After a successful return to in-person live performance in October, I’ve been planning out a new travel/gigging/live performance modular case. The two main goals is that it legally fit into more airplane overhead luggage spaces, and that it interfaces nicely with a laptop computer to help fill out my orchestrations and allow multitrack recording. Some details of the first of those goals is in the main article below. But I’ve also been busy posting articles and videos, and I want to share those as well:

 

  • featured articleBuilding a new case to carry the maximum number of modules without it getting rejected by a large number of airlines.
  • Alias Zone updatesA new composition and performance that premiered and SoundMiT, and a documentary about Indigenous Americans and their relationship to the land that features snippets of several Alias Zone tracks both old and new.
  • Learning Modular updatesAnother past Alias Zone performance on the Learning Modular YouTube channel; an interview and breakdown of that piece on GEOSynth’s Synth Show; my Learning Modular Conversations with Todd Barton, and the public release of an article on maximizing power and minimizing noise in a portable modular system.
  • Patreon updatesThe index for my latest “Ask Me Anything” Zoom session – Australian Edition, and a detailed breakdown of how I created my latest piece – plus the module swaps I made to pull it off.
  • upcoming eventsLots of things in the air….

Alias Zone Updates

I released a new song and accompanying video in November: Iceland (above). I initially performed this piece in front of a live audience at the Albuquerque Press Club in October. This was my first public outing since the pandemic started, and the first attempt at combining polysynths (Waldorf Iridium, plus samples of the Vector Synth) with my normal live performance case. I was happy enough with how it went that I re-recorded it in the studio where I could take advantage of more of my polysynths (the Iridium was layered with a Korg Wavestation SR, while I played the Vector Synth “live” by the Five12 Vector Sequencer and layered it with the ASM Hydrasynth Desktop), and I created a video at the same time that was premiered at SoundMiT 2021. This experience is what confirmed for me that I should go “full hybrid” modular+laptop for my live performance system.

November also saw the release of the excellent documentary However Wide the Sky about the relationship Indigenous Americans have to the land as well as their sense of place – plus their efforts to get that land back from the US government. In addition to an excellent acoustic multi-instrumental soundtrack by Gary Medina Cook, several Alias Zone tracks both old and new (as well as tracks by others) were woven throughout the show. This documentary can currently be streamed for free from our New Mexico Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) affiliate, and it is time well spent: It is visually gorgeous while also being very educational, and it moves along at a fine pace with the hour ending before you know it.

Learning Modular Updates

My latest works appear first on my Alias Zone YouTube channel first; later they are re-posted to my Learning Modular channel. The piece Shipwrecked (above) was recently added to the Learning Modular channel, and was also the subject of much of my discussion with Jamie Morden’s Synth Show (below), where we broke down several of the individual sources in that track:

It was a fun, wide-ranging discussion also that dove into my history as well as my overall philosophy of how I use modular synthesizers.

Also, my second “Ask Me Anything” session for my Learning Modular Patreon subscribers has been made public on the Learning Modular YouTube channel, under the name Learning Modular Conversations. This one was with composer and 4U aficionado Todd Barton, where we discussed our relative approaches to patching, improvisation, performance, and composition, as well as other subjects:

(If you want to be part of the live Q&A audience for the next – and possibly last – Learning Modular Conversations with DJ CherishTheLuv on December 12, join the Learning Modular Patreon channel at any level.)

Finally, as part of building a new travel case, I’ve been talking with fellow users about modular power, and overall strategies for lowering the noise level in a Eurorack system. Click here for a Learning Modular Patreon post I just made public that dove into how I optimized my previous case.

Patreon Updates

In November, I had a fun, extended “Ask Me Anything” session with Steve Turner and his Australian Control Voltage (AU-CV) user group. Our main focus was on processing acoustic sounds through the modular synth, including breaking down a few different patch examples in detail. We also talked a lot more about what got me into synthesizers, as well as other subjects. The playback with linked index can be found here, and is available to all subscriber levels.

I also created a lengthy post that broke down my latest track Iceland in great detail, describing both the patch and performance details for each of the sounds and how they were introduced during the piece. Click here for that breakdown; it is available to +5v and above subscribers.

Accompanying the above performance, I wrote the “final” My Gigging Case installment, detailing its final configuration to perform Iceland, and explaining the various modules swaps compared to before the pandemic.

This series will now morph into a new Going Hybrid Live series. Its first installment was in October, where I shared the board mix of the initial live performance of Iceland and described the changes I had made to my gigging case to perform this piece.

On December 12, I will be running my fifth (and final?) Ask Me Anything for my Learning Modular Patreon subscribers, this time with co-host DJ CherishTheLuv. In addition to taking questions from the live attendees, we will be talking about how to put more of yourself into your modular performances, and ideas about how to make a career in music. Subscribers should look for the registration invite to that event going out soon.

I also updated the index; it was a couple of months behind – sorry.

Upcoming Events

I am in a bit of limbo right now: I tentatively have performances planned for January, February, March, April, and two in June, but I’m unable to tell you about any of them right now. Keep an eye on this space in future newsletters; I will also post notice of all performances on both the Alias Zone and Learning Modular Facebook pages.

If you are a Learning Modular Patreon subscriber, the next “Ask Me Anything” will be December 12 with co-host DJ CherishTheLuv. Registration information will go out soon. I’m pausing this series at the start of 2022; although I have a lot of fun doing them, I’m not sure the world needs yet another streaming electronic music/modular online show – this is something we’ll talk about in next month’s newsletter.

Wishing you all the very best of holiday seasons, however you choose to celebrate it –
Chris