The Stack
An un-produced music experiment from a music producer
An un-produced music experiment from a music producer
7 years ago I qualified in graphic and commercial design and I haven't worked a day as a designer since. I looked at my prospects, basically getting a job with an advertising agency, and my stomach turned. I was idealistic, retouching was the devil and brands breathed hell-fire from the TV screen. So I turned to my only real passion, music.
7 years later I'm a music producer working in London. But now, upon reflection, I start to realise that what chased my away from a life as a designer has covertly followed me into my career in music. I produce artists and bands, sometimes people with little or no talent. I use every tool at my disposable to re-touch them. Auto-tune, FX processing, production tricks, anything to try and hide the truth. What differentiates me from a designer retouching a glossy magazine cover?
Nothing.
This project is my private rebellion.
The Stack is a collection of music gear I've build up over the past few years. The notable bits are:
Suzuki Omnichord
Instead of my usual song writing process of recording musical parts and then laboriously editing them together after the fact, I wanted to record a song in it's truest form, as a performance. The songs have been recorded using The Stack straight onto a very old mini disc recorder (if you listen carefully you can hear the sound of the disc scraping the side of its casing as it spins).
7 years later I'm a music producer working in London. But now, upon reflection, I start to realise that what chased my away from a life as a designer has covertly followed me into my career in music. I produce artists and bands, sometimes people with little or no talent. I use every tool at my disposable to re-touch them. Auto-tune, FX processing, production tricks, anything to try and hide the truth. What differentiates me from a designer retouching a glossy magazine cover?
Nothing.
This project is my private rebellion.
The Stack is a collection of music gear I've build up over the past few years. The notable bits are:
Suzuki Omnichord
Sherman Filterbank
Electrix Filter Factory
Roland Space Echo
Casio PT-1 Keyboard
Roland TR-505 DrumMachine
Instead of my usual song writing process of recording musical parts and then laboriously editing them together after the fact, I wanted to record a song in it's truest form, as a performance. The songs have been recorded using The Stack straight onto a very old mini disc recorder (if you listen carefully you can hear the sound of the disc scraping the side of its casing as it spins).
They are noisy, imperfect, sometimes poorly performed, but for me this project is about process, not outcome.
There has been no editing, no post FX, no equalisation, no mixing, no mastering, no time correction, no post-tuning, no panning, no additional reverb, no compression, no volume automation. Just the sounds I made as I made them.
I've included photos of the machines that make up The Stack, as well as 3 songs from the recordings.
I Know This View
The Happening Cave
Mechanical Wolf Huffs and Puffs
