Hard-disk jockey turns electricity into music

SAN FRANCISCO--It's the wee hours on an unseasonably balmy November morning.

Inside the DNA Lounge in the hip South of Market neighborhood, the festively attired crowd attending the annual Scorpio Ball is bouncing and gyrating to thick bass beats. In front of the sweaty bodies and bathed in the bright stage lights is Bassnectar--otherwise known as Lorin Ashton or, perhaps most commonly, just plain Lorin--twisting knobs, pushing buttons and moving sliders to pump out a synthetic symphony.

Related Audio

Two synthetic tunes created by Bassnectar, aka Lorin Ashton. Both tracks are from "Mesmerizing The Ultra" on Organic Music, distributed by Fontana. Each excerpt is 90 seconds long.

"Laughter Crescendo"
(1.4 MB mp3)

"Force of Suction"
(1.4 MB mp3)

It's another long session on the stage for a disc jockey pushing the boundaries on computer technology and music composition. In his studio, Lorin--who tours full-time as a DJ and composes, produces and remixes music under the Bassnectar alias--works with specialized software that enables him to replicate any musical instrument, use special effects on voices and modulate and filter sounds beyond recognition.

Like more than a few DJs in the increasingly mainstream techno music scene, Lorin channels his creativity through a computer to create a mishmash of sounds. Just a few years ago, it would have been near-impossible for just one person to do what he's doing in this hot club. But improved computing power and increasingly sophisticated software lets Lorin "cut through" the technology to focus on his music, and to do it without spending tens of thousands of dollars on equipment.

If he were still alive, big band maestro Duke Ellington would no doubt be surprised to see what the young DJ can do with nothing but a computer.

Displayed on Lorin's monitor is music production software called Reason, a virtual studio that lets a composer create a software replica of the kind of hardware that's used for composing: mixers, synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, effects processors and other gear. As Lorin uses his mouse and keyboard, the "knobs" and "buttons" on his virtual gear turn and move. He hits a button and the backside of the virtual units, stacked one on top of the other in an array of "patch bays," shows interlocking colored cable, just like the real cables that connect hardware in physical studios. He can use his mouse to connect and disconnect components.

He puts a vocal track through the system, and an oscillator shows waves representing the sound. He copies, cuts and pastes to create repeating patterns. In another window, he shortens and elongates a series of different colored blocks on a grid to create tracks, much as a conductor instructs different sections of an orchestra to play and stop.

The software lets Lorin automate a historically manual process. "I can have 500 automations happening simultaneously if I want to," he said.

"The technology completely facilitates my creativity," Lorin said. "When I have a sound (in my head) and want to create that, I just make that sound (with the software). I'm able to cut through all the (hassles) and the delays and streamline my creative vision."

He uses Reason like a sketch pad to make an arrangement or sequence and uses Cubase music production software for mixing the music, determining how loud the drums will be, for instance.

"The reason this (composing) is a revolution, musically speaking, is that in the past you had to rent these studios by the hour, or spend tens of thousands of dollars to build your own studio," he said.

"But with Reason you have a veritably unlimited amount of equipment that can be imported into each unique song file, kind of like a virtual shopping spree for virtual gear....Each of these virtual instruments would run anywhere from $200 to $1,000 a piece.

[Pie4Weebl]

Kraftwerk?

Im saddened by the fact they didn't mention kraftwerk in this article, they have been composoing music this way since the late 60's.

[Darwin Hall]

Family Tree

Not to mention Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Carl Cox, and everybody
else in Detroit and Chicago that grew up on Kraftwerk and The
Yellow Magic Orchestra.

[FredX]

Not really new and unique

In Techno and electro scene there are many artists working like this with software like Reason, Logic Audio, Protool and Cusbase SX. Plus Soundforge and Soundwave for sound design and Ableton live for live performance.
Similar techniques are use since more than 1 year. At this time Cubase 1 or 2 was used with Atari computer the 1st one the provide MIDI interface.
Now, artists like Infected Mushroom (http://infected.co.il/) , Growling Mad Scientists (http://www.spunrecords.org/base.html), Talamasca (http://www.mindcontrolrecords.com/talamasca/) to mention some are working like this. They don't need analogic intrument anymore (Synthetiser etc...) everthing can be composed, designed, engineered and produced on computer.
Visit the veteran DJ yahel site (http://www.djyahel.com/) you have a flash animation of his studio equipement. With some analog legacy equipement (synth, beat machine, FX machine) for the specific sound they produce. But no more for the quality and capability.

[Mutex]

Making electronic music

Has been done for decades, not just psytrance artists either ;o)

I think the point of the article was that he's doing it as a live PA using just a laptop, not just making tracks in his bedroom, bouncing them to audio and then playing them out (ie, DJing).

[javierlopezroman]

Electronica: now and then

The Presence Of Electronic Music

Although it is still taking many new shapes and forms, electronica in music isn't new. It went mainstream at latest in the early '80s, and was the center of several alternative genres (techno, rap, industrial).

By the '90s, it was a de-facto standard in the world of music. If not actually IN the music, it was in the recording and production. Those beautiful cavernous concert-hall vocals are sent through effects processors with complex Reverb DSP algorithms. These can recreate a near-perfect mathematical reproduction of the real sound reverberations.

Think of a few '80s movie soundtrack or Top 40 hits and you'll easily come across synthy sounds or sampled scores. In fact, try to think of something without it. Even rock-music-derrivatives often had keyboard backgrounds or a canvas of sampled sounds in the background.


"DJing inevitably is becoming obsolete"...

To say this is to say that CDs are making concerts obselete. A Live PA is a live performance in which a performer - who often started as a DJ - plays his own creations. Each performance - each rendition - does not have to be identical to the last if the proper expressive controls are embedded into the sequence (a sequence is the control track that tells every instrument when, what, and how to play; it is electronic sheet music).

DJing is the creation of a feeling using a stream of continuous music. You control and manipulate your audience by changing the sound - the feeling - either in-the-moment or subconciously over a period of time (an hour, for example). The source of the music is irrelevant as long as it does not interfere with your ability to express. A personal opinion: the turntable is still the method of choice.


The Hybrid DJ/PA - The Old and The New

Although neither DJing or the Live PA is a new thing, the ability to effectively integrate the two - especially in realtime - is particularly difficult. There are those like Lorell and Ron-E (http://www.epro-recordings.com) that are innovating in the forefront.

In this arena, the rules are what you make them. Anything you concieve, you can actualize.

[manishe]

I should have stopped reading at "Techno"

As soon as some article references any form of electronica as "Techno", it's a sign the writer is out of touch. This is the case with this article.

If this article really wanted to talk about "turning electricity into music" it should have discussed the use of Rane Serrato to play mp3's through a regular vinyl turntable. Instead it shows a guy (Lorin who I've seen and is a good DJ & musician) who's playing CD's from songs he made. "How revolutionary." -in sarcastic voice.

And the article brushes on Reason. Reason 3.0 I might add. I say 3.0 as in the THIRD major installment of the application as in it's been around for years.

I'm just not sure if this author is trying to discuss the music scene or new technology here? Hellen Keller could have described the latest technology scene better and the technology he's described is nothing new.

ps. Big props to Javier Lopez-roman's posting.

[bassnectar]

yikes

wow....never been to this site before...just got a link to the article and came to scope it.

sorry to find all you unhappy folks on here.

anyhow, just wanted to clear up any confusion:

first off, i don't think i ever claimed that it was "revolutionary" to use Reason to make my own songs and DJ them on CD. If i did, then i must have been drunk. Because i actually told the reporter explicitly that it was absolutely NOTHING new in the world of electronic music production. I did explicitly note that it was best to start somewhere basic, with a program like Reason, which has SO MANY options, and possibilities, while still many limitations and confines that can help streamline the process and avoid getting lost in a boundless series of paths and possibilities.


That fact, however, does not take away from the fact that the software is an awesome tool for creating music, be it for professionals or beginners alike. And while I specifically told her that there was (and has been for a while) much deeper and more sophisticated software, be it Pro Tools, Reaktor, Tracktor, Cubase, Logic, to name some of the most obvious, i never claimed to be in a bragging contest, showing off how advanced i am or how mindblowing Reason is to an audio-file or tech head....

Rather, i think it is an invaluable tool of creation, and for people who DO NOT understand production, and who are NOT schooled in the deep and rich history of the genre (be it back to Kraftwerk or back to Brian Eno, or Pierre Henry, or Stockhausen (sp?).... to people who may authentically refer to anything of the sort as "techno" (and don't blame them for not being hip to all the latest jive...i think its honest and sincere) then i think it is good to start at the beginning.

That is why in my classes the program i teach is Reason. Because it is such a great place to start, virtually simulating a comprehensive studio, with almost everything at once, with awesome graphics, with the ability to create complex patches, etc...

Anyhow, I was very honored and excited to share my music and how i go about imagining sound and bringing it into reality, and I'm sorry if the ultimate experts didn't find anything that was brand new...but it sounds like yall aren't exactly suffering from a lack of info on the topic, so maybe just appreciate the potential for informing other people who are not as far along in their discovery, and don't expect them to understand a complex, advanced lecture until they get the basics.

Anyhow, i hope i dont come off as rude, disrespectful, or aggressive, because the fact is, i agreed with almost everything written in all 9 comments i read. it was all pretty much truth.
:)
I just wanted to chime in with a different perspective, and hopefully point out the fact that, at least to me, what's a lot more important is the emotional value of music, and the potential for impact, both personally and socially, inherent in every note. And in speaking about my music, i tried to bring a taste of that to people who it might actually be new for, and who might just be getting turned on now, all these days later, way in the future of 2005 AD.
;)



much respect.
lorin ashton

[WalterEgo]

Living in a cave?

You speak of things like there is some sort of magic going on
here:

" Just a few years ago, it would have been near-impossible for
just one person to do what he's doing in this hot club."

I am not sure where you have been, perhaps in a cave or in a
coma, but this has been quite possible for over 10 years.

But according to your coverage, this is some sort of
technological innovation. Perhaps you should do a bit of
research, maybe talk to some other people in the field you are
writing about, check out some websites, DO SOMETHING before
writing a full blown article about it.

He is using standard CD turntables, and Reason is a mid-range
program that has been out for close to a decade (its currently at
version 3.0). Most real musicians discredit Reason compared to
real sequencer programs due to it's limited functionality. So I
guess the fact that he is actually pulling this off with such crappy
software, may be innovative, but that's about it.

Laptop DJs/musicians/etc have been around for many years, and
coming from a place of knowing many of them myself, I would
advise you to be a bit more thorough in your research and
writing. Your article sounds like you are writing about color TV
when everyone is watching black and white.

WOW! HE IS USING A MAGICAL COMPUTER PROGRAM CALLED
"REASON". WHOAAA. What is
this crazy magic!?!?! And these magical spinning disc
machines... What are
they?!?! Turntables... That play... CDS!??!? NO WAY!

And you should know that several people on several electronic
music mailing lists are calling bullsh*t on your article as well.

Maybe you should go back to writing about things you are more
familiar with instead of falsely portraying a genre/subject you
are obviously clueless about.

[sf-audio]

another negative vote

Poor writer. You stumbled into the porcupine's den of digital audio creation and electronic music and got nailed repeatedly.

IMHO News.com editorial staff needs to get with the program or stay away from this discipline altogether (probably the latter.)

For a CNET piece, this comes off as very UN-tech-savvy.

Readers interested in this area are generally -very- educated and knowledgable about this subject and have access to decades of information about this topic online already.

It's great to give the local dude props (and he should be given props) - but no mention of any of more popular/hyped artists in this scene is a glaring sign that the writer is totally new to the subject and hasn't done what those who know would call the required research.

Expect lots of negative feedback if NEWS.com continues on this topic without beefing up the background knowlege or without getting editorial staff that knows the scene and can put a fresh spin on a seemingly "new" but actually quite mature discipline in electronic music.

Probably just should stick to reviewing hardware.

[elinormills]

Thanks for the feedback

This article was not meant to be a comprehensive, definitive piece on all the latest technology for making electronic music, but more a profile of how one artist is using technology. And no. I don't usually write about electronic music. But I listen to it and was glad to get the opportunity to possibly broaden its exposure.
Sincerely,
Elinor