ZoeB Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 From analogue-owner@hyperreal.com Tue Oct 15 15:47:32 1996 Received: by taz.hyperreal.com (8.7.6/V2.0) id PAA29683; Tue, 15 Oct 1996 15:47:32 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mhub1.tc.umn.edu by taz.hyperreal.com (8.7.6/V2.0) with SMTP id PAA29677; Tue, 15 Oct 1996 15:47:29 -0700 (PDT) Received: from maroon.tc.umn.edu by mhub1.tc.umn.edu; Tue, 15 Oct 96 17:47:27 -0500 Received: from dialup-27-a-186.gw.umn.edu by maroon.tc.umn.edu; Tue, 15 Oct 96 17:47:19 -0500 X-Sender: satti002@maroon.tc.umn.edu (Unverified) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 16:44:42 -0600 To: analogue@hyperreal.com From: Chris Sattinger <satti002@maroon.tc.umn.edu> (Chris Sattinger) Subject: Re: Aphex Twin gear : long, includes interview. Message-Id: <3264147f5b78846@mhub1.tc.umn.edu> Sender: analogue-owner@hyperreal.com Precedence: bulk >> Date sent: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 23:13:17 -0600 (CST) >> From: TIMOTHY GUEGUEN <ad058@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca> >> To: "J.D. McEachin" <jdm@synthcom.com> >> Copies to: analogue@hyperreal.com >> Subject: Aphex Twin gear, was Re: 808 for hip hop??? > >> J.D.s mention of Aphex Twit (sic :-) ) using an '808 reminded me of a >> comment by I believe one of the Grid guys. He said Mr. Twin's supposed >> homemade electronics were just a drum machine thru a fuzzbox. Has anyone >> actually ever gotten a good look at what he makes sounds with? I had the pleasure to conduct a lengthy interview with R.James around about the time that On came out. He was extremely nice, very open and friendly. He also talked quite extensively about gear. I had very interesting questions for him and was obviously not a professional interviewer, so he enjoyed it and told me lots of stuff that he hadn't said elsewhere. I should transcribe it sometime. Much of the gear has been figured out over the years. Much of it doesn't matter so much as the attitude towards the gear. I wouldn't bother to mention what I do know about his gear because wankers always go out and buy the same crap and do the same thing with it that James already did. Same goes for Jeff Mills and any other creative groundbreaker. Try out Matrix 1000 presets for a start. ;) He did say that the equipment he built were small and fragile. He sampled them and left them at his parents. He compiled quite a bit of samples (microphones etc.) and has been using them for years. Still plenty to explore there. He said he'd used about 40 different hardware or software sequencers. He changes his gear constantly, the setup. Uses small mixers or records direct to dat. He also said that he had plans to record a full symphony orchestra through his little bits of gear and 8 channel mixer. Doesn't seem to have done that yet. Also, those of us that saw him spin at Furthur can attest that he does have actual turntable skills. I was quite stunned that he knows how to cut , flange, and tweak very nicely. Advanced dj skills. Well apologies to all you squabblers and flamers, but I'm going to junk up the bandwith with some actual interesting information. Hate me if you must. : this is from Frontpage's interviews : the complete interview is at : http://www.techno.de/ it contains more stuff about rephlex, his dead brother, his tank, warehouses etc. Also, read the Mike Ink interview, its very interesting. Aphex Twin FP: What was the most interesting musical thing that happend to you last year? RJ: I recon probably people on the internet, like i`ve been linking up with software bots, getting customised programs and stuff, to do certain things. FP: What kind of? RJ: Like sort of sound processing, software, loads of really complicated signal processors. I`m really getting into those things and doing a lot of research myself. Like getting back into programming as well. Like trying to make my own programs and coming up with mad things. I`ve got another four months of research to do i reckon, before I'm ready. FP: What do you use? Computerwise? RJ: I use like Macs, a couple of macs. FP: And software? RJ: The main thing i use is like stuff that i`ve got written for me. Basically i got in contact with loads of people, told them who i was, hoping that some of them would be like fans of my work, and one guy, who got back to me, was like my favorite programmer, who was really up for doing anything basically. and did loads of software, customized stuff for me. I got my own sequencer like totally sorted out, and harddiscrecording totally customized the way i want it to be basically. I am luky, like what i`ve used all over the years, customised equipment, i cant stand using equipment thats designed by someone else. Makes you working in their way sort of thing. Something like Cubase is a really good tool, but then its got loads of edges that you just have to go along with. and It forces you to go along with it in ways you wouldnt normally go with. So youre lucky if you got someone who can basically rewrite it so that it works more smoothly the way you want it to. FP: What would you say are the main edges of Cubase. The problems. RJ: I dont know, i think its the whole way it looks. I haven`t got a problem with it at all, the structure. But the way it looks makes me wanna do very logical things, cause its a very logical program. And if you use it that way its very good, but if you want to do more live stuff, it`s not geared towards it at all. Makes you work rigidly. FP: You mind if i smoke? RJ: Not if i can have a cigarette. FP: Are you going to some things on Rephlex soon? RJ: Yeah, i did an Analogue Bubblebath 5 and a Caustic Window album, thats been on white label for about 2 years, but i`m not going to release it, cause i dont like it, no, i do, but not all the tracks, i want better ones on that, quite often, if you make records very soon after you did the tracks, you change your mind about them. FP: You`re doing more live gigs now as well. RJ: Yeah i played last week. But we want to get a ship, and play there, letting it dock at different harbors. Play a gig, and then sail to the next port. I got to get it sponsored, cause its very expensive. I reckon its the thing you could get on national news if you did it right. Some scam. Would be quite a mad thing to do basically. FP: We had quite a lot of that stuff in the german techno scene. Like Ravecrusades and stuff. RJ: Did they sail around. FP: Yeah, in the mediterranean sea. RJ: They had a rave on the sea? I did not want to do that, though it might be quite a good laugh, there is no laws on the sea, so it could go on forever, but i dont want to go on forever, i only want to play an hour and a half. I like to DJ, then it gets quite rough. FP: What do you DJ. ? RJ: Music i like. FP: What do you like? RJ: Everything i reckon. All styles of music. Basically anything thats original. Like its been made for the right reasons. FP: Who would you rate as some of the most original people? RJ: I only really like a few people at the moment, and that is Luke Vibert and Squarepusher. I like Drexciya as well but i havent heard their new record though. Those two are my favorites really, they are doing their own things, not copying anyone else. FP: How come its that short? RJ: Just the atention span these days has gone real downhill. I think a record should be that length. Just with Techno it got longer cause people started putting albums out on 12"s, to make them louder, and everyone got into that idea, that all technoalbum has got to be two records. I think its more of a normal thing to do. FP: Just not from the CD perspective. RJ: Well i never listen to CDs more than half an hour, even if i like them. I would listen to them in two parts. Never from start to finish. You just get distracted. FP: Why is that so. RJ: Youd just get distracted. Half an hour in my home and then someone phones me up, or knocks on my door. That kind of thing. Even if not i`d get bored after half an hour cause i want to do something else. And if its really good it makes me wanna do my own stuff. FP: If you do tracks yourself they might at least take you longer then half an hour. RJ: I reckon so yeah. FP: And it will make you listen to it longer. RJ: Yeah, but i`m really into the idea of making tracks shorter, and more complicated. Putting more into it. I lie really minimal things as well, but for me personally, for my own music, thats not what i want to to for the next forseeable future. So i`m quite happy with that. FP: It sounds like a very fractured album too. RJ: You get bored of listening to the same sound. If i listen to, lets say a jungle track, after about three minutes, i want to hear another break, even if its doing those different things. I get bored of the sound. Want to do something else that keeps you interested. FP: Is it basically the sound that interests you. RJ: No,. everything interests me, melody as well, its all important, but even if you change the music all the way through, using the same sound gets boring. So i keep the track as long as i can, and change the sound when i dont like it anymore. FP: You still produce at home. Where are you going to move. RJ: I`m looking for a warehouse in London, somthing i can drive my tank in, whithout collapsing. But they are all like sold, like its getting really trendy to buy warehouses. There is not a lot left. I found one the other day, but i had to buy it, the next day and it was a quarter of a million pounds, and i cant really deal with spending that many pounds in 12 hours. (background music: 99 red balloons by nena, makes him laugh) RJ: I forgot that. FP: Thats better. Do you like like music from the 80s? RJ: Yeah, its starting to sound better. 5 years ago i wouldnt have said that, but i noticed all these shit records are starting to sound a bit better. They are just so stupid, and everything is so cheap. I`m sure in another 10 years time they will start to be really cool. FP: When we heard you record at the office, somebody said it sounds like the Cure. RJ: Wich track? FP: The first or second. RJ: I reckon i really dont like the Cure, but i they can write good tunes. If you would take the sound away, the voice, they would be really good. Like Smiths Songs, i really hate him, but if you did a verion of them they would probably very good. Dislike the people singing it, the way its done. FP: What are your plans? RJ: Just making as much music as possible. As usual. Get on with stuff. Not being as sociable as i have been. FP: Do you spend a lot of time on the net? RJ: Yeah, loads actually. You start doing the same things all the time. You find all the things you can do with it, then you do them all of the time. Sometimes i`m on it and get bored with that, turn of the computer and just think about it. The whole concept of the net. FP: Are there other things then the musical things that interest you. RJ: I dont really read about music on there. FP: But you get software. RJ: Yeah, and a lot of graphic software as well, cause i like painting and stuff. Some death pages are quite smart. Quite hardcore. Saw one the other day of a couple killing the girls boyfriend. This guy with the moustache, and the girl holding the guys cock going to castrate him. Thats wicked. Someone send the adress to me. And i did not know weather it was real. FP: Have you seen this japanese Laboratory thing, where all the internal processes of their computersystem are transformed into mididata and then made to music and retransferred as a live audiostream. RJ: Na, but that sounds wicked too. What does it sound like? =46P: Well basically really ambient. And its Real Audio, you know what that sounds like, but its very nice and strangely structured. There is those people playing live with mididata as well. RJ: I dont understand, explain youself. FP: It is sort of like a chat channel but you are not chatting with words but with mididata. RJ: Thas wicked too, but i couldnt get into it. Cause basically i havent done it. And i cant get into things i havent done. I `Ve written programs that do Random music, and they were quite a good laugh, but it doesnt go anywhere. Seen any good picture to music things? I havent found any jet. FP: Me either. RJ: Cant believe that noone has written really good ones. There should be a program wich gets out sound to what your painting. Its too computerized at the moment, the interfaces should be really sorted out. Its like with keyboards, they have been around for too long. I will come quite soon i think. The more people get into music that dont want to learn all these stupid boring ways to do it. FP: Most of them probably want to do stupid boring music. RJ: But i reckon its going to be more. Girls hate it. They dont want to look through pages and pages of stuff just to get music out. And it would be more of a laugh if you would get pictures to play with. More graphical things rather then data. FP: The biggest problem is probably the picture recognition thing. RJ: Yeah. They got programs that can read files and play them as music files, Sound Hack, what comes out is pretty unpredictable, but its good if you work on a picture with photoshop, and save it, play it, change a bit more and play it again. FP: To find out the relations. RJ: Yeah work out what it sounds like what you do, its easy and you need to press just one button, but just to save and reopen it takes too long to do. A lot of things just sound like noise, but some packets of data sound interesting, the patterns in it. FP: They should do that in real time. RJ: Someone needs to make one. People who paint good pictures should be able to make good music, it would be a really intersting new way of looking at music. Change it around. New rules. The ones we got are a bit boring now. New ones need to be invented. I always got loads of ideas, but i dont want to get too deep into programming them. Thats a hasstle. So i linked up with those people. FP: There is a good program from the people of OVAL wich functions sort of a CD Player on the Mac, but you got a record button, wich lets you collect samples from the CD and rearrange them to do a track that sounds like an OVAL track, and then add it to the menu of your CD so that everytime you reopen the CD, you have more tracks, your own OVAL remixes of the CD, on your player. RJ: They did that to my album actually. Selected Ambient Works. FP: They didnt. RJ: I am good at recognizing sounds, i swear they did it. I was really getting into the album, and thinking, yeah, that sounds really familiar, and found my whole album beeing torn apart, it`s quite good though, and i didnt know wich way to take it. Did they like my album or did they just think, well this CD is rubbish lets tear it apart. That was what i liked most about their record. =A9bleed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chris Sattinger NEW RELEASES - DISCOGRAPHY - INFO http://www.tc.umn.edu/nlhome/m082/satti002/ChrisSattinger.html US Techno House Business Resource : http://www.tc.umn.edu/nlhome/m082/satti002/DanceLabel.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Hide ZoeB's signature Hide all signatures http://www.zoeblade.com On 5/13/2015 at 9:59 PM, rekosn said: zoe is a total afx scholar Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
AAAAh Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 cool, i reckon Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Hide AAAAh's signature Hide all signatures triachus yelling AAAA really straings the voice, and the tiny h really represents the struggle and hardship a vocal chord must endure for yelling AAAA http://i.imgur.com/jXQiEuU.jpg Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2206658 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MassfreeKid Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 I wish he would still give these honest, down to earth interviews. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2206738 Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud capture Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Thank you for sharing this information. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2206740 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herr Jan Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Cheers for sharing Zoe! Good stuff. Interesting he already told why AB5 and CAT023 weren't going to be released (same explanation he gave JR recently), nobody ever picked up on that back then I guess. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2206745 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MassfreeKid Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 On 8/24/2014 at 2:41 PM, Herr Jan said: Cheers for sharing Zoe! Good stuff. Interesting he already told why AB5 and CAT023 weren't going to be released (same explanation he gave JR recently), nobody ever picked up on that back then I guess. Yeah exactly. Also, it explains why he's waited so long to release new music, maybe. He releases his music long after he's finished it, to make sure it stands the test of time. Everything for the next 10 years is ready to be released. Nowadays, he's working on the music that will be released between 2025 and 2035. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2206789 Share on other sites More sharing options...
apriorion Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Very nice. Interesting to see his thoughts about the Caustic Window LP only two short years after the test pressings. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2206793 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenton Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 RJ: I am good at recognizing sounds, i swear they did it. I was really getting into the album, and thinking, yeah, that sounds really familiar, and found my whole album beeing torn apart, it`s quite good though, and i didnt know wich way to take it. Did they like my album or did they just think, well this CD is rubbish lets tear it apart. That was what i liked most about their record. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Hide fenton's signature Hide all signatures Reveal hidden contents https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkWwIShuoX4 Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2206802 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoeB Posted August 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 On 8/24/2014 at 4:23 PM, MassfreeKid said: He releases his music long after he's finished it, to make sure it stands the test of time. An interesting strategy, but probably a bad one. If you're constantly improving your skillset (and you should be), you'll always look at something you did a year ago or two years ago as being less polished than what you're capable of now. You'd never release anything. Oh. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Hide ZoeB's signature Hide all signatures http://www.zoeblade.com On 5/13/2015 at 9:59 PM, rekosn said: zoe is a total afx scholar Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2206847 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schlitze Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Also reveals his appetite for torture porn where he talk about some site where he saw a guy become a eunuch. Ouch. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2206990 Share on other sites More sharing options...
calx Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Good interview that, thanks. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2207020 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MassfreeKid Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 (edited) On 8/24/2014 at 6:32 PM, ZoeB said: On 8/24/2014 at 4:23 PM, MassfreeKid said: He releases his music long after he's finished it, to make sure it stands the test of time. An interesting strategy, but probably a bad one. If you're constantly improving your skillset (and you should be), you'll always look at something you did a year ago or two years ago as being less polished than what you're capable of now. You'd never release anything. Oh. Well personally I've known a couple of artists who do it that way. I don't think it's a bad strategy when you produce 100 tracks per month, to let your music sit for a while, you know? You can't release everything you make, obviously. What I was told is, when you let your music sit for a couple of years and come back to it once in a while, it EVOLVES. It becomes more intricate, more elaborate, deeper, truer to your intention, etc. You also develop a kind of distance to it that is necessary to hear it more objectively. As you said, your skillset improves so that means your old music improves along the way. It grows organically together with you. You know the saying, "great art is never finished, only abandoned". Edited August 26, 2014 by MassfreeKid Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2208190 Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentvision Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 Great read. Perhaps tracks are just like paintings: never completed, only abandoned. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2208279 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoeB Posted August 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 I can kind of see that, but at the end of the day, real artists ship. I'd rather hear some imperfect tracks than not hear any of them at all. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Hide ZoeB's signature Hide all signatures http://www.zoeblade.com On 5/13/2015 at 9:59 PM, rekosn said: zoe is a total afx scholar Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2208425 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MassfreeKid Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 On 8/26/2014 at 5:51 PM, silentvision said: Perhaps tracks are just like paintings: never completed, only abandoned. I think so! Great art is great art, no matter what is the medium, right? Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2208574 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Harmac2 Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 Nice interview. Interesting to read something where both people are interested in the subject rather than RDJ sounding bored or disinterested. Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2208609 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MassfreeKid Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 His tone seems to have changed in the upcoming interviews. He seems more open to talk about stuff. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2208614 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerWaschbar Posted August 31, 2014 Report Share Posted August 31, 2014 was there some speculation that the custom daw he had was an early version of live? maybe it was a dream. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Hide DerWaschbar's signature Hide all signatures <3 </3 ¯\(シ)/¯ Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2210847 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubin Farr Posted August 31, 2014 Report Share Posted August 31, 2014 I remember an old interview with Brian Dougans where he debunked the whole 90s notion that Rich was playing instruments of his own design. That was self fed PR, and Brian confirmed as well he was just fucking around with fuzz boxes. I think RDJ even had fake gear on his live setup to cover up the farce. Thanks Haha Confused Sad Facepalm Burger Farnsworth Big Brain Like × Quote Hide all signatures Positive Metal Attitude Link to comment https://forum.watmm.com/topic/84617-old-interview/#findComment-2210868 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts