started with a 'DX'

  On 7/16/2010 at 2:34 AM, Awepittance said:

  On 7/15/2010 at 11:12 PM, Bubba69 said:

FM8, really? Wouldn't have guessed. I kind of assumed they were using a conglomerate of hardware FM synths.

 

they are for sure, i just don't remember which ones. There was a recent interiew post Oversteps where they fire off about 3 obscure hardware Yamaha FM synths they used on the album, none of which started with a 'DX'

Do you have a link to the interview?

Yamaha only released the DX,TX,SY and FS1R series as far as i know.

  On 7/16/2010 at 11:51 AM, soundwave said:

  On 7/16/2010 at 2:34 AM, Awepittance said:

  On 7/15/2010 at 11:12 PM, Bubba69 said:

FM8, really? Wouldn't have guessed. I kind of assumed they were using a conglomerate of hardware FM synths.

 

they are for sure, i just don't remember which ones. There was a recent interiew post Oversteps where they fire off about 3 obscure hardware Yamaha FM synths they used on the album, none of which started with a 'DX'

 

Do you have a link to the interview?

 

Yamaha only released the DX,TX,SY and FS1R series as far as i know.

And IIRC the SY series was more wave/vector-oriented, though they did have limited FM capabilities.

In that vein, if not actually part of the SY series, was the table top TG33.

There were some weird non-Yamaha FM synths from the 80s, though, like the Korg DS8. And the casio CZ/VZ series was similar, though not actual FM.

  On 7/16/2010 at 4:23 PM, sweepstakes said:

  On 7/16/2010 at 11:51 AM, soundwave said:

  On 7/16/2010 at 2:34 AM, Awepittance said:

  On 7/15/2010 at 11:12 PM, Bubba69 said:

FM8, really? Wouldn't have guessed. I kind of assumed they were using a conglomerate of hardware FM synths.

 

they are for sure, i just don't remember which ones. There was a recent interiew post Oversteps where they fire off about 3 obscure hardware Yamaha FM synths they used on the album, none of which started with a 'DX'

 

Do you have a link to the interview?

 

Yamaha only released the DX,TX,SY and FS1R series as far as i know.

 

And IIRC the SY series was more wave/vector-oriented, though they did have limited FM capabilities.

In that vein, if not actually part of the SY series, was the table top TG33.

There were some weird non-Yamaha FM synths from the 80s, though, like the Korg DS8. And the casio CZ/VZ series was similar, though not actual FM.

the flagship SY99 and SY77 did have a full blown DX mkII engine but with more feedback options but somehow i can'r see sean n rob messing around with an old workstation

is it possible they ran the FM8 at a really high fidelity like 192khz or something? Just a guess

  On 7/16/2010 at 5:41 PM, soundwave said:

but with more feedback options but somehow i can'r see sean n rob messing around with an old workstation

why not? I've be then told they still use a Roland R8 drum machine on a regular basis. Compared to a lot of electronic artists Autechre seems to have a lot of appreciation for older digital (key word here) hardware. There are plenty of those who obsess over old and obscure analog synths but not many groups besides autechre have a massive gear list including tons of obscure digital hardware from 1981-1993.

For example the FS1R was Yamaha's most powerful fm sythesizer, it had the capabilities of every previous FM synth that they made before all in one box. it had terrible controls, only 4 knobs and a very cumbersome user interface. it failed in the market. if you have a chance to play with one yourself i think you'd be surprised in how much different and unique you can make it sound compared to an FM8. There are sounds you can achieve on the FS1R that i've never heard on any other FM synthesizer. It's an incredibly diverse and very pleasurable sounding machine.

I wouldn't be surprised if Autechre has already rocked a Roland JD-800, a failed fully controllable with faders later period digital synth

  On 7/16/2010 at 11:51 AM, soundwave said:

 

Do you have a link to the interview?

nope, im too lazy to go through the oversteps thread. Although i'm like 75% sure they mentioned a TX and SY yamaha fm synth in it

see, now that looks like a fun synth. i know nothing about vintage/modern hardware synths but something with so many knobs and faders and buttons HAS to be cool, right?

it sounds great, but the sound is very distinct. it's unique in that it was one of the only fully digital synthesizers of that era to have all of the parameters broken out to knobs and faders. Previously to this only analog synths had this kind of setup, unfortunately to this day most synths still don't have anything this in depth unless it's some kind of retro ananlog modeling type of thing.

i don't see why they would bother with an SY when they have an FS1R which does exactly the same thing and a lot more

also the interface on the FS1R is irrelevant when you use the third party editor

hmmmm me wants a silver rack now

It's a fact, written and documented Autechre has said they bother with old fm synths, i'm just waiting for someone to provide proof of this. yeah sure the FS1R can provide all the power in one box, but its still only capable of taking the place of one instrument, what if you want a whole ensemble of real time triggered FM hardware? edit: using external editors for hardware is nice, the FS1R editor is great but i'd like to be able to have more control over it in live and in the thick of it situations where im not sitting patiently in front of a computer screen.

edit: i just spent 15 minutes looking through the oversteps thread to no avail, i could only find a single interview for 'fact magazine' thats extremely short. Has someone already aggregated all the OVersteps interviews? if so id like to have a look at them

Big Shot interview?

http://clonesound.blogspot.com/2010/01/initial-reflections-autechre-oversteps.html

the writer mentions it in the comments here, but I haven't read the interview

Synth demos are usually whack so take from this example and extrapolate what could potentially be done with it in good hands.

Yum yum.