A Guide to AUTECHRE

Got it! The sample is from a 1981 Hawkwind track :smiley:
https://youtu.be/fEV9-Rxvvs4

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With AE_LIVE and this [ongoing] NTS broadcast, it sounds like Ae are getting pretty deep into advanced, software-based FM synthesis - it didnā€™t register at first cuz I didnā€™t have a clue about how they made their tunes, until more recently. Large swathes of their new material (like the Dilankex remix, et al) sound like really extreme / noisy FM patches.

Oddly enough, only after listening to some of Tim Follinā€™s music (Time Trax etc.) on YouTube, it became clear. I wonder how many ā€œoperatorsā€ or what sort of ā€œalgorithmsā€ these Ae fellas are usingā€¦ if theyā€™re even operating on a quantifiable level, or using the established terminology. What do these Max patches look like? Anyone have a clue?

they always seemed to use a lot (if not mostly) fm. LP5 sounds very fm e.g.
From oversteps to elseq + livesets, everything sounds like fm and/or physical modeling. And some use of samples on Exai.

No clue at all.
From what I read in interviews, it seems Exai, Elseq and the livesets were all based on a Max Patch they keep developing.
"Weā€™ve built up a pretty extensive deep system now. " ā€¦ from the residentadvisor interview

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Their music is more magical if you wonder what their max patch looks like and never find out! Just try enjoying some music without looking at gear, itā€™s a great experience.
Itā€™s the not knowing what made Pulp Fiction and Roninā€™s plot work, but letā€™s stay on topic!

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yeah, itā€™s part of what has kept them compelling for so long - itā€™s so alien-sounding, I had no idea about the process. Accept the mystery!

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Their new stuff is completely outer space.
But one of my absolute favourites is untilted, which features heavy use of the machinedrum as far as i know.
In the end they always sound incredible and unique, no matter what they use

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NTS Sessions as new album (natch)

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Great. No surprise, itā€™s like the elseq releases.
They told in interviews how they like the idea of the Ae store and that they are no longer dependent on the album format.
Puhh, that will be a crazy ride again. I still canā€™t grasp everything on elseq.

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autechre set the bar again.amazing

Alright, Iā€™m going to admit I know nothing about this group and probably have heard them before because Iā€™ve been exposed to tons of stuff, but Iā€™m unfamiliar with any of the musicā€¦
At some point Iā€™ll go through the posted tracks since I notice so much praise around hereā€¦

I would recommend to start with some of their older stuff. For me it was easier to get into, by following how they developed over the years.

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Iā€™m in exactly the same position. Listening to some of this stuff, I really feel like Iā€™ve been missing out!

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I got a harddrive that I gathered several friends collections on, Iā€™m pretty sure Iā€™ve seen it on there, and itā€™s most likely older because I did it a long time agoā€¦ Iā€™ll check it out for sureā€¦

I tell people to check something from each period to get some grasp of their evolution:

Early: Tri Repetae
Middle: UntiLted
Later (Recent): Exai

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At first I would say the same, but then I thinkā€¦ is ā€œolder stuffā€ really Autechre? I kind of feel like, whatever they are currently doing right now is the only thing you can really use to gauge them.

I am a huge fan of the Draft 7.30 / Untilted / Quaristice / Oversteps era because a lot of it was still done on machines and that intrigues me a lot more than just Max/MSP stuff. For me itā€™s like, yeah, Max/MSP can do anything, we get it, and itā€™s super hard to relate to because itā€™s all just their own custom software patches. Exai started losing my interest but there was some redeemable stuff. Elseq totally lost me.

Listening to first track from NTS and they have regained my interestā€¦ already sounds better to me than Elseq but weā€™ll see how things progress :stuck_out_tongue:

I like each ā€œeraā€ for different reasons.
And it changes depending on my mood. Lp5, untilted and exai usually are my top favourites.
But I also often enjoy listening to amber.

I understand that. If find the Maxmsp stuff, especially Elseq and the livesets, very challenging, but really fascinating.
Exai has some of their best stuff on it imo

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Yeah I like a lot of stuff on Exai but something about it kind of started losing meā€¦ like just the overall sound of it, this super wet drippy splishy splashy sound or something that they started using a lot.

Actually thinking about it some more, I donā€™t know if itā€™s so much that I donā€™t like their Max/MSP stuff, itā€™s more that theyā€™ve been going more into these 20 minute tracks that barely change. I would have been all into that 20 years ago but maybe I just donā€™t have the patience anymore!

From reading all this I feel like Iā€™m gonna open up a can of psychedelic space worms, the good kindā€¦ :smile:

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Go to that Bleep Store link @xidnpnlss posted and you can listen to the full tracks (of this NTS broadcast album) on there, thatā€™ll give you an idea of what theyā€™re all about right now. Be prepared for weirdness. Also make sure you have time to commit. They are no easy task to take on.

I downloaded the first NTS session and have a night walk now :smiley:

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