Ambient, Psybient, Psydub, not Goa and what more not

[PeterSt]

If you can't bear my English, skip to the list more below.

 

All right. So PeterSt and his Phasure produce a couple of audio components and what he tries to accomplish with it, is the ultimate very best Sound Quality. Now, assumed that this succeeded/succeeds to some degree, we may wonder what music he actually uses to "test" all, so in the homes things work out by kind of guarantee. Music which contains it all, including the foot-tapping. From the lowest frequencies to the highest transient spikes. From impacting to fragile.

 

I thought the thread to be of interest for the handful of people who are into the same type of music which I use for testing - and since maybe 8 years mostly play (for enjoyment).

More below you will find the list of artists which do the thang for me, and with some basic interest in this type of music, you will recognize at least what it is not. And well, isn't it difficult to describe (apart from just showing the list).

 

I named the general folder where this music is put "Ambient". But hey, ambient as such it is not. Maybe back in the days (like early 70's) I could play 20 minute (LP) tracks of Brian Eno, Edgar Froese or Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and a few dozen more. But today they don't make it to my list, apart from a few which g(r)o(w) along with the times, like the latter mentioned or like Jean-Michel Jarre. But they are exceptions. No, the stream-type of music I refer to emerged somewhere in the 90's and it could be called Psybient in general. But it isn't that either. It comprises mainly of too high beat/minute music, and I don't refer to that at all. OK, unless it is Infected Mushroom and a handful of others. Down-tempo then. Well, better already, but also not quite. Goa. Sort of, but just because it is the base of what I am talking about. But yet again, way too high bpm. Psydub ? yes, almost all in there suits the bill. Only the fact that it comprises maybe 5% of everything in my list, tells that there is more (to name). Back to ambient ? actually yes. Especially when we see that this comprises soundscapes. But then again, not Brian Eno's Airport music, or worse, elevator music. But soundscapes, yes. Whether it is water, wind, birds, thunder, or ... all what is implied by that - scratching included (Psytrance Scratch) ... even LP needle ticks are all over the place.

Slow beat soundscape music, maybe best characterized by an artist like Azura  or Solar fields. And no, not electronic music at all, although most will have synths in it for support. No, the best ones use real guitars with real drums and real basses. And citars and such or so many more Indian instruments because the roots seem always to be there (like Goa is). Looking at the track names often tells enough. And of course tracks are mostly 6 minutes at least.

Oh, did I mention the psychedelic influence ? OK, you saw that.

 

On the last matter it is easy to call it Pink Floyd on Asteroids. So really, one might aver back think that Umma Gumma did something, but no way it (PF) appears in the list below because the SQ is way under par. SQ ? I mean for what the ultimates in "sound" can be. Those lowest to the highest frequencies and such - it is just not in there. The music type would be similar though. This is also how Edgar Froese does not apply but with the notice that Tangerine Dream also does not occur in my list (them really still producing up to at least recently). There is no music in there - no beat (and mind you, "ambient" as such is allowed to have no beat, but there music stops for me, and soundscaping is NOT about that for me - (like New Age mweh)).

 

If I counted right, the list comprises of 168 artists but with the notice that it is not always easy to obtain the artists, which often is in a special scene (like Bandcamp is that, and a lot indeed comes from there). What I mean is, a lot is on collection albums, though mixed / produced by gurus in that scene, like DJ Zen or Bluetech and a lot more. So what happens there is that an album is created from existing tracks/songs, and that the sauce of such a "DJ" creates a new album with those recognizable tracks but with explicitly recognizable elements from that DJ (you might think Ben Liebrand if that rings "a first" 70's bell, though for mainly Disco). Those albums are not in the list below (apart from some "series" mentioned) because they are actually Various Artists albums, and although I have maybe a 100 of them, the initial arists used in it, I have not. And mind you, it could be a Metal artist at least I don't want to listen to, while what the DJ made of it is superbly ambient as I like to have it. Example is the "Life Is ..." sequence (4 albums) of which almost each track suffices but with Artists I don't have a single album of. I just looked at the first album of that sequence and ... Sandman ? B.L.T. vs Realistic ? Space Cat ? Mental Orange ? Oforia ? Violet Vision ? Liquid Metal ? ... each of those I don't have anywhere, while each track suffices for "my thang".

 

For those familiar with the music, I like to note that anno 2017/2018 it becomes a bit more difficult to find the new better ones, because like with pop it is almost exclusively about vocoders or other voice morphing devices (software), for the type of music I refer to this is about so called super saws. This is a synthesizer means which out of anything excels in my system, but which is so difficult to render well, that it I have laying a cable wrongly (so to speak) it doesn't work out. But recognizable example of it could be Yello's latest ("Toy") where it has been mildly sneaked in in half of the tracks. Mildly because not too square and for that not giving a 100% character to the whole track. But now try Liquid Stranger. Very very interesting if you hear it at first and are able to let your system render it well, but after the 3rd "Nomad" EP you're really done with it. After six months it will sound interesting again, but not tomorrow already. It is too profound. The same guy(s) made superb albums in 2007 and before, and nothing of the (super saw) existed at that moment. So it is easy to start to be destructive for this genre, just because the environment challenges for it (it *is* "sounds" as such and indeed it is so that it is difficult to render (which is what I am after)).

 

Before going over to the list, let me tell that I mostly select from of 2008 (and newer) productions. Before that the SQ capabilities are sub par, so to speak, unless it is by analogue synthesizer but this is more rare, because more complex to fabrique (the sounds). Ron Boots (Dutch) would be an example, but with the notice that he bought all the analogue gear of Klaus Schulze at some stage. This is also about how the "scene" has to learn to make the music, which seems not to be difficult for some (producing 2 or 3 albums in a year) but which requires the hang of it first and that could not be easy at all. So all these guys are obviously not Syd Barret's, while, mind you, each of the artists mentioned will have at least one such superb track on at least one album (the albums do not show in the list. And oh, quite many produced one album only and called it a day. You can already see such things happening in general, because relatively many "project" albums exist. The only other commonly known is The Alan Parsons Project, which you btw can see as such by means of at least his first album (apart from producing PF) (Alan Parsons itself doesn't make it to the list).

 

The list is not in alphabetical sequence. Edit Sept.10, now it is. And please remember, this is about Artists which at least produced one track on one album which ended up in my "demo" folder because of being all over interesting. This includes it being music as such *and* showing off with its sounds. So it is always the mix of both.

If you are interested in the particular album and track I imply with mentioning the artist, just ask.

Those denoted (~) don't exactly meet the criteria of the type of music I refer to. It may show nice sounds but it wouldn't be "ambient" as such (e.g. Faithless).

 

Oh, I have the hunch that only one CA member may collect the very same genre, so let's say that I at least address him with the question of "do you have more of this ?". Of course I'd love others to jump in just the same, as I always like to grow my collection of music of my interest. It could even be the most interesting to discuss why or why not an artist should be part of the list. And if it is a commonly known artist, which album we'd refer to. Example : Vangelis - Bladerunner (soundscape is outer space here, with the most exquisite sounds on many tracks). But Spiral and 20+ others really don't make it.

 

Lastly, most of it can be obtained from Tidal but looking for the genre is impossible (the general failure of Tidal). And just saying : Qobuz has almost nothing of it.

 

Peter

 

 

---------------

4T Thieves
Abakus
Adham Shaikh
Aes Dana
Afro Celt Sound System
Ailo
Air (~)
Ajnia
Akshan
Albedo
Aleph Zero (series)
Alpha Wave Movement
Alwoods
AmethystiumAndrocell
Aquascape
Ashtech
Astral Waves
Astralasia
Astropilot
Asura
Aural Planet

Banco de Gaia (*)
Biosphere
Blue Pilots Project
Bluetech
Boozoo Bajou
Boris Blank
C.J. Catalizer
Cabeiri
Capsula
Carbon Based Lifeforms
Celestial Dragon
Cell
Chronos
Cloower

Cosmic Leaf
Cosmic Replicant
Craig Padilla
Crystal Vibe
D. Bastitatos
Dan Gibson (~)
Dan Rotor

David Sylvian (*)
Deep Forest
Dense
De-Phazz (~)
Digital Mystery Tour
Direc Connection
Direct Connection
Distant System

Doof
DJ Zen
Dub Fx
Easily Embarrassed
Eat Static
ELEA
Electroslide
Electrypnose
Elysium
Emit (series)
Entheogenic

Eraldo Bernocchi (~) (*)
Erot

Etan Reiter
Euge Groove
Fahrenheit Project
Faithless (~)
Flooting Grooves
Galaxy
Ganga
Gaudi
Geomatic
GMO
Gong (~, newer)
Grains of Sound
H.U.V.A. Network
Hatfield's End (~)
Herbal Essence
Hibernation
Human Blue
Hypnotizer (*) (this is not Isaak Hypnotizer)
Infected Mushroom
International Observer
Irukanji

Isaak Hypnotizer (*) (previously reported as Hypnotizer - few lines up)
Ishq
Jean-Michel Jarre (~, newer)
Jon Hopkins
Juno Reactor
Kaya Project
Keemiyo
Kenyon Fields
Khooman
Kick Bong
Klaus Schulze (Contemporary Works collection)
Korai Öröm
Krill.Minima
Kuba
Kumharas (series)
Lab's Cloud
LCD Soundsystem
Lemongrass
Liquid Stranger

Lulu Rouge (*)
Lyriel
Macaw
Magic Sound Fabric
Magnetic Fields
Makoto Ozone
Makyo

Martin Nonstatic (*)
Massive Attack (~)
Master Margherita
Material Hallucination
Mauxuam
Merlin
Mikalogic
Mind Body Spirit
Moby
Omnimotion
Ott

Ovnimoon
Oxycanta
Ozric Tentacles
Paddy Free
Pan Electric

Patchwork (*)
Peyote
Phutureprimitive
Pitch Black
Porcupine Tree
Profondita

Progenitor
Psychedelic Guitar Circus
Pushmipulyu

Rain Tree Crow & David Sylvian (*)

Reasonandu (*)
Ron Boots
Royksopp
Saafi Brothers
Sasha
Scene
Screen
Seamoon
Sérgio Walgood
Shpongle
Shulman
Side Liner
Snakestyle
Solar Fields
Sounds from The Ground
Step High
Suduaya
Sufi's Life
Suns of Arqa
Suruyademah
System 7
Taff
Ten Madison
Terra Nine
The Bhaktas

The Camonbears (*)

The Cinematic Orchestra
The Cruel Sea
The Crystal Method
The Flying Mars

The Web (*)

Thievery Corporation (*)
Third Ear Audio
Tripswitch

Tycho (*)

Ulrich Schnauss (*)
Unoccupied
Vangelis - Blade Runner
Warp Technique
WideNoize
William Orbit
Yello
Yggdrasil

Younger Brother (*)
Zen Lemonade
Zen Mechanics
Zero 7 (~)
Zero One

ZiebZehn
Zymosis

 

(*) : Latest additions Sept. 26, 2018

[Boomboy]

some quality electronic music producers listed . im a massive fan of " future garage " genre .

some amazing producers come out of Russia ... really intelligently produced and sounds amazing on a quality system .

 

try ..

 

Sibewest 

brimstone 

Bimbotronic

Craset

Manu Shrine ( RIP )

Menual

Pensees

Smokefishe

 

some others ..

 

vacant ( uk )

Twisted psykie ( us )

 

enjoy your music search : )

 

 

 

[Boomboy]

also .. if you dont know ? 

 

https://www.di.fm/ is amazing  . has about 80 plus electonic music stations , i have a subscription so i get the better quality stream , but the free version is available , you'll find a station you like for sure . can save them in a .pls file so can stream through mpd or whatever set up you might have .

[4est]

Thanks Peter, I have enjoyed some of your mentions in the past.

[mfsoa]

check out ektoplazm.com for tons of music like this

[look&listen]

3 hours ago, Boomboy said:

https://www.di.fm/ is amazing  . has about 80 plus electonic music stations

Or https://somafm.com for 30+ channels (Groove Salad background to my life  )

[mrvco]

Thanks for this list, much appreciated.  The myriad sub-genres of 'electronic' music can be overwhelming and the subtle differences between one to the next is difficult to recognize or even appreciate, making discovery extremely hit or miss in my experience.  I definitely recognize and enjoy some artists in this list already, but look forward to first listens of the others.

[jabbr]

Would it be possible to implement an electronic switch for the Lush^2 so that XXHE can select the best setting for each artist/track?

[PeterSt]

5 hours ago, mfsoa said:

check out ektoplazm.com for tons of music like this

 

Yes. I'm afraid I may have mixed Bandcamp with Ektoplazm. Thanks for the correction !

[PeterSt]

7 hours ago, Boomboy said:

some amazing producers come out of Russia ..

 

Yes, I recognize that. Thank you very much - I will try all of your list !

[PeterSt]

53 minutes ago, jabbr said:

Would it be possible to implement an electronic switch for the Lush^2 so that XXHE can select the best setting for each artist/track?

 

I know you are kidding, but if it had to work like that ... it wouldn't work or do what I intend. In my view there is no DAC for Rock and no DAC for jazz etc. There is also no cable for "Ambient". However, when you have this music right, all will be right.

 

This is quite very extreme, because, for example, if you change a configuration of the Lush^2 you won't even recognize your favorite Infected Mushroom album. So go figure. Thus envision : tweak the cable so "all is right" including Infected Mushroom which you won't even recognize, and Ray Brown's double bass obviously shows a different nature as well. And the good one. This is how everybody (?) comes up with a "so real". So real ? what is that ? ... well, it could spring from all the so difficult "sound sequences" now being right and which you can tweak yourself to a large degree by something like a USB cable (and way beyond of course). So really, I listen to this kind of music to test whether something works out (like the original Lush cable) and when it works I can try my Led Zeps etc. etc. again. But merely the more difficult ones like Get Ready (Rare Earth). So thinking the other way around : there's no way I would let sound Made in Japan (Deep Purple) sound right and put out the device or cable. It is merely the "sounds" and when they still work or work for the better, I would test it against Made in Japan etc. because if that now is degraded something has failed after all.

 

That it is a crazily nice hobby to let e.g. Ganga sound right with its always so special "mid" super straight / stiff sound, is really something else and you can't do it with Jazz. So now it's just the instruments and the sheer drive of these guys to make it sound right and special.

 

Anyway Jonathan, there is no such thing as a best setting or device etc. for an album or track. The tweak or whatever applies to everything for the better or equal, and if even one for the lesser, it failed. And I am so serious ... you don't want to know.

[look&listen]

8 hours ago, PeterSt said:

More below you will find the list of artists which do the thang for me, and with some basic interest in this type of music, you will recognize at least what it is not. And well, isn't it difficult to describe (apart from just showing the list).

Yes!

Peter, such a big & complex post, with such ambitious goal, to try and communicate a 'quality of music' that resonates positively in your mind! 

Since I also am big fan of (my slice of) electronic music & have my particular 'quality of music' resonators (also in lists) I accept challenge to try and get to know yours better. But I think by nature is difficult problem, people are complex, idiosyncratic, with very different experiences, & deep nature of music perception poorly understood (if at all).

 

1st I point to previous thread with many posts & lists some of my favored electronica artists & other discussion (mostly sub-genres), so we connect more info to this net.

(must confess probably too hard on @jabbr back then  )

 

To your question (quest?) I know maybe 25-30% of the artists listed, plus 10-15% have heard of, but not recall sound, or probably have from many compilation albums (good for discovery, like you). So not yet comfortable at having hint of what tickles your mind. You can see some intersecting artists in my linked lists, if is helpful.

 

No surprise to me that I know so few of your preferred artists, seems almost characteristic of this genre. Is so easy to make the music now, so many enter and test their creativity, so much music is produced by so many, and no one can know it all. But not to surrender because the journey alone is worthwhile, & there are enough well known artists & albums to have basis for common understanding.

 

So, I ask if you could choose, maybe couple dozen, specific tracks that best show(sound) the essence of what all other choices represent in your 'ears'.  Maybe some from our intersecting artists, also some unknown to me. Once I have listened to those selections I hope to get closer to the essence of PeterSt's electro 'quality of music' 

 

8 hours ago, PeterSt said:

I named the general folder where this music is put "Ambient". But hey, ambient as such it is not.

could be called Psybient in general. But it isn't that either.

Down-tempo then. Well, better already, but also not quite.

Goa. Sort of, but just because it is the base of what I am talking about.

Back to ambient ? -. But then again, not -

scratching included (Psytrance Scratch)

Indian instruments because the roots seem always to be there (like Goa is).

(like New Age mweh))

soundscape is outer space here

High level approach by genre maybe not as fruitful as specific examples, but worth a look. All sub genres you list have qualification that they not enough to describe the 'quality' you wish to express, so that is some data, but not enough for me yet. A piece of the puzzle.

I can express my preferred electro 'quality' maybe more specifically in genre ( but also have my exceptions  ).

   Like best - Downtempo, Chill/lounge, Ambient

   Good - Trance, Space, Dub, Electro(Jarre, Froese, Schulze, Vangellis, &c.)

   Not-so-good - House, Techno, World

Note I use genre names of regular usage & my own interpretation, because no standards exist, and subject can be as divergent as human perversity.

 

8 hours ago, PeterSt said:

the list comprises of 168 artists but with the notice that it is not always easy to obtain the artists, which often is in a special scene (like Bandcamp is that, and a lot indeed comes from there). What I mean is, a lot is on collection albums, though mixed / produced by gurus in that scene,

Did you type list, or have some automation to help ?

Bandcamp is great! Sourced some music there. Also iTunes (got over aversion to lossy AAC for some single tracks), Discogs (international!), FYE, & local used record/cd stores (big music town!). eBay works too, but not my habit.

Shopping for music is joyous part of hobby (life?)

 

Enough for now. Thx for great thread  

[PeterSt]

2 hours ago, mrvco said:

and the subtle differences between one to the next is difficult to recognize or even appreciate, making discovery extremely hit or miss in my experience.

 

Yes. The skill is almost to recognize already in track one that it won't get any better. Also, the label is telling much (most of these labels won't allow the "baddies" in), which is similar to where it can be downloaded from and how the site agrees for it or not. It really is a scene as such.

 

Having said that, people may think that this is all about bootlegs and such. But no. I'd say that all have a dedication like e.g. Mike Oldfield had to his Tubular Bells. Or Paul Hattink, who is the secret individual behind Hatfield's End. But listen to it; it is orchestra way beyond Mike Oldfield.

[rickca]

1 hour ago, PeterSt said:

The tweak or whatever applies to everything for the better or equal

That's good because I don't think I've ever listened to the kind of music you like.

[PeterSt]

19 minutes ago, look&listen said:

So, I ask if you could choose, maybe couple dozen, specific tracks that best show(sound) the essence of what all other choices represent in your 'ears'.

 

All I can do is point to something like the opposite ... do NOT press play yet :

 

 

Envision my explicit telling that Clox is about glockenspiel and bells to the most clarity you can imagine.

Also envision that I promise the most "drive" in music possible (think upbeat now) and that it sweeps up and up and up until you burst.

Now press play.

 

...

 

And ? any Clox in there ?

nah ...

Nice sound if you didn't put it too loud because of quite some sub low and for that reason heavy distortion through monitor's speakers or too cheap head phones, but bells ? seriously ?

 

Now @look&listen, assumed you say "nice sound - I like it but where are the bells ?" (which you can best hear at the end at almost completely diminished fashion) ... now think the so important mid and all what it takes to get it there.

Play this on your main rig, have all settled for that mid (which these days can be about a proper USB cable only) and you hear the most profound Clox throughout. I said profound as in : no further music; only bells. It determines the melody. The bass line you might hear from this YouTube ... worth nothing much.

And the title *is* about those bells. So if they work out, the message of the artist has to come across, right ? If no profound bells it still could be nice to your ears, but the message, like with Classical music, lacks.

 

This was one example ...

 

 

[jabbr]

1 hour ago, PeterSt said:

I know you are kidding, but if it had to work like that ... it wouldn't work or do what I intend. In my view there is no DAC for Rock and no DAC for jazz etc. There is also no cable for "Ambient". However, when you have this music right, all will be right.

 

There are ways to look at this ...

 

1 hour ago, PeterSt said:

Anyway Jonathan, there is no such thing as a best setting or device etc. for an album or track. The tweak or whatever applies to everything for the better or equal, and if even one for the lesser, it failed. And I am so serious ... you don't want to know.

 

Of course, so the ideal "sound" is what each person prefers for him or herself. You can select modulators, or filters, or DSP to highlight or enhance certain aspects of the sound. There is no absolute aside from what you individually or collectively prefer. Even when we have live music with e.g. violin or piano, there is always the different acoustics of the hall etc.

 

In some cases we have performers who "play" an instrument into a synth e.g. vocorder and in live rock, it is very common to place a mic on the output of a tube guitar amp, and then amplify this sound.

 

So there is a very long tradition of using he modulated sonic signature of the electronics for effect.

-----

Now on the other hand if we are trying to eliminate a certain electromagnetic effect such as RF/EMI, or reduce ringing in the USB receiver, etc, then the answer is not in listening but that is an entirely different issue (and perhaps not relevant for our listening pleasure).

[fas42]

4 hours ago, PeterSt said:

 

Anyway Jonathan, there is no such thing as a best setting or device etc. for an album or track. The tweak or whatever applies to everything for the better or equal, and if even one for the lesser, it failed. And I am so serious ... you don't want to know.

 

Which people fight against, ever so hard ... . Audiophiles are grimly determined to hang on to the concept that they are the last step in the chain to 'mastering' the sound of their recording treasures, .

 

 

[Sonicularity]

This was an outstanding list of artists that included many of my favorites and many more that I want to explore when I have some time.

 

Here is the same list sorted to make it easier for some of us.

 

4T Thieves
Abakus
Adham Shaikh
Aes Dana
Afro Celt Sound System
Ailo
Air (~)
Ajnia
Akshan
Albedo
Aleph Zero
Alpha Wave Movement
Alwoods
AmethystiumAndrocell
Aquascape
Ashtech
Astral Waves
Astralasia
Astropilot
Asura
Aural Planet
Biosphere
Blue Pilots Project
Bluetech
Boozoo Bajou
Boris Blank
C.J. Catalizer
Cabeiri
Capsula
Carbon Based Lifeforms
Celestial Dragon
Cell
Chronos
Cloower
Cosmic Replicant
Craig Padilla
Crystal Vibe
D. Bastitatos
Dan Gibson (~)
Dan Rotor
Deep Forest
Dense
De-Phazz (~)
Digital Mystery Tour
Direc Connection
Direct Connection
Distant System
DJ Zen
Dub Fx
Easily Embarrassed
Eat Static
ELEA
Electroslide
Electrypnose
Elysium
Emit (series)
Entheogenic
Erot
Euge Groove
Fahrenheit Project
Faithless (~)
Flooting Grooves
Galaxy
Ganga
Gaudi
Geomatic
GMO
Gong (~, newer)
Grains of Sound
H.U.V.A. Network
Hatfield's End (~)
Herbal Essence
Hibernation
Human Blue
Hypnotizer
Infected Mushroom
International Observer
Iono Music
Irukanji
Ishq
Jean-Michel Jarre (~, newer)
Jon Hopkins
Juno Reactor
Kaya Project
Keemiyo
Kenyon Fields
Khooman
Kick Bong
Klaus Schulze (Contemporary Works collection)
Korai Öröm
Krill.Minima
Kuba
Kumharas (series)
Lab's Cloud
LCD Soundsystem
Lemongrass
Liquid Stranger
Lyriel
Macaw
Magic Sound Fabric
Magnetic Fields
Makoto Ozone
Makyo
Massive Attack (~)
Master Margherita
Material Hallucination
Mauxuam
Merlin
Mikalogic
Mind Body Spirit
Moby
Moby
Omnimotion
Ott
Oxycanta
Ozric Tentacles
Paddy Free
Pan Electric
Peyote
Phutureprimitive
Pitch Black
Porcupine Tree
Profondita
Psychedelic Guitar Circus
Pushmipulyu
Ron Boots
Royksopp
Saafi Brothers
Sasha
Scene
Screen
Seamoon
Sérgio Walgood
Shpongle
Shulman
Side Liner
Snakestyle
Solar Fields
Sounds from The Ground
Step High
Suduaya
Sufi's Life
Suns of Arqa
Suruyademah
System 7
Taff
Ten Madison
Terra Nine
The Bhaktas
The Cruel Sea
The Crystal Method
The Flying Mars
Third Ear Audio
Tripswitch
Twisted
Twisted
Vangelis - Blade Runner
Warp Technique
Waveform
WideNoize
William Orbit
Yello
Yggdrasil
Zen Lemonade
Zen Mechanics
Zero 7 (~)
Zero One
ZiebZehn
Zymosis Elements into Data

[fas42]

2 hours ago, jabbr said:

Of course, so the ideal "sound" is what each person prefers for him or herself. You can select modulators, or filters, or DSP to highlight or enhance certain aspects of the sound. There is no absolute aside from what you individually or collectively prefer. Even when we have live music with e.g. violin or piano, there is always the different acoustics of the hall etc.

 

In some cases we have performers who "play" an instrument into a synth e.g. vocorder and in live rock, it is very common to place a mic on the output of a tube guitar amp, and then amplify this sound.

 

So there is a very long tradition of using he modulated sonic signature of the electronics for effect.

 

Which is all about what goes into the recording ... unless one specifically wants to use a recording to "make a new recording" - which is what the sampling artists are all about - then the goal is to realise what the "sound" on the album is.

 

If one is going about it in the 'right way' then the uniqueness of what is encoded, for permanence, shines through ever more brightly - if you can still mold, bend the sound to suit your mood, or whatever, very easily ... then it's not in the "right zone" ...

 

I have no trouble hearing what Peter sees in that Clox track - which I have never heard before ... just through my laptop speakers. Its audio system is pretty decent, has no trouble running at max volume without issues - and I can 'hear' what it would sound like, I can 'translate' the sounds, inside my head, into what competent playback on a "proper rig" would produce in the room.

[jabbr]

4 hours ago, look&listen said:

(must confess probably too hard on @jabbr back then  )

 

To your question (quest?) I know maybe 25% of the artists listed, plus 10-15% have heard of, but not recall sound, or probably have from many compilation albums (good for discovery, like you). So not yet comfortable at having hint of what tickles your mind. You can see some intersecting artists in my linked lists, if is helpful.

 

No surprise to me that I know so few of your preferred artists, seems almost characteristic of this genre. Is so easy to make the music now, so many enter and test their creativity, so much music is produced by so many, and no one can know it all. But not to surrender because the journey alone is worthwhile, & there are enough well known artists & albums to have basis for common understanding

 

So, I ask if you could choose, maybe couple dozen, specific tracks that best show(sound) the essence of what all other choices represent in your 'ears'.  Maybe some from our intersecting artists, also some unknown to me. Once I have listened to those selections I hope to get closer to the essence of PeterSt's electro 'quality of music' 

 

Yes, that's what I'd like to see also -- though Peter did discuss some specifics.

[fas42]

I'll throw in one effort, locally made ...

 

 

My wife bought this - they were busking on the waterfront in Sydney ...

[PeterSt]

2 hours ago, fas42 said:

I'll throw in one effort, locally made ...

 

Thank you, Frank. I am getting this in from Tidal for tonight's session. But I think I can already see that this will fail on the rhythm machine; this makes it explicit electronic music which to me is less of the music itself. It is also too much towards the "house" kind (the rhythm machine makes it that).

 

Usually when one track is like this, the whole album is doomed but one only knows after testing a couple more.

They also have two more albums on Tidal, so I am preparing them too. They are 5 and 8 years newer, so who knows (the guys got old and learned to drum themselves - haha).

[crenca]

The name that jumps out at me missing in this list is Tycho...

[jabbr]

4 hours ago, fas42 said:

I can 'hear' what it would sound like, I can 'translate' the sounds, inside my head, into what competent playback on a "proper rig" would produce in the room.

 

That's the point, your brain determines what you hear, and modulates what you hear despite the soundwaves that enter your ears.

[fas42]

14 minutes ago, jabbr said:

 

That's the point, your brain determines what you hear, and modulates what you hear despite the soundwaves that enter your ears.

 

Very true ... but irrespective of the fact that I have heard my own setups for decades, at various levels of optimisation, my brain still can't bypass audible distortions or noise of various types. I may have an excellent idea of what it has the potential to sound like, but I don't actually hear that potential realised - unless, the rig is working at an adequate level. The rational mind can't fill the gaps like the unconscious areas can; in fact, it's extremely irritating, for me, to hear a rig right on the edge of producing convincing sound - but, failing to light the cigar ...

 

Just on the Spirit of the Land clip - the NAD combo even in current trim allowed this album to deliver tremendous 'chutzpah'. The fact that the rhythms are from a "drum machine" doesn't trouble me - the bigger picture qualities of the tracks easily overcame any "shortcomings" there ... I've heard them live, and they use a terrible PA setup to supply all that backing; only in the CD version does one appreciate the creativity of the tracks ... .