Oliver Arditi has a well defined and distinct style of writing that is easy to take in and encourages the reader to imagine the world described by his words.  His music reviews are no different.  Needless to say I was most eager to discover what magical words were tasked with discussing Rauthaz.  Here are two quick passages:

“Similar strategies are in evidence throughout the Rauthaz EP: it’s not a matter of slowness and darkness, but of the creative exploitation and framing of potentially limitless digital resources, in ways that aren’t hidebound by particular conventions; most crucially, it is free of the widespread assumption that electronic music is either for the dancefloor or the avant-garde. This is serious, but accessible music, with an uncontroversial melodic and harmonic language, and a focus on texture and orchestration.”

“Solarno’s music is far from bizarre or revolutionary, and yet it sounds very much like something you haven’t heard before; it is informed by an open-minded creativity, and a keen ear for a catchy tune — not to mention a finely honed sonic craftsmanship.”

I was astounded by what I read.  Not only did Oliver appear to enjoy the EP, but he also ‘got it’!  He was able to put into words how I feel about my music and the intent behind its creation.  Normally I might just copy and paste the entire review, but I really feel that it is better read in it’s entirety within the context of Oliver’s site.  To read his other reviews really gives you a more thorough understanding of where he’s coming from.  Plus, Oliver is just a darn talented writer.  Please head on over to his site to read more.

Cheers!

This is my submission for the Chico Mann “I Feel It” remix contest being hosted by Novation and Focusrite. I really have no idea if this remix is good enough to be considered for the final voting as these contests always draw amazing submissions, but I’m proud of this one. It’s not my usual remix style, but it flowed amazingly well from me as I put it together. I built the remix around the provided vocal hits and some of the guitar rhythms. I decided to something a little different than my recent work so I drifted into the world of Drum & Bass for this with a healthy dose of dubstep for the final quarter of the piece. At 160bpm it’s a bit slow for traditional DnB, but it still moves along with punchy energy.

I used a little of everything in this production. Primary to the mix is the Ultrabeat drum sequencer and an occassional favorite Motown hat loop. For the bass(es), the GForce impOSCar and Oddity, along with the Logic ES2 all make appearances. The noise sweep was handled by the Logic ESP. String and piano duty was done with the Logic EXS24. The organ is the Logic EVB3. Finally, the arpeggiated pad is via C-64/SNES emulation courtesy Plogue Chipsounds.

Many thanks to Chico Mann, Novation, and Focusrite for the opportunity to remix a wonderfully fun tune and good luck to all the other who are entering.

When you have the time I highly recommend that you check out Chico Mann as he produces some truly original and exciting afrobeat and worldbeat music.
http://chicomann.com/

Also, if you’ve never used any of the products from Novation or Focusrite, you are missing out on some fantastic gear. I myself cannot live without my ZeRO SL MKII or VRM Box.
http://www.novationmusic.com/
http://www.focusrite.com/

1. The Red Apple
2. Dimmesdale’s Angel
3. Population Inversion
4. 36Ar + 4He = Love
5. Dimmesdale’s Angel (Acapella Edit)

Passion.  Intensity.  Love.  Hate.  Power.  Fire.  Sin.  Courage.  War.  Heroism.  Health.  Death.  Depending on where you live on this broad planet of ours, the color red is used to symbolize all of the above emotions and concepts.  Red is among the most visible colors and therefore inspires strong reactions, both positive and negative.  Contained here are four songs inspired by the search for information surrounding the color red.  This collection is among the most intensive groups of songs I’ve produced to date.  Even the title of the EP, Rauthaz, has a heavy, intense feel.  Rauthaz is a Proto-Germanic word that eventually evolved into our modern word red. I hope you enjoy this collection of music.

Rauthaz is the second in a series of EPs exploring the nature, science, and history of color.

The Red Apple is a reference to a concept of early Islam and the Ottoman Empire relating to their desire of world conquest.  The first Red Apple they wished to acquire was the city of Constantinople, now Istanbul, the heart of the Byzantine Empire.  Ottoman forces accomplished the goal of conquering Constantinople in 1453.  The location of The Red Apple and Ottoman desires then moved to both Vienna, Austria, and Rome, Italy.  Ottoman forces never achieved those lofty goals, getting as close as occupying Austrian neighbor Hungary in the mid-1500′s, but their empire lived on in a slowly dying state until World War I.  After WWI the remains of the Ottoman Empire were split with the majority becoming the modern country of Turkey in 1922.

With influences from Peter Gabriel, Gary Numan, and OMD, the song emotionally follows the slow but steady expansion of the Ottoman Empire, climaxing with rapid expansion starting after the conquest of Constantinople, and closing with the empire’s eventual and inevitable demise.

Production notes-
Instruments used include: Logic EFM, ES M, EXS24, Sculpture, EVOC, and Ultrabeat. G-Force impOSCar, Minimonsta, and M-Tron Pro. And a little NI Massive.  One bit of fun was the opening drum loop.  To give a distant musical feel to the loop I ran it through the Sculpture instrument like it a was a vocoder.  I then slowly brought in another version of the same loop run through a proper vocoder to provide a cold mechanical feel.

The cover art depicts two sides of a coin from the second reign of Justinian II, a Byzantine emperor from 685-695 and again from 705-711.  These are laid over an 18th century map of Constantinople.

Dimmesdale’s Angel is probably the single most somber and philosophically intense song I have ever recorded, and may keep that recognition for some time.  Those of you familiar with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ will likely understand the reference, and probably recognize the spoken word passage used through the song.  The Robot Junkyard robot choir, The Singing Sines, make an appearance here reciting a chapter 12 passage that explores the perceived meanings behind a meteor sighting by Arthur Dimmesdale.  Arthur Dimmesdale is a primary protagonist in the story as a Priest that is responsible for the out-of-wedlock pregnancy of Hester Prynne in 17th century Puritanical Boston.  Today’s reality TV and soaps have nothing on the heretical story lines Hawthorne packed into ‘The Scarlet Letter’ back in 1850.

Much like Arthur Dimmesdale’s character, the song runs the gamut of emotions throughout, making sudden shifts that both reward and disappoint the listener, leading to the guilted loneliness that eventually envelopes Arthur.

Production notes-
Instruments used include: Logic EXS24, EVOC, and Ultrabeat. G-Force impOSCar, M-Tron Pro, and Virtual String Machine. And a little Plogue Chipsounds.  As noted above, The Singing Sines provide the spoken word recitation, which meant heavy use of Logic’s vocoder.  It is quite the challenge to get a vocoded lyric line to sit nicely in a mix, but I do find myself improving with each use.

The cover art uses a stylized letter A to represent the meteor, or shooting star, that is central to the referenced passage.  In Puritan society, a scarlet A worn on the outer clothing was used to publicly humiliate those guilty of adultery.  Whereas Arthur was a Priest, he could not be publicly found ‘guilty’ of an act he could not commit, so the interpretation of the meteor as a scarlet A by Arthur was a sign from the heavens and God above that he was truly guilty of his secret sin.

The fifth track on this EP, Dimmesdale’s Angel (Acapella Edit), is a condensed version of the original focusing primarily on the spoken word recitation of the novel’s passage.

Population Inversion gives the listener a sudden and drastic mood change after the methodical Red Apple and somber Angel, offering up an energy-laden spoonful of synthpop and danceability.  I’m not going to go all physics textbook on you, so I will just state that the term Population Inversion refers to a necessary step in the transfer of energy during the firing/igniting of a laser.  What does this have to do with the color red?  Well it just so happens that the first working laser, fired in May 1960 by Theodore H Maiman of the Hughes Research Laboratory was a solid-state flash-pumped device using a synthetic ruby crystal.  The light it emitted was at the visible wavelength of 694.3nm, or in layman’s terms, deep red.

Production notes-
Instruments used: Logic ES P and Ultrabeat. G-Force impOSCar, M-Tron Pro, and Oddity.  As this song was influenced by the first operational laser, the opening section (along with a bit in the middle and part of the closing) are intended to replicate the firing of a pulse laser.  This was done using the most unique and quirky synth emulator I own, the G-Force Oddity, which is an emulation of the ARP Oddysey.  This synth was a contemporary of the Mini Moog, but traded warmth, user friendliness, and logical layout for something entirely more nerd friendly, hard to decipher, and cold sounding.  Synths and sound don’t function in the realm of nanometer measurements, so instead I set the primary LFO of the Oddity to 6.943 Hz.  I have no idea how the maths might work out, but to me the symmetry of 6.943hz being a visual decimal variation of 694.3nm works nicely, and the end result is a very steady pulse feel that mutates and evolves as the song sets up.

The cover art is one more opportunity for me to geek out with a physics/laser/pop culture reference.  The graph depicted is from a white board used in the 1985 comedy movie ‘Real Genius‘.  It is from the scene where Val Kilmer’s character Chris Knight is describing how he has solved the power source problem for the laser unknowingly needed by his professor to fulfill a Military contract.  This white board was recreated in the background of the ‘The Big Bang Theory‘ Season 4 episode The Hot Troll Deviation, as an homage to Prof. Martin Gundersen of USC, the science consultant who worked on ‘Real Genius’.

I’m not sure if I’ve had a cheesier song title than 36Ar + 4He = Love. How did it come to be? Well, any chemistry majors reading this may be able to figure it out, but those of you who are not chemistry majors and have a life, here is the quicky answer: When Argon and Helium go through a state of fusion (or a super intense session of lovin’) inside of a star, they create Calcium.  When you combust calcium it burns with a brick red flame, and as mentioned far earlier, red is commonly used to represent love.  36Ar and 4He happen to be the most stable forms of Argon and Helium, and they create 40Ca.  Geeky enough for you?

This 80′s synth pop inspired song slowly builds around a passionate synth, an intense bass, and a driving percussion groove to keep the mood and rhythm just right, if you know what I mean.  There is a nice full climax followed by just the right amount of cool down and recovery time.

Production notes-
Instruments used: Only two instruments were used for 36Ar, Logic Ultrabeat for drums and the G-Force impOSCar 2 for everything else.  Up until this song, my favorite and most versatile soft-synth was the original impOSCar, as one could tell from how often I’ve used it in my productions.  That has now been replaced by the impOSCar 2.  This version basically takes the original and puts it on a diet of protein and steroids.  It’s leaner, more powerful, fatter sounding, more organic, and even more versatile than before.  It has a presence and grit-filled nastiness that the original only hinted at.

To add to the intensity and sense of urgency present in 36Ar, this song was written in 7/8 time.  This causes everything to seemingly happen just a little bit faster than expected, but still with the control to lead the listener to the pleasurable grand finale.

The cover art is a very stylized representation of the 40Calcium atom.  If you could see around the nucleus you would see 20 protons and 20 neutrons.  This nucleus is surrounded by the 20 orbiting electrons in their 2-8-8-2 valence configuration.

If you like what you hear, the download button in the player will take you to my store where you can purchase one or all of the tracks on this EP.  The EP is available on a pay-what-you-want basis, including free.

Thank you for your interest in my music. I appreciate all of my fans who take the time to listen and/or download my songs. As always, 50% of the proceeds from sales of Solarno music goes to charity!

Cheers!

2/28/2012: Available worldwide through Bandcamp
3/6/2012: Available worldwide through iTunes and CDBaby

Sites such as Amazon, Napster, Deezer, and Spotify will follow later, but I do not have exact dates.  All songs will also be available for sync licensing via Rumblefish and Friendlymusic in the near future.

Of course, some of you may not be able to wait, so you can pre-listen to the entire EP via Soundcloud and Last.fm.

For some more of tease, here is the artwork created for the EP:

This track steps out of my normal world of writing or remixing. While I have dabbled in industrial in the past and Trent Reznor’s production style has had a significant influence on me at times, the original for this song veers strongly into the avant garde of the industrial scene, and definitely out of my usual sphere of influence. This made for an interesting and very fulfilling challenge as I had to work my usual style around sounds and structures that were basically foreign to me.

Occult Celebrity from Johan Ess is a beautifully dystopian view of the organized chaos surrounding 21st century celebrity, and the structure of the original follows this theme to a tee. Sounds come and go, rhythms seem to change at will, and Johan’s vocal treatment reinvents itself multiple times just like today’s celebrities.

What I tried to do with this remix was to massage some order from amid the chaos, replacing constant change with familiar repetition. (Think scene kids finding a niche and replicating it amongst their circles.) The chaos is still there. The reinvention still happens. What once appeared random is now an evolution of derivatives, changing over time with only occasional drastic jumps to emphasize a point in time.

I like the fresh approach I’ve taken to telling the same story that Johan has created, only with the fingerprints of Solarno all over it. I feel that it gives the story a different voice and setting while leaving the base emotion intact.

This remix ranks among the most complex tracks I’ve created to date. It contains nearly 50 channels strips of audio, instruments, busses, auxiliary sends, and sub mixes. My poor 4 1/2 year old MacBook Pro is being stretched to it’s limits, yet I keep throwing more at it. As with many of my recent works, my workhorse synth for the original bass lines and pads has been the impOSCar from G-Force. I love this synth. Love. All drums and percussion are from NI’s Battery 3 using the Toksin kits.

I hope you enjoyed this remix of Johan Ess’s ‘Occult Celebrity’.
Thank you for listening.
Cheers!

You can hear the original and more here:
http://johan-ess.bandcamp.com/
and here:
http://www.johan-ess.com/

This is a jazzy little remix I did back in 2007 of Moby’s seminal 1990 single Go. I recently decided to remaster it to bring it up to my current harmonic standards. The original master had a decidedly muted sound due to my not being overly familiar with multi band compressing or exciters at the time. In my mind the overall mix still has a few minor issues, but I did not want to go in and start making changes just for the sake of making changes as it still holds its own.

I really like the idea of the laid back jazz groove replacing what was considered a techno classic back in the day. I believe that Moby’s learning of classical music theory at a young age allowed him to create more complex music than many of his contemporaries in the late 80′s and early 90′s. This natural complexity and depth that he brings to even his early music like Go is a big reason why it so naturally slides into other genres of music.

Enjoy!

If you like what you hear, you can download the MP3 by clicking the download button in the player.

A little less evil. A little more disco. That pretty much sums up this remix of SKatterBrain’s dubstep wonder, King Jellyfish. I’ve downplayed the prominent dubstep wobbles in favor of a hard disco feel with a driving bassline. The heavy wobbles of the original now become a bit sparser, intending to add variation and interest. The main vocal hook (“The jellyfish are so heavy”) is used a number of times to glue the track together.

To chop up the provided wobble track, I segmented it into one measure chunks and then dropped those individual .wav’s into Logic’s EXS sampler as a new instrument. This allowed me to ‘play’ the short wobble sections as I would any sampler instrument. The new bassline was created using impOSCar, with a secondary bassline from Massive. A new pad track was added using impOSCar to supplement the original synth stab track. Noise sweeps were done with Logic’s ES P synth. And finally, all drums/percussion are from an instance of Ultrabeat.

Hope you enjoyed the track. Thanks for listening. If you like the track you can download the MP3 by hitting the download button in the player.

Cheers!
Jim

The original can be found here: http://music.dan303.com/album/king-jellyfish-machines
And make sure you check out Dan’s main site: www.voltage-controlled.com

1. Hark! The Herald Robots Sing!
2. Ukranian Bell Song
3. Good King Wenceslas
4. Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabelle

What self respecting robot doesn’t love a rousing round of Holiday carols? Here are four carols presented by my house robot band, The Singing Sines, including two where they decide to sing.

The first track, ‘Hark! The Herald Robots Sing!’ was actually recorded back in 2007, but has been remastered for this release. ‘Hark!..’ is a whimsical electro look at ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!’ with a strong four-on-the-floor dance hall feel. My desire was to create a fun and upbeat version of ‘Hark…’ that would appeal to both fans of traditional carols and modern electronic music.

Of note: ‘Hark!…’ features the first known recording of my house robot choir, The Singing Sines. As this was their first time in my studio they were obviously nervous and had trouble enunciating at times.

The original, ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’ has a very interesting history. The lyrics predate the commonly heard music by over a hundred years. Charles Wesley wrote the original, somber hymn in 1739. His co-worker George Whitefield then changed the lyrics to what we commonly hear today. The music that we commonly hear for ‘Hark…’ is actually from a secular cantata written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840 to commemorate the invention of the Gutenberg printing press. It wasn’t until 1855 that William Cummings combined the Whitefield lyrics with the Mendelssohn music to create the song we all love and recognize today.

I have always loved the ‘Ukranian Bell Song’ (more commonly known as ‘Carol of the Bells’), primarily because unlike most Christmas songs, it is in a minor key. This minor key made it very easy to imagine the song played out in a dark, almost evil setting. When I did my original version back in 1992 I took this dark and evil inspiration and put it into song. At the time I was working with old 4 voice MODtracker software, so that version is very simplistic and rough. This is my 2011 take on my original version. It is not your everyday, take home to Mom version.

The ‘Ukranian Bell Song’ was originally written in 1904 by Ukranian composer Mykola Leontovych and based on a traditional pre-Christian folk chant used during the spring to welcome the new year in the Ukraine. So like many Christmas songs, this one has its origins in a very non-Christmas past.

‘Good King Wenceslas’ is a truly international Christmas carol. The melody itself is from a 13th century Finnish spring carol. The lyrics we know today were written in the mid 1800′s by English hymnwriter John Mason Neale. The lyrics are based on the legends/myths/stories/histories of an actual Bohemian Duke, Saint Wenceslaus I, who was immediately considered a martyr for his good deeds upon his assassination in 935.

This carol is told more like a story than most carols, with a third person narrator and two main characters. As such, I decided to present it as a story played out by three voices. I had my robot choir, The Singing Sines, break into three groups, the Narrator, the King, and the Page and try to bring something different to each character. The results: A light airy narrator style, a mild, if not worried, page style, and a stern and noble king style. I do believe the group that worked on the King imagined themselves as William Shatner.

This was all placed over an aggressive and glitch enhanced dub step style music track. It came together quite nicely. Well played Singing Sines, well played.

Any quality Holiday collection should include at least one slower, quiet song, and this final beautiful, lesser known carol fills that need and fits in nicely with the other three pieces.

The music for ‘Bring a Torch, Jeannette Isabelle’ was originally written as a dance for French nobility in the 16th century. It became more well known as a Christmas carol after its English translation in the 18th century.

Pianos, strings, a slow pulsating bassline, and a complete lack of percussion fulfill all that is needed for this beautiful waltz. The nice thing when working with such a piece is that I can focus on the melody by allowing subtle accompaniments to fall in around the melody. After the first three songs, the listener can calm down and just drift along with this one.

If you like what you hear, the download button in the player will take you to my store where you can purchase one or all of the tracks on this EP.  The EP is available on a pay-what-you-want basis, including free.

Thank you for your interest in my music. I appreciate all of my fans who take the time to listen and/or download my songs. As always, 50% of the proceeds from sales of Solarno music goes to charity!

Cheers!