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Life’s getting busier (in a good way), and holding everything back for one big album isn’t going to work anymore. I’ve always loved the challenge of making monolithic projects, which I’ve done year after year, but now I’m going to release singles.
Actually hyped to return to a time when I used to upload tracks one by one as soon as they were fresh!
This all came about after I released One With the Fractal in January and I asked myself: do I really need to make album number 14? Is it going to be the one? Probably nah.
So please come and listen to my new single Reckoner! Xenharmonic electro (8edo)
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple
I’ve been developing my virtablism – turntablism but entirely done virtually with samplers in the DAW. You’ll hear that on Reckoner, but I’m still improving my tech quickly so I’m hoping next time you hear my scratching it will be better.
Beatmonger is the drum machine VST I made using Plugdata/Heavy. It’s an 808 soundalike with some changes and I also gave it a quijada sound like the one from the MiniPops. The VST exposes all kinds of parameters to tweak the sound of each drum in a way you can’t do with sampled drum sounds. Each drum sits on its own audio output so I can easily apply different processing to each sound in the DAW. Why did I spend every evening one week in December 2024 to make this drum machine VST? Because I wanted something I could reuse again and again, in the spirit of oldskool drum machines, but with my own sonic stamp on it. Beatmonger is not publicly available but there are plenty resources online to DIY your own stuff in Plugdata!
Make some music, it will keep you out of trouble!
This is my first ever finished track with the 8edo tuning. I always found it really tough to make it work. The trick here was not to think harmonically, but pure melody and rhythm.
You’ll also hear that I’m using timbres that feature overtones that are aligned to 8edo. This is one way to smooth over the sound when you’re using a tuning that doesn’t align well with the harmonic series. I actually produced loads of these timbres as loopable wav files that I could easily load into a sampler, for various different edos. Each wav is a pseudo-harmonic series but the partials are aligned to an edo. But 0 of you may ask, how did you make them loopable, as edos are inharmonic and thus the sum of overtones would be aperiodic? I actually approximated those inharmonic overtones using harmonics of a very low fundamental frequency that is tied to the duration of the wav file. In this way, I’m using harmonics that approximate inharmonics that approximate harmonics. It works ok enough. Again, Plugdata was used here, mainly to automate the setup and recording of these loopable wav files for each edo. I spent an evening going from idea to complete sample pack. I’m willing to make these public, but I don’t know if anybody really wants to mess with them. They’re slightly unpleasant with a “bell organ” kinda quality, so you actually need to incorporate them into a sound design – they’re not good standalone sounds.
Crucial tech used on Reckoner: TAL Sampler, TAL Bassline-101, Dexed, Airwindows ToTape6, TAL Dub-X, Beatmonger v2, Linux, Bitwig Studio etc.
Thank you massively for the continued support!
My new album Morphable will be available on 5th August 2022. Nine new electronic microtonal beats from the harmony hacker.
If you want to hear one of the tracks today then you can! Yeah Groove can be played on youtube:
I started a small project where I take existing Sevish tracks and adapt them to different musical tuning systems. It is called Re-Tuned and is available from my Bandcamp page to stream or as a free download. In this project, you’ll hear many tracks with altered tunings. Many of these are originally written as microtonal pieces that are re-tuned to standard 12 equal!
Why have I done this‽ The project originally started out as trolling youtube videos which rendered familiar microtonal tunes in 12edo. It turned out to be an effective demonstration that 12edo is just another tuning with its own character, and that this kind of retuning subtly or dramatically altered the feeling of the music. I then started to produce microtonal retunings, for example Desert Island Rain (originally in 313edo) is rendered in 24edo, 19edo, 14edo and 9edo.
My musical philosophy is that music is a fun craft to be involved with and I’m glad it exists. When expressing yourself through music there are various tools in the toolbox – for example dynamics, timbre, tempo, tuning – though tuning is often forgotten about. I hope Re-Tuned makes the case that deliberate use of tuning is one more powerfully expressive and aesthetic parameter that musicians can use to hone their craft further.
Cover artwork by Juha Penttinen.
A new original Sevish album is coming out next month…
Eight mostly loop-based compositions for a Yamaha DX7ii FD synthesizer that was re-tuned to a microtonal scale. Released February 5, 2021.
Marcus Satellite’s new album uses tunings based on Erv Wilson’s work.
Terra Octava is a collaboration album from the collective at STAFFcirc.
Sounds of digital fusion, chiptune, jazz and electronic music in a variety of equal tempered tunings.
Featuring Cryptovolans, Reuben Gingrich, Jaq, Chimeratio, petet, manfish, STC_1001, STC_1002, STC_1003, STC_1004, Vince Kaichan, Hunter Van Brocklin, Tancla, Emelia K., Abd al-Mahdi, Themnotyou, Sintel, 0x70457465, limeboiler, clown core, b-knox, amimifafa, ordinate and Sevish.
The microtonal tunings include 34edo, 22edo, 19edo, 16edo, 10edo and others – but also the tiny ones like 6edo, 4edo, 3edo, 2edo, 1edo, 0edo!
My track Fuschiamarine in 7edo is on there.
I’m actually blown away by what everybody was able to achieve here. They’re all deep into their musical craft – and some of them are pros at tuning already – some are trying microtones for the first time. Hope you’ll enjoy the listen!
Here is some new microtonal music I heard recently.
Release date: January 1st, 2021
Available on Bandcamp and major streaming services
The new Sevish album will be called Bubble. It is a continuation and refinement of my own little musical world. You can expect microtonal wonky melodies and harmonies with IDM flourishes throughout. The album has a mix of styles – drum and bass, midtempo groovy jams, techno. The album closes with something very warm and fuzzy.
If you’re looking for more music like my previous albums Harmony Hacker, Horixens, Rhythm & Xen, Sean but not Heard and Golden Hour – this is it!
Bubble will be available January 1st 2021 on all major streaming services. Digital downloads will be available on Bandcamp for £5.
If you want to hear Bubble one week early, I will host a listening party on YouTube where you can hear the album in full. Simply join the link on December 26th starting 8pm (UTC) and enjoy some new sounds. I’ll be present in the live chat so come and say hello!
Update: the listening party has already happened and it was a big success, thanks everybody :)
Influencers, disc jockeys, bloggers etc. — please request a press pack via my contact form and I will send you a full album download plus a copy of the press release.
The album uses microtonal tunings like 22edo, 7edo and just intonation.
All tracks are new, written in 2019/2020, using Bitwig Studio on Linux (KDE Neon).
8 tracks / 42:12 duration.
Thanks to the blessing of YouTube and Spotify’s suggestion algorithms, plus a helpful mention from Adam Neely, last year I saw my audience grow faster than ever. Almost 20,000 of you are now subscribed to my music on YouTube and nearly 20,000 Spotify users streamed Sevish last month.
There is a lot of music in the world and yet you’re tuning into mine – so I want to thank every one of you!
If you would like to own a vinyl record featuring songs from both Sevish and Brendan Byrnes, here’s your chance.
We need your help to decide what tracks to include on the record. To find out, we set up two polls. Go ahead and make your selections!
Choose your Brendan Byrnes tracks
Later we will kick off a crowdfunding campaign to manufacture the records.
All tracks will be specially mastered for vinyl.
Stay tuned as the campaign hasn’t yet started.
By choosing your fave tracks, you’re helping us take the first steps. Thank you! :)
Possible Worlds Vol 4 is out today – a compilation of music using alternative tunings in various styles.
The lineup this time includes Runningonair, Javier María López Rodríguez, Jonathon McCullough, Skiks, Stephen Weigel, müesk, Kristofer Svensson, Filtercreed and myself Sevish.
My track Disorient was rescued from a cassette tape recording (with some bass overdubs done a few weeks ago). It’s an ambient piece in 313edo island[9] featuring field recordings from Qingdao beach and field recordings from a playground near my apartment where I used to live in Beijing. I often miss my time in China and I hope my piece conveys an unsettling dreamlike fading away from that land.
Possible Worlds is a series of compilation albums that take a snapshot of the international microtonal and xenharmonic composition community. If you enjoyed the collection, try Vol 1, Vol 2 and Vol 3 next.
Spectropol Records is run by Bruce Hamilton who sometimes composes under the name Skiks. Stephen Weigel interviewed him earlier this year on the Now&Xen podcast. They both feature in the new Vol 4 record.
Thanks for listening and if you enjoyed the sounds then please share them around!