TGI Friday

It's been a pretty rubbish week all in all, numerous scares over the health of my cat, Squeak, trying to keep my girlfriend's spirit's up (she loves Squeak) , loads of work and not enough time to do much music. Hopefully Squeak is on the mend and we won't find that there's anything else wrong with her. Off work most of next week so should get some time to experiment with the P3. Only 5 weeks to go now 'til the Awakenings gig so I need to decide what I'm going to do for it...

P3 arrived today

Serial no #1001, the first of the production models, and it's a beauty.

My Sequentix P3 is on it's way

Good news today from Colin Fraser the designer and manufacturer of the Sequentix P3 Analogue Sequencer, the production cases arrived today and units should hopefully be shipping by the weekend. Sent my cheque off today so if all goes to plan I should be getting my P3 sometime next week.

Analog Sequencing

After doing my track for the EM Forum Analog Sampler project I decided to invest in some more analog monosynths to augment my SH-101 when sequencing. To this end I have recently purchased a Novation Super Bass Station (SBS) and a Dave Smith Instruments Evolver. I've also re-arranged a few things in the studio and now have the SH-101, SBS and Evolver hooked up to my Doepfer Regelwerk, though when I get my Sequentix P3 this may take on main sequencing duties. Each of these have their own sound and I'm really enjoying sequencing with them.

Super Bass Station



Evolver

Awakenings Leeds: 11.02.05 SkinMechanix + HyperEx Machina

The first Leeds Awakenings gig was held on Friday at the Brudenell Social Club. After a terrible journey up the M1, I finally arrived in Leeds around 6:30, followed John's directions to the venue and only managed to get slightly lost as I missed one turn-off and had to go round the block.

The venue was set a way back from the road and quite easy to miss, but I somehow managed to find it first time. From the outside it looked a bit rundown, but inside it was much nicer, though it was like going through a time warp back to the '70s, all a bit 'Phoenix Nights'.

Steve Munslow (HyperEx Machina) and John Sherwood were already there and had already set-up the PA and Steve's gear. Dave Hughes (SkinMechanix) arrived shortly after I did so I joined in and helped with unloading his gear.
Dave got his stuff set-up and soundchecked for about 7:30 with no technical difficulties. John's new PA was nice and loud and the venue's acoustics were excellent. His lights were quite nice too in a quite hypnotic way :¬)

HyperEx Machina went on stage about 8:15pm, wearing a particularly stylish shirt, and played for roughly an hour. Using only a Korg MicroKorg synth and a Roland MC-307 groovebox he produced a set combining ambient and rhythmic EM, as John said "He played an absolutely magical set, I've seen him live a few times, but this time he really went to town. Mysterious piano chords and swirling pads, intense beats sections, arpeggios and sequences flying all over the place. Brilliant." My friend Pete said it was like a "Berlin Wall of Sound" which I thought was quite appropriate. I quite quite enjoyed the set, particularly the last piece which ended with Steve walking off the stage with the sequences still playing.

A full mp3 download of his set is available from the Awakenings website



SkinMechanix had loads more gear, including a Roland JD800 and a Kurzweil K2000 for the keyboard parts and an Akai DR8 for the backing parts. Dave was apparently quite nervous but once he got on stage and started playing it certainly didn't show in the music, which was confident, melodic, powerful and totally absorbing. Their was plenty of his trademark keyboard soloing and a particularly nice new piece. The already legendary Zeit sequencer was also present on stage, though not actually used live it had been used to generate some sequences on the DR8 and was briefly demonstrated in the soundcheck. Overall, this was a great first gig for Dave's new project and was remarkably free of the technical difficulties that had plagued his previous outfit 'T-Bass UK'



More photos are available from the Awakenings website

The turnout was respectable but we could have done with a few more people, but this was the first Leeds gig, and it was cold and raining, though we did have some people down from Edinburgh. Hopefully a few more will make it to the next one, which features me, Modulator ESP in support of the legendary Mr Ron Boots from Holland.

Modulator ESP on Aiir Internet Radio

Some of my music is going to be featured on the All Electronic/Synth show with Gus between 2-4pm EST/7-9pm GMT on Thursday 3rd Feb 2005

Click on the banner below - Realplayer 10 required

Awakenings 2005 3CDR set is now available

Modulator ESP has two tracks featured on the new Awakenings 2005 3 CDR set.

CD1 features the exclusive track 'Transpatial' recorded live during the practice sessions for my November Awakenings gig last year and CD3 features 'Dark Star Voyage', recorded at my first ever live performance.

The full track-listing and details of how to order are available from the Awakenings website.

Thanks to John Sherwood for organising this.

Sneak Preview - New Track

I've just uploaded a new Modulator ESP track, written between Boxing Day and New Year's Eve. My goal had been to write a track using only analog equipment, to be included in the EM Forum Analog Sampler project, but as I was writing the track I was affected by the events occurring in Asia and the mood of the piece became quite sombre and reflective. Therefore, in remembrance of this natural disaster it is entitled Tsunami
Equipment used:
Roland JUNO-106 (Strings, Flute and FX)
Roland SH-101 (Sequences)
Doepfer MAQ 16/3 Analog Sequencer
Yamaha AW16G Digital Multi-track Recorder (Recording and Effects)

Astrogator website - Modulator ESP updates

New Astrogator website is now online at www.astrogator.co.uk

Modulator ESP website has been expanded and updated.

Astrogator logo unveiled...

Some reviews of my work

Random Fluctuations (self-released, 2001)

"Random Fluctuations" is a two-part electronic suite composed and recorded by Jez Creek in 2001. Each part is divided into several sections that all have their own subtitles, so in the end it's kind of a musical story. By listening to Jez' music, I'd venture that he has progrock background - there is a sense of thematic development and multiple part transitions typical of classic Progressive Rock works and also some classic EM albums like Tangerine Dream's "Tangram" or "Logos". So, if you like early 80's Tangerine Dream or the music of Mark Shreeve, then this CD is for you. It's also quite symphonic sounding, with great dynamics and rhythms. Dark sounds get the first part underway. Soon subtle bass textures are introduced as the soundscape becomes even more intense. This is brooding music - very good stuff. After the 6 minute mark the rhythms are deployed full-time as well as some solos and sequences. I found my head nodding as I listened to this. Great themes and melodies! All is quite and mysterious again after 9 minutes into the track. Of course this section is a transition to the next part that has some warm flowing pads and is surprisingly gentle. Very, very good! Slow rhythm keeps things tight, while the melodies do soar in the sonic ether in a soothing and comforting way. There's even a hint of solemnity in there. The rhythm becomes faster and there are some symphonic textures that strongly remind of "Tangram"-era TD. This is uplifting EM at it's best. And, oh, those solos...! It reminds me on EM from the days gone by. The track ends rather abruptly. The second part starts with dramatic string / drum section. Pretty suspenseful stuff. Some e-drums are introduced along with a melodic sequence and we have a rhythmic section that's halfway between sad and mysterious. The dramatic strings and drums return after a while, sounding like an orchestral movie soundtrack. This time the string sounds are combined with the electronic rhythm and piano playing. Some great synth soloing is also welcome. There's a short intermission after which we get upbeat sequencer lines and a fast theme depicting the war I guess (according to the subtitle). Some very 80's electronic drums (Simmons-like) are used to great effect here. A piano theme comes next, with the sounds of wind in the background. The rhythmic elements do not take long to appear and take control of the proceedings. It's a mysterious and somewhat reflective part. Some processed voices are heard as the screaming solo takes over after 17 minutes into the track. Everything fits perfectly - from voices, to rhythms, to sequences, solos and atmospheres. It all calms down and all we hear for a while are phased / processed synth pads along with some recurring effects. But after a while another excellent melodic motif appears. I loved this part - very complex, even reminding a bit on some of Klaus Schulze material from the 80's. The final section starts with bleeping synths and upbeat rhythm. This is a bit techno influenced (mainly in the rhythms department). I loved the urgent electric piano motif although the main theme is a bit too "techno" for my taste. "Random Fluctuations" is a darn fine album of melodic thematic Electronic Music, that those into most of vintage EM will enjoy, be it early 80's Tangerine Dream, the less sequenced Mark Shreeve, some 70's Vangelis or even Dave Greenslade's "Pentateuch of the Cosmogony".

Reality Excursion Sequences (2004), Time Clouds Distant Memory (2004)

Both albums are live minidisc recordings from concert performances in 2004. They feature sequencer-based music, vaguely in the Berlin School mould. The sound quality is nice but I'd prefer more reverb - the sound is a bit dry to my ears. Reality Excursion Sequences starts with "Dark Star Voyage", which is a lengthy suite with multiple parts. The structure is a bit loose, so you kinda know this is a live recording when you listen to it. Some nice textures, but as I've said earlier I prefer a more spacey, reverbed sound. Nice sequencing and solos, though. "Silent Planet" is a nice mysterious track (that also includes rather cheerful sequences towards the end) with repeating bass motif and good sequences / rhythm combination. "Chaos Theory" is a chaotic (pun intended) and busy sequencer track (which initially makes use of the same sequence that appeared on the previous number). The second live album starts with "Time Clouds" that has an atmospheric introduction with pads and soundscapes, but after a while melodic motifs and, subsequently, rhythmic sequences are introduced that drive the rest of the track along in a relaxed, unhurried mode. You will encounter some pretty tasty solos along the way. The second track is called "Astral Dreams". There's an abstract beginning with noises, soundscapes and stuff, but the sequences ought to appear sooner or later, and viola! - they do as we are nearing the 3 minute mark. Low threatening chords are heard as we are propelled forward at a pace faster than usual with Modulator's recordings. I think it's the best of his live tracks (despite some use of preset choir sounds) - the sequencing is very competent here - pure New Berlin School, a bit trancey and yet more like prog EM. The title of the last track is "Dark Star Voyage" - the same as the first track on Reality Excursion Sequences, but it's a totally different version. It starts with a reflective piano part that gives way to rhythmic notes and in the end it's another mid-paced sequencer track, in typical Modulator ESP style.

reviews by Artemi Pugachov of The Encyclopedia of Electronic Music

New Year's Update

Happy New Year to everyone.

Here's a quick update on my project with Steve Humphries:

We met up on New Year's Eve to go through the output from the Chesterfield sessions and decide which tracks to use and what editing, if any, was required. I will be attempting to do the editing during January.

We have also agreed on a name for the project, which is 'Astrogator' a concatenation of the words Astronomy and Navigator, which is quite apt due to the spacey, journey-like nature of the music.

(see also wordreference.com definition: astrogator the navigator of a spacecraft)

I remember the word from a SF book I read in my childhood, called 'Starman Jones' by RA Heinlein (review)

I can also report that Steve's Prophecy is now fully functional :¬)

We intend to release any music on our own label, which is provisionally called 'Ephemeral Dream'

I've designed a nice new logo for the project and will upload it very soon...

Chesterfield Jam Photos

Photos are now online here, as you can see it was quite a tight fit...

Chesterfield Jam Report

Well the first Chesterfield Jam is all over now and was definitely a fun and interesting, though quite intense and often tiring experience. I think we both learned a lot from working with someone else and hopefully some of the stuff we produced will be worth releasing at some point.

Day One: I packed all my gear on Sunday night and printed off maps and directions. On Monday morning I was up nice and early to load the gear into the car and have some breakfast. I left my house at about 9:15 for the drive to Chesterfield to meet up with Steve at Digital Image Studios. Chesterfield is an easy journey for me as it's just 3 junctions up the M1, but I gave myself plenty of time, as you can never predict what will happen on the motorway. A good job too, as traffic completely ground to a halt for the last 10 miles, making a 30-minute journey into a 45-minute one. Still, I arrived just on time to find Steve had got there just before me. I parked the car and went in to find him chatting with Glen (the owner of the studio).

The Studio: The studio was a new building at the end of his back garden. Before unpacking, we decided to go down to have a look around and plan how we were going to set-up our equipment. We were expecting a room somewhat bigger than what we actually found. In my telephone conversations with Glen he'd said the room would be about 10' by 10' but it actually turned out to be more like 8' by 6'. It was really difficult to tell whether we'd actually be able to get all our stuff in. As we'd both invested a fair bit of time and effort getting our equipment out of our respective studios and were really itching to play together, we decide to give it a go. So then we started on the hardest part, unpacking and setting everything up, which entailed trailing to and fro through Glen's house and up and down the garden path, a job which wasn't helped much by the fact that Glen was in the middle of a major refurbishment/ re-decoration project, with piles of stuff dotted here and there to trip the unwary.

Setting Up: We decided to set Steve's gear up first, as he wanted to be in the farthest corner. As previously stated setting up wasn't much fun and it definitely wasn't helped by a particularly obstinate keyboard stand and an accident that left Steve's Prophecy slightly damaged. What a start! Luckily the Prophecy should be easy enough to fix and a spare part is on its way as I write.

We finally managed to get everything set-up in roughly 3 hours and finished just before lunch, we had a quick jam then went out to Pizza Hut for lunch. After lunch we nipped over to the B&B to pick up our keys, as we'd be finishing quite late.

Recording: We came back after lunch at about 2:30 and then played through 'til about 10 pm, recording 2 80-minute minidiscs worth of material. For most pieces we used a mixture of Steve's pre-prepared sequences (from Reason) and my improvised sequences (generated by MAQ 16/3 and Nord modular). We would usually jam for 10-15 minutes so that we could get some sounds and keyboard parts that worked together, then once happy we had an idea we'd hit the record button and just go for it. We tried to avoid falling into the trap of every piece having the usual structure of ambient bit followed by sequencer bit followed by ambient bit, though we found that we needed transitions between our different sequencer parts. We even worked on a shorter song that may make a good live encore one day.

At the end of the day... We went out for a curry, via the local supermarket to get out some cash to pay for the B&B and studio costs. During the meal we had a chance to discuss the day's events and decide on a plan for the next. After the most excellent curry we headed off to our B&B for some well-earned sleep. Alarms were set for an early start.

Day Two: Up early for a nice cooked breakfast then off to the studio. Got there to find Glen still having his breakfast.

Recording: Headed down to the studio, fired up all the gear and set to work, recording another 2 and a bit minidiscs worth of material. We even managed to get our sequencers to synchronise to each other, though this caused Steve problems as Reason insisted on jumping back to the first pattern set-up in it's sequencers, which unfortunately weren't the ones Steve wanted to use. Hopefully we will be able to avoid this next time we work together.

Packing Up: Finished at about 6:30 for a quick bite to eat and then started packing up at 7, which went altogether much more smoothly than the previous day's setting up. Managed to get everything packed in about an hour, then with help from Glen we got everything out to the cars and packed up ready to leave by about 8:30.

In conclusion: It has to be said that whilst the room was a bit smaller than we had expected and it wasn't that easy to get stuff in and out, Glen was extremely helpful and patient with our seemingly endless traipsing back and forth with piles of gear and said that next time we came we'd be able to use the larger control room, as he intended to swap the contents of the two rooms around.

The Music: From my point of view it was great playing and improvising music with someone else and though it was our first attempt I think that our styles complemented each other. We definitely had some inspired moments where it all came together, though there were also other pieces which were harder work. It was all good experience and hopefully with more practice we will be able to work together even better. It was something we'd both like to repeat, probably early next year. We each took a day's worth of recordings home to transfer to cd and exchange, prior to editing for compilation of the best bits into an album (or two)

Chesterfield Jam Prep

Well one day to go until it's time to set off to Chesterfield for the inaugural Chesterfield Jam, two days of EM improvisation and jamming with Mr Steve Humphries aka Create. We've hired a little studio at the end of someone's garden to set up our respective equipment and just make music. It will be the first proper EM collaboration for us both and it will be interesting to see how it all turns out. We are approaching it is as an experiment which will hopefully be fun and possibly result in some good music. Everything will be recorded, so from two days of music it's quite likely we will produce something worthwhile.

Full report and photos to follow...

My top 15 EM albums released in 2004

1 Redshift - Faultline
2 RMI - People Would Really Like Space Rock If They Would Only Give It A Try
3 Rogue Element - Premonition
4 Axess/ Maxxess - Contact
5 Tangerine Dream - Bootleg Box 1
6 Redshift - Oblivion
7 RMI - E-Live 2003
7 RMI - Walking on the Sea
9 Create - Reflections from the Inner Light
10 STDM - Binary Motion
10 STDM - Solipsism
12 Omega Syndicate - Analog Waves
13 Ian Boddy - Chiasmata
14 Paul Ellis & Craig Padilla - Echo System
15 FSP & DATT - Passenger 4

Omega Syndicate and Paul Nagle photos online

My photos from the Omega Syndicate and Paul Nagle gig at the National Space Centre on 13.11.04 are now online here http://public.fotki.com/modulator/omega_syndicate/.
It was a really good gig, Paul produced an excellent set, aided and abetted by Phil Smillie on guitar and atmospherics and The Omega Syndicate, though obviously nervous at the start, produced some excellent music once they got into their stride. Paul and Phil joined Xan and Dave for the encore of Ricochet (part 2 iirc)

New track 'The Eclipse' now online

I've uploaded a new track recorded during the practice sessions for my last gig. Entitled 'The Eclipse' it is available from the music page of my Soundclick site. Hope you enjoy it.

New track 'Sturm und Drang II' now online

I've just uploaded this track, to both the Modulator ESP Music page and the Soundclick site. Sturm und Drang II was the second piece played at my gig at Peggers on 3.10.04 and was inspired by a request from an audience member to play something with choir in. Thanks Steve.

Modulator ESP + Create 7.11.04 gig photos now online

Photos from the Modulator ESP + Create gig are now online at Modulator ESP and Awakenings websites.