Peter Grenader
Beads is fun.
updated 4 years ago
Real time manipulation of one of donald trump's more famous "truths"
Let's to hear and even see the difference between unison and gaussian random distribution and the ease of navigating between the 1st and 2nd preset scale banks.
This realization of what is questionably* the most famous organ fugue over conceived was not an cheap attempt to de-throne Wendy Carlos (although it may have turned out that way - a 'cheap attempt'). It was instead simply a method used to test the basics of Digital Performer, recorded midi and digital audio.
While I did study piano in college, I am far from what I would consider a keyboardist. The midi tracks were laid down as separate parts of my own conception extrapolated from the original organ score. In effect this piece also tested my orchestration (gulp). I tried at all times to keep true to Bach's score, although I did change the emphasis of the pedal right before the recapitulation, because I've always found it to be more interesting than the counterpoint at that instant. The midi information was recorded from a written score by one of three methods:
1) I played them real time
2) I played them at half and even quarter time.
3) I step -recorded them in as close to real time as that process allows
Laying down the midi tracks was the hard part and this took me over a week - bringing them to voice via digital audio was done on a single rainy afternoon in the fall of 2001.
* - 'Questionably' refers to a generally unaccepted argument by musicologist Peter Williams who has questioned the authenticity of this work to be that of Bach. One of his major points is that there is no autographed copy of the manuscript, the earliest surviving copy being that of a pupil of a pupil, which WIlliams found unusual. However, we do know that Bach felt that after a piece was performed it was in effect 'done' and there was little use for its score. Indeed, it has been told that Mrs. Bach would use her husband's old manuscripts from to time to time to wrap fish in from the market. A horror to think what jewels we lost in the process! Williams also points out that this piece alone stands out both harmonically and contrapuntally from Bach's other organ works, the main objection to this being that Bach often broke his own molds.
TECHNICAL NOTES
This rendering I think gives a strong aurgument of the strengths of analog modeling over true analog and I would be curious to see the outcome of a blind taste test when asking people to pick from which it came. In fact, all of the voices present are digital - from either a Yamaha TX816 or a Waldorf Q which was on loan to me from Gary Chang.
This is an excerpt from one of my favorite pieces of his: Dance For Sarah. It was composed in the late 70s. Keep in mind these gestures were all created by tape splicing and the tasteful Doppler effect - that was done by voltage controlling tape deck capstan motors. Pretty smart stuff for the day.
Jill Fraser • Digital/Analog Electronics
Peter Grenader • Analog/Digital Electronics
Thomas Klepper • Dugutalk Electronics, Sitar
with Amy Zimmitti • FOA board engineer
The VINTAGE SYNTHESIZER MUSEUM presents a rare screening of MORTON SUBOTNICK and pioneering experimental filmmaker ED EMSHWILLER'S video opera HUNGERS , along with the LA premier oF REVOLT featuring JILL FRASER, PETER GRENADER and THOMAS KLEPPER performing SUBOTNICK’s seminal piece SIDEWINDER live - among other music
For more information go to PRS.ORG/EVENT (http://prs.org/EVENTS)
The discussion begins talking about Mort Subotnick's use of control tracks on A Sky of Cloudless Sulfer, a process that he developed.
SCARBO (Maurice Ravel) 0:15
SIDEWINDER (Morton Subotnick):
Part 1
Section A: 10:09
Section B: 11:44
Section C: 16:20
Coda 1: 19:33
Part 2
Section A Prime: 21:46
Section B Prime: 23:29
Coda 2: 27:45
More from re:VOLT:
A live studio performance of SIdewinder filmed from Tool's studio in Hollywood CA:
youtube.com/watch?v=LXWj5bV6U1Q
This performance is available ss audio only here:
povmusic2.bandcamp.com/album/re-volt-subotnick-ravel-live-at-the-san-fransisco-electronic-music-festival-2023-featuring-jill-fraser-peter-grenader-thomas-klepper
SPECIAL THANKS:
Danny Carey
Pamela Z
Amy X Neuburg
Tom Duff
Aaron Higgins and Steve Joslin (1010 Music)
Cyrus Rex
Used by permission of The San Fransisco Electronic Music Festival and The Lab, SF.
youtube.com/watch?v=LXWj5bV6U1Q
Part 1 : in four movements (9 minutes 45 seconds)
Part 2: in three movements (6 minutes 45 seconds)
Performed live from Tool's studio Hollywood, CA by Jill Fraser, Shiro Fujioka, Peter Grenader, Thomas Klepper (aka re:VOLT).
Filming/Editing: K. David
Recording Engineer: Tim Dawson
Title Graphics: Hyejin Sunwoo
Produced, arranged and mixed by Peter Grenader
Morton Subotnick's seminal 1971 electronic work Sidewinder performed on March 26th, 2023 at the invitation of Joan LaBarbara, in celebration of his 90th birthday.
The idea of an adaptation of Sidewinder has been on the radar of zZyzx Society's Jill Fraser and Peter Grenader - both CalArts alumni who worked with Subotnick, for years. The process began with an abridged orchestration drafted by Peter Grenader, where the quartet was encouraged to both replicate his soundscapes and develop more interpretative timbres for the individual parts. With that, two general rules applied:
1. Following the original gestalts using more interpretive timbres.
2. Closely replicating Mort's original timbres but taking the progression in our own direction.
The performance consisted primarily of modular synthesizers, plus previously recorded samples from those instruments triggered in realtime. Along with these electronic instruments, two stopwatches were fitted with contact mics to replicate Subotnick's original rattling timbre which begins Part 1 and Part 2.
The ensemble convened for a single 4 hour rehearsal on March 24th prior to taping two days later at Tool's studio in Hollywood CA. which afforded access to Danny Carey's 1975 vintage Buchla 200 and massive E-mu. It was recorded in multi-track through an API 2488 desk by Tim Dawson, Tool's primary technician and studio engineer. This console was originally owned by Rick James and used in the "Super Freak" sessions.
A wav file recording of this performance is available on Bandcamp at:
povmusic2.bandcamp.com/album/subotnick-sidewinder-live
INSTRUMENTATION:
JILL FRASER: Prism Circuits Quasar Serge, Abelton Push II
SHIRO FUJIOKA: Eurorack Modular, E-mu Modular, Elektron Digitkat, Elektron Digitone
PETER GRENADER: Analog/Digital Eurorack Modular, Stopwatches
THOMAS KLEPPER: Buchla 200, Buchla Music Easel, Toolbox Modular
SPECIAL THANKS
Danny Carey
Joan LaBarbara
Skyler King/Prism Circuits
Aaron Higgins and Steve Joslin/1010 Music
Kyle Terborg
James & Elisabeth Lewin/Synthopia
Matrixsynth
Elektron
Tim Dawson
Blair Blake
Hyejin Sunwoo
Kristi Pollard
Mort Subotnick: In profound appreciation for his historic contribution to art and music
LINKS:
Original Sidewinder technical notes/patch analysis by Morton Subotnick:
http://www.mortonsubotnick.com/pdfs/sidewinder.pdf
Bob Gluck's analysis of Sidewinder:
newmusicusa.org/nmbx/morton-subotnicks-sidewinder
Essay on Sidewinder by Snows Ov Gethen:
snowsovgethen.com/journal/morton-subotnick-sidewinder-1971-cbs-masterworks
The Secrets of Control - Peter Grenader's paper on Subotnick's use of control tracks:
web.archive.org/web/20080929184757/http://www.buzzclick-music.com/mort_lore.html
Jeffrey Hanson's thesis on control tracks:
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4861&context=etd_theses&httpsredir=1
Library of Congress listing of Morton Subotnick papers:
findingaids.loc.gov/exist_collections/ead3pdf/music/2022/mu022014.pdf
Morton Subotnick's official site:
http://www.mortonsubotnick.com
zZyzx Society official site (Jill Fraser/Peter Grenader):
zzyzxsociety.com
Shiro Fujioka's webspace:
instagram.com/voltagectrlr/?hl=en
Thomas Klepper's webspace:
facebook.com/musicbyThomasK
youtube.com/watch?v=LXWj5bV6U1Q
Morton Subotnick's seminal 1971 electronic work Sidewinder performed live at Tool's studio in Hollywood CA on March 26th, 2023 by Jill Fraser, Shiro Fujioka, Peter Grenader and Thomas Klepper, with access to Danny Carey's 1975 vintage Buchla 200 and massive E-mu, at the invitation of Joan LaBarbara in celebration of Morton Subotnick's 90th birthday.
Filmed and edited by K. David.
Produced, arranged and mixed by Peter Grenader
Not what I would consider a proper full-feature demo....just slapping up a quick patch, plugging things in and twiddling knobs
youtube.com/watch?v=LXWj5bV6U1Q
youtu.be/LXWj5bV6U1Q
Morton Subotnick's Sidewinder, performed by Jill Fraser, Shiro Fujioka, Peter Grenader and Thomas Klepper - live from Tool's studio in Hollywood, CA
youtube.com/watch?v=fm3Bh-b83nE
Anyone who thinks Rings is just a drone generator needs to dive deeper.
youtube.com/watch?v=q4YnZcG_muc
Key modules:
Flame 4 VOX
Plan B Model 9 Mixer
Doepfer A-125 Phase Shifter
Plan B Model 23 Analog Shift Register
Plan B Model 32 LFO
EAR Model 27 After Effects Processor
The Vector Plotter is acting as a crossfader here, fading between the PT Audio Digital VCO (when paddle is down) and Plan B Model 15 (paddle up). Modulation comes via the Octavizer algorithm in the never-released Plan B Model 28 After Effects Processor, with the whole thing shaped by the Model 13 Mini Vactrol LPG then through the Plan B Model 27 Stereo Delay
I recently did a huge overhaul and expansion of that system and this video details that journey.
--------------------
Here's a list of modules in the Toolbox, by manufacturer:
1010 Music: Micro Bit Box
2 HP: Grain, Pluck, Rnd, EG, ADSR, Seq, Delay, Verb, LFO, Play (x3)
Doepfer: A-148 Sample & Hold, A-180 Passive Mult
Intelligel: Mini Fold
Jones: O'Tool 2
Make Noise: Echophon
Malekko Heavy Machinery: Varigate 8, Unity Mixer (x2)
Plan B/EAR: Model 15 VCO , Model 10 EG (x3), Model 13 Timbral Gate, Model 25 Multi-Tasking Audio Processor, Model 26 Multi-tasking Control Processor, Model 24 Heisenberg Generator, Model 21C Mini Milton, Model 7 Panner, Model 38 Leveler, Model 41 Steiner EVI FIlter, Model 13 Mini Low Pass Gate, EAR Output (custom), EAR Model 9 MK II Mixer (custom), EAR Leveler (custom).
Subconscious Communication (Plan B) : Model 15 VCO (x2), Model 37 LFO/VCO
Qu-Bit: Nebulae II
_____________
For a recent interview detailing this system and my involvement with Tool, check out Kris West's Spiral Out podcast:
spiraloutpod.podbean.com/e/peter-grenader-tool-box-mod-synth
For an article on how this synth came into being check out The Fortheye:
fourtheye.net/2013/11/peter-grenader-on-dannys-toolbox-synth
Darwin Gross' Art + Music + Technology Podcast talking about synth manufacturing and composing:
artmusictech.libsyn.com/podcast-208-peter-grenader
EAR/Plan B Synthesizer official website:
ear-synth.com
Peter Grenader's POV website:
pov-music.com
zZyzx Society:
zzyzxsociety.com
I know, lame.
Hear me out! The Mutable Beads is currently kicking the crap out of me. I have no idea of it's capabilities. It's all hunt and peck at this point. In one of those experiments, i noticed by putting a metric rhythm patch through it and syncing the Seed input with the same clock that's driving the patch that it would, magically, double the frequency of whatever it's processing.
This immediately reminded me of a certain passage Mort Subotnick is famous for, so i ginned up a quicky sonic xerox. This all came about after i produced a demo of what 'real' lowpass gates can do, which hearkened back my percussive motif fetish that dominated my piece The Secret Life of Semiconductors (search 'Peter Grenader Secret Life" on apple music or bandcamp if curious).
Everything you hear is being gated through vactrol-based LPGs, namely the Plan B Model 13 Timbral Gate. The first voice is from a Flame 4 Vox in which i cycle through a few of it's wavetables. The second voice is it's manifestation via the Mutable Beads in which i am controlling the wet/dry mix via Plan B Model 24 wiggly random voltage. The third voice is via a Plan B Model 15 which is getting it's pacing from Malekko Varigate 4.
Panning courtesy of an EAR Model 7 Panner, driven by a second wiggly random via a second Plan B Model 24
The first and third voices are being driven by two Plan B Model 10 EGs to both open the LPG and thwap the VCO frequencies.
As i sidenote, i think Apple finally chased all the demons out of iMovie. It does not piss me off anywhere near as much now.
enjoy, or not!
I think people who haven't yet done a lot of PCB/faceplate design and integration will appreciate this.
As some of you know, i was the designer of and now the lion tamer for the Euro system used by Tool live (Chocolate Chip Drip). I had to make them a single channel attenuator with very little time left b4 they leave on their new tour and didn't have a lot of free HP in which to do it.
This video goes through the process to make sure things align perfectly when there is no time for rev. 2
Enjoy (or not!):
If you want to skip to the demo of the completed unit first, i get it.... just start watching at 10:04 and back-up if you're curious how i got there. If you'd like to see the code in detail, leave a comment -or- hit me up on Facebook.
Music: The Ballad of Commander Cody and his Lost Planetary Airmen by Peter Grenader from the album Secret Life - available on iTunes or Bandcamp. Here's the link:
povmusic2.bandcamp.com/album/secret-life
Darwin Gross:
artmusictech.libsyn.com
Front Panel Express:
frontpanelexpress.com
LMB Heeger:
lmbheeger.com
Other albums by Peter Grenader:
steveroach.bandcamp.com/album/pov2-the-case-for-square-waves-while-searching-for-happy-accidents
steveroach.bandcamp.com/album/pov
thezzyzxsociety.bandcamp.com/album/the-zzyzx-society
Video: Peter Grenader/Jill Fraser in performance (Zyzx Society):
vimeo.com/211612842
If you're interested in the synth I show here, go to my previous module by module you tube video:
youtube.com/watch?v=avjzYJ5sz2o
Not epecting excellent quality out of set 2 - it may be fine (don't use the second set all that much), but if it's horrible, i will seek a "higher-fi" solution. enjoy (or not)
In summary - you should be able to route the input to two different outputs at the same time without problems. You will cause signal problems, and possible damage to your two device output buffers if you do this at the input stage however.
I also want to apologize for the commercials that show up before and after the video. I had nothing to do with this. Youtube put them in there. My channel is not monetized.
steveroach.bandcamp.com/album/pov2-the-case-for-square-waves-while-searching-for-happy-accidents
Peter Grenader: analog/digital electronics, mellotron
Steve Roach: Oberhiem Expander
Martin Shellard: Guitar
All images via NASA (public domain). No license required.
I did this because I own a Bryston 4B SST power amp and given my current preamp (Acurus) was 25 years old, I felt it was time for an upgrade and the idea of having an fully balanced, all Bryston monitoring system was too hard to resist. In the end, it was a long process - made longer because of delays in parts due to COVID restrictions, my unending search for perfect 'feeling' rotary switches, my addition of a balance pot which is not part of this board's architecture and my decision to design my own +/- 24 VDC supply.
The only thing you get with the kit is the bare, unstuffed preamp board. Everything else is up to your system/mechanical design chops and of course, your imagination. Some patience is required decoding some of the parts listed on their BOM and if you're like me - Google translate (from Chinese) REALLY comes in handy here. I designed a faceplate and had one made by Front Panel Express. I'm never going to sell this, and as such don't feel bad for duplicating the Bryston logo (which I did in Illustrator, calling upon my past life as an art director).
This unit ended up being a bit more complex than it needed to be, mainly due to my (wise) decision to keep the AC transformers out of the box as Bryston does which eliminated the need for hours of RFI suppression voodoo that I would have had to deal with, AND my insistence on using the rotary power on switch which i spec'd, which was not designed to handle the amplitude AC voltage i would have had to put through it, so it required four added relays to engage power to the 24 volt supply and +5 and +12 reference voltages needed by the preamp board. The relay board is a pre-assembled unit designed for Arduino projects. This is also why i had to duplicate the +5 +12 volt DC normally on the preamp board itself. I go into these details in the video.
I did not use the other 24 VDC kit intended for this preamp. The BOM was dodgy and didn't spec the transformer the one i got was 56 VCT, much bigger than required. It was less expensive for me to design my own supply, given i had all the parts/perf boards to do it. Oddly, my supply isn't that much different than the one Bystron originally designed for their 1B Preamp (schematics are online (linked below) and why i assume this preamp board was made as the schematics for the entire unit are also online, published by Bryston themselves).
After my final 24 VDC supply was mounted notice a large single cap hung an a 90 degree angle on the end that faces the relay board (there's a real good shot of it around 8:00). This is the 4700uf filter cap for the bridge rectifier on the small +5 and +12 volt supplies that hang off the back of the power switch assembly. It was too big to hang locally on that tiny little perf board, so i did it by routing the wires from/to the PSUs to the isolated capacitor which converts the AC to DC leading to the two switching regulators. A little kludgy, but this is to be expecting with the number of engineering decisions/solutions required to take a bare board to a completed unit designed for years of daily usage.
The board comes ready for XLRs (balanced) and RCA (line level) connectors. I hate RCAs, and decided to use TRS 1/4 inch phone jacks for all of them, including the balanced I/Os. As a safeguard, I incorporated twisted pairs in all cases (highly recommended). Note: when i mention "wallwart", it's actuly a homemade box contaning the two fused AC transformers tht connect to the wall on one end and my 5 pin XLR connector which brings the secondary transformer voltage into the box itself.
As reference - before you start - know that this preamp as you see here ran me about $500 all things said and done. Sorta/kinda pricey, yet still only a fraction of what a store bought BP26/Power system would run. There's a reason for this, above and beyond Bryston exercising its full right to charge a premium for their products - which i say is justified . The real BP26 has many more input selection options, including a RIAA rated phono input, a remote control and a myriad of additional monitoring mode. This clone however does have the benefit of Bryston's legendary discrete D0433 op amp design (six in total).
Also take this as certification that the PCBA, when completed, is 100% functional. The art is good. If your unit isn't working, it's due to an error you made along the way.
The unit is done, this video documents the journey, including the stupid mistakes i made along the way. Highlights can be found at 6:45 when i apply full system power, 9:16 when i do the initial audio tests and 11:25 when it's completed and demo'd in my rack. I can't see anyone sitting through the whole thing, but best of luck trying.
Bryston B1 Preamp schematics online:
manualslib.com/manual/355786/Bryston-1b.html#manual
Southwestern Businessman's Association from the album POV2: The Case for Square Waves While Searching for Happy Accidents on ZSR Records available on Steve's Roach's Timeroom Direct at:
steveroach.bandcamp.com/album/pov2-the-case-for-square-waves-while-searching-for-happy-accidents


