notes: Suspension

The idea behind this album was twofold:

  • Suspended chords. These chords (sus2 and sus4) have no third, so they’re neither major nor minor, but depending on their inversion they have perfect fourths, perfect fifths, major 2nds, major 9ths, and integer harmonics of the fundamental, giving a palette of both “openness” and dissonance which I have found especially fun to play with — whether pure, distorted, or as FM ratios. They’re not uncommon in Western classical or pop music, but it’s rare to just stay on them and not move to a more typical triad.

    I didn’t strictly stay with sus2 and sus4 chords though; in some cases I have clusters based on equal frequency ratios or some other scheme, additive synthesis with bent harmonics, or tuned-by-ear transpositions and modulations that take it a bit beyond that realm. And sometimes I took a sus chord and then transposed it by seconds, fourths, or fifths or used those notes as a basis for improvisation.
  • Secondarily, “suspension” of audio by looping audio buffer, extreme reverb lengths, spectral freezing, or simply the idea of drones in the first place. But again, this is not a pure drone album either.

No “AI” of any kind was used for any part of this album.

I rely on machines — analog and digital electronics, and software. These are my ensemble of instruments and my studio tools. But music is made by musicians.


This also goes for the artwork (*), all of this text, and everything I do in my personal and professional lives. AI is a nifty trick of technology, but it’s also a massive social and environmental problem. It has no expertise, no judgement, no understanding… no intelligence. Businesses are pushing it aggressively despite a lack of any business model that will ever make it profitable to anyone but NVIDIA, and individuals are using it recklessly, trusting their very lives to it despite all the examples of AI giving extremely wrong answers with the veneer of confidence and authority.

(*) on a few of my previous album covers I did use AI art tools — at the time, they were more of a curiosity which tended to generate more glitches and psychedelic absurdity than anything else, and I felt that such tools could be legitimately used by a human artist as long as they remained abstract and human judgement and effort was still a part of the work. I’ve since soured on the entire idea of AI.

This cover art was a royalty-free photo of a suspension bridge, lightly processed in Paint Shop Pro 2020.

All tracks were recorded in a single take in Bitwig Studio, with only the most minimal sequencing, and most effects baked in. (In some cases additional effects were applied to portions of the full mix). In the notes below, hardware is in bold and software is in italics. Basic utilities, dynamics/EQ processing, and some simple modulation sources are usually omitted from the descriptions unless they played an unusual role.

For controllers I use MN 0-Ctrl, Roger Linn Linnstrument 128, Tesseract Sweet Sixteen mk2, three Nektar expression pedals with a MIDI Expression Quatro, Intellijel Planar 2, and Bela Gliss.

For mastering: Wavesfactory Spectre, Toneboosters Equalizer Pro, Waves Curve Equator, DDMF MagicDeathEye, RJ Studios SideMinder Max, Voxengo Elephant & OVC-128, with metering from Voxengo Span Plus & Correlometer and YuLean Loudness Meter.

AD = Audio Damage
BW = Bitwig
IME = Industrial Music Electronics
ISS = Inertia Sound Systems
KHS = Kilohearts
MA = Minimal Audio
MI = Mutable Instruments
MN = Make Noise
NA = Newfangled Audio
NE = Noise Engineering
NI = Native Instruments
OBNE = Old Blood Noise Endeavors
RE = Rabid Elephant
UA = Unfiltered Audio
WA = Walrus Audio
WR = Whimsical Raps

“REDACTED” is an audio processor currently in beta test. I’ll update this page after its official release.

01 Suspension

  1. Madrona Labs Aalto (droning), WA Slöer
  2. GForce Halogen FM (chord held manually on Linnstrument 128 with varying pressure), captured and looped; Freakshow Industries Dream Eater.
  3. Xaoc Odessa with its Partials and Tension sequenced by MN 0-Ctrl, Dawesome Hate, BW Grid [circular panning patch], Fors Sala
  4. RYK Algo droning, RE Natural Gate, NE Fala Versio (with rate sequenced by 0-Ctrl), MN Mimeophon, Valhalla Room
  5. Same loop as #2, but pitch-shifted, smoothed in Sound Forge, Audiority Velvet Machine

02 Good Morning, Captain Magpie

  1. GForce Halogen FM chords captured in AD Circa, u-he Twangström, Valhalla Delay

03 Bleak/Oblique

  1. Plogue OPS7 droning, WA Slöer, BW chain [TB Equalizer Pro to only let the fundamental through, BW Pitch Shifter], Audiothing Lines
  2. 3 outputs of WR Just Friends into MN Jumbler (Rotate modulated by a 4th JF output), and two through MI Blades; Audiority Velvet Machine
  3. Auza Wave Packets (self-sequenced), MN Multimod, WR Silhouette (with Shadow feedback)
  4. Another Just Friends output through MN Spectraphon, MN QPAS, MI Beads, Xaoc Katowice, Brainworx BX_Aura. Multiple modulation from MI Stages LFOs.

04 Mount Unpleasant

  1. GForce Halogen FM played on Linnstrument 128; BW Delay+ with Sonic Charge Echobode in its feedback loop.
  2. MN Strega & Arturia Minibrute 2S, WA Slöer, Noveltech Character

Valhalla Vintage Verb on full mix at end.

05 Beautiful Watchers

  1. VCV Rack [Sofia’s Daughter through Chronoblob, and 2x Macro Oscillator through Doepfer Wasp filters], Valhalla Supermassive
  2. IME Zorlon Cannon mk2 (both banks) through MN Spectraphon (both sides) in SAM mode, WR Silhouette, WA Slöer
  3. NE Ataraxic Iteritas sequenced by MN 0-Ctrl with NE Clep Diaz modulating the octave; MI Blades, MI Beads, Sinevibes Integer, NE Imitor
  4. RYK Algo sequenced by MN 0-Ctrl, MN Mimeophon, UA SpecOps

On the full mix at the end: Valhalla Supermassive, two overlapped pitch-shifted copies of the tail, and additional Valhalla Plate.

06 Stentorian

  1. Neutral Labs Elmyra 2, WR Silhouette (just for delay/reverb), stereo split through Xaoc Katowice (L) and NE Lacrima Versio, BW Grid [Sallen-Key filter and circular panning], 2x Sinevibes Integer in series
  2. WR Just Friends mix output through MN Multimod (for freezing & chord detuning), Takaab Nearness, WA Slöer
  3. MN Spectraphon in SAM mode (fed by Just Friends) & Chaos Mode, Phonolyth Cascade, ISS Hinder
  4. VCV Rack [Sofia’s Daughter, 2x 4ms Pitch Shift, VCV Reverb]

Audiority Velvet Machine at the start.

07 The Bird Who Saw Himself

  1. “Captain Magpie” played back at 1/4 speed, Bitwig Harmonic Split [BW Pitch Shifter, Nudist Audio Nudistort & NE Imitor on the fundamental; BW Pitch Shifter and NI Raum on other harmonics]; resonant peaks forming a sus2 chord in TB Equalizer Pro; UA SpecOps; Valhalla Delay

08 Small Revolutions

  1. NE Toros Iteritas Alia with levels modulated by MN Multimod, NE Fala Versio, UA SpecOps, WA Slöer, Moogerfooger MF-104S Delay
  2. Arturia Synclavier V, NI Raum
  3. ALM Akemie’s Castle, MN QPAS, MN Mimeophon, 2x UA SpecOps in stereo, JMG Sound Cyberdrive Core, Tal G-Verb
  4. IME Zorlon Cannon mk2, BW Grid [pluck envelope, Flanger+, Ripple filter], Tal G-Verb

09 Pirate or Poet?

  1. BW Grid [wavetable osc droning with Curves envelope], MN Strega (delay time modulated by a square LFO which is entirely responsible for the “melody”), chain [UA SpecOps isolating the noise and feeding 2x u-he Uhbik-G], u-he Twangström

Audiority Velvet Machine fading in and out throughout the track. At end, Valhalla Room and another pass through Strega.

10 Tug

  1. Maurizio Uber Basses Miezo, Aegean Pitchproof, MN Multimod, MN Jumbler, Takaab Nearness, Brainworx BX_Aura, WA Slöer, 2x UA SpecOps in mid/side, Valhalla Delay. Multimod’s Rotate and Jumbler phase modulated by MI Stages LFOs — the phase is the cause of the swoopy pitch bends, I didn’t play them on the bass.

Ending processed with Valhalla Plate, then captured and pitch-shifted in MN Multimod, MN Mimeophon.

11 Fluorite Flourish

  1. GForce Halogen FM, UA SpecOps, Valhalla Delay
  2. NE Toros Iteritas Alia (modulated by MI Stages LFOs), REDACTED, MN Mimeophon, UA SpecOps, Wavesfactory Echo Cat, Ujam UFX-Reverb.
  3. Sample of the tail from “Tug”, sometimes reversed and sometimes not.
  4. RYK Algo, MN QPAS, MI Beads, PSP Pianoverb 2.
  5. NE Ataraxic Iteritas (modulated by gates from WR Just Friends and a Stages LFO), MN Multimod, WR Silhouette (to delay one of the outputs), Takaab Nearness, WA Slöer.

12 Spec

  1. NE Cursus Vereor played on Linnstrument 128, 2x Puremagnetik Clusters in stereo, Pubba Sheepadoodle, Impact Soundworks Gameverb, Wavesfactory Spectre.
  2. IME Kermit mk2 sequenced by MN 0-Ctrl, RE Natural Gate, REDACTED, BW Mod Delay, Audiority Velvet Machine (with low density to create rattling delays), Sinevibes Integer, BW Harmonic Split [NI Raum on every 3rd harmonic].
  3. WR Just Friends, Takaab Nearness, MN QPAS, Valhalla Plate, Valhalla Delay
  4. MI Rings, MN Spectraphon, Sinevibes Integer (at 100% wet to synchronize the sequence with voice 2). Modulation from 0-Ctrl.

Entire mix through Audiority Velvet Machine, converting rhythmic sequences into a textured drone.

13 Part of the Process

  1. BW Organ, NI Supercharger GT, NI Raum. MIDI sequenced in Bitwig but it’s just a short loop with a drone and some blips.
  2. Cherry Audio Harmonia played on Linnstrument 128, WA Slöer
  3. Xaoc Odessa sequenced by MN 0-Ctrl, RE Natural Gate, REDACTED.
  4. ALM Akemie’s Castle, MN Spectraphon, MN Multimod (with feedback loop), ISS Hinder, Aberrant DSP Lair. Castle’s pitch is modulated by an 0-Ctrl step but otherwise is droning.
  5. A reversed sample from voice 4, frozen 3x in UA SpecOps with different FFT sizes, crossfaded.
  6. BW Grid [white noise generator, Ripple filter modulated by 0-Ctrl sequence], Valhalla Vintage Verb.

14 A Cooling Influence

  1. Arturia Minibrute 2S & MN Strega, REDACTED, MN Multimod, MN Jumbler, Valhalla Delay.
  2. Arturia CZ V played on Linnstrument 128, Dawesome Hate, Audiority Velvet Machine, Brainworx BX_Aura
  3. MN Spectraphon (chaos mode), NE Lacrima Versio, BW Rotary, NE Imitor
  4. MI Blades (both sides) self-oscillating with phase modulation from NE Toros Iteritas Alia and NE Ataraxic Iteritas, mixed into the same Rotary/Imitor chain as voice 3.
  5. Inear Display Lancinantes, UA Sandman Pro

15 Golden Light

  1. Walforf Streichfett (sequenced by Mario Nieto Harmony Bloom), KHS Filter Table, WA Slöer
  2. Arturia Minifreak V (sequenced by another Harmony Bloom instance), MN Mimeophon, Pubbas Sheepadoodle
  3. DecadeBridge Sn, MN QPAS, REDACTED, Fabfilter Saturn 2
  4. RYK Algo, MI Beads, Sinevibes Integer
  5. VCV Rack [4ms Ensemble Oscillator, 2x Cytomic CF100 filters], Aberrant DSP Lair, Valhalla Delay

16 Fullness

  1. Madrona Labs Aalto, OBNE Dark Star V3, WA Slöer, Valhalla Supermassive
  2. Madrona Labs Aalto, 2x Moogerfooger MF-104S delay in series.

Both instruments play a single chord from the Linnstrument 128.

17 Procession

  1. ALM Akemie’s Castle (both sides), AtovProject cDVCA and Doepfer A130-8 VCA, WR Silhouette, Valhalla Delay
  2. MI Rings, MN Spectraphon, MN Mimeophon
  3. Xaoc Odessa, BW Grid [Fizz filter with ADSR envelope], OBNE Dark Star V3, Wildergarden Maim
  4. NE Ataraxic Iteritas, MN Multimod, REDACTED, Sonic Charge Echobode

Sequencing is a hybrid of MN 0-Ctrl, Bitwig Grid, and (for voice 4) IME Zorlon Cannon mk2. 0-Ctrl is unreliably clocked by a signal from Bitwig, leading to rapid skipping over steps which creates rhythmic variation.

At end, Audiority Velvet Machine and UA SpecOps.

18 Comfort

  1. BW Grid [3x sine oscillators, with modulation of Fold & cross phase mod], WA Slöer, KHS Filter Table & Lunacy Audio Beam Filter in mid/side, Wavesfactory Spectre
  2. MN Strega & Arturia Minibrute 2S, Valhalla Supermassive

19 Clouds and Boxes

  1. Xfer Serum 2, OBNE Dark Star V3, WA Slöer