Feb 2022 instrumental electronic whyfi fake-genre
For the "Let's make up new genres" thread (https://fawm.org/forums/topic/12186/) this year I came up with #whyfi:
"Songs performed in very expensive gear (like a Moog Matriarch), recorded to a micro-cassette recorder across the room."
The genre is a play on people that spend a lot of money on high end equipment, only to add noise, scratch, and saturation at the mastering stage in order to make the song sound lo-fi.
Now, I don't have a lot of expensive gear... the most expensive stuff I have in my studio is probably my OP-1 (which I bough before the prices sky-rocketed) and a nice Gibson Les Paul Studio. I spent quite some time thinking how I could do this challenge in the most fun and ridiculous way.
Then I remembered I have a $10,000 dollar MIDI sequencer! "But, Beto", you might ask, "which MIDI sequencer is that expensive?" You see, back in 2015 I bought a Korg SQ-1. "But the Korg SQ-1 only costs like $100", you could reply. And you would be right.
Except that when I bought the SQ-1, I paid in Bitcoins — a quarter of a Bitcoin, to be more precise. Fast forward 7 years and that fractional Bitcoin is now worth almost $9,000. Yeah, I know that's crazy. (I also want to say that I'm not some kind of crypto millionaire; I bought those Bitcoins to buy the SQ-1, and I never bought more.)
For this song, I had the SQ-1 sequencing the Korg Arp Odyssey, and then I used the Hologram Microcosm for effects. Everything was recorded using a "Craig" micro-cassette recorder across the room.
So yeah, this song has A LOT of noise, and it's pointless. But for me FAWM is an excuse to push boundaries, get out of my comfort zone, and experiment new things, even if they sound crappy on purpose. Enjoy!
@nicetrip Feb 2022
Nice analogue feeling. I like these feedback-like scratches and pitch drifting. Well done!
BTW. Crazy story about $10,000 MIDI sequencer. Now it's the track with the story.
@phylo Feb 2022
You, Beto, are my gearhead hero. I love your seemingly endless creativity. Wow.
@bachelorb Feb 2022
The tape sounds like me trying to record the top 100 off the radio every New Years. I really liked the sequenced intro that continued through the song.
@nadine Feb 2022
I like that concept because I know plenty people who hoard gear they can't perform. What's the point in buying pricey stuff if you don't know how to rock? In my honest opinion there is a minimum of quality you need for recording, some mid price stuff that get a real quality out if youre a good performer ... and everything beyond is just nice to have.
The SQ-1 is a legendary synth of 90s electronic music. Fun to hear it after such a long time. I dig the fuzz! I just missed a heavy techno beat of an old school rave. Funny how noise works so well here.
@williamjames Feb 2022
Very interesting concept. I don't think this pointless at all. It really makes you think what high end gear actually adds to the experience of music, no right answers really exist. I also make do with very cheap setups but that is because I am broke :) To be honest wouldn't really know what to do with high end gear at this point anyway... The track sounds actually pretty good to me!
@cts Feb 2022
No, I did not! But I'm glad you did! *big grin*
@dzdandcunfsd Feb 2022
I quite enjoyed this :D Reminds me of an old boom box I had that I adored even though its gears and belts were all wore out so it played everything slow. I liked it for Bob Marley and classical orchestral stuff. This sounds like an orchestral piece played through that thing in a thunderstorm.
I got sent one of those Microcosms from a friend who had it sent to him. I played with it a week or two and passed it on down the line, really cool pedal I just didn't want to take the time to actually get to know it. If I had more outboard synth and MIDI gear I would of more than likely kept it. Even though it was mostly redundant for me since I already have some pedals that do most everything it could do unless I would of had two of them to link together.