Electronic Music
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Top 10 Electronic Music Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Electronic Music episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Electronic Music for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Electronic Music episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Scanner - My Life In Modules
Electronic Music
08/20/24 • 55 min
In this first part of an occasional series exploring modular synthesis and live performance. William Stokes talks to experimental electronic musician Scanner about his career, the choice of his favourite modules he'll showcase in his closing performance and the friendliness of the modular community.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:13 - The Tate Modern Installation
02:52 - Working With Laurie Anderson
06:40 - The Origin Of The Name Scanner
10:47 - Module 1: Morphagene
14:30 - Module 2: Mimeophon
18:52 - Module 3: Equation Composer
24:08 - Module 4: QU-Bit Prism
26:51 - Finding Your Sound With Modular
29:22 - Module 5: QU-Bit Nano Rand
31:16 - Module 6: Instruō øchd DivKid
33:12 - Modular Social Community
35:31 - Modular Aesthetics
38:38 - Module 7: Bela Gliss
42:37 - The Performance
Morphagene - https://www.makenoisemusic.com/modules/morphagene/
Mimeophon - https://www.makenoisemusic.com/modules/mimeophon/
Equation Composer (discontinued)
QU-Bit Prism - https://www.qubitelectronix.com/shop/p/prism
QU-Bit Nano Rand - https://www.qubitelectronix.com/shop/p/nano-rand
Instruō øchd - https://www.instruomodular.com/product/ochd/
Bela Gliss - https://uk.shop.bela.io/products/gliss
Robin Rimbaud Biog
Scanner (British artist Robin Rimbaud) traverses the experimental terrain between sound and space connecting a bewilderingly diverse array of genres. Since 1991 he has been intensely active in sonic art, producing concerts, installations and recordings, the albums Mass Observation (1994), Delivery (1997), and The Garden is Full of Metal (1998) hailed by critics as innovative and inspirational works of contemporary electronic music.
To date he has scored 65 dance productions, including the hit musical comedy Kirikou & Karaba Narnia, Qualia for the London Royal Ballet, and the world’s first Virtual Reality ballet, Nightfall, for Dutch National Ballet.
More unusual projects have included designing sound for the Philips Wake-Up Light (2009), the re-opening of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam in 2012 and the new Cisco telephone system used in many offices around the world. His work Salles des Departs is permanently installed in a working morgue in Paris whilst Vex, the residential house by Chance de Silva architects, featuring his permanent soundtrack, won the RIBA London Award 2018.
Committed to working with cutting edge practitioners he collaborated with Bryan Ferry, Wayne MacGregor, Mike Kelley, Torres, Michael Nyman, Steve McQueen, Laurie Anderson and Hussein Chalayan, amongst many others.
William Stokes Biog
William Stokes is a producer, writer and artist in three-piece avant-psych band Voka Gentle. As well as being a critic and columnist for Sound On Sound, conceiving the popular Talkback column and heading up the Modular column, he has also written on music and music technology for The Guardian, MOJO, The Financial Times, Electronic Sound and more.
As an artist in Voka Gentle he has made records with producers from Gareth Jones (Depeche Mode, Grizzly Bear, Nick Cave) to Sam Petts-Davies (Radiohead, The Smile, Roger Waters), has had songs featured on franchises from FIFA Football to The Sims and has toured across the UK, Europe and the USA, playing festivals from Pitchfork Avant-Garde in Paris to SXSW in Austin, Texas. He has collaborated with artists including the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, Morcheeba, Panda Bear and Sonic Boom.
Alongside being a guitarist and pianist, he is a synthesis enthusiast with a particular interest in sampling and explorative sound manipulation. As a producer and engineer, he has made albums with acclaimed avant-garde musicians from composer Tullis Rennie to Mute Records artist Louis Carnell. “I’m always seeking out the most ‘out-there’, experimental, risk-taking musicians I can find to work with,” he says, “to capture vibrant, detailed recordings and create three-dimensional mixes of music that might otherwise struggle to know where to begin in the studio environment.”
Stokes currently lectures in Music Production at City, University of London.
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound....
House Music Pioneer - Marshall Jefferson
Electronic Music
07/19/21 • 31 min
Marshall Jefferson talks about his early years in the Chicago house music scene, his seminal 'Move Your Body’ track, the classic equipment he's worked with and how modern music technology allows anyone to create with ease.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:10 - The Early Years
05:42 - Rock Music Influence
08:52 - Ron Hardy, Trax Records & DJ Pierre
10:29 - Replacing Stolen Equipment
11:44 - Logic and Roland Cloud
13:19 - The Ten City Album
13:47 - Incorporating Binaural
15:36 - Composing Alone
18:03 - Working On Headphones
22:47 - Sonic Improvements
24:39 - Market Saturation
27:09 - Females In Electronic Music
29:25 - Future Projects
Marshall Jefferson BiogMarshall Jefferson has been a key player in the house music genre. Starting out in the Chicago house scene, his early tracks like ‘Open Our Eyes’ and ‘7 Ways to Jack’ were put out on the TRAX Records label and made an impact on the scene, but it was his use of piano in ‘Move Your Body’ that bought wider attention to his work.
Since those early years, Marshall has helped to develop the acid house movement with his work on ‘Acid Trax’ with DJ Pierre in 1987. He also turned his hand to deep house, most notably on ‘Open Our Eyes’, released in 1988 on Big Beat. He headlined the first House Music Tour of Europe in 1987 and in the 90s did a five-year residency with the Tribal Gathering and Big Love Events in London, during which time he released his 1997 studio album Day Of The Onion.
In 2021, Marshall teamed up with Byron Stingily to release a new album 'Judgement' under the Ten City band name, their first collaboration in 25 years.
https://www.beatport.com/artist/ten-city/39865
Caro C Biog
Caro C is an artist, engineer and teacher specialising in electronic music. Her self-produced fourth album "Electric Mountain" is out now. Described as a "one-woman electronic avalanche" (BBC), Caro started making music thanks to being laid up whilst living in a double decker bus and listening to the likes of Warp Records in the late 1990's. This "sonic enchantress" (BBC Radio 3) has now played in most of the cultural hotspots of her current hometown of Manchester, UK. Caro is also the instigator and project manager of electronic music charity Delia Derbyshire Day.
Twitter: @carocsoundInst: @carocsound
FB: https://www.facebook.com/carocsound/
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
The Bob Moog Foundation
Electronic Music
06/23/21 • 39 min
Michelle Moog Koussa is the Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation, an organisation set up in her father’s memory to carry out educational work in the community and curate and display his extensive archive, and the many instruments he developed in his long career.
In recent years, the BMF has increasingly touched the lives and minds of young people interested in electronic sounds, as well as preserving her father’s legacy for current and future generations to enjoy and draw inspiration from via the Moogseum located in Asheville, North Carolina, USA.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:05 - Why Start The Foundation?
04:30 - The Three Parts Of The Foundation
07:20 - Unusual Items In The Archive
09:16 - What did you learn about your father from the archive?
10:11 - Who inspired Bob Moog?
14:05 - The Moogseum
23:01 - What Synth’s Are Available?
24:12 - The Electronic Voyager documentary
28:17 - Did making the movie reveal anything new about your father?
30:15 - The impact of the Minimoog
33:21 - When can we see The Electronic Voyager Film?
34:12 - How important is the work of the BMF and other similar organisations?
https://moogfoundation.org/
https://moogseum.org/
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/electronic-voyager
Moog musical clips provided by:
Danniielle O’Connor (Moog Voyager) - http://pulseeternal.com/
Ernesto Romeo (Minimoog Model D) - https://klaussband.bandcamp.com/
Moot Booxlé (Memorymoog & Minimoog) - http://mootbooxle.bandcamp.com/
Suzanne Aston (Moog Voyager XL) - http://synthsbythesea.com/wp/
Brian Oliva (Theremin) - https://www.getsemanimusic.com/
Michelle Moog Koussa BiogMichelle Moog-Koussa, Bob Moog’s third daughter, was born in 1968, just as Wendy Carlos released her groundbreaking album Switched-On Bach, which brought the Moog synthesizer to the fore of the public consciousness. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation, a position she has held for the past 16 years. She has grown the Foundation from a grass roots, volunteer-based organization to one that has nationally recognized goals and accomplishments, a staff of seven, and a worldwide network of supporters. She has been the driving force behind the Foundation’s vision to carry Bob Moog’s pioneering legacy forward by igniting creativity at the intersection of music, science, history, and innovation.
At the forefront of this vision is the Foundation’s hallmark educational project, Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool. Michelle stewarded this project from an occasional volunteer outreach effort to a standardized 10-week curriculum that teaches the science of sound through the magic of music to second grade children in nearly 100 classrooms in Asheville, North Carolina. While Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool currently serves 3,000 children a year, Michelle is leading the Foundation to expand this project nationwide.
Michelle also oversees the preservation of the Bob Moog Foundation Archives, a vast array of historic materials ranging from photos to schematics, from correspondence to prototypes. The Bob Moog Foundation shares the materials with other research institutions and museums, and opened its Moogseum in May 2019, and interactive facility where the Foundation’s educational and historic preservation initiatives converge.
Michelle has written the foreword for The Synthesizer Book, by acclaimed writer and historian, Mark Vail, and has been featured on numerous video and podcasts. Michelle gave a talk at TEDx Asheville in 2017 entitled, Inspired: The Journey of Discovering my Famous Father, which can be viewed here.
Rob Puricelli Biog
Rob Puricelli is a Music Technologist and Instructional Designer who has a healthy obsession with classic synthesizers and their history. In conjunction with former Fairlight Studio Manager, Peter Wielk, he fixes and restores Fairlight CMI’s so that they can enjoy prolonged and productive lives with new owners.
He also writes reviews and articles for his website, failedmuso.com, and other music-related publications, as well as hosting a weekly livestream on YouTube for the Pro Synth Network and guesting on numerous music technology podcasts and shows.
He also works alongside a number of manufacturers, demonstrating their products and lecturing at various educational and vocation...
Don Lewis - The Untold Story Of A Synthesizer Pioneer
Electronic Music
11/12/20 • 50 min
Don Lewis began his musical career as a church organist and ended up touring with the Beach Boys, as well as playing studio sessions for Quincy Jones & Michael Jackson.
Frustrated by the limitations of music technology of the time, Don used his engineering skills to create LEO, the Live Electronic Orchestra, where he managed to get disparate instruments to “talk” to each other and be completely under his control. His work soon came to the attention of Ikutaro Kakehashi, founder of the Roland Corporation, who was inspired by Don’s technological feats to be one of the driving forces behind the creation of MIDI.
But Don’s story is not just one of innovation, but also personal struggle. A struggle that would destroy his career but eventually see him vindicated as a true pioneer and worthy of his adoration within the music community and beyond.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:38 - How does it feel to have a movie made about you?
03:37 - Why make a film about Don?
05:06 - Why create LEO, the Live Electronic Orchestra?
08:40 - Is it about taking control?
10:46 - The documentary process
14:43 - A whole lotta love and struggles
19:47 - The technology of LEO
25:50 - Have you ever been tempted to move LEO from hardware to software?
29:13 - Gathering testimonies
31:33 - The documentary production
35:42 - How have you found pitching this movie to distributors?
39:52 - How LEO inspired MIDI
47:42 - Where can we watch the movie?
Don Lewis Biog
Don Lewis is a gifted musician and educator whose mission is to inspire and empower audiences to achieve their dreams. Whether presenting a solo concert or collaborating with other musicians and artists, Don's music brings a message of hope, respect, and community. Don began playing piano as a Dayton, Ohio high school student. Later, at Tuskegee Institute, he accompanied and sang with the Tuskegee Chorus and played for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Freedom Rallies.
Uniting his interest in engineering with his musical talent, Don became one of the pioneers in synthesizer use and technology. In 1977, he designed and built a synthesizer system, Live Electronic Orchestra (LEO) that was an inspiration for Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), now on display at the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, CA.
Don has performed at concerts worldwide and has appeared as a soloist with many symphony orchestras. As a studio artist, he has worked with such greats as Quincy Jones, Sergio Mendez and Michael Jackson. Don has also created scores for film and television productions including the award winning Rainbow's End and Were You There series featured on PBS. In addition he has scored commercials for such clients as Nissan, Pacific Telephone, and Digital Equipment Corp.
Also an enthusiastic teacher, Don has taught courses in the history of Gospel Music, multimedia, and synthesizer technology at University of California at Berkeley Extension, San Jose State University and Stanford University. In 1987, Don combined his love of children, education and music to create Say “Yes” to Music! Since then, he has delighted thousands of students, teachers and school administrators across the United States and Canada with his inspiring musical assemblies.
Throughout the years Don has been a concert artist and consultant with various musical instrument manufacturers including Hammond, Arp, Yamaha, Roland Corporation, and Rodgers Instruments. He continues to delight and touch the hearts of his fans in his concerts at home and throughout the world.
Ned Augustenborg Biog
Ned Augustenborg has produced a wide range of content in the television industry, having produced or directed for ESPN, MSNBC, CNN, The Mountain Sports Network, Canadian Sports Network, Prime Ticket, CNBC and Sports Net.
Following his formal education at the University of Southern California and the University of Arizona, Augustenborg began his career in computer animation while collaborating on experimental video projects at the Long Beach Museum of Art Video Annex, followed by producing documentaries on such diverse subjects as the California Department of Corrections, a struggling Los Angeles Latino rock band and the early life of Nobel Prize winner Glenn T. Seaborg.
In addition to his freelance production career, Augustenborg also managed several studios for a variety of Cable TV operators throughout Southern California. A recipient of multiple Emmy and Cable ACE Awards in the categories of Entertainment, Documentary, Experimental Video, News; Augustenborg most recently produced and directed for Time Warner Cable’s newly developed sports channels in Southern California for which he received two Emmy nominations for "Best Live Sports Coverage" in 2014.<...
Robin Rimbaud - Scanner
Electronic Music
08/11/20 • 28 min
Life beyond the computer screen.
Robin Rimbaud, AKA Scanner, takes us on an autobiographical sonic journey as he talks about his early fascination with tape recorders, to life beyond the computer screen and his studio filled with modular and table-top synths.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:32 - Personal History and storing memories
01:28 - Tape recorders capturing birthdays and school trips
02:59 - Ambient football on cassette
03:46 - Discovering John Cage
04:31 - Scores of Stockhausen
05:18 - Live music
05:52 - David Tudor
07:39 - Modular Synth discovery
09:23 - In the Studio playtime, Modular Synths, Gesture Arcade
11:24 - Lorre-Mill Keyed Mosstone, Ciat-Lonbarde Cocoquantus 2
11:53 - Lorre-Mill Double Knot, Eventide H9
13:16 - Macumbista Benjolin
17:38 - Morphagene
17:57 - Musique Concrète
20:41 - Teac Reel-to-Reel
21:16 - Tape Loops
22:30 - Dinner for Two
24:59 - Avoiding the screen
25:16 - Going in a loop
26:04 - How nothing has changed
Robin Rimbaud Biog
Scanner (British artist Robin Rimbaud) traverses the experimental terrain between sound and space connecting a bewilderingly diverse array of genres. Since 1991 he has been intensely active in sonic art, producing concerts, installations and recordings, the albums Mass Observation (1994), Delivery (1997), and The Garden is Full of Metal (1998) hailed by critics as innovative and inspirational works of contemporary electronic music.
To date he has scored 65 dance productions, including the hit musical comedy Kirikou & Karaba Narnia, Qualia for the London Royal Ballet, and the world’s first Virtual Reality ballet, Nightfall, for Dutch National Ballet.
More unusual projects have included designing sound for the Philips Wake-Up Light (2009), the re-opening of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam in 2012 and the new Cisco telephone system used in many offices around the world. His work Salles des Departs is permanently installed in a working morgue in Paris whilst Vex, the residential house by Chance de Silva architects, featuring his permanent soundtrack, won the RIBA London Award 2018.
Committed to working with cutting edge practitioners he collaborated with Bryan Ferry, Wayne MacGregor, Mike Kelley, Torres, Michael Nyman, Steve McQueen, Laurie Anderson and Hussein Chalayan, amongst many others.
His latest album, An Ascent, was recently released on the DiN Records label - https://din.org.uk/album/an-ascent-din63
Where To Get The KitGesture Arcade
Lorre-Mill Keyed MosstoneCiat-Lonbarde CocoquantusLorre-Mill Double Knot
Macumbista Benjolin
Morphagene
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Synth Gems - Mike Metlay
Electronic Music
11/24/21 • 50 min
Synth Gems 1 is the first Bjooks publication to be authored by their Editor-in-Chief, Dr Mike Metlay, and sets out to document, both visually and in words, some of the most incredible keyboard synthesizers ever made. Using strict selection criteria, Mike, Kim Bjørn and the team have curated a collection of instruments that are pioneering and rare, influential and impactful and, above all, gorgeous to look at. In this podcast, I wanted to dig into that selection process, find out what it took to document these instruments and ask how this book came into existence, so I began by asking Mike where the inspiration for this book came from...
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:00 - What was the inspiration for this book?
03:12 - What was the process of whittling your list down?
07:24 - Why no modular synths?
09:59 - Were there any synths that you wanted but couldn’t find decent examples of?
12:24 - How did you check and verify your accuracy?
20:06 - How did you come up with the essay format?
22:56 - What challenges did you face when photographing the synths featured?
28:40 - What prompted the inclusion of an introduction to synthesizers?
37:24 - Which is the one instrument in this book you HAD to have in there?
43:36 - Did you ever consider including audio examples?
45:17 - Can you offer any insights into what may appear in Synth Gems 2?
Mike Metlay Biog
After attaining a Ph.D in Nuclear Structure Physics, and eschewing a career in that most technical of scientific fields, Dr Mike Metlay worked for ‘Recording, The Magazine for the Recording Musician’, for over 20 years, the last five of which were as Editor. It allowed him to indulge in his passion for electronic music, and the making of it, through many mediums such as writing, creating and performing. This eventually led him to become Editor-in-Chief at Bjooks, a highly-respected publishing house specialising in luxurious and detailed tomes on the subjects of synthesizers and music technology.
https://bjooks.comhttps://bjooks.com/products/synth-gems-1-exploring-vintage-synthesizershttps://www.mrspiral.com
Rob Puricelli Biog
Rob Puricelli is a Music Technologist and Instructional Designer who has a healthy obsession with classic synthesizers and their history. In conjunction with former Fairlight Studio Manager, Peter Wielk, he fixes and restores Fairlight CMIs so that they can enjoy prolonged and productive lives with new owners. He also writes reviews and articles for his website, failedmuso.com, and other music-related publications, as well as hosting a weekly livestream on YouTube for the Pro Synth Network and guesting on numerous music technology podcasts and shows. He also works alongside a number of manufacturers, demonstrating their products and lecturing at various educational and vocational establishments about music technology.
www.failedmuso.comhttps://www.youtube.com/c/prosynthnetworkTwitter: @failedmusoInstagram: @failedmusoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/failedmuso/
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Matt Johnson - Jamiroquai
Electronic Music
03/22/22 • 39 min
Matt Johnson has emerged as one of the most talented and prolific keyboard players of the last 20 years, mostly as part of the legendary Jamiroquai, in which he both writes and performs, and more recently as a YouTube channel host where he demonstrates this love of modern and vintage synths.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:37 - How did you get your first big break?
02:34 - Was joining Jamiroquai daunting?
03:20 - What was your keyboard rig in those early days?
04:11 - Are workstations an important part of your rig?
04:55 - How did you get to write with Jay Kay?
07:27 - What are you up to outside of Jamiroquai?
08:41 - What’s your rig in 2022?
11:23 - Dream gigs
12:58 - The YouTube explosion
18:20 - What new synths have stood out to you in recent years?
24:06 - What would you like to see happen in synthesizer technology next?
27:24 - Matt’s home studio
31:48 - Sound design
All music composed and performed by Matt Johnson © Matt Johnson Music
Matt Johnson BiogFor the last 20 years Matt has been the keyboard player for Jamiroquai, co-writing most of the band's output during that time and co- producing the last album ‘Automaton’.
In between working with the band he has recorded as a session player with numerous artists in many genres including Duffy, Ashanti, J.P.Cooper, Jax Jones, S.G.Lewis, Purple Disco Machine, Newton Faulkner, Nolwenn Leroy, Will Young and many more.
Now Matt has released his debut solo record ‘With the Music’ under the Splash Blue label, with a retro Jazz Funk feel.
https://www.mattjohnsonproducer.com/
Rob Puricelli Biog
Rob Puricelli is a Music Technologist and Instructional Designer who has a healthy obsession with classic synthesizers and their history. In conjunction with former Fairlight Studio Manager, Peter Wielk, he fixes and restores Fairlight CMI’s so that they can enjoy prolonged and productive lives with new owners. He also writes reviews and articles for his website, failedmuso.com, and other music-related publications, as well as hosting a weekly livestream on YouTube for the Pro Synth Network and guesting on numerous music technology podcasts and shows. He also works alongside a number of manufacturers, demonstrating their products and lecturing at various educational and vocational establishments about music technology.
www.failedmuso.comTwitter: @failedmusoInstagram: @failedmusoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/failedmuso/
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Hannah Peel - Sonic Journey
Electronic Music
04/27/22 • 48 min
Hannah Peel, composer, producer and broadcaster, talks to Caro C about her solo record career including the shortlisted 2021 Mercury Music Prize electronic album, scoring music for Game Of Thrones and her many other diverse projects.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:45 - Musical Path
06:48 - Using Electronic Instruments
07:55 - Favourite Synths
09:14 - Software and Hardware
10:08 - Projects and Nominations
14:10 - The Mercury Nomination
15:31 - Performing Live
17:23 - Combining Electronica And Orchestral
20:28 - Composing For The Paraorchestra
22:33 - Working With Software and Live Musicians
26:48 - Favourite Tools
29:27 - Combining Film and TV Work With Album Releases
33:15 - The Composing Process
39:31 - Learning Production Skills
Hannah Peel Biog
Hannah Peel is a Northern Irish artist, composer, producer and broadcaster. Her solo record career includes the shortlisted 2021 Mercury Music Prize electronic album, Fir Wave; 2016's Awake But Always Dreaming, which became an ode to her grandmother’s mind as she lived with dementia; and the space-themed Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia, scored for synthesizers and a 30 piece colliery brass band. A regular collaborator with Paul Weller, in 2018 she conducted and wrote all the orchestral arrangements for his shows at London's Royal Festival Hall and contributed to his Number 1 album, On Sunset.
Following her Emmy-nominated score for Game Of Thrones: The Last Watch, Hannah is currently composing the music for Sky TV's 7-part series Midwich Cuckoos and releasing a new album The Unfolding with Paraorchestra. She is also a regular presenter on the BBC Radio 3 show, Night Tracks.
Caro C Biog
Caro C is an artist, engineer and teacher specialising in electronic music. Her self-produced fourth album "Electric Mountain" is out now. Described as a "one-woman electronic avalanche" (BBC), Caro started making music thanks to being laid up whilst living in a double decker bus and listening to the likes of Warp Records in the late 1990's. This "sonic enchantress" (BBC Radio 3) has now played in most of the cultural hotspots of her current hometown of Manchester, UK. Caro is also the instigator and project manager of electronic music charity Delia Derbyshire Day.
Twitter: @carocsoundInst: @carocsound
FB: https://www.facebook.com/carocsound/
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Jason Singh - Sounds Of Nature
Electronic Music
07/25/24 • 44 min
Jason Singh is a sound artist, producer and performer. His creative output is an exploration of the natural world, voice and a wide range of music technologies. Works include live performance, immersive installations, studio recordings, broadcasts and sound walks.
In this show he talks about how he makes music using the MIDI Sprout interface, a device that senses the electrical voltage of plants and converts it into MIDI information. He then uses the notes to control Ableton to produce the sounds he used in his recordings and immersive installations.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:48 - Getting Started in Audio
06:17 - Collaborating With Other Creatives
09:46 - Studio Toys
12:48 - Custom Built Instruments And Interfaces
14:08 - Live Performances
19:41 - Collaborating With Nature Using Biofeedback
25:07 - Using The MIDI Sprout and PlantWave
29:47 - Experiencing Nature Sounds In Real-Time
31:44 - Creating An Immersive Installation For Womad
40:54 - Opening Your Ears To Everyday Sounds
Audio Credits:
Afternoon - a commission by National Trust to create an entirely vocal piece which mimics the sounds of a woodland area in Tatton Park in Cheshire.
Passing Light - an Ambient Jazz piece featuring trumpet player Yazz Ahmed.
Rhubarb - is a biosonfication track from the latest release "The Hidden Music of Plants and Trees", created in collaboration with a Rhubarb plant.
MIDI Sprout - https://www.midisprout.com/
PlantWave - https://plantwave.com/en-gb
Jason Singh Biog
Jason Singh is sound artist, nature beatboxer, producer, dj, curator, facilitator and performer. Jason’s life and work is rooted in listening - he follows a multi-sensory and cross-species approach to sound and music. His creative output is an exploration of the natural world, voice and a wide range of music technologies. Works includes live performance, immersive installations, studio recordings, music for film and theatre, deep listening and well being experiences, sound walks, broadcasts, music workshops, podcasts, soundtapes and immersive DJ sets.
Collaborations and commissions include a diverse range of organisations and artists including BBC, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, V&A Museum, Earthshot Prize, WOMAD, Kew Gardens, Chester Zoo, SONOS, Luke Jerram, BFI, Celtic Connections, RNLI, National Trust, Tate Britain, Nitin Sawhney, George Ezra, Big Narstie, Yazz Ahmed, Shabaka Hutchings, Sebastian Rochford, Leafcutter John, Graham Massey (808 State), Natacha Atlas, Sarathy Korwar, Talvin Singh and Rokia Traore to name just a few. Jason is an associate Soundscape artist with D&B audiotechnik.
Credits:
Afternoon - was a commission by National Trust to create an entirely vocal piece which mimics the sounds of a woodland area in Tatton Park in Cheshire, England.
Passing Light - Ambient Jazz piece featuring trumpet player Yazz Ahmed
Rhubarb - is a biosonfication track from the release "The Hidden Music of Plants and Trees" created in collaboration with a Rhubarb plant.
Caro C Biog
Caro C is an artist, engineer and teacher specialising in electronic music. Her self-produced fourth album 'Electric Mountain' is out now. Described as a "one-woman electronic avalanche" (BBC), Caro started making music thanks to being laid up whilst living in a double decker bus and listening to the likes of Warp Records in the late 1990's. This 'sonic enchantress' (BBC Radio 3) has now played in most of the cultural hotspots of her current hometown of Manchester, UK. Caro is also the instigator and project manager of electronic music charity Delia Derbyshire Day.
Twitter: @carocsoundInst: @carocsound
FB: https://www.facebook.com/carocsound/
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Emulator II 40th Anniversary
Electronic Music
12/17/24 • 68 min
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking E-mu Systems Emulator II sampler, Dave Rossum, Kevin Monahan and Paul Wiffen share inside stories of the development and manufacture of the instrument, their struggles to get around the technological limitations of the time and how the instrument was widely adopted by bands, artists and pop culture.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:50 - The Origins Of The Emulator
03:59 - The E-mu Name
04:57 - Kevin's Background
08:09 - Paul's Background
11:19 - The Motivation For Creating Emulator II
16:26 - Specific Challenges
25:19 - The Challenges Of Adding Hard Drives
30:35 - How Did The Iconic Industrial Design Come About?
35:11 - Having Two Disc Drives
38:22 - How Artists Responded To The Emulator II
46:46 - Using Sampling To Create Novelty Sounds
56:08 - Kevin's Contribution To Ferris Bueller's Day Off
57:37 - The Legacy Of The Emulator II And Sampling
#EmulatorII #Drumulator #SP12
"This is all part of musical creativity, which is what I love about my job so much, is that I get to be at the forefront of inventing these tools that then the musicians can go figure out what to do with and blow my socks off" - Dave Rossum
Dave Rossum Biog
Dave Rossum is a pioneering figure in the field of electronic music and audio technology, celebrated as the co-founder of E-mu Systems. Rossum’s early interest in engineering and music led him to study at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he developed a deep understanding of both electronic circuits and music theory.
In 1971, Rossum co-founded E-mu Systems with Scott Wedge. Initially focusing on modular synthesizers, the company became a cornerstone of the burgeoning electronic music scene. Rossum’s technical brilliance was pivotal in designing groundbreaking instruments, including the E-mu Emulator, one of the first affordable digital samplers, and the E-mu SP-1200 drum machine, which played a critical role in the development of hip-hop and electronic music.
Rossum’s work extended beyond instruments to innovations in sound synthesis and sampling technologies, many of which remain influential. After E-mu was acquired in the 1990s, Rossum continued to innovate. In 2016, he launched Rossum Electro-Music, a company dedicated to creating advanced modular synthesizer tools, such as the Morpheus filter and Assimil8or sampler, which appeal to contemporary electronic musicians.
Renowned for his combination of scientific rigour and musical sensitivity, Dave Rossum is regarded as a visionary who helped shape the sound of modern music and remains an influential force in the industry.
https://www.rossum-electro.com/
Kevin Monahan Biog
Kevin Monahan was a key figure at E-mu Systems, contributing to the company’s legacy of groundbreaking innovations in electronic music technology. Monahan played a pivotal role in the development and marketing of E-mu’s iconic products during the company’s peak in the 1980s and 1990s, helping bridge the gap between technical engineering and the creative needs of musicians.
As a product specialist and public face for E-mu Systems, Monahan was instrumental in introducing instruments like the E-mu Emulator series, the SP-1200 sampler, and the Proteus sound module to musicians around the world. His deep understanding of the technology, combined with his ability to communicate its potential to artists and producers, made him a vital part of E-mu’s success in both the professional and consumer music markets.
Beyond his technical expertise, Monahan’s passion for music and sound design made him a respected voice in the industry, helping to shape the culture and tools of electronic music during a transformative era. His contributions to E-mu’s success are remembered as an important chapter in the evolution of music technology.
Paul Wiffen Biog
Paul Wiffen is a renowned keyboard player, sound designer, and music technologist. With a career spanning decades, Wiffen has worked as both a musician and a consultant for leading synthesizer manufacturers, blending his technical expertise with a keen musical sensibility. At the height of the Emulator II's success, he was London's most prominent programmer of the instrument.
As a keyboardist, Wiffen has collaborated with prominent artists like Paul McCartney and Peter Gabriel, as well as recording the bass line on the Band Aid single. As a sound designer he's been involved in several film scores, from Blade Runner with Vangelis to Jungle Fever with Stevie Wonder. His sound design work for manufacturers is equally notable —he played a significant role in programming and demo...
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FAQ
How many episodes does Electronic Music have?
Electronic Music currently has 58 episodes available.
What topics does Electronic Music cover?
The podcast is about Music, Podcasts, Technology, Digital and Music Interviews.
What is the most popular episode on Electronic Music?
The episode title 'The Art of Physical Modelling - David Bessell' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Electronic Music?
The average episode length on Electronic Music is 41 minutes.
How often are episodes of Electronic Music released?
Episodes of Electronic Music are typically released every 29 days.
When was the first episode of Electronic Music?
The first episode of Electronic Music was released on May 12, 2020.
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