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Sparse

by Andrea G

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ilpaglia So' bravi ragazzi Favorite track: Cose sparse.
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1.
Milioni 07:16
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2.
Miliardi 08:22
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3.
Cose sparse 08:15
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4.
Sovraimpressione 03:21
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5.
Navicelle 07:57
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6.
A fasi alterne 07:58
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7.
Fine della fiera 03:35
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about

This demo is a collection of improvised sessions between October and December 2020, most of which took place on Instagram Live.
This time I used the Game Boy as a semi-random generator of square and noise sounds, side by side with other micro instruments for drone effects.
My goal was to move away from tracker/sequencer softwares for once and try to use the Game Boy as an instrument.
The main challenge was to create ambient sounds finding a balance between noise and melody. I also wanted to try out how real instruments can mesh with the Game Boy's rudimentary sound chip, so I got some musician friends to contribute.

I consider this as a first experiment and I am looking forward to continuing down this rabbit hole of randomness and music.

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Technical details:

The Game Boy is circuit bent to allow pitch bend by modifying the CPU frequency using a knob, and it also has a mysterious noise switch that creates a ticking glitchy sound.
I run various games on the Game Boy, and by messing with the mods I am able to obtain different sounds ranging from pure noise to slow melodies.
The games I used include but are not limited to: Metroid II, DuckTales, Donkey Kong Land 2.
Other instruments/effects used:
- Korg Volca Modular (on "Milioni", "Miliardi", "Cose Sparse", "Navicelle")
- "phase" software running on Pocket C.H.I.P. (on "A fasi alterne", "Fine della fiera")
- Korg Monotron Delay (on "Sovraimpressione")
- Marshall EH-1 delay on most of the tracks
Picture of the setups: instagram.com/p/CI6M3l1BZtP

All the tracks are recorded live in one take, apart from the overdubs of piano and didgeridoo on tracks "Miliardi" and "Cose Sparse".

credits

released December 20, 2020

Credits to:
Mattia Bombelli - Piano on "Miliardi"
The Rod - Didgeridoo on "Cose sparse"

Thanks to Tomofumi Taniura for crafting the Bend-Boy, the main source of inspiration for this demo.

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bit.umen Vancouver, British Columbia

bit.umen likes to interact with limited hardware and inconvenient user interfaces to create powerful sound landscapes.

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