Curious, can somebody point me to a modern minimal techno track that employs phasing?
Edit: To save anybody needing to listen through these Reich pieces, phasing is where two loops are allowed to adopt slightly different tempos, and fall into new phase alignments with each other. It often sounds awful at points, but then weirdly brilliant as the phases fall into certain relationships. If you listen, skim and know that the two elements are just repeating the same thing continuously, only their relative start points (phase) is changing. That said, Reich does shorten the phrases at points, I believe.
I mean this in the sense of Steve Reich’s phasing technique, e.g. It’s Gonna Rain, or Piano/Violin Phase.
The only track I know of is Plastikman’s Pannik Attack, but I assume others must exist, right (Pannik Attack is at most an approximation, I know, but its repetition and delay gets close)?
Curious to hear how modern producers have been employing this.
Funny, I saw “Chain Reaction,” and realized I conflated that with Basic Channel… and now I see they’re related in some sense? Definitely interesting labels that I never explored enough (along with Max Ernst, and Mille Plateaux).
Not sure. Can’t remember how I found this initially and I’m not too well versed with these labels. When ever I want to listen to hypnotic techno this is the album I often return to.
not modern but i think some of thomas brinkmann’s work fits this criteria.
From the notes of the release leaflet:
10 tracks made with two decks, an isolator, a mixer and some with a tc multieffect.
About 15 endless grooves, cut with a knife in the last groove of vinyl records, some voices from records as well, and feedbacks are the sound sources.
If memory servers Brinkmann used a fixed phase displacement to fabulous effect on his Plastikman Concept 1 remixes (via his dual headed record player). Basically taking a super minimal track and doubling it up in a way that added some rhythmic funk.
Interestingly he employs two types of phasing. One’s derived from tape-loops running at different speeds, the other (later) method involves a phrase played against itself at the same tempo, with one of phrases being periodically shifted relative to the original by a set number of beats.
For obvious reasons the latter method is far easier to achieve using step-sequencers than the former, which is a bit of a nightmare unless you’ve either got a sequencer that can play the same sequence in the same song in different tempos (believe the Hapax might be able to do this), or you’re able to prep two copies of a sample and timestretch one of them either before it’s loaded to the sampler, or timestretch it on the sampler as it’s playing.
Piano phase is tempo based as well; they’re using the same approach* (the sheet music makes this clear). That doesn’t invalidate your point in any way, however, as to use this technique in rhythmic electronic music you’d almost have to make discrete shifts in value vs continuous drifts (to avoid off beat flanging).
Seems, like Hawtin chose to do, delay would be the ideal way to approach the discrete idea, but I’ve been considering layered synths driven by dual controlled tempos as well (different, but complimentary timbres, so the ear is fooled into believing they’re one at the start),
*Edit: If any difference exists it might be the consistency of the tempos, as piano phase shifts tempo marginally at discrete points, and then shifts back (e.g. they both start at 148 bpm, for example, and at a specific point one piano might shift to 149 bpm before maybe shifting back to 148, locking in the new phase relationship for a bit). The tape loop one might stay consistently at differing tempos (e.g. one at 148 and one at 149 from the start to end; continuous drift from the start).
I say that speculatively as I do not like It’s Gonna Rain, and have mostly skimmed it in recent years. Its value, to me, is solely in being his initial stab at the concept (historical footnote). Violin Phase is the best, imho. All his sample stuff rings cheesy to my ears.
Interesting. Unfamiliar, and glancing at his discography I see why (seems to have really become prolific in 2018). Listening to Trust now just due to the Tresor association, and this carries a very Downwards / Surgeon vibe.
Is this a pretty representative album, or are their better ones to track down?
One of the more obscure Cirklon features is a “reich” mode that lets you lengthen or shorten individual tracks by an arbitrary number of clock ticks
