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

Here's a little runrepik 8 bit remix i wrote in MSX Basic. It's just a few nested for loops bashing away at the PSG registers in a quasi generative manner. Hope you like it!

hah! that's great. I think the chaps deserve a little break by now, answering questions like true heroes.

hi sean/rob,

have you tried pair programming where you write code together? i've heard software developers often prefer it to coding alone since you get outside perspectives and ideas.

also, do you think musical instruments need to be tactile to some extent? earlier in the thread sean mentioned that he uses midi controllers some, but does that type of interface play a large role in making your tracks? some people talk about going into a really streamlined workflow when coding, so i'm curious to know how you would compare making music with software to playing a traditional instrument.

I know its pretty early for trainspotting electroacoustic tracks, but here's the first 30 seconds of the Gescom live set from 2002 that i mentionned yesterday, its really good but wasnt sure it was legit, similar to the Minidisc.

is Gescom behind this ???

http://picosong.com/q8Sy/

Endless thanks for IDing the Beaumont Hannant tune yesterday, it's bloody good !

I know you've both talked about graff, and HR Giger, but are there any other visual artists you particularly like? Kandinsky? Lucian Freud? Ryoji Ikeda's installations?

btw, I recc http://thisisnthappiness.com/ which is good for a browse for some mainly 20th century stuff, even if it can be a bit twee.

hi,

my first question got lost in the watmm abysses, I was wondering if anyone approched you to make a documentary about Autechre...

And do you have a song/track you love that you feell a bit ashamed to love it . and What is it ? Thanks for all this !

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:43 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 10:41 PM, Jev said:

Yeah, you mentioned it somewhere in this thread already. Well, this is a one incredibly lucky track mix-wise then. I mean even in the context of your whole discography, this is the one that is the most stunning mix-wise for me. And you have constantly great mixes so it means something. Big up for this one.

 

thanks

i'll consider what u said, i never thought of that track in that way before

 

You can add Drane to the "perfect mixes" list, that track causes me problems whenever it comes on because my mind just stops until it finishes.

Since you said only 1/3 of the tracks are actual collaborations...

1. Who of you two wrote Bladelores ?

2. Who makes the most tracks out of you two ?

3. How would you describe your differences in style ?

4. Can your relatives say "this track is definitely Rob" or "this track is definitely Sean ?"

thanks !

What is your favourite breakfast cereals? I like cinnamon toast crunch myself.

I like all of your albums more or less, but Draft 7.30 is something special. Probably because I listened to it in the dark on headphones while on acid and every little click and fart was perfectly placed and felt like I fell into some weird futuristic machine city morphing constantly. A great experience.

My question is did you do something differently when making that album. I remember reading somewhere that it was "sequenced by hand", whatever that means and that it was the result of several "drafts", the 30th being the one that became the album. Is this true? Care to elaborate on the process how you did it?

Acid or shrooms?

Once again, big props for spending the time on answering and hanging out here the past week. Hoping you will pop in occasionally in the future with comments and thoughts. Much appreciated. Big hand to Joyrex too for making it possible.

Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses, or one horse-sized duck?

You mentioned earlier that Oversteps incorporated the use of Markov chains to generate algorithmic melodies and that the themes of the album also related to the concept of memory. I think you also said that the artwork for this was more fully a tDR initiated idea than on other albums, so maybe cover image doesn't relate heavily to these themes.. but, in the case that it does:

The ink drawing for the cover appears like a variation upon the style of Zen circle painting known as Ensō. The brushed ink of the circle is usually done in one movement and symbolises a moment when the mind is free to simply let the body/spirit create. I was wondering if your use of the "memoryless" properties of Markov chains was to covey this sense of "the expression of the moment".

Hi, what do you think abou DIY stuff such as this: http://www.bastl-instruments.com/trinity/ ?

Did you ever craft anything alike? Is it possible to you to use such lo-fi instruments for some sounds?

  On 11/6/2013 at 11:59 PM, viscosity said:

I think you mentioned a soldering iron earlier. ever experimented with circuit bending? I understand most of your recent stuff is done via computers and generative processes. any happy/interesting accidents involving this? and I don't just mean through tinkering in max, but like, you spilt your coffee, smoke-spewing out of your machine, glitch-inducing accidents that you decided to keep

yeah once we accidentally spilled Vimto on one of our SK's, which caused it to bend itself really. it stayed like that.

we're not that into trying out the best gear 'to' bend, but when we started before there were road maps for this, we would find new things (latent potential if u like) in the small setup we had, notably the other SKs, RSD10s was another

  On 11/6/2013 at 5:50 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 5:11 PM, cult fiction said:

Say, Sean and Rob, do you guys have any questions for WATMM?

at last, 106 pages BEFORE ANYONE ASKED

 

oh hey not true !!

i totally asked on page 26 (( altho it was sort of tucked between my main question and a thank you*u* message )).

http://forum.watmm.com/topic/81109-aaa-ask-autechre-anything-sean-and-rob-on-watmm/page-23?do=findComment&comment=2084242

autechre pls, feel free to ask watmm a question.

Can you identify this track please?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voZU5CwHD9Y

  On 11/7/2013 at 11:52 AM, hanz tisch said:

Hi, what do you think abou DIY stuff such as this: http://www.bastl-instruments.com/trinity/ ?

 

Did you ever craft anything alike? Is it possible to you to use such lo-fi instruments for some sounds?

its ok, its a bit limiting, but i get that its personal , i reckon its good to have yr own sound/thing if it makes u happy and keeps you active and open.

apart from our own little setup when we started, i was keen to get hold of anything, not troubled by it being custom or not, i think ideas are my custom thing, i can use any mainstream gear and always have. i don't make distinctions anymore as to what is lo-fi or not.

  On 11/7/2013 at 12:02 PM, pigster said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 5:50 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/6/2013 at 5:11 PM, cult fiction said:

Say, Sean and Rob, do you guys have any questions for WATMM?

at last, 106 pages BEFORE ANYONE ASKED

 

 

oh hey not true !!

i totally asked on page 26 (( altho it was sort of tucked between my main question and a thank you*u* message )).

 

http://forum.watmm.com/topic/81109-aaa-ask-autechre-anything-sean-and-rob-on-watmm/page-23?do=findComment&comment=2084242

 

autechre pls, feel free to ask watmm a question.

 

ah yes pigster - u were quick to offer. i remember seeing that now. duly noted

Favorite dub album?

Newbound should have been titled meowbound. Any way you can correct that huge mistake?

  On 11/7/2013 at 12:04 PM, Indicator said:

Can you identify this track please?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voZU5CwHD9Y

no ID on that, not sure, is it in a gescom mix? - or u asking if its gescom track, cos its not.

To me your albums have just got better and better. Of the latest output, 'Prac-f' in particular totally blows me away. Were you guys feeling the "Woah!" moment as much as I do at the switch 1:55 in? And I know this kind of question can be annoying - but could you share anything about this track? It's got such an amazing, 'thick' vibe.

Thank you !

  On 11/7/2013 at 11:43 AM, xf said:

Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses, or one horse-sized duck?

ducks are way harder than horses in my experience.

  On 11/7/2013 at 12:10 PM, Lianne said:

To me your albums have just got better and better. Of the latest output, 'Prac-f' in particular totally blows me away. Were you guys feeling the "Woah!" moment as much as I do at the switch 1:55 in? And I know this kind of question can be annoying - but could you share anything about this track? It's got such an amazing, 'thick' vibe.

 

Thank you !

thanks, switches yeah, good. i tend to follow the pressure changes through this one….

i really enjoyed the stories about mud dives and vomit rockets, do you have any more amusing anecdotes you'd care to share with us?

  On 11/7/2013 at 11:41 AM, azatoth said:

I like all of your albums more or less, but Draft 7.30 is something special. Probably because I listened to it in the dark on headphones while on acid and every little click and fart was perfectly placed and felt like I fell into some weird futuristic machine city morphing constantly. A great experience.

 

My question is did you do something differently when making that album. I remember reading somewhere that it was "sequenced by hand", whatever that means and that it was the result of several "drafts", the 30th being the one that became the album. Is this true? Care to elaborate on the process how you did it?

 

Acid or shrooms?

 

Once again, big props for spending the time on answering and hanging out here the past week. Hoping you will pop in occasionally in the future with comments and thoughts. Much appreciated. Big hand to Joyrex too for making it possible.

draft7.30, sequenced by hand, meaning in an interview about overall shifts in that periods' process than the previous LP, it meant that a lot of the work was a result of being really concerned with getting as close to the events as we could in the DAW, getting access to as much of it as we could - and jamming less while still working on a larger sense of flow. each track was different to some extent because all the tracks were done at different times. not as a whole LP project in strict order.