AAA - Ask Autechre Anything - Sean and Rob on WATMM!

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:20 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:14 PM, Franciscus said:

i think this question was asked before by someone else but it has yet to be answered: what do you think of gerald donald's 'scientific' solo work (after the passing of james stinson)? and what's your fav drexciya album?

big fan, before n after james, dopplereffekt yes.

 

neptunes lair today,

 

grava4 is also dope

 

excellent picks!

btw,, you might already know, but next month the dutch label clone releases the fourth and final part of the deep sea dweller series https://clone.nl/item29082.html (including a few unheard tracks). must have imho

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:17 PM, Franciscus said:

also, do you know federico leocata? i like this video of his

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP-_FyH7lRc

dunno, it's alright

- Have you enjoyed answering all these questions?

I like you guys put your self out here. Great thread to read. (what I have read in bits and pieces so far haha)

do some of your tracks have a hidden meaning? like, the track tells a story? (rather: audio output of a event) if i am wrong this might be funny for you, but i thought about this many times when listening to exai.

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:21 PM, feltcher said:

Fuuu, finally caught up with this thread again.

 

Given that Quaristice Special Edition was limited to 1000 copies, do you guys get peeved that pretty much everyone has a ripped digital copy?

 

 

 

BTW, this thread should be watmm's most IDM 2014. Jus' sayin

nah obv we knew that was gonna happen, but only 1000 people get the nice metalwork and hopefully they'll look after them

So, Lars von Trier approaches you and asks you to redo some existing tracks (I'm thinking Five Obstructions here). What in your opinion would be the five rules that'd make you go "Aw for fuck's sake man!"? :D

Actually let's say, one of the obstructions is to (re)do a track on a player piano only. Maybe two - one normal player piano and one prepared.

Liking all the Ae music and thanking you once again for this opportunity, max respect.

(sorry, came to this late, I got through half the posts so far and then skimmed, afraid I'd miss out)

Do you use custom controllers for your software? Any of it over midi, or osc, or something else ? Do you keep it mostly around knobs and buttons when you use controllers, or other kinds of interface?

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:25 PM, Retosik said:

do some of your tracks have a hidden meaning? like, the track tells a story? (rather: audio output of a event) if i am wrong this might be funny for you, but i thought about this many times when listening to exai.

yeah some of it's autobiographical i'm sure but not in a conscious way

but you can't help it, if you're doing what you want it's bound to happen

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:26 PM, grey said:

(sorry, came to this late, I got through half the posts so far and then skimmed, afraid I'd miss out)

 

Do you use custom controllers for your software? Any of it over midi, or osc, or something else ? Do you keep it mostly around knobs and buttons when you use controllers, or other kinds of interface?

atm the only input device i'm using is a kenton killamix mini, but only cos it goes in my bag, and it integrates perfectly with my setup

mine has knobs that click and i need that to run my stuff cos all the input is discrete vals

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:25 PM, Zantman said:

Have you enjoyed answering all these questions?

 

I like you guys put your self out here. Great thread to read. (what I have read in bits and pieces so far haha)

yeah, some tricky cos despite having the answers (i mean we are the subject, not say Maths or a given syllabus), which is ok - been done b4, but its like a race to get them down. with true feels ;)

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:26 PM, IOS said:

So, Lars von Trier approaches you and asks you to redo some existing tracks (I'm thinking Five Obstructions here). What in your opinion would be the five rules that'd make you go "Aw for fuck's sake man!"? :D

 

Actually let's say, one of the obstructions is to (re)do a track on a player piano only. Maybe two - one normal player piano and one prepared.

 

Liking all the Ae music and thanking you once again for this opportunity, max respect.

nah i'd just tell him to fuck off and stop making shit films

Guys,

I was listening to Tilapia recently when walking through super-quiet evening streets to a grocery store (countryside) and realized one thing about the mix of the track.

It is almost absolutely perfectly balanced volume-wise. I mean, you know when you listen to some great mix really carefully you suddenly start hearing how were things done or start hearing nuances like:

- this instrument is slightly more forward sounding and disconnected from the rest

- the snare peaks are too sharp/too dull

- or a sound that is supposed to be in the back sometimes manage to go little bit forward and break the balance of the mix because one of it's bands wasn't compressed/EQed efficiently

but even with those flaws the mix still sounds great and you have to be really carefully listening in order to hear it.

But with Tilapia, there are no such things to be heard.

It's one of the most solid mixes I have ever heard. As I already discussed with Sean it has amazing space and depth for a "dry" track but this super-perfect loudness and peak balance is really stunning for me. I mean...I am speechless, really.

I am not going to ask how was it done, but was it difficult or do you remember spending remarkable time mixing this track or choosing sounds for this track? Or is it just a few-times-in-lifetime coincidence of elements that sounds in perfect loudness-harmony together?

I am really serious, this is one of the best ever mixes I have heard in my life. Tilapia may sound like a little shy track in the context of others you did but when you realize it's qualities it's a thing to wonder about. Seriously serious.

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:24 PM, Franciscus said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:20 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:14 PM, Franciscus said:

i think this question was asked before by someone else but it has yet to be answered: what do you think of gerald donald's 'scientific' solo work (after the passing of james stinson)? and what's your fav drexciya album?

big fan, before n after james, dopplereffekt yes.

 

neptunes lair today,

 

grava4 is also dope

 

excellent picks!

 

btw,, you might already know, but next month the dutch label clone releases the fourth and final part of the deep sea dweller series https://clone.nl/item29082.html (including a few unheard tracks). must have imho

 

on it, cheers

  On 11/6/2013 at 9:16 PM, November said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hahah the '''european cookie''' bit on the US jar

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:24 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:18 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:15 PM, John Ehrlichman said:

maybe you can refresh my memory of what other track I'm talking about. I feel like it was one of the quadrange tracks.. maybe but it felt like the entire reverb bed was spring (not just quick sections) and it sounded really nice.

the beginning of bnc castle, maybe? that might be a diff box actually, we had a beige one i can't rem the manufacturer tho, right noisy fucker, think robs got it now

 

PSE , a wheezy bastard with earth problems but deep

 

i was just informed by forum member Obel that the track is called blyz castl (probably one my favorites of that era, but what was that technically on, not quadrange or versions?). Did you just put an extra e at the end? is that halfway confirmation the song actually translates to bouncy castle ?

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:29 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:26 PM, IOS said:

So, Lars von Trier approaches you and asks you to redo some existing tracks (I'm thinking Five Obstructions here). What in your opinion would be the five rules that'd make you go "Aw for fuck's sake man!"? :D

 

Actually let's say, one of the obstructions is to (re)do a track on a player piano only. Maybe two - one normal player piano and one prepared.

 

Liking all the Ae music and thanking you once again for this opportunity, max respect.

 

nah i'd just tell him to fuck off and stop making shit films

 

I would not. I have heard he is psychically/mentally ill. I have understanding for his imaginations and needs that he realize in his films. I mean I don't enjoy what he does (I am not into films too much) but I respect his problems.

Æ,

This whole thing is really about getting a piece of you, isn't it? So, I'm going to go for the plunder straight away. My question: would you be at all willing to employ me as a roadie for your next tour? I'm skilled at lugging things around and plugging things in. I'm also of the age where I won't be nattering away the entire tour. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:30 PM, Jev said:

Guys,

 

I was listening to Tilapia recently when walking through super-quiet evening streets to a grocery store (countryside) and realized one thing about the mix of the track.

 

It is almost absolutely perfectly balanced volume-wise. I mean, you know when you listen to some great mix really carefully you suddenly start hearing how were things done or start hearing nuances like:

 

- this instrument is slightly more forward sounding and disconnected from the rest

- the snare peaks are too sharp/too dull

- or a sound that is supposed to be in the back sometimes manage to go little bit forward and break the balance of the mix because one of it's bands wasn't compressed/EQed efficiently

 

but even with those flaw the mix still sounds great and you have to be really carefully listening in order to hear it.

 

But with Tilapia, there are no such things to be heard.

 

It's one of the most solid mixes I have ever heard. As I already discussed with Sean it has amazing space and depth for a "dry" track but this super-perfect loudness and peak balance is really stunning for me. I mean...I am speechless, really.

 

I am not going to ask how was it done, but was it difficult or do you remember spending remarkable time mixing this track or choosing sounds for this track? Or is it just a few-times-in-lifetime coincidence of elements that sounds in perfect loudness-harmony together?

 

I am really serious, this is one of the best ever mixes I have heard in my life. Tilapia may sound like a little shy track in the context of others you did but when you realize it's qualities it's a thing to wonder about. Seriously serious.

thanks, well it was mixed as it was made so like, prob didn't take that long tbh

we kind of do stuff as we go, there's no point at which we start mixing, we do it all the way thru

just comes from having made loads of stuff in realtime before we had that kind of full song sequencing available, there's never been a 'mixing stage' as such

Rob, where is your Planet 69 t-shirt? Sounds like Sean has been taking care of his (washing at 40 degrees with fabric softener, letting it dry naturally in the cooling breeze).

Where's yours?

When you record jams are they multi-track/channel or 2 track? Curious if the editing is splicing or cutting individual tracks when an element got out of control or sounded bad.

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:32 PM, John Ehrlichman said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:24 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:18 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:15 PM, John Ehrlichman said:

maybe you can refresh my memory of what other track I'm talking about. I feel like it was one of the quadrange tracks.. maybe but it felt like the entire reverb bed was spring (not just quick sections) and it sounded really nice.

the beginning of bnc castle, maybe? that might be a diff box actually, we had a beige one i can't rem the manufacturer tho, right noisy fucker, think robs got it now

 

PSE , a wheezy bastard with earth problems but deep

 

i was just informed by forum member Obel that the track is called blyz castl (probably one my favorites of that era, but what was that technically on, not quadrange or versions?). Did you just put an extra e at the end? is that halfway confirmation the song actually translates to bouncy castle ?

 

yeah, it was the PSE on that - japan only release of downloads only, sorry harder to get double 'only' action there.

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:33 PM, Jev said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:29 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:26 PM, IOS said:

So, Lars von Trier approaches you and asks you to redo some existing tracks (I'm thinking Five Obstructions here). What in your opinion would be the five rules that'd make you go "Aw for fuck's sake man!"? :D

 

Actually let's say, one of the obstructions is to (re)do a track on a player piano only. Maybe two - one normal player piano and one prepared.

 

Liking all the Ae music and thanking you once again for this opportunity, max respect.

 

nah i'd just tell him to fuck off and stop making shit films

 

 

I would not. I have heard he is psychically/mentally ill. I have understanding for his imaginations and needs that he realize in his films. I mean I don't enjoy what he does (I am not into films too much) but I respect his problems.

 

oh right so no one can tell him how shit his films are

explains a lot

Last question i swær

what is the sample from IO?

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:35 PM, Schlitze said:

Rob, where is your Planet 69 t-shirt? Sounds like Sean has been taking care of his (washing at 40 degrees with fabric softener, letting it dry naturally in the cooling breeze).

Where's yours?

its hammered, i think the nice old lady at the dry cleaners preferred sean, had lower temps on the dryer

How do you guys keep from developing chronic wrist/arm/shoulder/back issues from spending so much time dialing into the world of digital audio?

Do you use a trackball? An arm rest? A particular sort of chair or particular arrangement of your physical interface?

I ask because I have been producing as many hours and as I can and as many days as possible for years and this lifestyle seems to necessitate frequent stretching breaks and the like... I have sooo many knots from clicking on things all day.

Was wondering if you had any suggestions for avoiding carpal tunnel and repetitive strain injuries as a producer.

Thanks guys. Your work has had a huge impact on me over the years!

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:35 PM, KunoMerit said:

When you record jams are they multi-track/channel or 2 track? Curious if the editing is splicing or cutting individual tracks when an element got out of control or sounded bad.

nah it's almost always 2 track

if an element sounds bad then i try to learn what i did wrong and not do it again, bin the track (trust me you do that enough times you start to learn)

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:38 PM, Erothyme said:

How do you guys keep from developing chronic wrist/arm/shoulder/back issues from spending so much time dialing into the world of digital audio?

 

Do you use a trackball? An arm rest? A particular sort of chair or particular arrangement of your physical interface?

 

I ask because I have been producing as many hours and as I can and as many days as possible for years and this lifestyle seems to necessitate frequent stretching breaks and the like... I have sooo many knots from clicking on things all day.

 

Was wondering if you had any suggestions for avoiding carpal tunnel and repetitive strain injuries as a producer.

 

Thanks guys. Your work has had a huge impact on me over the years!

i use a trackpad cos multitouch and being able to vary the angle works for me, I'm always changing the way i sit

best way to avoid strain is don't extend too far and don't hold the same position for ages, keep moving round