Electronic music pioneer and composer Suzanne Ciani discusses her career highlights in conversation with William Stokes, including early performance struggles due to her determination to present shows in quadraphonic, a career resurgence thanks to Moogfest and why she loves working with the Buchla interface.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:06 - The First Female To Score A Movie
04:01 - Having More Than 20 Albums
04:36 - Golden Apples Of The Sun
07:55 - Live Performance Struggles
11:57 - A Love Of Programming
14:09 - Interacting With A Buchla
17:14 - A New Way Of Performing Music
22:32 - The Buchla 250 MARF
25:36 - Making A Comeback At Moogfest
29:36 - Creating Spatial Content
38:40 - A Meeting Of Art And Science
41:36 - Future Plans

"I didn't build the machines, I certainly didn't design them, but I could interact with them and use them, you know, and that's what I liked".

#buchla #moog

Suzanne Ciani Biog
Suzanne is a five-time Grammy award-nominated composer, electronic music pioneer, and neo-classical recording artist who has released over 20 solo albums including "Seven Waves," and "The Velocity of Love," along with a landmark quad LP “LIVE Quadraphonic,” which restarted her Buchla modular performances. Her work has been featured in films, games, and countless commercials as well.

She was inducted into the first class of Keyboard Magazine's Hall of Fame alongside other synth luminaries, including Bob Moog, Don Buchla and Dave Smith and received the Moog Innovation Award. Most recently, she is the recipient of the Independent Icon Award from A2IM, The Golden Ear Award and the SEAMUS Award.

Suzanne has provided the voice and sounds for Bally's groundbreaking "Xenon" pinball machine, created Coca-Cola’s pop-and-pour sound, designed logos for Fortune 500 companies and carved out a niche as one of the most creatively successful female composers in the world. A Life in Waves, a documentary about Ciani’s life and work, debuted at SXSW in 2017 and is available to watch on all digital platforms.

Ciani is a graduate of Wellesley College and holds a Masters in Music Composition from the University of California, Berkeley.

http://sevwave.com/
https://transversales.bandcamp.com/album/golden-apples-of-the-sun-3

William Stokes Biog
William Stokes is a producer, writer and artist in three-piece avant-psych band Voka Gentle. As well as being a critic and columnist for Sound On Sound, conceiving the popular Talkback column and heading up the Modular column, he has also written on music and music technology for The Guardian, MOJO, The Financial Times, Electronic Sound and more.

As an artist in Voka Gentle he has made records with producers from Gareth Jones (Depeche Mode, Grizzly Bear, Nick Cave) to Sam Petts-Davies (Radiohead, The Smile, Roger Waters), has had songs featured on franchises from FIFA Football to The Sims and has toured across the UK, Europe and the USA, playing festivals from Pitchfork Avant-Garde in Paris to SXSW in Austin, Texas. He has collaborated with artists including the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, Morcheeba, Panda Bear and Sonic Boom.

Alongside being a guitarist and pianist, he is a synthesis enthusiast with a particular interest in sampling and explorative sound manipulation. As a producer and engineer, he has made albums with acclaimed avant-garde musicians from composer Tullis Rennie to Mute Records artist Louis Carnell. “I’m always seeking out the most ‘out-there’, experimental, risk-taking musicians I can find to work with,” he says, “to capture vibrant, detailed recordings and create three-dimensional mixes of music that might otherwise struggle to know where to begin in the studio environment.”

Stokes currently lectures in Music Production at City, University of London.

https://www.vokagentle.com/

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Krust, also known as K or DJ Krust, chats about his early involvement in the Bristol music scene in the late 80s to early 90s, the development of the Drum & Bass sound and setting up the Full Cycle and Dope Dragon labels with Roni Size.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:28 - Early Influences And Getting Started
07:28 - Getting Immersed In Rave
08:45 - Launching A Label
10:23 - Learning The Equipment
12:12 - Jungle DJ / Producers
16:11 - Creating A Sound Palette
17:58 - Making Use Of Hardware
19:52 - Preparing A Track
23:23 - Dealing With Burnout
28:20 - Helping Musicians
31:06 - Crafting The New Album
41:15 - The Current Jungle / DnB Scene
48:36 - Current And Future Projects

Interviewee Biog
Bristol-born b-boy Kirk Thompson is best known as DJ and producer Krust, an artist whose ideas and frequencies rumble and resonate deep within jungle’s DNA. With an indelible legacy as a key figurehead in the Bristol sound, he has never compromised since emerging in 1989 as a member of Fresh 4. As a founding member of Full Cycle, the first non-London label to truly mould and manipulate the jungle schematic, and Reprazents, one of the first D&B acts to infiltrate the popular psyche and win critical Mercury Music Prize acclaim, his designs continue to help shape our understanding of what drum & bass is.

He is regarded as one of drum & bass and jungle's founders and pioneers noted for his unique musical style. Epic experimentalism of Krust’s can be heard in his 1997 single ‘Soul In Motion’ and similarly ground-breaking ‘98 single ‘True Stories’ for Talkin Loud. An in-demand remixer, Krust has reworked tracks for Bjork, Korn, Moloko, Claude VonStroke, DJ Krush, Adam F, Shy FX, Alex Reece, DJ Ron, DJ Rap and many more. His recent album entitled Edge of Everything was released in 2020 on Crosstown Rebels and received critical acclaim. It was nominated for a album of the year with AIM Award and DjMag.

In addition to making music Krust has helmed Adapt The Canvas, a lifestyle coaching consultancy that holds workshops and seminars giving advice on time management, overcoming personal challenges, creative thinking, wellness and the development of the working mindsets, which have taken place in music colleges, universities and The Barbican, London. His Weekly podcast Conversation for Creatives reaches a global audience of creatives and can be checked out on his Instagram and Spotify profiles.

https://crosstownrebels.bandcamp.com/album/the-edge-of-everything
https://www.instagram.com/dj_krust/
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adaptthecanvas

Caro C Biog
Caro C is an artist, engineer and teacher specialising in electronic music. Her self-produced fourth album 'Electric Mountain' is out now. Described as a "one-woman electronic avalanche" (BBC), Caro started making music thanks to being laid up whilst living in a double decker bus and listening to the likes of Warp Records in the late 1990's. This 'sonic enchantress' (BBC Radio 3) has now played in most of the cultural hotspots of her current hometown of Manchester, UK. Caro is also the instigator and project manager of electronic music charity Delia Derbyshire Day.

URL: http://carocsound.com/

Twitter: @carocsound
Inst: @carocsound

FB: https://www.facebook.com/carocsound/

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Pedals are not just for guitars. Here Paul White connects his extensive pedal collection to a modular synth system, effectively using the pedals as additional modules and suggesting some creative ways of setting up and combining them to create a range of sounds for different applications.

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (00:42) - Connecting Your Pedals
• (01:31) - Using A Delay Or Reverb
• (03:49) - Adding Some Overdrive
• (04:38) - Adding Effects With Pitch Shift
• (05:37) - Using Chorus To Thicken A Sound
• (06:28) - Tremolo And Vibrato
• (06:54) - Phasers And Flangers
• (08:10) - Adding An Envelope Filter
• (09:21) - Creating Textures With Granular Delay
• (10:26) - Ring Modulator Effects
• (11:52) - Combining Effects
• (14:33) - Adding In An Arpeggiator
• (15:23) - Creating A Softer Sound

#StrymonCloudburst

Paul White Biog
Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing.

He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.

Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!

http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/

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