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The Kurzweil 2000 VP kicked off much of the inspiration for Monotude, my first new album of recordings in 20 years. It fell into my hands, literally, at the start of the new millenium, and gestated for a while in my storage units before finally pushing itself forward and making demands for my attention.

Having been introduced to the use of analog oscillators in the mid-70s with my first, a Roland SH-1000, and having also owned the Yamaha pre-cursor to the DX-7, a CE-20, I have seen first hand and familiarized myself with the advances in synthesis technology over the years. From analog, through digital control and sampled wave forms, (including the Fairlight CMI which was put to use on one of my Future MC’s rap records in 1984), to additive and hybrid techniques. All have their unique traits and admirable characteristics.

However, the Kurzweil gave me micro-control over so many disparate elements such as tuning, frequency and combinant forms. It wasn’t like the synths I had worked with previously, and went far beyond the limitations of Yamaha’s frequency mod approach. It was nice to see that a single synth could accomplish what I used to have to string together through layers of tracks then through use of MIDI as it came about.

Of course, all of this happened when I stepped away from electronic music in the 90s to concentrate on other forms of technology. So it was really refreshing to open up the box, and be wonderfully overwhelmed at just how far music technology had advanced.

Some of the sounds you will hear on Monotude are standard Kurzweil sounds. Only minor adjustments were needed to take advantage of its wonderful piano and string constructions. Others were built off existing presets as start points that twisted and turned into completely unrecognizable step-children. Overall, the Kurzweil blended rather harmoniously with whatever I threw at it, including software virtual synths. It became my main MIDI controller as well for some rack mount modules that weren’t nearly as much fun to program. My great wish at the end of the project is that I had an additional unit with full range and weighted keys. Perhaps next time around.

Monotude is the first track from a new album of electronic music I will release summer of 2011. It draws inspiration from the space in between public and private, between the ears and the headphones, and from both digital and analog synthesis techniques. You can find it on my SoundCloud channel here:  colemanjolley/monotude

The recording process has been interesting, this time around. Over the past 15 years, since my last studio recordings to 24 track tape, I have experimented with all the popular digital audio workstations (DAWs), including Pro Tools, MOTU Digital Performer, Sonar Cakewalk, Emagic/Apple’s Logic and Cubase, eventually settling on Logic Pro as my preferred tool. I’ve traveled back and forth between PC and Mac, eventually selecting the Mac as my preferred platform. Thanks ASIO driver mediocrity!

What I struggled with wasn’t the plethora of choices, though it sure is nice to have a gluttonous amount of available tracks if you want them. Instead, I found myself missing the approach of recording to tape, treating it as an instrument adjunct to the music. Yes, performance is required and one can’t *as easily* go back and fix a bum note on tape (does anybody remember punch-ins?), but more importantly, the feeling of a tape reel running along with you, pacing and contributing as an unseen member. I miss the layering.

After looking into acquiring a 16 track machine to record this new album, the daunting cost of signal processing gear and spending more time with Logic, I decided that what was missing was the approach or attitude of tape. A Monotude, so to speak. So I applied that here, and to all the recordings that will comprise the album.

There will be more to come for this album of music, much of it experimental in nature and not particularly melodic. But I did feel this first track set the tone and explained a lot of what I was inspired by, to the point and without unnecessary embelishment.

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This is music I composed/improvised as part of a soundtrack for a student media project in 1986. Roland, Korg and Yamaha analog/FM/digital syrup. Appropriately funereal – I thought it would be a great soundtrack while my casket is lowered into the ground.

Requiem by Coleman Jolley

Andreas Meyer at the keyboard digging into The Lizerd’s noisy past.

Found this during a walk through the Marais neighborhood in Paris. Funny how he went from pedophile to martyred victim in the eyes of the public. I wonder if all religious figures are like that?

Everybody Wants To Rule The World opener. I was gigging the last time they toured this big, and didn’t get a chance to see them (1991) so this was a labor of love for me : )

A fantastic documentary on Britain’s electronic music scene, from the late 70′s through the present. Lots of great interviews with people like Vince Clarke, OMD, Phil Oakey and Martin Ware, Cabaret Voltaire, Kraftwerk and more.

All of Williamsburg must have been in attendance.