My favorite synth is my original version Microkorg. One of my least favorite synths was the poorly-named "Microkorg XL." I think the XL stood for eXtra Lite, both for its weight and its wimpy sonic capabilities. Korg tried to boost sales of the XL by creating a "new" version with a few more things on it, the XL+. Yawn.
Korg has now tried that weary sales tactic with the original Microkorg by adding the Microkorg S to the lineup. This time the yawn factor is provided by a bit more patch storage and a batch of new presets. Add to this the "WTF" factor of invisible built-in speakers.
"The MK doesn't need speakers and the speakers will cause problems." - prophecy by AEJOTZ
After awhile, the MK S is going to rattle and buzz like a bumblesnake. Every part that isn't solidly cemented in place will vibrate to its resonant frequencies. Even worse, these vibrations will stress solder points and the internal integrity of components.
I has spoken.
Friday, September 2, 2016
Saturday, August 20, 2016
I modded a moog, and I liked it
You can read the whole moogibrute review and even hear some MP3 sound samples HERE if you feel so inclined.
But for the sake of bloggal (?) brevity let me just say that I'm having a swell time with my new moog.
Here's its baby picture:
Just click the pic to enlarge.
You'll notice that it has two large knobs. These are not standard equipment but they should be. It sucks trying to adjust frequency range and cutoff with those little bitty 6 mm pot shafts. I notice in the photo in my previous post that the owner of that Werkstatt also added knobs; but his are stupid. Mine are cool.
If you want cool knobs like mine, just go HERE for the story of this breathtaking mod, and much much more.
Excelsior and stuff.
But for the sake of bloggal (?) brevity let me just say that I'm having a swell time with my new moog.
Here's its baby picture:
Just click the pic to enlarge.
You'll notice that it has two large knobs. These are not standard equipment but they should be. It sucks trying to adjust frequency range and cutoff with those little bitty 6 mm pot shafts. I notice in the photo in my previous post that the owner of that Werkstatt also added knobs; but his are stupid. Mine are cool.
If you want cool knobs like mine, just go HERE for the story of this breathtaking mod, and much much more.
Excelsior and stuff.
Monday, August 15, 2016
moogibrute
The way I say "moogibrute," it rhymes with "Juicy Fruit." I know, I know, synth nerds will correct me and tell me that "moog" ryhmes with "rogue" and not with "fugue." But that's only because Robert Moog said in an interview that he preferred his last name rhymed with "rogue" some 30 years after the "fugue" rhyming pronunciation became standard. So I rhyme the man's name with "rogue" but I rhyme the instrument's name with "fugue." It's easy to remember because the instrument name isn't capitalized but the man's name is. And if you don't like it, then "fugue" with two syllables.
But that's not why I called.
It's August and I have SSL. That's Seasonal Synth Lust for you uninitiated types. As often happens this time of year, I want a new synth. And for the almost first time, I want a moog. I've had my eye on the Slim Phatty off and on but whenever one is available for a good price I talk myself out of it.
Tonight that all changed.
Lately, when I search online for SP's I also see recommendations for the Werkstatt-01. Tonight I thoroughly researched that device and a little light went on.
The Werkstatt is a cheap little kit synth that doesn't even have a real keyboard but it has a moog oscillator and a moog ladder filter. In other words, it has moog sound. And it has a CV patch port!
Why does that last statement deserve an exclamation point? Because the CV port means I can connect it to my Microbrute in any of a dozen ways, sharing filters and stuff and providing the moog with a keyboard and a step sequencer. And the Microbrute can translate MIDI signals to CV, so I can play the Werkstatt from any of my MIDI keyboards and even play it with the Microkorg arpeggiator or the Microsampler quantizing pattern sequencer.
And the Werkstatt looks like a little cheap-ass toy-like gizmo like the rest of my gear. It suits my style and budget much better than all the other moog instruments. And it makes the Microbrute, the most limited instrument in my rig, much more useful and valuable. Together, the Werkstatt and the Microbrute will be my moogibrute.
I can probably have one in about a week, which gives me some time to experiment before my annual autumnal synth frenzy kicks in.
Below is a photo of someone else's Werkstatt-Microbrute marriage.
Isn't it cute?
Update 8-16-2016:
I just ordered a Werkstatt, a Control Voltage adapter (the thing stuck to the right side of the Werkstatt with all the cables plugged into it) and a half-dozen colored cables, probably just like the ones in the photo.
I'm excited. This will be a fun rig to play with. And it's my first moog!
But that's not why I called.
It's August and I have SSL. That's Seasonal Synth Lust for you uninitiated types. As often happens this time of year, I want a new synth. And for the almost first time, I want a moog. I've had my eye on the Slim Phatty off and on but whenever one is available for a good price I talk myself out of it.
Tonight that all changed.
Lately, when I search online for SP's I also see recommendations for the Werkstatt-01. Tonight I thoroughly researched that device and a little light went on.
The Werkstatt is a cheap little kit synth that doesn't even have a real keyboard but it has a moog oscillator and a moog ladder filter. In other words, it has moog sound. And it has a CV patch port!
Why does that last statement deserve an exclamation point? Because the CV port means I can connect it to my Microbrute in any of a dozen ways, sharing filters and stuff and providing the moog with a keyboard and a step sequencer. And the Microbrute can translate MIDI signals to CV, so I can play the Werkstatt from any of my MIDI keyboards and even play it with the Microkorg arpeggiator or the Microsampler quantizing pattern sequencer.
And the Werkstatt looks like a little cheap-ass toy-like gizmo like the rest of my gear. It suits my style and budget much better than all the other moog instruments. And it makes the Microbrute, the most limited instrument in my rig, much more useful and valuable. Together, the Werkstatt and the Microbrute will be my moogibrute.
I can probably have one in about a week, which gives me some time to experiment before my annual autumnal synth frenzy kicks in.
Below is a photo of someone else's Werkstatt-Microbrute marriage.
Isn't it cute?
Update 8-16-2016:
I just ordered a Werkstatt, a Control Voltage adapter (the thing stuck to the right side of the Werkstatt with all the cables plugged into it) and a half-dozen colored cables, probably just like the ones in the photo.
I'm excited. This will be a fun rig to play with. And it's my first moog!
Thursday, August 11, 2016
how to make AEJOTZ synth music
This isn't really a how-to article. But I was just reading a how-to about electronic music and it explained how to do everything the way I don't.
I make synth music the old fashioned way... by hand!
I actually play keyboard synthesizers by putting my fingers on the keys and pushing down. And I record what I play on a multi-track recorder. Granted, it's a digital recorder, but it's a dedicated music recorder.
I don't use a computer to sequence music. I do use the on-board sequencing functions of my instruments. I'm not a Luddite. Still, every sound is the result of me playing keys by hand. And a little quantizing is no greater sin than a little auto-tune.
The computer is tangentially useful before and after music creation. It's useful beforehand as a source of interesting patches and sounds to download and there are computer "editors" that make it easier for me to program new sounds on my synths. After I complete a tune I transfer it from my recorder to my PC for distribution worldwide via the internet.
Perhaps the biggest advantage to playing everything by hand is that I'm not a very good keyboardist and I make a lot of mistakes, some of which sound better than what I meant to do. I then deliberately make the same "good" mistakes and take credit for creating them.
The end.
No, wait. There's one more thing. To play like an AEJOTZ you have to use really cheap toy-like synths. I use the CZ-101, Microkorg, Microbrute, Microsampler and now the Werkstatt-01.
OK, now it's the end.
I make synth music the old fashioned way... by hand!
I actually play keyboard synthesizers by putting my fingers on the keys and pushing down. And I record what I play on a multi-track recorder. Granted, it's a digital recorder, but it's a dedicated music recorder.
I don't use a computer to sequence music. I do use the on-board sequencing functions of my instruments. I'm not a Luddite. Still, every sound is the result of me playing keys by hand. And a little quantizing is no greater sin than a little auto-tune.
The computer is tangentially useful before and after music creation. It's useful beforehand as a source of interesting patches and sounds to download and there are computer "editors" that make it easier for me to program new sounds on my synths. After I complete a tune I transfer it from my recorder to my PC for distribution worldwide via the internet.
Perhaps the biggest advantage to playing everything by hand is that I'm not a very good keyboardist and I make a lot of mistakes, some of which sound better than what I meant to do. I then deliberately make the same "good" mistakes and take credit for creating them.
The end.
No, wait. There's one more thing. To play like an AEJOTZ you have to use really cheap toy-like synths. I use the CZ-101, Microkorg, Microbrute, Microsampler and now the Werkstatt-01.
OK, now it's the end.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
synth-fluence
When Switched On Bach was released in 1968 it was the first time I heard an electronic instrument without being impressed. Until then I had only heard electronic instruments on Kai Winding's "More," Del Shannon's "Runaway" and the Beatles' "Baby You're a Rich Man." Those examples were very interesting. (Later I would hear "Telstar" and wish I hadn't.) Bach music performed using funny sounds struck me as more gimmick than artistic innovation.
In 1971 Mort Garson released a hideous album of electronic noise called "Black Mass." It was shit. There are certain kinds of Moog sounds that I still despise because of this ugly album.
The guy (J.J. Perrey) who played the electronic instrument on "More" also worked with the guy (Gershon Kingsley) who wrote "Popcorn" in 1969 but I would not hear the latter composition until the 1972 cover by Hot Butter. That was an exciting piece of music. For the first time in my experience a synth tune sounded like the music was written for the synth.
In early 1974 Isao Tomita demonstrated that playing traditional music on synths can result in great beauty if appropriate sounds are used instead of just using funny noises.
In late 1974 Kraftwerk demonstrated that musically awkward people could make mildly interesting "garage" music with synths. (Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh was already brilliantly pioneering robotic nerd music at this point but would not be heard by the masses until 1978.)
Finally, in 1975, Synergy released "Electronic Realizations for Rock Orchestra." Here was quality music written for and skillfully played on synthesizers. I thought this was the beginning of a big change in direction for synthesizer music. I was wrong. Each successive Synergy album would be a step away from this masterpiece and toward the same automated mainstream as the rest of "electronic music." And no one else picked up where "Electronic Realizations" left off.
[In this spot I artfully blasted the most overrated "electronic" musicians of the boomer era, then changed my mind and deleted it. The surest way to be ostracized in today's oversensitive facade of faux-culture is to tell the truth. I will simply say that I was not as enamored of Jarre, Vangelis or Moroder as the masses were.]
When AEJOTZ was accidentally born in 1983 my main influences would have been the first Synergy album, 1970s Genesis, Devo and the B52s.
The rebirth of AEJOTZ in 2011 was catalyzed by Stereolab, whose music often reminded me of my 1983 synth experiments. I can't tell if Stereolab actually influenced my music or if we just have shared tastes and influences.
1980s synthpop has a bit of an influence on me, but not the usual kind. It influences me mostly by repulsion rather than by attraction. Sometimes I make musical choices to deliberately avoid '80s synth cliches.
In 1971 Mort Garson released a hideous album of electronic noise called "Black Mass." It was shit. There are certain kinds of Moog sounds that I still despise because of this ugly album.
The guy (J.J. Perrey) who played the electronic instrument on "More" also worked with the guy (Gershon Kingsley) who wrote "Popcorn" in 1969 but I would not hear the latter composition until the 1972 cover by Hot Butter. That was an exciting piece of music. For the first time in my experience a synth tune sounded like the music was written for the synth.
In early 1974 Isao Tomita demonstrated that playing traditional music on synths can result in great beauty if appropriate sounds are used instead of just using funny noises.
In late 1974 Kraftwerk demonstrated that musically awkward people could make mildly interesting "garage" music with synths. (Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh was already brilliantly pioneering robotic nerd music at this point but would not be heard by the masses until 1978.)
Finally, in 1975, Synergy released "Electronic Realizations for Rock Orchestra." Here was quality music written for and skillfully played on synthesizers. I thought this was the beginning of a big change in direction for synthesizer music. I was wrong. Each successive Synergy album would be a step away from this masterpiece and toward the same automated mainstream as the rest of "electronic music." And no one else picked up where "Electronic Realizations" left off.
[In this spot I artfully blasted the most overrated "electronic" musicians of the boomer era, then changed my mind and deleted it. The surest way to be ostracized in today's oversensitive facade of faux-culture is to tell the truth. I will simply say that I was not as enamored of Jarre, Vangelis or Moroder as the masses were.]
When AEJOTZ was accidentally born in 1983 my main influences would have been the first Synergy album, 1970s Genesis, Devo and the B52s.
The rebirth of AEJOTZ in 2011 was catalyzed by Stereolab, whose music often reminded me of my 1983 synth experiments. I can't tell if Stereolab actually influenced my music or if we just have shared tastes and influences.
1980s synthpop has a bit of an influence on me, but not the usual kind. It influences me mostly by repulsion rather than by attraction. Sometimes I make musical choices to deliberately avoid '80s synth cliches.
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Non-Fiction Music
I want to say "in the preceding article" but from the reader's perspective it's the "following" article. Let's try this:
In the chronologically preceding but physically following article, I endorse the jam band "Drones of Saturn." They are an example of artists who make "Non-Fiction Music." I, AEJOTZ, am another example. Feel free to genuflect.
I've probably written about NFM before but I never do anything quite the same way twice so I'm not really repeating myself if I do it again. Kind of.
There's a sliding scale of gray between extremes of "Fictional Music" and NFM but it's easier to describe the concept if I swing far to either side.
Far over on the FM side you have professional hit song writers who construct musical product according to a strict formula. This product is then sung by an age/gender/fashion appropriate "star" who performs the song the way an actor performs a script. Every step of the process is phony.
Way over on the NFM side you have a penniless bohemian sitting in an urban park coaxing some old instrument to play a spontaneous tune to the morning, expressing the feelings of an artistic soul grooving in the ever-changing now. The whole process is alive and real.
In-between would be songs artists felt when they wrote them, but that later became just "oldies" they are expected to play. (Does Alice Cooper still perform "Eighteen?")
A jam session is, ideally, an expression of spontaneous extemporaneous creativity. I qualify the preceding statement with "ideally" because I've been to "jam sessions" in which one or more egos were doing more showboating than extemporaneous jamming. Trying to impress the other players with your Yngwie scales is not the same as sharing and exploring a groove with the other players.
Ah, the key I was looking for just popped up: "exploring." A good jam doesn't just meander over existing worn rutted trails; it blazes a new trail. Not all "musicians" can do this. A guy who can learn his parts and play in a cover band is called a "musician," even if he never creates an original piece of music. He is totally FM. Only an adventurous sonic explorer can be NFM. Dig?
My new pals (I haven't met them yet) Drones of Saturn are trailblazers. You can draw comparisons between their sound and that of some bands that have gone before, but that's just nerdalizing. Oh crap. Now I have to explain nerdalizing. Sometimes I wish I'd quit making up terms.
I once wrote a seafaring song in 3/4 time that I performed for a number of years. After one such performance, some jackass smugly declared that I'd imitated "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot. The Lightfoot tune was released in 1976. I wrote mine in 1971. I was nerdalized.
Nerdalizing is when some uncreative, unimaginative nerd jackass compares anything and everything new to the few things he's experienced in his stupid past. The nerdalist will ALWAYS say, "oh, that sounds like _____." Nerdalizing can be found in every comments section on every music-related webpage in the universe.
Anyway, back to the Drones. They play electric guitar, drums and bass guitar, so they sound a lot like a band that plays electric guitar, drums and bass guitar. DUH!!! The important thing is that they start with a hint of a shadow of a germ of a groove and then explore the @#$% out of it until they've completely ravished it and left it panting and satisfied in a ditch by the road. Pure creativity. Pure Non-Fiction Music.
Have I sharpened this point enough, yet? I sure hope so.
In the chronologically preceding but physically following article, I endorse the jam band "Drones of Saturn." They are an example of artists who make "Non-Fiction Music." I, AEJOTZ, am another example. Feel free to genuflect.
I've probably written about NFM before but I never do anything quite the same way twice so I'm not really repeating myself if I do it again. Kind of.
There's a sliding scale of gray between extremes of "Fictional Music" and NFM but it's easier to describe the concept if I swing far to either side.
Far over on the FM side you have professional hit song writers who construct musical product according to a strict formula. This product is then sung by an age/gender/fashion appropriate "star" who performs the song the way an actor performs a script. Every step of the process is phony.
Way over on the NFM side you have a penniless bohemian sitting in an urban park coaxing some old instrument to play a spontaneous tune to the morning, expressing the feelings of an artistic soul grooving in the ever-changing now. The whole process is alive and real.
In-between would be songs artists felt when they wrote them, but that later became just "oldies" they are expected to play. (Does Alice Cooper still perform "Eighteen?")
A jam session is, ideally, an expression of spontaneous extemporaneous creativity. I qualify the preceding statement with "ideally" because I've been to "jam sessions" in which one or more egos were doing more showboating than extemporaneous jamming. Trying to impress the other players with your Yngwie scales is not the same as sharing and exploring a groove with the other players.
Ah, the key I was looking for just popped up: "exploring." A good jam doesn't just meander over existing worn rutted trails; it blazes a new trail. Not all "musicians" can do this. A guy who can learn his parts and play in a cover band is called a "musician," even if he never creates an original piece of music. He is totally FM. Only an adventurous sonic explorer can be NFM. Dig?
My new pals (I haven't met them yet) Drones of Saturn are trailblazers. You can draw comparisons between their sound and that of some bands that have gone before, but that's just nerdalizing. Oh crap. Now I have to explain nerdalizing. Sometimes I wish I'd quit making up terms.
I once wrote a seafaring song in 3/4 time that I performed for a number of years. After one such performance, some jackass smugly declared that I'd imitated "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot. The Lightfoot tune was released in 1976. I wrote mine in 1971. I was nerdalized.
Nerdalizing is when some uncreative, unimaginative nerd jackass compares anything and everything new to the few things he's experienced in his stupid past. The nerdalist will ALWAYS say, "oh, that sounds like _____." Nerdalizing can be found in every comments section on every music-related webpage in the universe.
Anyway, back to the Drones. They play electric guitar, drums and bass guitar, so they sound a lot like a band that plays electric guitar, drums and bass guitar. DUH!!! The important thing is that they start with a hint of a shadow of a germ of a groove and then explore the @#$% out of it until they've completely ravished it and left it panting and satisfied in a ditch by the road. Pure creativity. Pure Non-Fiction Music.
Have I sharpened this point enough, yet? I sure hope so.
DRONES OF SATURN
Go right now to
https://soundcloud.com/dronesofsaturn
and listen your @#$% off
to some of the best non-fiction music anywhere, anywhen
These guys are my "neighbors" in NWI (Northwest Indiana, duh).
They're looking for a synth player to join them and I'm so tempted.
But they sound great and tight as a trio.
More might be too much.
On the other hand, since I realize that, I might be the perfect addition.
I would be carefully restrained.
Hm...
Maybe I should at least go jam with these guys once.
What do you think?
https://soundcloud.com/dronesofsaturn
and listen your @#$% off
to some of the best non-fiction music anywhere, anywhen
These guys are my "neighbors" in NWI (Northwest Indiana, duh).
They're looking for a synth player to join them and I'm so tempted.
But they sound great and tight as a trio.
More might be too much.
On the other hand, since I realize that, I might be the perfect addition.
I would be carefully restrained.
Hm...
Maybe I should at least go jam with these guys once.
What do you think?
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
AEJOTZ is the most amazing synth player in southeast Griffith, Indiana, probably.
Studies show there is a 99% probability that AEJOTZ is the best synthesizer player within 1000 feet of the home of AEJOTZ.
Woohoo!!!
Woohoo!!!
Monday, June 13, 2016
A Genesis revelation
Lately I've been rediscovering my favorite band: Genesis.
After more than a decade of binge listening I had to give myself a break from their music. I guess that hiatus lasted several years, assisted by my one-year near exile from quality stereo during last year's disappointing sojourn in disappointing Oregon. But now I'm back in the Midwest where I belong and I've begun listening to my English friends again.
In the beginning... the first full Genesis song I remember hearing is the title tune of the above album, played as a "pick of the week" on a top 40 station. I thought it was Cat Stevens. The song didn't catch on and I wouldn't hear it again until I bought the album. I wasn't captured right then. I also saw a clip of Peter Gabriel in his flower headgear on a PBS documentary but didn't catch the band's name. And when I later heard "Return of the Giant Hogweed" it sounded familiar, as if I'd heard it before.
But the real change in my life, the moment I became hooked, was when I heard the song "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" on the radio. It was like when I first heard "Roundabout" or "Birds of Fire" but this was even more revelatory. This music spoke more personally to my taste, my soul. It was as if I'd been asleep and this sound had awakened me. I called the station, got the name of the group and the album, and fled immediately to the record store. I did little else for a solid week than to play that album over and over.
When I needed more I returned to the record store and bought "The Best... Genesis" which was actually "Nursery Cryme" and "Foxtrot" re-packaged as a double album. By the end of "Supper's Ready" I thought I'd died and gone to the new Jerusalem.
After more than a decade of binge listening I had to give myself a break from their music. I guess that hiatus lasted several years, assisted by my one-year near exile from quality stereo during last year's disappointing sojourn in disappointing Oregon. But now I'm back in the Midwest where I belong and I've begun listening to my English friends again.
In the beginning... the first full Genesis song I remember hearing is the title tune of the above album, played as a "pick of the week" on a top 40 station. I thought it was Cat Stevens. The song didn't catch on and I wouldn't hear it again until I bought the album. I wasn't captured right then. I also saw a clip of Peter Gabriel in his flower headgear on a PBS documentary but didn't catch the band's name. And when I later heard "Return of the Giant Hogweed" it sounded familiar, as if I'd heard it before.
But the real change in my life, the moment I became hooked, was when I heard the song "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" on the radio. It was like when I first heard "Roundabout" or "Birds of Fire" but this was even more revelatory. This music spoke more personally to my taste, my soul. It was as if I'd been asleep and this sound had awakened me. I called the station, got the name of the group and the album, and fled immediately to the record store. I did little else for a solid week than to play that album over and over.
When I needed more I returned to the record store and bought "The Best... Genesis" which was actually "Nursery Cryme" and "Foxtrot" re-packaged as a double album. By the end of "Supper's Ready" I thought I'd died and gone to the new Jerusalem.
This was in late 1976. I was still trying to catch up on their back catalog when "Wind and Wuthering" was released. I, of course, went to the accompanying concert, not expecting the band to sound as good live as they did on record. They sounded better!!! My whole life's musical experience had been shaken free from the earth and sent flying. Nothing would ever be the same again. I almost gave up playing guitar and singing because they made me feel like a talentless slob.
Back to the present... I started my recent refamiliarization with the band with the first album of Genesis 2.0, "A Trick of the Tail." Moving forward, I'm now listening to "Duke." I don't know when I'll return to the PG years but I'm in no hurry. I'm savoring every note. For the record, I like every Genesis album, including the first and last. (Well, I like them all except "Invisible Touch.")
I'm a superfan, I guess. I ate up every bit of Genesis related media until "Invisible Touch" and the eventual Phil Collins overexposure. I even have dreams now and then of being places with Tony, Phil and Mike, although they seem to tolerate me more than accept me as a friend. How weird is that?
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
AEJOTZ, last of the rebels
I'm a true rebel. I don't promote my music with images of violence and/or decay. I don't have a bleak sounding stage name. I don't go onstage with bed-hair (nevermind that I don't go onstage at all anymore... or have hair anymore). I don't wear a hoodie (unless it's yucky out). I don't claim to be twins. I don't deliberately use dance beats (stop dancing to my music and making me look like a liar!!!). I don't use a DAW. I don't have singing vowels in my tunes (oh, oh oh, oh oh oh, oh...). I don't use a vocoder (well, only once). I don't have a Moog, I don't even wish I had a Moog, and I still pronounce it "Mooooooog." That's a real rebel!
[The preceding is a bunch of BS intended to try to draw some attention to my music, and have a little fun in the process. I've made a lot of big and equally stupid claims lately that might point a google search to this blog and from here to my tunes. It hasn't worked yet as far as I know.]
[The preceding is a bunch of BS intended to try to draw some attention to my music, and have a little fun in the process. I've made a lot of big and equally stupid claims lately that might point a google search to this blog and from here to my tunes. It hasn't worked yet as far as I know.]
AEJOTZ makes gold out of crap
Whence cometh those succulent swooshes and bodacious boings wherewith AEJOTZ retro-futurist synth music is woven? From the junk store!
I exaggerate a little.
AEJOTZ has oft been complimented for his rich "analog" sounds, but those sounds are mostly from a secondhand Microkorg and not infrequently from a thirdhand Casio "Cosmo" CZ-101. Also appearing on various tunes, but nary so often, are the Microsampler, MT-65, Monotron, PSR-520, Micron, Minibrute, Microbrute, Microkorg XL, CT-470, SK-1 and I've probably forgotten an instrument or two. The only actual analog instruments are the 'tron and the 'brutes.
Only the PSR-520 was purchased new (circa 1995). Everything else was found on ebay or craigslist. The cheapest board was the CT-470 at $15 USD. (The CT isn't used often but it's the only instrument heard on the AEJOTZ hit, "luna.")
So let this be a lesson to all who think expensive gear equals tasty tunes. If all you can afford is cheesy instruments, just remember how good cheese can be.
I exaggerate a little.
AEJOTZ has oft been complimented for his rich "analog" sounds, but those sounds are mostly from a secondhand Microkorg and not infrequently from a thirdhand Casio "Cosmo" CZ-101. Also appearing on various tunes, but nary so often, are the Microsampler, MT-65, Monotron, PSR-520, Micron, Minibrute, Microbrute, Microkorg XL, CT-470, SK-1 and I've probably forgotten an instrument or two. The only actual analog instruments are the 'tron and the 'brutes.
Only the PSR-520 was purchased new (circa 1995). Everything else was found on ebay or craigslist. The cheapest board was the CT-470 at $15 USD. (The CT isn't used often but it's the only instrument heard on the AEJOTZ hit, "luna.")
So let this be a lesson to all who think expensive gear equals tasty tunes. If all you can afford is cheesy instruments, just remember how good cheese can be.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
CHIRPRADIO.ORG
I had to say it in all-caps!
What do you get when you cross Chicago sophistication (not an oxymoron), superb alt&indie music and the internet? Chirpradio.org!
It's like a cross between the best college stations and the best non-commercial stations (eg. KDHX).
I enjoy almost every tune and all of them are at least interesting. You know, the exact opposite of commercial radio.
Radio is dead; long live chipradio!
http://chirpradio.org
What do you get when you cross Chicago sophistication (not an oxymoron), superb alt&indie music and the internet? Chirpradio.org!
It's like a cross between the best college stations and the best non-commercial stations (eg. KDHX).
I enjoy almost every tune and all of them are at least interesting. You know, the exact opposite of commercial radio.
Radio is dead; long live chipradio!
http://chirpradio.org
Sunday, April 17, 2016
AEJOTZ, world renowned synthesizer player!
Yes kids, old Jotzy is known and loved the world over. I have fans across the US, Europe and even in Latin America. Of course my entire fan-base only numbers about 20 people, but still...
Thanks to the internet I can reach some of the .0000000000000001% of people who are receptive to the kind of music I play.
It's not that I suck any more than the average amateur musician. If I played more mainstream music I would have more fans. I know this for a certainty because I had more fans when I played more mainstream music. But I'm tired of mainstream everything, so I have to settle for fewer fans.
I don't make music for fans. I make music because I make music. I tried to quit but the urge wouldn't go away. I wouldn't even bother publishing the music I compulsively create, except that it doesn't ever feel quite finished until and unless someone hears it; a concept that hovers on the verge of making some kind of sense.
I value my few fans. It's wonderful to have someone, anyone, enjoy my music. And my few fans are typically themselves creative musicians, which means a lot to me. I value their opinions much more than the drunk redneck who once, during my mainstream days, told me he loved the Lynnerd Skynnerd song my band had played. We hadn't played a Lynnerd Skynnerd song.
I ruined live performance for myself by experimenting during performances. I would play a superb song superbly then slowly fade it out. Silence. Then I'd play a crap song brashly and end with a big finish. Standing ovation. So much for audience approval.
Around 2000 AD I divorced my guitar and tried to quit music. But after a few years I felt the urge to continue my synth experiments from 1983.
[Begin Digression]
In 1983 I was the only kid on the block who owned Tomita and Synergy albums. I bought a Casio MT-65, a Syndrum and a 4-track recorder to augment my guitar-based demos with other instrument sounds. Instead, I found myself spontaneously making AEJOTZ style synth music. I was excited by how good it sounded to me. I spent a month making this new music, resulting in a 60-minute cassette album that I gave to friends, family and fans of my guitar-based music. The response was unanimous:
"Don't quit your guitar job."
[End Digression]
In 2011 I finally gave in to the creative urge and bought a couple of secondhand synths and a new-fangled digital recorder. AEJOTZ was reborn. The biggest difference from 1983 was that I no longer cared very much if anyone liked my synth music. I cared some, but not enough that it broke my heart that no one thought it was as good as I thought it was.
Then a funny thing happened. Not long after I uploaded some of my music to electro-music.com I heard it played on radio/electro-music.com and I received appreciation and encouragement from a number of forum members. I had found my synthetic siblings!
Other cool things have happened since, like getting played on terrestrial FM and various web-radio programs, but finding my electronic brothers and sisters is the best thing that ever happened to me, musically. The world is stuck with me now, because my bros have got my back.
Thanks to the internet I can reach some of the .0000000000000001% of people who are receptive to the kind of music I play.
It's not that I suck any more than the average amateur musician. If I played more mainstream music I would have more fans. I know this for a certainty because I had more fans when I played more mainstream music. But I'm tired of mainstream everything, so I have to settle for fewer fans.
I don't make music for fans. I make music because I make music. I tried to quit but the urge wouldn't go away. I wouldn't even bother publishing the music I compulsively create, except that it doesn't ever feel quite finished until and unless someone hears it; a concept that hovers on the verge of making some kind of sense.
I value my few fans. It's wonderful to have someone, anyone, enjoy my music. And my few fans are typically themselves creative musicians, which means a lot to me. I value their opinions much more than the drunk redneck who once, during my mainstream days, told me he loved the Lynnerd Skynnerd song my band had played. We hadn't played a Lynnerd Skynnerd song.
I ruined live performance for myself by experimenting during performances. I would play a superb song superbly then slowly fade it out. Silence. Then I'd play a crap song brashly and end with a big finish. Standing ovation. So much for audience approval.
Around 2000 AD I divorced my guitar and tried to quit music. But after a few years I felt the urge to continue my synth experiments from 1983.
[Begin Digression]
In 1983 I was the only kid on the block who owned Tomita and Synergy albums. I bought a Casio MT-65, a Syndrum and a 4-track recorder to augment my guitar-based demos with other instrument sounds. Instead, I found myself spontaneously making AEJOTZ style synth music. I was excited by how good it sounded to me. I spent a month making this new music, resulting in a 60-minute cassette album that I gave to friends, family and fans of my guitar-based music. The response was unanimous:
"Don't quit your guitar job."
[End Digression]
In 2011 I finally gave in to the creative urge and bought a couple of secondhand synths and a new-fangled digital recorder. AEJOTZ was reborn. The biggest difference from 1983 was that I no longer cared very much if anyone liked my synth music. I cared some, but not enough that it broke my heart that no one thought it was as good as I thought it was.
Then a funny thing happened. Not long after I uploaded some of my music to electro-music.com I heard it played on radio/electro-music.com and I received appreciation and encouragement from a number of forum members. I had found my synthetic siblings!
Other cool things have happened since, like getting played on terrestrial FM and various web-radio programs, but finding my electronic brothers and sisters is the best thing that ever happened to me, musically. The world is stuck with me now, because my bros have got my back.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Same Old Shit
This is the least innovative period in the history of popular music. The music business has all but ruined musical art.
On the other hand, independent music is still producing some gems. It's just hard to find the handful of gems in the mountain of common gravel.
Innovative musical artists can barely make a living anymore, which might be a good thing. Money, fame and business have spoiled many artists.
This is all just a long way of saying that I can't stand the crap on the radio. There's an occasional non-crap tune but you can get old and cranky waiting for it.
I'm the living proof.
On the other hand, independent music is still producing some gems. It's just hard to find the handful of gems in the mountain of common gravel.
Innovative musical artists can barely make a living anymore, which might be a good thing. Money, fame and business have spoiled many artists.
This is all just a long way of saying that I can't stand the crap on the radio. There's an occasional non-crap tune but you can get old and cranky waiting for it.
I'm the living proof.
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Friday, February 26, 2016
AEJOTZ is the greatest synth musician of all time!
Delusions of grandeur and genius earn Kanye a lot of press.
I thought I'd give it a try.
I thought I'd give it a try.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
CORNER GOSPEL EXPLOSION
They aren't really gospel.
They're like post-rock-alt-prog.
They're the best new band I've heard in years.
They're from Bend, Oregon.
None of that matters.
Just go listen to them:
https://soundcloud.com/cornergospelexplosion
They're like post-rock-alt-prog.
They're the best new band I've heard in years.
They're from Bend, Oregon.
None of that matters.
Just go listen to them:
https://soundcloud.com/cornergospelexplosion
Saturday, January 30, 2016
New Year News
As often happens after a musically prolific autumn, my thoughts turn to self-promotion in the new year. This time round has been a blitz of online venues.
AEJOTZ music now has presence in Awdio, Baboom, Soundclick, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Niconico, Songladder, Mixlr, Tune in, 8tracks and some other online venues I've already forgotten.
Also, since links to "aejotz.com" are scattered all over the cybersphere, I renewed that domain. On my new homepage I explain that my music can be used royalty-free for anything except recordings sold for money. I figure that everything other than recording sales is just good advertising. Anyway, it's far more important to me that my music gets heard than that I get any money from it.
Lately I'm calling my musical style "retro-futurist synth music." I'll probably call it something else pretty soon.
I hope plenty of people download my music so that it will live longer than I do. I don't know why I hope that. Frank Zappa did an interview when he knew he was dying of cancer and when asked how he wanted to be remembered he said it didn't matter. I can dig that. He did what he wanted to do. He did his thing. That's important. One could argue that a true artist isn't just a performer trying to be a star. One could argue that a true artist makes his art because he's an artist. I know my music isn't important. But it would be nice if it made people smile sometimes after I'm gone.
AEJOTZ music now has presence in Awdio, Baboom, Soundclick, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Niconico, Songladder, Mixlr, Tune in, 8tracks and some other online venues I've already forgotten.
Also, since links to "aejotz.com" are scattered all over the cybersphere, I renewed that domain. On my new homepage I explain that my music can be used royalty-free for anything except recordings sold for money. I figure that everything other than recording sales is just good advertising. Anyway, it's far more important to me that my music gets heard than that I get any money from it.
Lately I'm calling my musical style "retro-futurist synth music." I'll probably call it something else pretty soon.
I hope plenty of people download my music so that it will live longer than I do. I don't know why I hope that. Frank Zappa did an interview when he knew he was dying of cancer and when asked how he wanted to be remembered he said it didn't matter. I can dig that. He did what he wanted to do. He did his thing. That's important. One could argue that a true artist isn't just a performer trying to be a star. One could argue that a true artist makes his art because he's an artist. I know my music isn't important. But it would be nice if it made people smile sometimes after I'm gone.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
BIG SYNTH NEWS! The Complete AEJOTZ on six free albums! Huzzah!
I just published all of my "space age synthesizer music" on six albums.
You can see, hear and download them all at http://aejotz.bandcamp.com
"eleven" features the 11 "best" tunes from 2011.
"twelve" features the 12 "best" tunes from 2012.
You can see, hear and download them all at http://aejotz.bandcamp.com
"eleven" features the 11 "best" tunes from 2011.
"twelve" features the 12 "best" tunes from 2012.
"thirteen" features the 13 "best" tunes from 2013.
"fourteen" features 7 tunes from 2014 and the 7 best "leftovers" from 2011 to 2013.
(I was too busy to be musically prolific in 2014.)
(I was too busy to be musically prolific in 2014.)
"fifteen" features the 15 "best" tunes from 2015. and...
"leftovers" contains the remaining 24 "leftovers" from 1983 to 2015.
I set each album's price as "name your price," so you can download them at no cost.
It's more important to me that people hear my music than that they pay for it.
However, if someone offers to pay I won't insult them by refusing it.
I set each album's price as "name your price," so you can download them at no cost.
It's more important to me that people hear my music than that they pay for it.
However, if someone offers to pay I won't insult them by refusing it.
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