Education
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hanging out with audiophiles
My name is Jamie Lidell and I'm gonna delve into the heady magic of creating music in a modern studio, probe the depths of production, get tech crazy with mixing tricks, studio skills and equipment. I'll be joined by fellow musicians, engineers and all-round audiophiles who kindly share their tips, stories and ingenious insight from the bizarre world of music production. I shall answer questions and seek knowledge from other music makers on a quest to discover how to make things sound RIGHT. I will also share some studio trickery on each episode as I explore some of my favourite innovations in music tech and my creations... outpourings from the weirdo brain! Welcome to a place for musicians, producers and listeners alike as we "cheers" our love of everything audio.
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06/10/2024

HOWA EP129 - Taylor Deupree & Joseph Branciforte

A fascinating and frankly bonkers translation has taken place Taylor Deupree’s original album Stil., released in 2002 was made with 100% digital techniques with a heavy dose of microsound, layering and looping. It now exists as something wildly different and yet painstakingly based on that work. This new iteration is a 100% acoustic version which takes it from Stil. to Sti.ll This is a rare form of digital to analog conversion and should only be attempted by festidious and slightly insane people! Sti.ll, released in 2024, is a complete reimagining of Stil., recorded entirely with acoustic instruments, such as clarinets, vibraphones, and cellos, played by live musicians. This new version abandons digital sound manipulation in favor of human performance, where sounds previously made with software are recreated through physical instruments and microphones. The transformations go beyond just switching mediums; the acoustic textures bring warmth and depth, making it an entirely new and distinct experience, while retaining the essence of the original. Who would attempt such madness? Taylor Deupree (wiki-ish) is a prolific electronic musician, sound artist, and founder of the record label 12k. Known for his contributions to the microsound and minimalist electronic music movements, Taylor’s work often blends digital and acoustic elements. His music is characterized by its delicate, detailed textures and use of repetition to create slowly evolving soundscapes. Joe Branciforte (wiki-ish) is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and Grammy award-winning recording engineer and producer based in New York. He is the founder of the record label Greyfade, which focuses on process-based composition, electronic and acoustic minimalism, and alternative tuning systems. Joe’s expertise spans both electronic and acoustic music, making him adept at bridging these worlds in innovative ways. His work often involves live electronic processing of acoustic instruments, and he has collaborated with renowned artists like Kenneth Kirschner and Theo Bleckmann. His technical mastery and creative vision were key to bringing Taylor Deupree’s acoustic reimagining of Stil. to life in Sti.ll, where he played an integral role in transcribing and arranging the complex digital compositions for live instrumentation. So good to chat with these masters about a project of such huge scope. We discuss this album at length and also Taylor’s collaboration with the late, great Ryuichi Sakamoto links: https://www.taylordeupree.com https://josephbranciforte.com MUSIC from the show: from the email I received: Last year Miet Warlop and me (Micha Volders) went to Dhaka, Bangladesh to make a visceral musical performance with young students. It opened the Dhaka Art Summit and we played for a curious Bengali crowd of thousands. This city is a whole other universe, it’s loud, it’s overcrowded, it’s vibrant. I work on a daily basis with young artists but I rarely experienced this kind of hunger, joy and motivation from these young students. We rehearsed 3 weeks in a row on this huge ghetto sound system placed middle on the road in the city, to a point where local residents were fed up and sabotaged our (already super shabby) P;A system by cutting all the wires,  It was challenging, it was exciting and it was touching. So one year later we made a record out of the recordings of this venture : it’s called ICCHĀ ——> check it out here
1h 25m
23/07/2024

HOWA EP 126 - ANDY FALCONER

Im going to read from the press release this time coz its a good’n The simpatico sophomore album by the unstoppably prolific Alex Paterson and fellow Orb original Andy Falconer is an epic sail through the sky at night. Helmed by gentle spirits with warmth in their hearts, ‘SETI’ feels cold and dark, yet also glowing and welcoming. Aboard a cosy candlelit spacecraft, the duo experience the cosmos as somewhere overwhelmingly infinite, yet reassuring and friendly. A sort of ‘ambient unplugged’, it’s full of acoustic instruments and nostalgic samples, folding space between the old world, and places where no man has gone before. Dr Paterson speaks “The first LP had a great reception and sold so well I couldn’t even get a copy myself. Andy is brilliant at making ambient music, and working with him is always rewarding. We understand each other’s brains – it’s easy and organic - so doing another made total sense.” He adds, “SETI stands for Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence, but it’s also something you sit on, to chill out, which is why the album contains a Three Piece Suite. This record is musical ambience, which is what we like to make, rather than drone ambience, which there’s a lot of these days.” That last point struck me as it describes the sensations I associate with the music of the Orb which is a sort of maximal ambient rush. It’s a sound that whizzes me right back to my dreamy youth tbh when these guys were so responsible for making the soundtrack that accompanied me through my last years at school. It was a time when I needed music to blow my mind. When I was told I could speak to an original member of the orb I was so curious to ask Andy how it was all made back in those days. We get into that right at the end of this chat as well as a walk down memory lane and up the present.  It was great to catch up with Andy in Portugal. He’s had quite the life! Let’s get into it  
1h 42m
27/06/2024

HOWA EP 125 - MATTHEW HERBERT

Bones.... Wind.... Caves.... A simpler time When we apes first tooted.. the fluuuute Yes it’s wild how far we’ve come and Matthew Herbert and I go back a bit too .. I mean not to the flute tooting era but we go back. He speaks during this chat of his achievements as an evolved ape and many had me gasping !  He tells of multiple slippers that he can slide into to tap different sonic personas. The making of 1000 pieces of music a year! The upkeep of his musical organ filled with pigs blood. Yes The stories are wild in this one so Strap in! Did I mention we go way back? Yes ! I was lucky enough to collaborate with him on a few notable pieces of music. 1) He played on the second super_collider LP raw digits on a track called gravity rearranging  2) I was a singer on his album Goodbye Swingtime and joined him and the bigband at the Hollywood Bowl opening for Bjork in 2003 alongside Bonnie Prince Billy. Hollywood bowl bigband? I mean come on!! 3) He joined me alongside Arto Lindsay, performing the most monumental show of my career at Sonar 2003. That show was the real unveiling of all my efforts in the lab to make an impov looping performance with max/msp. Something I’d dreamt of for years and finally made real. It was so fitting to have him and Arto come on for the final number and make a total racket with me. We just all clattered it to the ground. A moment I’ll never forget and it was all down to Matthew really as it was watching him show using multiple boss echos in short looping mode that got me started on that road. A brilliant and restless musical mind that has always moved in his own lane. It’s a treat to welcome onto the show Matthew Herbert ____   It’s been a while but I’ve some music to play from an artist and pod listener  This time it’s from an LP called TRIPLE TRANSIT  The artist is Braile and he makes some really solid Modular YouTube pieces too  His new record is out August 8th on Hotflush recordings.  Link! https://braillesounds.bandcamp.com/album/triple-transit
1h 20m
20/02/2024

HOWA EP 119 - MEDASIN

I have Patreon :) https://www.patreon.com/HOWA You can join now for as little as $1.50 a month.  All sounds from this episode will go to those on the upper tier and I want to thank everyone for their support! It really helps me keep the show going. _____ Medasin aka Grant Nelson is a feeler. I was initially drawn to his sample packs like a moth to the fire. The fire it turns out has many a hue and the music goes deep. It was excellent to speak to the man himself and uncover his philosophical side. We battle for who’s more of a hippy. It was close but as all hippies know there is no winner in this game. so just jump in the rambling river with us 🙂 Here’s some useful links to Grants work his website: https://medasinmusic.com his sample packs which are great! also he is selling all the stems to his last LP (the one he is discussing in this interview ) all here: https://medasindrumkits.sellfy.store he’s a fan of Theo Vaughn and the Kill tony YouTube I thought I ought to mention that 🙂 Thanks to Baby Audio for their kind sponsorship of this pod! I’ve LOVED using their new synth ATOMS as you can doubtless hear from the fun I had in the intro. I literally spent hours just making sounds for fun. It’s such a yielding instrument. I can highly recommend it! all the sounds I made go to the patreons on the soul science level of course. GOOD NEWS If you type AUDIOPHILES in the check out you get 15% off here’s the link you need! https://babyaud.io/atoms YEP!!
1h 39m
07/02/2024

HOWA EP 118 - KID KOALA

If you want to directly help support me in the pod work please consider joining my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/HOWA All sounds from this episode will go to those on the upper tier ! There’s over 4GB of audio from the experiments I did with the Oxi one using a custom tape machine, wild analog gear and generally odd stuff to yield those good samples. ok, let's get on with the show! Kid Koala is not like the others. I mean who else gets the idea to do a scratch routine with moon river? Who thinks (and pulls off) a show where everyone has their own turntable in the audience to interact with a performance? He's the creator of wonderful graphic novels Nufonia Must Fall and Space Cadet He’s opened for Radiohead He’s worked on movies like The Great Gatsby, Baby Driver and Scott Pilgrim vs the world Creativity to the max. Joy to the max. It really is a treat to have him on the show. I’ve always been a big fan and Eric really couldnt be any more humble and wonderful ! ___ in the show the MUSIC is back ! Yes for this episode, the musical connections come from the rather brilliant mind of bossada I got the cassette of this btw and it’s a thing of beauty. This is great work. Let’s support the good art x LINK LINK LINK https://bossada.bandcamp.com/album/cantina-days Kind show sponsorship comes from oxi instruments makers of the excellent oxi one sequencer Here’s a link to it https://oxiinstruments.com/oxi-one/ if you want to buy one with a HOWA affiliate link together with perfect circuit go here :) there's a little video about the oxi as omnichord here 
1h 33m
25/12/2023

HOWA EP 117 - DJ SHADOW

Merriment abound ! It's that time again when sonic stockings are stuffed. This time with a fireside ramble twixt myself and the legend that is Dj Shadow as we celebrate his new LP "Action Adventure" Welcome.  I hope this finds you in good health and merry mood as the season sheds it's joy upon you. If joy is in short supply and the period feels claustrophobic and the family is doing your head in then I trust yule be able to duck out for a spell and use this as an escape pod. Who am I rambling with on the sonic sleigh? Dj Shadow really needs no Endroducing but in case you’re not hip to his MPC60 masterpiece from 1996 you MUST inhale that now. What a record. I recall having both of my Christmas stockings blown off by this LP and it’s humbling to be sat on a zoom with the chap now.  Such is the mystery of the digital time ghosts.  Twas a mighty pleasure to chew the cud with such a master of the chops. I hope this offers you some sonic solace this holiday  ______ I wish to alert you to a new way to give to this show, should you find it appealing :)  https://www.patreon.com/howa/membership It's the new $1.50 tier on Patreon, a wonderful idea that came from Hainbach.  A way to chip in and directly support the show as a kind of digital high five :) I really do pour my heart Into the HOWA podcast. As you can imagine, it all takes loads of effort. From finding the guests and organizing the chats, to trying to find new areas of sonic joy to explore and share in the episodes. Then there's all the time editing, uploading, promoting and all that. If you enjoy the show and feel you can spare a little over a dollar a month to help me carry on, that would be rather ace! thanks!! _____ Sponsorship comes from Distrokid Did you know that there's a new iOS and android app that lets you - Upload - Find out when money hits your bank  - Check streaming stats and loads more   Take advantage of the savings HOWA offers ya! Use this 30% off code http://distrokid.com/vip/lidell  
1h 41m
12/10/2023

HOWA 113 - JAMES FORD

My guest on the show is James Ford who is really one of the most badass producers in the business.  Im talking about the kind of low key English badassness and not the Tarantino variety if you know what I mean. James is involved in so many things and yet he does it without needing a big spotlight on himself. Humble badass. That’s the one.  He’s been active for many years. I mean we used to see each other in that classic ships in the night stylee when I was touring with Cristian Vogel back in the late nineties. We are talking about a man with Multiple decades of energy dedication and knowledge a go go! He’s got the quadfecta mad skills as composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter which is probably one of the reasons he’s been able to be so nimble and effective working with a huge range of incredible artists from Arctic Monkeys to Depeche Mode via Foals, Gorillaz and Kylie Minogue.   You may know him as one half of Simian Mobile Disco, alongside longtime creative partner Jas Shaw or perhaps as a touring member of The Last Shadow Puppets. The hat cupboard in the house is ample!   I was lucky enough to feature on a track with SMD a while back and got to see the studio when it was at the Premises in Hackney.  Now he’s got a supreme attic room that is beyond decked out. We have a little tour of that for anyone who is curious about his gear choices after all this time.  Then we get deep into the world of making, art, the hurdles, the path. The good stuff of rambling! Welcome to the mind of a sonic chef. His first solo album “The Hum” is out now on warp records and it’s a corker!   https://www.jamesellisford.com ________________ If you want to directly help support me in the pod work please consider joining my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/HOWA All sounds from this episode will go to those on the upper tier ! ________________   Id like to thank show sponsors    SOUNDTOYS   https://www.soundtoys.com   KORG   https://www.korg.com   STAGER MICS   http://stagermicrophones.com   _________________   NITTY!!!
2h 13m
28/08/2023

HOWA EP112 - JON HOPKINS

  Jon Hopkins pays attention. He has a ear for the smallest details and a deft touch both as a pianist and a producer.  I feel this interview is very timely as the rise of psychedelic therapy has caught the imagination of so many. Jon has made music that is so perfect for those wishing to go deeper with their experiences in that hugely rewarding domain.  His is the mindset that wants to expand and to meditate instead of flex and win the popularity contests in the game of music. Very refreshing.  We get into his beginnings in the classical world, his lack of patience with distracting factors and on to his success story and on to his musings on the current state of being a musician releasing music in this arguably confusing time.   ____________ The nitty returns ! I was fortunate enough to get an early copy of Andrew Huang’s first plugin :) It's a collaboration with Baby Audio called “Transit” It really inspired me to get my hands dirty and to explore it’s outer ways.  I stacked up about 30 or so instances to pull off a tonal transition that is rather epic ! I learned from an older me on this one. In EP 58 I explored a related idea in Melodyne. Here’s that show  ****** **** ** * SPECIAL DEAL !!   I’m happy to be able to offer listeners to the show a 10 % discount on TRANSIT when using the code BABYHOWA at check out Here’s the plugin!! Check it :) https://babyaud.io/transit Also.. Here’s the Ableton session called “The Bends” that I made to demo this  (sadly I forgot it’s the 11.3.10b5 Beta version of Ableton you’ll need to run this .. oops!)  _____________   Big ups to Catechism and REZN for their music on this show.  It’s from an album called “Infected Ambient Works” Here’s the link to it https://rezzzn.bandcamp.com/album/infected-ambient-works _____________   A massive shout to show sponsor Soundtoys! At the start of this episode I add the New SUPER PLATE and the classic PHASE MISTRESS plugins to a tape jam that’s fresh from my new studio and it just enters into a whole Different dimension.  These are Shockingly good plugins! Some of the very best you can find.  That’s why I’m so chuffed to work with these legends !  Check their masterful work here  https://www.soundtoys.com   ____________ If you want to directly help support me in the pod work please consider joining my  Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/HOWA All sounds from this episode will go to those on the upper tier !        
2h 24m
17/08/2023

HOWA EP 111 - BENN JORDAN

DESCRIPTION After a hefty and well needed break I’m back The pod returns :) I trust y'all are hanging in. I hope in fact you’re more than just hanging in. I hope you are diving in and thriving and embracing the endless realm of possibility that presents itself to you. Don’t worry, I’ll not linger on the guru talk. Just stating the obvious ! As you can see from the show title I got to finally chat with the brilliant Benn Jordan. We met at NAMM a couple of years back (I’ve had some great hangs at NAMM I must say) He’s a smart, witty man with endless curiosity and it’s really fun to explore all manner of mind realms with him. We can TALK! Oh how we can talk. This conversation was at least 3 hours long and it’s been cut down a fair bit but there’s no end of tangents and insights into The mighty Benn. I think those of you who are familiar with his excellent YouTube material will enjoy hearing an extended ramble portal into his many ways. It’s great to be back This show has 2 excellent sponsors 1st off I’m super happy to get to work with my pals at Soundtoys for a few shows. They agreed to come on board and I couldn’t be happier. Just love them and their excellent plugins. Top shelf stuff! In this episode I show off 2 of my faves, decapitator and devil lok. They are both such wonderful tools. Potent and endlessly useful in equal measure. Like Salt in cooking, they amp up the tasty. Head over to Soundtoys if you know what’s good for you! I’d also like to thank “a tasty pixel” for sponsoring the show. They are makers of the unbelievably good LOOPY PRO. Absolutely stunning software for anyone who really wants the last looper. It is the most fully featured pure looper Ive ever used. Beardyman uses it. If you were wondering if it were capable I think that’s all you need to know! Interested in looping? Let me save you some time. All you need is LOOPY PRO Click here for more info!
1h 59m
23/04/2023

HOWA EP 110 - TYCHO

Tycho is Scott Hansen and Scott is a deeply friendly and humble chap. I didnt know too much about his background or what made him tick but I tried to get to “know” him and makes some guesses about that by tuning into his music. It’s clearly so well crafted and put together with meticulous attention to detail that this man had to be fastidious but how would that quality manifest? He manages to ride us on a carpet of textures which guide the process of musical flight, once a mood is found, it’s held with patience so the listen can dwell in a land. It’s a style that has been really honed and has found a large following for good reason! It was a real treat to get on the ramble road with him. I left the interview unedited for maximum deviation potential (you’re welcome) _____ This episode is sponsored by A tasty pixel and their excellent LOOPY PRO! As many of you are aware, I’ve spent years of my life with loopers of all kinds from the crudest guitar pedals to my own Max/MSP effort in 2000 to Tim Exile’s wonderful “flow machine” Making a looper setup that fits your style is everything and to do that, a tool that is very flexible and open to configuration is needed. I’m happy to report that this is perfected inside loopy pro. I’m also happy to say that It’s one of the best loopers I’ve ever used and has become the heart of beardymans new setup so you know it’s capable. Needless to say Im really happy to be working with A tasty pixel. _______ I made a new video to highlight a specific use of Loopy Pro that came to me one evening. There’s plenty of excellent tutorial videos to get started online so I wanted to show something a little unique. I took 4 instances of the Chamberlin M1 samplepack I made (which is now available at decentsamples.com!) fed each to an array of 4 speakers around a Neumann head for some quadra funky tape loopidelic delightfulness. Yes, it’s A little nitty basically :) Watch HERE!!  
1h 59m
31/03/2023

HOWA EP 109 - HAINBACH

Hainbach must be such a busy man! Just today I received a post on his patreon that he uploaded to Medium where he eloquently described the history and character of the electronic music company Vermona that started in the GDR and now lives on. It was a review of sorts of the DRM drum machine from 1987 but he surrounded that feature with some wonderful insights into the company’s history whilst painting a picture of former East Germany. He put all this together after having made a highly compelling video on the same subject for his now legendary youtube channel where so many of us find ourselves happily gazing in on his wild sonic adventures. I’ve learnt so much from him over the years and feel a undeniable connection with him. I certainly share his passion for beguiling tone and that marveling at human inventiveness and endeavor. A tremendous story teller and tireless adventurer, we could have discussed any number of things. There was absolutely no plan to this chat and you’re going to hear what is essentially our first phone call. Yes there's Ample deep dives a tangents a go go. It was a great pleasure to speak with this fountain of knowledge. It gives me great pleasure to welcome on to the show Hainbach Nitty 109 is all about Tape Delay. I put the new Echofix EFX3 through its paces in some odd ways! This nitty is also a rare VIDEO nitty. Link to that here I have an affiliate link to the Echofix machine I used here or for the rack version here buying a unit from that link helps the channel :) thanks! Music for the show comes from https://atlanticrhythms.bandcamp.com/album/eraserhood
1h 57m
07/03/2023

HOWA EP 108 - CARL CRAIG

Carl Craig worked with Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson back in the day I mean that could be all the intro you need to hear to know how heavy he is! Wait til you find out about the HANGS they had in Detroit. They were cooking up a sound of techno that has never been surpassed in my opinion. Mr Craig has really never stopped. It’s pretty mind blowing to me He’s already left behind a superb and ultra varied stack of music that springs from an insatiable hunger for the new. I mean the sheer number of aliases he has is hard to keep up with! Not content with just putting out bangers, he’s been expanding his experience to fill a museum and the process is truly epic. We get into what went into his work called Party/After Party which was commissioned by Dia Art Foundation and is opening soon at Moca LA. and is on view APR 16 – JULY 23, 2023. Here’s a link! Increasingly on this show, I’ve been trying to stay away from too much gear talk coz it’s really not that interesting often quite frankly BUT in this case I felt like we needed to get somethings cleared up. At least I was really curious about what made it on to those early Detroit cuts. Some of the findings are shocking, in a great way and ought to be inspiring to anyone who feels they need all manner of fancy machines to rock the house. Carl is living proof that you just need to get it all out with whatever you have in front of you but also it illustrates to me the importance of a crew and a little friendly competition. That can really up your game. The thing I take away from this chat is just the searching. The fascination and passion to keep making. It’s super inspiring to me and I hope it spurs you all on to dig in and make noise! In other news, Im off to superbooth! Let me know if you’re going :) boring news,,, I've been sick good news, new studio looking good next show will have a nitty. Cheers!
1h 26m
19/01/2023

HOWA EP 106 - DAVID HASKELL

David Haskell is a professor of biology and environmental studies at the University of the South and a Guggenheim Fellow. His 2017 book The Songs of Trees won the John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Natural History Writing. His 2012 book The Forest Unseen was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, and won the 2013 Best Book Award from the National Academies, the National Outdoor Book Award, and the Reed Environmental Writing Award. His new book, Sounds Wild and Broken is out now and I was thrilled to have a chance to sit down in person with him in my studio here Nashville to discuss it briefly. Here’s a quick summary of the book from the official press release: Starting with the origins of animal song and traversing the whole arc of Earth history, Haskell illuminates and celebrates the emergence of the varied sounds of our world. In mammoth ivory flutes from Paleolithic caves, violins in modern concert halls, and electronic music in earbuds, we learn that human music and language belong within this story of ecology and evolution. Yet we are also destroyers, now silencing or smothering many of the sounds of the living Earth. Haskell takes us to threatened forests, noise-filled oceans, and loud city streets, and shows that sonic crises are not mere losses of sensory ornament. Sound is a generative force, and so the erasure of sonic diversity makes the world less creative, just, and beautiful. The appreciation of the beauty and brokenness of sound is therefore an important guide in today’s convulsions and crises of change and inequity. Here’s a link to the book in all it’s various formats (the link is slow but it works) I can highly recommend you give it a read. It's just a wonderful read and full of insights that will stay with you. There’s a Soundcloud link with sounds pertinent to the chapters which you can check out here ______________ I also wanted to give a shout out to pod listener Simon Taylor and his book AUDIO MASTERING IN A PROJECT STUDIO: A PRACTICAL APPROACH FOR A PROFESSIONAL SOUND Some great ideas and knowledge that’s not too overwhelming check these whee links: US  Or UK  ______________ As always send music and stuff to [email protected] :)
1h 17m
24/12/2022

HOWA EP 105 - BIBIO

Merry Chrimble y’all! Here’s a sonic present for your ears to unwrap.  It’s in the form of a nice fireside ramble with the excellent Stephen James Wilkinson aka Bibio.  He’s a wonderful and thoughtful chap with a very unique touch and a searching soul.  I love his musical range, his tones, his playing. YES He’s rather good! Im assuming you all know his stuff? If not you fools!  You must immediately have a listen  As in go here NOW! https://bibio.co   It’s super ooper dooper inspiring stuff and I was mighty chuffed when he agreed to come on the pod. Our paths never crossed as label mates on warp records which is a shame. God knows why.  A couple of shy dudes making waves in different countries might have had something to do with it! Ha. Anyway we are finally in a chat and even talking about working on something together which sounds good to me.  Watch this space.   He’s a wise lad so of course he has a nagra. A stereo nagra in fact.  In fact it was this conversation that really made me want to find one of my own which thankfully I did. He’s the one guest that actually recorded a backup to the tape machine. Proper legend   Roll it ____   Thanks for tuning in folks! It’s been another bonkers year and having this show has been a huge part of keeping me going. Cheers to all the wonderful patrons for helping me keep this dream alive Thanks to distrokid for their continued support as the most epic and long running sponsor of the pod.  If you make music and need it putting out, just use distrokid! It’ll be everywhere like Santa before you know it  Dropping that sonic magic down the chimneys of the world.   Thanks to Bibio And I’ll catch you in 2023!   Make merry y’all     
1h 32m
25/10/2022

HOWA EP 102 - MAX TUNDRA

Max Tundra is Ben Jacobs A man that was a child that grew up in London. As pointed out on his bandcamp, he went to the same school as Jude Law and a Chemical Brother, but didn’t know them. In this disposable content age, there’s an undeniable urge to go for quantity over quality is there not? The music Ben makes as Max Tundra comes as rarely as a celestial event. We forget the rising and falling of the sun each day but we don’t forget a total eclipse now do we? This is how it felt when Mocky and I came across the LP “Mastered by guy at the exchange”. We were without sun for a while. In an unknown land that felt Most welcoming and yet most peculiar. It was genuinely new music. Something so rare that still feels fresh all these years later. Here’s what hyper pop bloke A. G. Cook said of Max Tundra’s legacy: “‘Mastered by Guy at the Exchange’ is a true cult album - a playful monolith that sounds both nothing and everything like the 2000s. Stumbling across it as a teenager, it reinforced a hunch I had: that music is a place where anything could happen, and total chaos could be held together by the lightest of pop hooks. There’s an oddly British quality to Max Tundra’s work, a soft and polite maximalism - pioneering, eccentric and infinitely remixable.” Ben Jacobs invented hyper pop As they say in the UK FACTS It’s a good time to be a Max Tundra fan as domino has reissued his first three studio albums to be found HERE 2000s Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be, 2002’s Mastered by Guy at the Exchange, and the 2008 masterwork Parallax Error Beheads You. We get into a lot of his formative years and thankfully he kept so much of his sonic ramblings from that time and they can be found on his band camp page It’s a real treasure trove. Here it is What a legend. If you’ve never heard of him before, I’m so glad I get to make the intro. He’s a true original and a very nice man Please welcome on the show Max Tundra
1h 47m
09/10/2022

HOWA EP 100 - NIGEL GODRICH

Nigel is my kind of producer He has a strong sense of quality, a strong sense of who he is and what potentials artists have to be cultivated and captured. He’s my kind of producer because he gets his hands dirty and doesn’t just act as a fan of the band and take on that guru role but he’s in the trenches, setting up the mics for perfect phase alignment, getting all the sonic chains correct but without a limiting rule book. There’s so much inventiveness in the productions alongside the incredible, undeniable tone. Of course there’s that ego and strong sense of self and I ran into his resolute perspective a couple of times by asking questions he deemed sub par or misguided. Let’s put it this way, you know where you stand with Nigel and of course he has a strong perspective. Imagine the courage and strength of conviction it would take to tell Thom Yorke or Paul McCartney that they could better a take or that a lyric felt cheesy or what have you. We might all think we want to be told yes all the time but Nigel, it feels, understands when to say no and let his point be known and I love that about him. I have immense respect for him. He's made some of my favorite records and I think it's fair to say that he's my favorite living producer. So needless to say it's an absolute thrill to have him on the show. It’s even more special to me that he agreed to do episode 100. NIGEL!!!!! Nitty 100 is a BIG one I get my hands on a rare Chamberlin M1 from the excellent Rob Burger and sample it in a most painstaking manner yielding a set of 8 instrument captures that showcase the sounds on the tapes in a way that’s never been heard before. I sent the finished pack to some amazing musicians and they all came back with beautiful music to demo the sounds. You’ll hear tracks from Dave Sitek Hainbach Dana Wachs Andrew Huang RJD2 Money Mark and I also made one that sneaks in at the end of the show 🙂 EP 100 Baby! bringing the heat!!! I only managed to make all this with the expert kontakt and decent sampler scripting help of Owen Bolig and GUI design from Tobias James. In the sample instruments you can blend 3 different layers. The DRY is a direct output from the instrument running into a Telefunken V72 preamp The DIRT is the signal processed though a silvertone amp head into a Roland RE-201 space echo in spring reverb mode 3+4) The DUAL MONO ADT NAGRA recordings are the star of the show and the motivation behind the instrument. The output of the Chamberlin was sent to 2 nagras at the same level. I played with the varispeed of one nagra tape machine and not the other so when the NAGRA channel on the kontakt or decent sampler is set to mono you hear unique ADT style phasing that’s varied per key press using scripting magic (Kontakt only). So there’s 3168 samples that make up the 8 instruments with a total of 4.62Gb of audio. Get ready! The Chamberlin ADT is available to Patreon members on the soul science level! Music for EP100 comes from Lok44 who’s LP 44problems is to found on TRUST. I was bugging out to this. I think he triggered something from my youth and I very much enjoyed the flashback! Thanks to sonible for their kind sponsorship Their plugins are well worth checking out. smart, clear and good sounding. Triple wammy! check them out 🙂 Thanks also to access analog for THEIR kind sponsorship Good news! They have given me a code to share with you all at check out so you can try this wild service for yourself and remotely control a pye compressor from the comfort of your studio or roaming about with a laptop with wifi. True 2022 business. The code you need at check out is....... trial-howa enjoy! Drums from this ad spot are from the That Sound “Hanger” library here shouts to my studio building crew! Jim Keller at Sondhus and Matthew Marinelli at coral sound thanks to Diana Walsh for cleaning up the audio as ever Last my most certainly not least, thank you to my lovely wife! Without her this show never would have been. Just would not have ever reached episode 1! Im so proud of her. She’s having her first solo art show as a painter here in Nashville at the brand new ZieherSmith Gallery. The show is called STIM and it’s going to be up from the 24th September. Check this link here for info! BYE x
2h 23m
23/09/2022

HOWA EP 101 - TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS

TEED has an excellent new LP out now called “When the Lights Go” available on his Nice Age label. Check it ooot! HERE is Link to the album, tour info and loads of ace merch! If you didnt already get the Chamberlin ADT sample instrument I made here https://www.patreon.com/HOWA 4.64 Gb sample instrument of the instrument used by Bowie on Low! ahhh yes…let’s get on with the show….. It’s high time I chatted with this chap. We’ve hung out at multiple LA gatherings over beers and somehow never ended up in a suitable setting for a good chin wag. This has now been completely set right in what is a true alpine ramble twixt myself and the excellent TEED. We pass many a scenic wonder on our winding adventures. Touching on: the LA twilight zone Honesty and ambition Being cool TEED history Unknown music! The making of the new tones Equal love of jungle and Bach It’s just my kind of hang. Hope you enjoy it! Music comes from Andrew Huang ! he made his track exclusively with the Chamberlin ADT sample instrument I made from over 3000 samples of the VERY rare Chamberlin M1 all running to 2 Nagra tape machines simultaneously with a varispeed on only one deck to create phase and ADT effects PER note. EPIC! get it now! https://www.patreon.com/HOWA Ep101 ! YES It’s a shortee this time. I’m trying for a half bi so I can keep up with the DELUGE of interviews I’m been doing of late. Such good people, I want to hurry them out. art lovers ! Please check out my wife’s first solo paining show here it’s called STIM. I’ve been present for all the making of these and I’m so proud of her. It’s huge news for our family and I think so many of you will love the style and also the story behind the work as we discover about out autism. More on this soon 🙂 Thanks to Distrokid for the kind sponsorship :) Get your music steaming in minutes! Take advantage of the savings HOWA offers ya! Use this 30% off code http://distrokid.com/vip/lidell
1h 37m
20/08/2022

HOWA EP 99 - DAVE OKUMU

You may know him for his soaring solo musical adventures or maybe you’re old school and you were always down with his band The Invisible. Perhaps you’ve seen him playing with Amy WInehouse or Grace Jones. Perhaps you’ve heard his collaborations with Adele, Yoko Ono or Tony Allen? Perhaps you’ve not come across him yet, in which case I’m very happy to make the connection. I know him as  a genuine, fascinating, generous and ultra simpatico friend that I see far too infrequently. There are few people I know that enjoy talking as much as Dave. He leads you into wild and wonderful places in his delightful and engaging explorations and I’m always keen to see where we might end up. In his presence, time seems to slow down and I find that deeply relaxing and very welcome. I often feel a tad in my head, or even headless but Dave brings a groundedness that is very settling. Those who know him have experienced his radiant smile and his tremendous, heart felt hugs. I feel very lucky to be friends with Dave. He’s a real one of a kind and an absolute beast of a musician.I had the chance to get a sneak peak of his new LP and it’s really mind blowing stuff. Just wait ! Ah yes. At long last, I’m so happy to welcome my friend on the show. Please welcome Dave Okumu Nitty 99 is an exploration of the Eventide H8000 and its excellent 4 part MIDI pitch shifter which appears to be the sound we know so well on the Bon Iver track 715 Creeks. I run all sorts of stuff into it and it's a delight! Can't believe this is my first time using it. Music for EP 99 comes from the rather excellent Botany! Superb. https://botany.bandcamp.com/album/deepak-verbera Still available for download is This EP FORUKRAINE performed by Rob Burger and sonically crafted by me all proceeds to the Ukrainian Redcross. Please consider a small donation :) I’d like to thanks Diana Walsh for her help prepping the interview audio @dmwalshmusic on the gram 🙂 PLEASE keep the music coming ! send submissions to [email protected]   side orders: Dave mentions Elizabeth Fritsch pots and how he'd like to live in one. When you see them you'll understand why. She's an absolute master and channels such beauty in her work. link HERE
1h 49m
07/07/2022

HOWA EP 98 - TONY ROLANDO

  Mr maker of the odd circuits, Mr man with a vision to create a company from the ground up that dramatically changed the modular synth world forever, Mr maker of synth woven musics. Please welcome Mr Make Noise himself, Tony Rolando! We get into chatting about his excellent new album “Breakin’ is a Memory” Which you can find here Come and delve into this new work and imagine where Tony’s head is at. Making all these incredible instruments for us all make NOISE with whilst keeping his passion for the original motivation ---- the music making itself. He has the irresistible urge to create sound and frame these nocturnal excursions into an LP. He's made all this in his few free hours outside MN to stretch out and fashion a record, his way in his home studio. I’m really glad found space for this. It’s a great result and this LP is a rich listen! We get into all the juicy inside knowledge about how it was made from Tony himself. What machines were used and how. The mindset, the techniques, it’s all here! This chat is not an attempt to dive "Biographical". For that I highly recommend you listen to this interview that mylarmelodies conducted with Tony as it contains a quality insight into the Make Noise back story and Tony’s history, philosophy and such. Fantastic listen! Click here In the nitty I crack out an early version of the Make Noise Strega which was a collab with Tony and pod guest Alessandro Cortini. Such a powerful and fun little box! I put it together with a Befaco Noise Plethora (which is a self contained sculpt-able noise bath of a module) and use my voice to populate three loops that don’t care about one another. Like dogs, they all run free. Once you fill up these three, free loops, you can bounce them all to a virtual cassette deck alongside any input that might also be coming in to spin to tape. Once this new bounced recording stops, the 3 main loopers you used to make the 1st layer are emptied automatically and you can fill them once more and then bounce them to a 2nd tape deck until you reach the 3rd wave of loops that go to a final reel at which point you are all full up and need to delete either all or some of the parts you made to make room for new ideas. Birth and death is one of reasons to love looping. To know you must destroy to grow something fresh. So yes, I used the excellent Loopy Pro on an M1 iPad to build this looper with an Akai APC40 connected via a Hub the USB-C port on the iPad Pro. I was able to run signals to physical channels of a mixer using a class complaint audio interface with multiple outs. The whole idea behind this setup was to be as close to the moving parts as possible and to be able to reach all the controls extremely easily to manipulate all the important aspects that need to be influenced by hand as it’s all a performance and this makes it somewhat like making food. For stir fry, you need your ingredients right there. If you have to drive to buy ginger in the middle of a cook its akin to needing to halt the flow to get a machine recorded right if not easily connected and playable. This is key. All the factors from sound tone shaping, to levels to FX they need to feel playable. Having used loopers as my way of expressing myself live since around 2000, I have a very strong connection to working in this way. I made my loopers in Max/MSP but I must say, Loopy pro is a wonderful tool to build custom live looping setups in 2022 using a tool like an iPad that has a superb touch interface is a bonus. It’s all very welcome and I think it’s really the best tool you will find to make a custom looper that allows more options than a Boss 505 or any other hardware unit. I will include the loopy pro patch I made for this nitty for all the members of the HOWA Patreon on the soul science level :) The music for EP98 comes from Raj Pannu. Really unique stuff I feel. He has a patient and detailed flow that bubbles along in an immersive bass aquarium with subtle motion charted throughout. It’s like minimalism in the evolution of parts with a lot of sound pressure pushing and with a bold forward motion. Here’s a link to some of Raj’s music. I’d like to thanks Diana Walsh for her help prepping the interview audio PLEASE keep the music coming ! send submissions to [email protected] Thanks to Distrokid for the kind sponsorship :) Get your music steaming in minutes! Take advantage of the savings HOWA offers ya! Use this 30% off code http://distrokid.com/vip/lidell show music Highly recommended pod for these times: LIVING MYTH with Michael Meade
2h 40m
26/05/2022

HOWA EP 97 - HOLLY HERNDON

Holly Herndon is an American composer, musician, and sound artist based in Berlin Germany.After studying composition at Stanford University and completing her Ph.D. at Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, she pursued a music career internationally. Herndon's music often includes human singing voices (including her own), is primarily computer-based, and regularly uses the visual programming language Max/MSP to create custom instruments and vocal processes. She has released music on the labels RVNG International. and 4AD. Her most recent full-length album Proto was released on May 10, 2019 which was the first full length record to utilize singing neural networks. She's recently released a way to interact with her digital twin called Holly plus and as of now you can upload polyphonic material to her homepage and receive a version of your recording with Holly plus as the voice for all parts. She is well informed about the most modern issues relating to digital rights that go alongside ideas such as renting your voice as a virtual performance instrument, as opposed to the old school reliance on sampling. There's a complex array of legal challenges on the horizon and most of us are hip to the potential of very convincing deep fakes and such. Will we be able to download the voice of Bob Marley as a kind of VST style instrument ? It seems clear we will and that ownership of these voices is going to be crucial going forward to make the market a free and fair place. For those interested in the cutting edge, Holly is cohost of the podcast Interdependence which covers the people, projects and technologies shaping 21st century culture with a large focus on moving to web3. In the Nitty I return my piano to the renaissance by having it tuned to a 1/4 comma meantone temperament. I wanted to see how the equal temperament we know so well might stack up in a triadic battle against the old ways. It’s pretty fascinating to me. I hope you’ll get something out the of trip back to 1523 when the meantone would have been dominant. HOLLY links Holly+ Other peoples clothes book recommendation Cathy_Berberian Lauren newton LINKS TO MUSIC FROM THE SHOW Chants Platzwave Manor LINK TO FORUKRAINE This EP was performed by Rob Burger and sonically crafted by me all proceeds to the Ukrainian Redcross. Please consider a small donation :)
1h 46m
12/04/2022

HOWA EP 95 - DANIEL ROSSEN

First of all please send music, comments and jokes to [email protected] and I’ll check em :) Feel free to join the pod patreon for the best sounds and max patches in the known universe and all that! link HERE Let's get on with the show! Ive been lucky enough to work with Daniel on my album Compass (2010) where he overdubbed a stack of these double speed, beautiful burnt crystaline, shimmering pentatonic runs that wind their way through the song “completely exposed” I was working with Chris Taylor from the Band Grizzly bear which is how many of you will have doubtless discovered the magic of Mr Rossen’s voice and song craft and what a craft it is! His style is so singular and he’s got that passion in his writing and playing that sets him apart with an intricate, elegant touch on guitar that has both urgency and solidity. There’s real fire in him and at the same time a soft vulnerability and it all races around in these huge landscapes he paints in sound. Amazingly this is his first LP and what a beauty it is. A Timeless beauty at that. It’s called YOU BELONG THERE and was released a few days ago on APRIL 8 2022 on warp records. He’s currently out there, SOLO on the road on a short US and Euro Tour. I saw him in Nashville and was mesmerized. What a talent he is. A humble soul also, with immense talent and a welcome dash of dry humour. HERE is a link to his webpage so you can see he’s coming to your town :) so with all that said, please welcome to the show, the rather wonderful. Daniel Rossen _____________ This episode features music from 5 excellent contributors! Oort CLoud services: Runnershigh No CIty West Erez Rok Zalokar https://shop.naturescenerecords.com/ Thank you to Fabfilter for sponsoring this nitty episode! I get super deep into the world of Timeless 3, their absolute BEAST of a delay plugin. It can pitch shift, distort, lofi, reverberate and custom tap its way into your world. It’s available for desktop AND ios and I’ve made a bunch rather sweet presets for it on my adventures with it that work on both platforms. SO killer. In the nitty I explore the idea of making evolving delay sequences using the excellent tap designer part of the plugin. Patreons get the presets of course ! some juicy ones based on my marshall time modulator! _____________ BONUS POD RECOMMENDATION! I was super excited to listen to the pod that mylarmelodies put out with James Blake HERE is the link. Some super insightful nuggets in there. I highly recommend you give it a listen if you’ve not already.
1h 53m
22/03/2022

HOWA EP 94 - Marta Salogni

I feel like I’ve been very close to meeting Marta for sometime now. When I went to the Sonic Ranch and met Brad Cooke he was mentioning this amazing woman who was a tape whisperer and I was determined to meet her. She sounded like the coolest! I had also heard her name through the master of mastering, Heba Kadry and then she sounded even more like the coolest! I managed to get in touch with Marta and we started talking about this interview a long time ago. I almost thought it might not happen but here we are! Marta is a force. She’s worked on some very special music and I think that’s no coincidence. She brings a deep understanding and passion to everything she does and the extra care and analog workflow really makes a huge difference when she does it, expecially with the tape effects and treatments in full view. Love that! She’s worked with Bjork, Animal Collective, M.I.A., Frank Ocean, FKA Twigs, Black Midi, Holly Hearndon and the list goes on and on! just much great work. At the MPG Awards, she won Breakthrough Engineer of the Year in 2018. !!!! We had such a lovely chat. So happy this one finally happened :) As a nod to Marta’s tape passion, the nitty sees me hearing double as I delve into the delightful world of ADT. It was a technique invented by Ken Townsend in the Beatles era and it still sounds so juicy as an effect when performed with a real tape machine. Essentially you’re layering 2 copies of a track with something that sounds very similar but different to the source. During my experiments, I came across maybe my fave treatment on a nitty. Just sublime! Music for this episode comes from 5 contributors! https://oyobi.bandcamp.com/album/transcendence - Oyobi https://soundcloud.com/dj-james-naughty - DJ James Naughty https://greatghost.bandcamp.com/album/fall-vs - great ghost https://joelhenryblaeser.co - Henry Blaeser https://trawlmhz.bandcamp.com - trellicksound keep the music coming ! send submissions to [email protected] Thanks to Distrokid for the kind sponsorship :) Get your music steaming in minutes! Take advantage of the savings HOWA offers ya! Use this 30% off code http://distrokid.com/vip/lidell
2h 18m
03/03/2022

HOWA EP93 - Joe Gallagher

my guest is Joe Gallagher ! I wanted to speak to him after I saw he was heavily involved in the making of the album Heaux Tales by Jazmine Sullivan which is just such a great record. I was curious to hear how he works in this capacity and in general seeing as he’s quite a private person and not super vocal on the socials etc. He’s worked as an engineer on music by Kehlani, Ariana Grande, Kindness, Usher and much more. A humble badass. I hope you enjoy this chat. thanks once again to Diana Walsh for her help on the edit. I’ve been working with Rob Burger to make new music to share in order to raise money for the terrifying, escalating Ukraine situation. I’ll be sure to alert you all when it’s ready. I’ve been VERY busy with a hefty piece of max for live meets Touch OSC to control a rather excellent and dreamy pedal over MIDI. It’s coming super soon for you all to check. Im very proud of it. I hope it’ll be a new way to make sound for those of you that own the mystery pedal.. all shall be revealed VERY soon. My masterclass with Aulart is coming very soon. I hope you’ll check it out! I really put my heart into it and it’s like a bunch of really focused nitties on camera and some deep diving into my new song writing process that I think you’ll find freeing! Here’s the link to it. more LINKS: here’s a link to a track from Jazmine Sullivan off the excellent Heaux Tales LP in our chat we get into DJ Shadow and the movie “Scratch” and in particular this scene (4 mins 20 in ) Shout out to ADDAC system ! they sent me the amazing 112 looper and grains module and I’ve been have so much fun with it. It’s DEEP! Also I got some bridge units that allow CV to pass from one end of a big case to another. so so handy! Thanks to Distrokid for the kind sponsorship :) Get your music steaming in minutes! Take advantage of the savings HOWA offers ya! Use this 30% off code http://distrokid.com/vip/lidell                
1h 50m
29/01/2022

HOWA 92 - Dustin O’Halloran

Dustin O’Halloran is an American pianist and composer with five acclaimed solo albums under his own name.  He released his first EP Sundoor with renowned classical musical label Deutsche Grammophon in 2019, and followed that up with his solo album Silfur in 2021.    He’s also a member of the band A Winged Victory for the Sullen with Adam Wiltzie, and they released their album The Undivided Five with Ninja Tune in 2019 and self-released their latest album Invisible Cities in 2021.    He’s the winner of a 2015 Emmy Award for his main title theme to Amazon’s comedy drama Transparent (2014–2017), and was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Critics Choice Award for his score to Lion (2016), written in collaboration with Volker Bertelmann (aka Hauschka).   We get into many topics such as the old analog vs digital debat, habits at the piano, inner timing, the music of Hans Otte, the power of the ocean, icelandic breakfast, how to record the piano, working to picture and much more :)                ________   In the nitty I recreate the magical oscillator offset that’s found in the wonderful and soon to be legendary Yamaha CS70.  It was inspired by this video of floating points in his studio, demonstrating this very thing.  It’s been a treat to remake in software and I run down how it was done.  The most important piece of the puzzle was scaling the pitch wheel (actually 2 pitch wheels) to not be smooth but quantized to the intervals used in the CS70. To do this I used a Max for live device called “Bend Sequence” from Heaps of Bleeps. I really think this series is tremendous. I wasn’t aware of his work but it’s some great max programming and works so well. Here’s the link to all his stuff :)    _________     Music in this episode comes from  BAPHONYM  - from the LP STILLFACE which you can find here:   https://mondegreensoho.bandcamp.com/album/stillface   Please send your musical submissions to [email protected] I love to hear them! ____   Other links :   Mylar Melodies  deep dive into the Orchestron link here   The music of Hans Otte link here  ( this is not the album but rather a live performance)  
1h 41m
24/12/2021

HOWA EP 91 - JONATHAN RADO

Welcome to Crimble escape pod EP 91.  Happy to share this chat with Jonathan Rado ! You may know him from his band Foxygen or perhaps his productions with   The Killers,  The Lemon Twigs, Tim Heidecker, Whitney, Alex Cameron, Father John Misty or perhaps Weyes Blood? I had a blast meeting him in the covid lull a while back where we had a rare face to face chinwag. We talk about his work with the killers, his come up and his early sonic adventures. How Richard Swift was a hugely pivotal force, both as a musical inspiration and then as a teacher. We get into his working alongside the magical Shawn Everett on many projects and the secret of his success in terms of the mystical “Rado effect”! ___  In the nitty I get into the rare world of the double head. Yes, not one but 2 Neumann ku100s were used to produce this one. Working a little with the idea of creating a far far away mic fade. We shall answer the age old question, are 2 heads are better than 1? Check it  ____ I chat about my new big modular case. A thing of astounding beauty. Crafted by one of the best. A tremchap named Brock from Emc More on that and my secret next purchase soon ____ Music for the show comes from 2 super talented artists: splitradix https://splitradix.bandcamp.com And Gerald Fjord form his record Fracture https://geraldfjord.bandcamp.com You’ll have to guess who’s who's music is playing (it's pretty easy) ____ Thanks to Diana Walsh for interview editing :) find her on the gram here @dmwalshmusic _____ Thanks to Distrokid for the kind sponsorship :) Get your music steaming in minutes! Take advantage of the savings HOWA offers ya! Use this 30% off code http://distrokid.com/vip/lidell
2h 5m
09/09/2021

HOWA EP 89 - STIMMING

Stimming joins the pod for a hearty, autumnal, philosophical ramble which I found most fulfilling (actually we spoke in the summer but the falling leaves around here are turning my sense of time) He's been producing quality textural groovers for a long time and his new Album LUDWIG has just taken flight and he's certainly stretching himself to new astral spaces. Highly recommended! He says of this new album process: “I was making a living from dance music for such a long time, and during the last years I came to the point where I said to myself, ‘man you are hiding so much of your own horizon” He's a funny and honest chap that has found his voice in the noisy world of house and "outer" house. The mastery of sound is spot on. Dynamic, patient, immerse, harmonically rich. Many adjectives apply :) Welcome to the pod Stimming! Nitty 89 is dedicated to maffez synthmods who is a wonderfully talented modder and builder in Austria who turned my RD8 into a WAY more interesting machine. This nitty is an attempt to SING drum patterns using audio loopers and envelope followers to create control tracks and it works rather well! Music for the show comes from kaudog ! here are the pertinent links ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaudog ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaudoggg ► SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kaudog +++++ Also, not forgetting those STIMMING LINKS Twits Gram Tube Stimming Reviews (a must) Telekom electronic beats TV now the creators of that content make stuff under a new banner Sense music and Media This episode is sponsored by Distrokid "Your music steaming in minutes!" Take advantage of the savings HOWA offers ya! Use this 30% off code http://distrokid.com/vip/lidell
2h 12m
20/07/2021

HOWA EP 86 - CRISTIAN VOGEL

So great to catch up with my friend and old band mate Cristian Vogel on the show! The way I met Cristian was pretty unlikely and pretty fantastic I have to say. Basically back in around 1995 I was making music with Subhead alongside Jason Leach and Phil Wells and thanks to those guys I became aware of so much incredible music mostly from Detroit and Chicago but not exclusively as there were some wildcard artists that always caught my attention more than any others, none more so than the wonky magic conjured by Cristian Vogel. I had heard that he lived in Brighton. So I had this great idea to just go to there and meet him!  I hopped on the train and went to an outdoor festival that was happening that day in the city and as I walked around the place I stumbled on a lone Tresor bag lying in the grass. I knew Cristian was signed to Tresor and so I asked the lady that was sat next to it if she was Christian's sister. She was his girlfriend ! I mean WHAT are the chances? I soon met big C and we formed a fast friendship based on mutual respect (he had played Subhead 002 at the love parade and it was a big moment ! Small world ) and I joined him sharing a space to make music in Brighton where it became immediately obvious to me his approach was something completely new to me. First of all I’d never seen anyone make music with a tracker and I understood quickly that with his experience and skill he wouldn’t second-guess himself and instead would conjure his unique sound in minutes, tapping away wildly on his amiga keyboard. I realize I was in the presence of a truly unique musician and I owe him so much for all he showed me. He schooled me in the world of subtractive synthesis and taught me that it’s possible to interact with machines on the same level people interact with traditional instruments. His approach was always Orthodox and his choice of equipment unfamiliar to most myself included. We formed a band called super_collider that really stretched our skills and the technology of the time. Listening back to our first album Head-on it really was quite an achievement considering what we had . By that time we moved into a more robust studio with Orbital as our neighbors but the DAW was still primitive and we would use programs like macromedia deck 2 to complete our songs. I think it was limited to 8 tracks. We pushed that shit to the brink dealing with so many crashes it’s amazing we managed to finish anything. By 1999 I had moved To Berlin and shortly afterwards Cristian relocated to Barcelona. When we made our second album raw digits it was a tale of two cities and took considerable energy to complete. I had started to devote a lot of time to my solo career and super_collider  sadly came to an end. Not just because of that but you know… things change. Cristian kept making amazing music of course and he’s released a stack of incredible records and collaborations. At one point he created a band called “night of the brain” and kept making banging records for Tresor, Nova mute and his own Station 55 imprints to name a few. He also remixed Radiohead and Thom Yorke which still blows my mind. I got pretty heavily into Max MSP for my live shows and Cristian chose to master the Kyma system. He’s now one of the worlds experts in that paradigm and has created a whole host of extensions and applications for it which can be found on his never engine in labs website His recent album rebirth of wonky sees him Effortlessly weaving his textural skills with that unique funk of his to great effect. He’s never going to stop making music. He’s a true lifer and a searcher. One of the true pioneers of the underground that deserves much more credit than he’s received. I was very relieved that even after all this time apart, once the zoom call started and we got to talking it was like no time had passed and I hope you will enjoy as much as I did this catchup with my old friend and teacher. _NITTY I get into the 1st installment of the Binaural adventure with the Neumann head aka KU100. What an amazing mic it is! Thank you so much to my friend Vicente for letting me have a play with it ! Just incredible ! Alert ! Patreon sample pack gold level when you are part of the soul science crew. _SHOW MUSIC Music for the show is from a trio by the name of Sunjacket. Excellent stuff. Made the show such fun to put together as the songs are so well mixed and the skills are strong! Check them out here !! OTHER ME NEWS__ I'm singing on a new Mark Hawkins track called "Let it slide" THANKS_ Kind sponsorship come from Bitwig - version 4.0 of the software is really really powerful and well worth checking !! Link here Analog cases - they just made my trip to California an absolute pleasure! I’ve been waiting for these cases for years! Check them HERE and use HOWA15 on check out for 15% off!
2h 16m
25/06/2021

HOWA EP85 -BILL SCHNEE

I'm so happy to have had a chance to chat with Bill Schnee about everything from the art of recording drums, to his opinions on truthful recording vs recording as a way to make a cartoon (all shall be revealed!) We get to talking about some of the legendary recordings he's made with Marvin Gaye and Whitney Houston . I mean CHILLS guys.. absolute CHILLS. Just hard to fathom the industry in those days and also hard to fathom the incredible level Bill was operating at. He has over 125 Gold and Platinum records and 50 top twenty singles, and is known as an engineer’s engineer. I'm very happy to say that he's written a new book. It's called Chairman at the Board and it's is an intimate, funny, and absorbing look at the music business by an insider who has recorded a host of the greatest musical artists of the last fifty years. find it here : ORDER NOW Here's a quote from another legend about this legend! Exercising the purely physical genius of a surgeon or dancer, Bill does recording, mixing, and producing extraordinarily well … maybe better than just about anyone else, living or dead. – GEORGE MASSENBURG link to chat with Andrew Scheps here What's new at Lidell HQ? Going on a trip to LA to see my friend Vicente and finally use the Neumann head! also... I was on podular modcast EP 158 other news... Notion took over Trello in the productivity efforts. Thanks to listener Simon Lane I'm deep in a Notion ocean. So far barely afloat but hey.. Deep dives seem to be my thing these days. I've had my U47s in for repair. Hard to imagine how they got so badly were soldered and wired inside at one time. Someone got them pretty mucky, luckily I've found Dave Wheeler at Nashville vintage audio Music for the show comes from NED RUSH! If you dont know him, he's a rather tremendous musician and unrivaled ableton teacher. This is a deep album and he's even made a more recent one. Check him on the bandcamp. His YouTube channel is ESSENTIAL viewing here NITTY see me dicing it up with a prob knob I get to Using the cirklon to make rendered audio cut in and out thing with prob on a knob. All shall become clear :) For anyone with a cirklon or wishing to learn about the box check this video ! EPIC and brief....well as brief as it can be at around 33 hours. The best cirklon videos out there without a doubt. splitradix demos aux events There's 2 kind sponsors on this show ANALOG CASES which make just brilliant and uber handy custom sized cases for your gear. FInd cases for over 70 different synths, drum machines, audio interfaces, and controllers. You can get super compact and lightweight zip-up cases, lightweight hard cases, all the way up to cases for full size synthesizers and controller keyboards.         Offer code HOWA15 gets you 15% off using at check out!!  Distrokid Your music steaming in minutes! Take advantage of the savings HOWA offers ya! Use this 30% off code http://distrokid.com/vip/lidell
1h 49m
08/06/2021

HOWA EP 84 - CHRIS TABRON

I’ve known this multi platinum renaissance man for some time now and I could tell, when we worked on the Lianne La Havas song “Green and Gold” that his skills went WAY beyond the technical. I can safely say that were it not for his expert manner in the room, that song never would have made it. Those are the kind of experiences that stay with you. It came as no surprise to later learn he’s worked on records by Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Mary J. Blige, Common, The Strokes, Robert Glasper, and Erykah Badu. Yep he’s rather nasty at mixing and producing. He’s also taken a large role in producing work by badass bands like Battles and Die Antwoord. We nerd dive into a wide pool of topics from coffee to the holiest of Mics.. He has one in his possession that has THE most incredible back story. Chris is a master of the studio both in terms of the precise and fast execution of the all important technical stuff to the refined and nuanced energy required to draw out the best in musicians. Needless to say I’m mightily chuffed to have him grace the show :) ______________ In the nitty I dive into the instant joys of the Expert Sleepers app called CROSSFADE LOOP SYNTH Absolutely wicked! Beardyman uses it heavily in his live shows and I can see why. It’s a very tasty thing indeed that lets you sample and move with no messing about. INSTANT!! It’s like a Casio SK1 on roids. Highly recommended ______________ Music from the show comes from YAW EVANS and this EP is right here! https://yawevans.bandcamp.com/releases ______________ Kind show sponsorship comes from Avid who make a little known app called PROTOOLS! woo. As I mention in the slot, I have made ALL 84 episodes in Protools and I’ll tell you why it’s still my fave :) Check this link to check out the software. You can now get Protools First to have a try and it’s absolutely FREE :) cant beat that. Other Links_____ Chris Tabron homepage - has a cool Spotify playlist of his work. Well worth a look. Plus you get to see his setup which is prime! https://christabron.com Listen to Chris on the excellent DW Fearn podcast also! Did I mention that I LOVE this pod ? ++++ I caught up with mylarmelodies recently on his ace pod which you can find here: Why we bleep with me ++++ In case you missed it here’s that Otari CV mod that’s now on order from Shawn Everett, Jonathan Rado and more! Hip. Otari 5050 cv video ++++ Other CV tape joy to be found here!! Hainbach got the nagra to varispeed under CV Nagratron    
1h 42m