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

  On 11/3/2013 at 11:07 PM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/2/2013 at 8:38 PM, NathanCaldecott said:

As a fellow Manc, I find a really distinct synaesthetic connection between the structures and architectures in your work and the atmosphere of Manchester and the Pennines. Would you say your work is connected to the local landscape in that way?

It wasnt unusual to spend time in the wet bleak grey green wide open low cloud spaces when i was a kid, dotted with out of use two hundred year old utility works on the border from lancs/yorks, and growing up not far from there feels like it had a bearing on things we do.

  On 11/3/2013 at 11:02 PM, Zephyr_Nova said:

What is the fattest beat you've ever heard? Could anything have made it even fatter?

 

What should I name the track I'm going to start tonight/tomorrow? It's got to fit on an album comprised largely of intense ambient pieces.

 

What is your favorite Coil track or release?

 

(Also, I'm still hoping for that music-to-listen-to-while-walking-to-the-studio-on-Tuesday recommendation, but otherwise that Residents album mentioned earlier shall serve me nicely... just heard the track Shorty's Lament and fell in love.)

Haha, am still waiting for the method of transport.

 

I mentioned I was walking, roughly 35 minutes each way. I'll probably be listening on my smart phone, through Sony MDR-V700s --decent bass and clarity. The weather will likely be cold and cloudy, with a chance of rain.

  On 11/4/2013 at 2:53 AM, Rob Ae said:

 

  On 11/4/2013 at 2:49 AM, Jev said:

Rob another taste-checking question. What about Laughing Stock by Talk Talk or Mark Hollis' solo album? I find it really fascinating how they developed from a new wave/synth-pop band to an experimental post-rock legend.

Sorry i dont have that, but i do rate talk talk and mark hollis. I think sean might have more of his stuff tho'.

 

There's a sample of 'Life's What You Make It' in one of the Lego Feet tracks, right?

Any music recs of stuff you guys dig is VERY much appreciated. Incredibly interested to hear some of your musical influences

Are there any philosophers either of you are keen on?

When was the last time you went out to a shitty club and got drunk and danced? What kind of music do you prefer to dance to in those situations?

Do either of you guys have interest in the fields or mathematics/science?

Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins era Genesis?

I'm not sure if you missed my question, it was at the end of the page, if you skipped it deliberately no worries

  On 11/4/2013 at 12:00 AM, hoggy said:

What do you think might be the effect of extreme cerebral stimulation of listening to for example especially long tracks on Exai? Especially when that stimulation is hard to vocalise or simply emote to or physically express?

 

For example, sometimes when I really love something and find it intangibly stimulating, I find that I have no way to express it to people (a description can't really express 'that thing') - do you ever get this kind of frustration? Do you think it might effect how someone thinks, behaves, feels?

 

To try to clarify a bit more - I'm talking about extreme stimulation with no real world counterpart - that thing where something just 'does something' and you can't explain it.

Sorry guys if this might come out as spam, just reposting 3 really important questions that didn't get answered, would be really curious about your opinion on these subjects.

  On 11/3/2013 at 11:22 PM, Obel said:

If the yellow power ranger is a girl then how the hell do you explain this?

 

  On 11/4/2013 at 12:46 AM, Adam said:

Do you like the matrix sequels?

  On 11/4/2013 at 1:49 AM, J3FF3R00 said:

So if "all you guys" hang out in watmm often, do you guys miss the "Nice Tits" thread?

-Any involvement with NMB? NWH20 seems like shoutout to Lego Feet track

-Also, about the Gescom track "G1" Darrel Fitton shared with the public a few years back (I imagine you guys had to be made aware he was doing that), is there any chance for a similar gesture of goodwill on your end during this ask you anything event or anytime in the near future? *wipes foam away from mouth*

Sean, regarding your answer to the question about the resonant structure in question... I remember reading somewhere a long time ago (interview maybe) that the sounds were infact from your rectum - the piece made as a joke or "statement" referencing the sort of rabid fan who would purchase their favorite artist's new album even if it was straight farting for 45 minutes. I won't ask to confirm or deny ...but I think it is hilarious if true.

Could you tell me anything about what you like to do in Jitter? Have you used jit.repos much? Lately I've been trying to do these weird polar coordinate morphs in repos, I like to just set up the math, then get high staring into the webcam playing with settings.

Also do you ever draw/manipulate spectral data for visuals? I'm kind of obsessed with spectrograms. Actually the first thing I did when I got the Exai digital release was make a max patch to play the wavs through a spectrogram with some symmetries and stuff. Still one of my favorite ways to listen to the album!

Matrix sequels or Star Wars prequels?

Firstly, thank you Booth and Brown for your transparency and dedication to your fanbase; in this internet era of promotional gimmicks and manufactured personas it is a precious trait to have.

Many artists of past and present (chiefly those working with 'physical' media) have concerned themselves with the permanence or impermanence of their chosen medium, eg: painting on slate or carving in marble to better weather the effects of time. With this consideration can come the fetishisation of leaving a legacy or mission statement: something to be studied by future generations as a paragon of the given art form.

As creators and stewards of an important artistic legacy (though you, humbly, may not consider it as such), does the relative impermanence and intangibility of your chosen medium (sound/data/electricity) ever enter you mind? Does this medium even strike you as impermanent or do you hold a differential opinion?
I suppose it could be argued that composers of the past have circumvented this concern by committing their work to manuscript via musical notation, though I would argue that such notation is woefully inadequate in conveying the true value of an Autechre track; there aren't enough descriptors in the Italian language to accurately convey all that's going on with P.:NTIL, for instance.

Is it enough to have the resonant groove of a pressed vinyl be the most 'physical' avatar for your art and the one that is most likely to weather the passage of time?

sorry I have multiple questions
1.Is autechre for headphones - yes or no?
2.do you see the use of vocals as a instrument or just as something to adorn the track with?

3.is there a studio version of that MCR Quarter track?
4.If I pm you a link to files of a track of mine...would you remix it for me?
5.If I pm you my adress would you send me something signed for my birthday

Looks like I completely missed an awesome weekend at watmm. :D

Sean an Rob, pls KEEP ON RELEASING THOSE TUNES! Please?

Question: if you weren't legally connected to Warp (now or in the future), would you consider doing a 'radiohead' or some online thing like Bandcamp? Or is there a lot of stuff involved where a party like Warp is almost a necessity to keep you going?

Also: those Quaristice releases reminded me a lot about the Miles Davis Sessions releases ( Eg. Bitches Brews Sessions) in concept. Will you be doing more of those? And is it perhaps an idea to release Sessions versions of your old albums where you mix up stuff and edits which didn't make the final cut and add some live stuff from gigs around that period as well? And how about having other people/friends doing the work of going through the archives for you? ( thinking about Gescom)

Also5: how about a collab with Moritz Von Oswald?

Also final: Around Untilted you were working with Surgeon and there seemed to be a general tendency to work within the four to the floor box. Quite successfully, imo and almost to the point where I could imagine you two inventing a new form of pop music 10 years into the future. What would you think if the really happened?

Ps: awesome thread and awesome questions. Too bad ima bit late to the party though.

this might be like some kind of SNK vs Capcom fantasy of mine, but why haven't you ever remixed any of BOC tracks or vice versa?

  On 11/4/2013 at 5:34 AM, Danny O Flannagin said:

Any music recs of stuff you guys dig is VERY much appreciated. Incredibly interested to hear some of your musical influences

This x . Have a word document with some of your electro influences, hope to add more

Also, a top-10 favorite Detroit techno releases!

  On 11/4/2013 at 8:50 AM, viscosity said:

this might be like some kind of SNK vs Capcom fantasy of mine, but why haven't you ever remixed any of BOC tracks or vice versa?

Always thought ae mixes wonderfully well with BOC. Enough points of similarity and contrast at the same time. Like a Bacardi Cola!

Sean and Rob, what are your pro tips for a successful job interview? cheers maetlz

Do you regret saying yes to doing this thread?

Will you pop in after this thread is over or will you retire these handles and return to the ones you were using before?

Ever considered restricting yourself to just a couple of pieces of gear and see what would come out without using any computers to mangle and manipulate sound? Just as a fun exercise.

  On 11/2/2013 at 8:24 PM, Sean Ae said:

 

  On 11/2/2013 at 8:07 PM, mcbpete said:

Is Gen~ as useful as cycling 74 make out ?

 

i dunno what they make out

 

it's prob more useful than reaktor core

 

(i will prob get flamed to fuck now for saying that)

 

core is a whole other program cannibalized by reaktor that isn't anywhere near basic functionality in max probably but some people squeezing some surprising low level stuff with it like porting filter code from c to it but NI hasn't developed it much after launching it a decade ago so people have done desperate things like create their own iteration

in a recent update NI made it so core is compiled offline which makes loading some patches quicker which is probably a better comparison to the gen update for max

I'm hesitating at posting a potentially pretentious wordy questions.. but ah fuck-it here goes, take it or leave it..

'Intelligent Dance Music' as a genre-label has been derided by various artists associated with it, and probably with good reason. It implies superiority over other kinds of dance music and brings to mind images of people moving in contrived ways on a dance floor. Genre-titles are problematic in the first place, questionably necessary and some would say the pretentiousness of this one only serves to keep communities of music apart and put others down. So while this music inevitably exists in a niche, away from the mainstream, the leading proponents seem to want it to be as inclusive as possible.

However at this nexus-point, is the battle against pretentiousness as pressing as the battle against anti-intellectualism? We now live in a time when anyone with the Internet can get educated on whatever they want, should they desire to do so. Given this, I would argue the intellectual vitality of communities is more likely to be furthered by a precociousness of attitude, rather than circumstances of class. This doesn't sit well with some. You only have to look at the recent debate around Russell Brand's interview with Jeremy Paxman where so many responded with some variant of "Who is he to say these things? Leave it to the experts."

I think one of the things that is so inspiring about your music is that while you are not, strictly speaking, programmers or mathematicians, you're prepared to go balls-deep into these subjects in order to bring back mind-expanding sounds. Presumably you are not prepared to sit by and 'leave it to the experts' when there is something that interests you that you want to explore. So apologies in advance for a false-opposites style question, but is 'intelligent' really a dirty word, or is it now time to claim it back? ;)

P.S. Could you please name my Yamaha RS7000?

Can a recommend a certain generative music patch / vst / software you like a lot (besides the ones you created yourself)?

Did you replace midi in favor of a modified version of osc or did you create something new from scratch?

Do you like any sepecific ios / android music app you would suggest?

What do you think about software like noatikl, synfire, melodyne and liquid notes?