Category Archives: music

music, xr1300

Two new XR1300 releases

I’ve been a bit busy lately, mostly with the XR1300 project.

First off, on 13 August 2015, I released Rose Fioriscono Di Nuovo, a remix album that consists of five remixed songs from La Giardino di Gigli Rosa, a remix of Yuri Trib Dub called Rubfuckhouse and a new song called Fun With A Tomboy.

Today, 13 September 2015, I released another remix project called Xambient — The RCB Remixes. I remixed 13 classic Rural Citizens Band songs in a more dance oriented manner.

Depending on your outlook, you will either be pleased, or upset, to know that I have sequel volumes coming up in the next few months. The second volume of Rose Fioriscono Di Nuovo, is already completed and ready to go (minus the artwork). I will start working on the second Xambient volume later in the week.

As always, these albums are released under a CreativeCommons license and are free to download and distribute, provided you credit me, Ratan X.

Album covers below the cut.

Continue reading Two new XR1300 releases →

music, rural citizens band

To remaster or not to remaster, that is the question

Lately I’ve been playing around with the idea of remixing some of my old RCB material. Not in the traditional sense of adding different drum loops or whatever (I have XR1300 to do that!), but mostly to increase sound fidelity and dynamic range.

Most of the tracks I’ve released, even before I knew to care about such a thing, sound pretty good. But some of them are downright crusty and embarrassing.

I fixed some of these problems for the Best of RCB and Rest of RCB compilations.  I had no problem remixing them for a new album, since I could release them as new versions of old songs. But I have a problem with revisiting the past and changing it.

All the albums I have released were snapshots of where I was at the moment I created them. Going back and changing them would be like changing part of the past, in a vain attempt to improve them, when in their own imperfect way they’re already perfect. It would be like a painter going back and “fixing” old paintings because he learned a new technique in the meantime.

On the other hand, I can also see an upside. The albums themselves would flow better and sound better. The sound would be more normalized. The quieter sound levels would be more appropriate for ambient music. La Teodicea di Odio especially had some problems with these regards. Three of its tracks rank 1 and 2 out of 20 on the DR chart, and are mix loud enough to fit on an Akibare album. I’m still not sure what I was thinking about when I recorded and mixed those songs…

Earlier this year I remixed the first two XR1300 albums, Love Won’t Get Us Where We’re Going and Surrender Is Not the Answer. Both of them were in dire need of a remaster, much more-so than the entire of the RCB discography. I had no real problem doing that, since I have both versions of the albums available. But at the same time, I don’t really think the sound of most songs are bad enough to remix in total.

In the end, I’ll probably split the difference and release another “Rest of” compilation, made up entirely of songs that needed remixed and remastered. That way the old albums are as they were when created, and the new versions can be on a separate release, released as the Definitive Versions.

music

So much gear, so little time

I already have more than enough pedals, especially reverb and delay pedals, that I don’t need more.

But damn it, I really, really, really want the Boss RV-6 and DD-500. It seems that when I really shouldn’t get more gear, I want gear the most. I’m not even saying these pedals will inspire me to write more and better music, but I can see both being very useful. I’d even trade in my beloved RV-5 for the RV-6.

inspiration, music, site stuff

Getting back in the swing of things

It’s been too long since I posted something. Though I have released a new album and have another one on the way.

I’m still planning on doing a guitar ambient project soon. Something totally separate from Rural Citizens Band. This video I found tonight has kind of reignited the desire to do something like that:

I’m really impressed with that Jazzmaster copy. I’ve wanted a Jazzmaster since the early 90s when I noticed the guys in Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Curve, Dinosaur Jr, Television, Placebo and Swervedriver used them. I’m not usually one to buy a guitar because Gitah Player X used them. And in some ways I avoided using one because they’re so ubiquitous in the indie rock scene (especially among the louder bands), but damn it, I really want one. And those copies can be had for around $250 (whereas a Mexican JM will run you about $800). I just wish that company also made Jaguar (in both single coil and HH configs) because I could buy all 3 for less than the cost of one Fender Mexican JM.

Anyway, I plan on blogging more here. I can’t excuse my laziness. Not that anybody is reading this anyway.

inspiration, music

Good grief, more recommended music!

The Living Sleep released a new album this week entitled Remnants.  I’ve given it a few listens and I’m really enjoying it. It’s more of a piano based work, kind of like the “Into The Blue” single they released a few years ago.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Into the Blue at first. I thought it was pretty, but the lack of guitars put me off. Also, to release one single song after a three year silence was disappointing. But mainly because Losing Today is one of my favorite Bandcamp discoveries and “We Were Infinite” is an ambient guitar classic to me.

But this full-length album is really great. It is a massive leap forward for the band and something I highly recommend. Not only that, but Losing Today was released in 2010, and you can’t expect them to be the same band they were half a decade ago.

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music

While I’m recommending new music…

The new Swervedriver (!!!) is out and it’s amazing! First album of new material in almost 17 years.

Swervedriver I Wasn t Born to Lose You

 

Called “I Wasn’t Born To Lose You” and it can be downloaded at the usual suspects.

Always loved the Swervies, even though I prefer their earlier works. This album sounds like it could have come between Raise and Mezcal Head and that’s a very good thing.

inspiration, music

EHX effectology

Wow, I can see this could get expensive very fast…

Electro-Harmonix (aka EHX) is most famous for creating the Big Muff Pi pedal, one of the very first fuzz pedals ever made. But they also manufacture dozens of other pedals, all of them much more expensive than their famous fuzz box.

Effectology is a list of crazy sounds you can make simply by using EHX products. Naturally, you can create these same sounds using other products that are much cheaper. But this is a really awesome idea. It’s great to see that EHX cares enough about their product to take the time to do this.

Here is but one example. How to play Kraftwerk’s Autobah on guitar:

More companies should do this.

music

More pedal suggestions

I’ve stated earlier that I find it absurd to spend $500 on a single pedal. Nothing against the people who make them (or buy them), but I still find this crazy, especially when you can buy 4 midrange pedals for the same price and experiment with them.

I buy most of my pedals used on eBay. So as long as they work, I don’t care really how they look. In the past year I bought a Boss BF-2 for $40 and an OD-2 for $50. Both pedals are long out of production and the current version costs 3x that amount. Both are kind of beat up looking, but that just adds to their charm. They sound great and do what I want them to do.

I’m finding it more and more that cost is less important than utility. Admittedly, I bought both of these pedals because famous people used them. I know Rachel from Slowdive had the OD-2 listed on her pedal board. I’m interested in getting a Boss HM-2 soon, mainly because Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher used them on all the classic MBV albums. Also, if I ever want to do death metal, I can get that Entombed sound with this same pedal.

I’m also less concerned about digital and analog pedals. Some people refuse to buy digital pedals, but that’s nonsense. Even if you have a tube amp (as I do), sometimes digital pedals are the only way to get certain sounds.

I guess if you play blues and country where your dry tone is important it might make sense, but in more experimental genres like ambient, noise rock and shoegaze, I find it less important. In the case of ambient the less dry signal you have, the better, so “tone suckage” is really a non-issue.

Lately I’ve had good luck experimenting with pedal placement. I have a Hardwire RV-7 pedal at the front of my chain, followed by the Boss OD-2, followed by a Boss PS-3 with a TC Hall of Fame at the end. I run it into my Fender Hot Rod DeVille on the dirty channel (with the fuzz turned pretty low) and the presence knob on 5 and the reverb knob cranked up. It’s kind of shrill and trebly at times (probably because of the single coils in my Strat), but I’ve also learning to experiment with tone knobs on both my guitar and amp.

In more traditional forms of rock it’s unheard of to place your overdrive after delay or reverb. But again, in experimental music, it’s best to place your pedals wherever you get your desired sound. This ain’t Nashville.

Basically I plan to muck about more with pedals and tone before buying an 8 track digital recorder. I have one picked out, but I’d rather wait to buy it. My stuff isn’t good enough to record yet (I’m sure there is a joke in there somewhere), but the more I prac and the more I experiment, the better my sound is getting. I don’t want to sound like another Brian Eno or Kevin Shields or Rachel Goswell, I want to sound like me, dammit.

inspiration, music

Shoegaze guitar tone chasing

Four videos from YouTube. The first one is better viewed on YouTube, because it has important links with pedal settings, etc.

Obviously, shoegaze (and its mellower cousin, dream pop), are close relatives to ambient music. A bit more aggressive, but definitely something that has influenced my own music, and will influence any future ambient guitar music I make. These tutorials help me to understand how to get my desired sound better. And like I said before, to help differentiate my own sound from what everybody else is doing.