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Following the success and critical acclaim of the first eight Tone Science compilation albums, DiN label boss Ian Boddy has collated another nine tracks from musicians of varying backgrounds working in the realms of modular synthesis.
As the Tone Science journey continues it never ceases to amaze just how varied and individualistic each musicians work can be. Whilst the hardware is technologically based each artist teases out a reflection of their own musical personality.
This volume kicks off with two pointillistic compositions from Loula Yorke and State Azure with intertwining sequencer patterns flowing and coiling around to create ever changing soundscapes.
After this energetic start the next pair of tracks from Theda Electronic Music and Swansither enter calmer, ambient territory where careful sculpting of synthesiser voices creates room for expression and atmosphere.
The mid-point of the album sees Sulk Rooms take us into darker territory with a drone based piece that slowly climbs from the undergrowth like some great creature arising from its slumber.
The next three tracks from Tomorrow The Cure, JacqNoise and Alex Ball are rhythmically based and showcase just how different the feel and energy of music made with modular synths can be with pure tones, deep bass and transient blips respectively.
Finally Michael J. York leads us gently into the distance with a beautiful, shimmering cocoon of blissful sound to close out the album.
“Tone Science Module No.9 Theories and Conjectures” continues the journey down the rabbit hole of possibilities and sound worlds inhabited by artists and musicians working in this ever fascinating and varied musical field.
credits
1) Loula Yorke - Eala - 7:44
If you’ve come to save me, you’re wasting your time. Your freedom is bound up with mine.
loulayorke.com
2) State Azure - Scanner - 8:23
The lone traveller glides through the void, the scanner revealing secrets in the darkness. Guided by stars, they explore the cosmic sea, uncovering its mysteries.
youtube.com/@stateazure
3) Theda Electronic Music - Per-Bast - 7:24
An exercise in semi-aleatoric machine/human collaboration, using various constrained semi-random elements to control pitch, timbre and timing, further elements added by myself to accentuate the most pleasing moments that the synthesizers brought up.
soundcloud.com/theda-electronic-music
4) Swanswither - Muad’Dib - 7:04
5 a.m on a rooftop in Marrakech. The mysterious ebb and flow of several competing mosques calling to prayer. Recreated with my Make Noise Shared System.
swansither.bandcamp.com
5) Sulk Rooms - Grasping The Eye Of The Duck - 6:43
A piece of music that came from sheer chance jamming with my Bass VI guitar and Strega. I love venturing more and more into sludge territory these days with pulsing atmospherics.
instagram.com/thomasragsmusic
6) Tomorrow The Cure - Minimum - 6:18
Based around a 4-note melody using one VCO and a self-oscillating VCF. Performed and recorded entirely in Eurorack, all sounds are AJH Synth modules with modular FX.
tomorrowthecure.bandcamp.com
7) JacqNoise - Lono - 5:51
In the realm of sounds, errors can manifest as dissonance. The noises introduce characters like embodied structures and sequences. Lono is the Hawaiian God of Music and Peace. May his spirit be alive in the sounds, providing a base of peace we so all need in the world today.
jacqnoise.cargo.site
8) Alex Ball - Adaption - 6:23
Polyrhythmic synthesizer sequences dancing in spring reverb, tape echo and modern glitches with soft analogue percussion and gentle voices in support.
alexballmusic.com
9) Michael J. York - And They Shall Have Stars - 6:20
This vignette was created quite spontaneously one clear night under the gaze of Glastonbury Tor using a Fenix II, a Moog and a reverb pedal.
thewitchingtale.bandcamp.com
license
Classical rock is an often maligned genre, when done well it can bring new dimension to time-worn classics, done badly and it can fail to enhance the originals.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have always done it better than most, and in recent times they’ve orchestrated Queen and Fleetwood Mac and – even further back – the music of Pink Floyd and – where it all started – Deep Purple in 1969. I suppose it all comes down to the arrangements and the interpretation.
Having well known rock musicians as “soloists” (and in one example the original artist) stops any over-egging or extravagance and a core rhythm section including the Cottle brothers – Laurence and Richard – at least keeps the foundations rocking. They are particularly impressive on ‘Watcher Of The Skies’ and it’s perhaps a little surprising that Steve Hackett is conspicuous by his absence.
Amongst the guests, Ian Bairnson stands in for David Gilmour on ‘Comfortably Numb’ whilst one-time mediaeval rocker Richard Harvey (Gryphon) excels on ‘Thick As A Brick’.
The heaviest almost big band diversion is King Crimson’s ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ which features Gavin Harrison and the fusion guitar of Guthrie Govan. Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith is featured on Rush’s ‘Red Barchetta’.
Elsewhere, as you might expect, this is a production job of widescreen proportions, especially evidenced on ‘Think Of Me With Kindness’ the lesser-known Gentle Giant song (from ‘Octopus’ in 1972) that now comes across as Vaughan Williams mixed with Big Country (the movie theme not the band). Yes’ ‘Roundabout’ (featuring the late Jimmy Greenspoon on keyboards) sounds like it could have been a Bond theme. Of course this treatment may not appeal to all tastes but it is very well done.
Hopefully this will be the start of a series (there’s also a “More Symphonic Rock” album released in May although not on the same label). It demonstrates that in amongst prog rock there was always a damn good classical musician trying to get out, and an even more durable tune. ****
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