Join ambient musician and musicology PhD candidate Kai West as they discuss the Pladask Matrise, the unique culture of guitar pedals, and the relationship between musicians and their equipment. Explore the creative possibilities of the Matrise mixer and parallel routing, emphasizing the collaborative nature of pedals in music creation.
BL-52 by Old Blood Noise Endeavors offers a unique phase repeater pedal with LFO rate modulation.
Pladask Electrik's Matrice mixer provides precise gain staging and routing for experimental sound manipulation.
Pedals like Dark Star and Super Ego enable complex soundscapes through parallel signal processing and real-time adjustments.
Deep dives
Introduction of BL-52 Phase Repeater Pedal
BL -52 by Old Blood Noise Endeavors is a phase repeater, offering a unique genre of pedal that functions akin to a wishy-washy delay rather than a typical phaser. The pivotal aspect of BL-52 lies in its clock slider, altering the LFO rate, delay time, and overall sound quality when adjusted. Priced at $179 and available at oldbloodnoise.com worldwide, BL-52 provides a distinctive tonal experience for users seeking innovative effects on their musical endeavors.
Innovative Design Process of Matrice Mixer by Pladask Electrik
Pladask Electrik's Matrice mixer, conceptualized by Newt Oly, originated from his need for an active mixer to enhance his modular synth performances. With 4 inputs, 4 outputs, and 16 knobs allowing precise gain staging and routing capabilities, Matrice offers a versatile platform for experimental sound manipulation. The mixer's active design eliminates tone loss and cross-talk, ensuring a clear and dynamic audio path suited for diverse musical compositions.
Experiential Learning Curve and Musical Expression with Matrice Mixer
Navigating the Matrice mixer presents a unique learning process, requiring users to develop a deep understanding of gain structuring, signal routing, and feedback loops. Through strategic practice and experimentation, individuals like Kai Carson West harness the Matrice's immense creative potential, using it as an instrument interface to sculpt intricate sonic landscapes and novel musical arrangements. By honing intuitive muscle memory and mastering the grid-like control interface, artists unlock limitless expressive possibilities reshaping traditional pedalboard dynamics.
Exploring the innovative use of pedals like Dark Star and Super Ego, the speaker describes creating a parallel loop with Habit, Dark Star, and Super Ego. By sending signals through different effects in parallel and altering the flow dynamically, they achieve complex soundscapes. This setup allows for real-time adjustments where the Super Ego can be influenced by Habit, leading to generative and layered sound textures.
Pedals as Collaborators: Redefining Creative Interactions
Viewing pedals as musical instruments and collaborators, the conversation delves into the relational aspect with pedals. The speaker emphasizes the personalized connection with each pedal, treating them as friends and entities with distinct personalities. They discuss the evolving role of pedals in shaping music, anticipating a future where pedals equipped with AI could actively respond and improvise based on the musician's input, fostering new creative avenues.
Today we're joined by Kai West, ambient musician and PhD candidate in musicology at the University of Michigan. We talk about the wonders of the Pladask Matrise, the peculiarities of our particular corner of guitar culture, and blow right past "are pedals instruments?" to get to "are pedals collaborators?" A great time is had by all.
