Negative Sound Institute

With the proliferation of home recording set ups made possible by the ‘computer in every home’ age there is a tendency to use every tool at ones disposal to create music.

This E.P eschews any complication and heads straight for mood in a technically simplistic way. Each track is based around piano, which has been treated with only a touch of reverb. In addition to this main instrument there are some low level synthesisers and the occasional odd noise to add to the sound pallet but mixed to not overpower the leading role of the piano.

For those who like a bit more detail here is what was used for each track:

Weight of Expectation has been downloaded 986 times

Piano with reverb, sampled ambience and synthesizer. Recorded at 80 BPM in Cubase SL. 4Front Piano Module, Texture 1.2, VST Instruments.

What Was Lost has been downloaded 716 times

Piano with reverb, sampled ambience, Recorded at 80 BPM in Cubase SL. 4Front Piano Module VST Instrument.

Forgotten has been downloaded 751 times

Piano with reverb, sampled ambience. Recorded at 80 BPM in Cubase SL. 4Front Piano Module VST Instrument.

The Price Of Living has been downloaded 755 times

Piano with reverb, sampled ambience and Synthesisers. Recorded at 90 BPM in Cubase SL. 4Front Piano Module, Cygnus-O, Wusikstation, String Theory 1.5, StringZ VST Instruments.

In the beginning there was nothing then there wasn’t has been downloaded 753 times

Piano with reverb, Wusikstation, A1 Synth, Mantragora, Cygnus-O, Reverse Sample. Recorded at 90 BPM in Cubase SL.

Forgotten (Messed Up Mix) has been downloaded 737 times

This track uses Frippertronics (a term coined by Joanna Walton, Robert Fripp's poet girlfriend in the late 1970s) which is an analog delay system consisting of two reel-to-reel tape recorders situated side-by-side. The two machines are configured so that the tape travels from the supply reel of the first machine to the take-up reel of the second, thereby allowing sound recorded by the first machine to be played back some time later on the second. The audio of the second machine is routed back to the first, causing the delayed signal to repeat while new audio is mixed in with it. The amount of delay (usually 8 to 10 seconds) is controlled by increasing or decreasing the distance between the machines. In this instance the set up is digital with the song, ‘Forgotten’ have been processed through a VST insturment. The resulting .WAV has been reversed and ovelaid with the original .WAV so that they play together but the original fades out naturally over time resulting in the reversal fading in.