Author Beau Waddell has announced a new book, Aphex Twin: Every Album, Every Song, that promises to provide insight for even hardcore fans.
What Waddell say about it:
“One of the true musical geniuses of the late 20th and early 21st century, Richard D. James has continued to be a pioneer in the electronic music landscape throughout his prolific, multi-faceted career. James, under his myriad of aliases, laid the foundation for ambient techno, drill ‘n’ bass and dark ambient across the span of six phenomenal studio albums and a multitude of EPs and side projects. Alongside this, he crafted a unique visual identity, expressed through his iconic logo and video collaborations with Chris Cunningham. If that wasn’t enough, he has become a figurehead for artists as diverse as Thom Yorke and Pharrell Williams. Year by year, the mythos surrounding him continues to grow, ensuring he remains as culturally prevalent as ever. ]
With no new, officially released music since 2020, this book marks the perfect opportunity to track the course of James’ sizeable catalogue. From the well-known to the obscure, the rapid bursts of activity in the 1990s to the so-called ‘hiatus’ in the 2000s, every corner of this formidable discography is examined in vivid detail, providing insight and an impetus to discover to new listeners and hardcore fans in equal measure.”
Composer José Luis Amores shared this video, which looks at five extended piano performance techniques that work well with electronic music.
“These techniques make the piano sound blend very well with electronic music,” notes Amores. He adds, “Using these techniques is a lot of fun and they are easy to try. You get new sounds and this can inspire you to make new music.”
Amores covers techniques for playing the piano harp directly with your fingers, using tools using cloth to mute the strings and more. Each of the approaches lets you create sounds that sound like piano, but not like a piano is traditionally played.
Topics covered:
0:00 Introduction
0:14 Playing the strings with your nails
1:40 Muting the strings with your fingers
3:02 Use some tools to play the strings
3:42 Using cloths to mute the strings
5:30 Glissando
6:22 How to take out some parts of your piano to reach the strings better
6:42 Conclusions
Have you experimented with alternate piano performance techniques? Watch the video and share your thoughts in the comments!
Developer Wray Bowling let us know about his Kickstarter project to fund production of a new Eurorack module, The Biggest Foot, that enables you use a Wii Fit Balance Board to control your modular synthesizer.
Why would you want to use a The Wii Fit Balance Board to control your modular synth?
The Wii Fit Balance Board is available used for $20-30 – so it’s a very inexpensive option for a wireless foot controller.
The Biggest Foot converts wireless Bluetooth signals from the Nintendo Wii Balance Board into control voltages you can use in your Eurorack synthesizer.
What Bowling say about The Biggest Foot:
“The Biggest Foot is unlike any controller in music tech. It provides 9 channels of pressure unlike a joystick which only provides 2 (X and Y). The grid is an intuitive layout that saves space on labeling, and bypasses the need for toggle switches to invert. Instead, you get clear immediate patching. Add aftertouch to instruments that don’t offer it.”
Here are some of his ideas for how you can use it:
Panning: Control a sound’s panning in Stereo, Quad, 5.1, or even 7.1.
Timbre: Lean to open a filter, add shimmer, or increase delay feedback.
Keyboard Tracking: Place the Wii Balance Board on a piano bench. As you naturally lean to play lower or higher notes on a piano keyboard, capture the left and right outputs individually.
Pedalboard Tracking: Place the Wii Balance Board underneath your pedal board to capture pressure from your stompbox layout or add Z to an expression pedal.
Theremin Waveshape: When you aren’t able to touch your instrument, it’s impossible to adjust the waveshape while you play. With The Biggest Foot, you can.
Funding for production of The Biggest Foot is being done via a Kickstarter project, and it is available to project backers for $300.
*Note: Crowdfunded projects can involve risk, which are documented at the project site.
