drone devices/ambient accumulation

[Lostboy]

i'm assuming there have to be at least a couple dronologists out there, so i thought it would be neat to compile a list of objects (whether musical instruments, household objects, etc.) that can create musical drones, naked or effected in some way. the past couple years i've been getting into more of this stuff as a music fan and a musician, and i'm amazed at the range of moods that can be accumulated with droning instruments and objects. i need some more ideas, though ...

information about how to create the appropriate ambience would also make this an interesting discussion (for example: anyone heard stewart dempster's albums recorded in an army cistern? he has a bunch of horn players in the bottom of this gigantic underground cave that has a natural 45 second reverb ... it makes a horn sound like an angel singing).

or, if that stuff isn't interesting, i'd like to hear what people's favorite drone/ambient recordings are.

[joel hamilton]

There are these crazy bunkers in Vieques where my mom lives that have ENORMOUS parallel walls, and they are cement.

The reverb in there was INSANE. turned everything into a wash, but kept it going for about 30-40 seconds.

Like if you said "oh" it sounded like "aaahhhh" after about 5 seconds but kept ringing and turning whiter for 35 more seconds. sick.

I have a battery powered electronic tamboura I wanna bring down next time I go to see my mom. With a mini disc recorder or something easy, it is in the jungle kinda...

[soundguy]

joel-

can you power the rft with the minidisc's "plug in" mic power?

tht would be cool.

dave

[joel hamilton]

Dave,

Could you make me a step up box from the .00000001mV that the minidisc puts out straight to 220?

That mic plugs into the WALL. Not just xlr, XLR and 220 volt cables come out of the pedestal mount for that thing.

Maybe I could just mount a minidisc recorder INSIDE the mic?

That would solve everything. I will get a german minidisc walkman and mount it (slot loading) INSIDE my RFT bottle! Awesome.

[HuskerDude]

There are some classics, Electric drill over electric guitar pickups, piano with certain keys held down near an amp, tuning all the strings on a guitar to the same tone/tones etc...
I'd be really interested in hearing more, too.

[Bwanasonic]

i thought it would be neat to compile a list of objects (whether musical instruments, household objects, etc.) that can create musical drones, naked or effected in some way.

Have you tried mic'ing a garbage disposal ? On a more obviously musical note, no*dronologist* should be without an Ebow and a roll of duct tape, and maybe some alligator clips. Try it with acoustic (steel string). Various *prepared* setups, like alligator clips, marbles, aluminum foil, etc, combined with sympathetic tunings can yield good results.

Kerry M

[jmiller]

Ebows are great. I made a great drone by leaving my guitar running for about five minutes with one. ran it through three very different fx and morphed between them throughout the track. sounds awesome.

They also sound great on pianos!

[Lostboy]

how does the electric drill thing work? just turn it on near guitar pickups? i've heard of this, but never done it.

one of the best drones i've heard (at the end of swans' "soundtracks for the blind") was done by putting an acoustic guitar (with a pickup) in an open tuning and placing it in front of a giant bass amp to let it feed back. it sounds monsterous.

i've also gotten "good" sounds out of a cheap, 12-bit toy casio keyboard run through a distortion pedal and a delay.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

anyone heard stewart dempster's albums recorded in an army cistern?

no, but that sounds great. can you give me some more info on that? i googled him but didn't come up with anything...

the electronic tambura is a wonderful thing. one of my clients has one, he turns that thing on and my blood pressure immediately drops to half what it was.

aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........

my drone stuff is usually the result of guitar/rhodes->volume pedal->delay->line 6 looper

it sounds cool, but would be a whole lot cooler in a cave with 45 second reverb.

[thirdworldlover]

oh man, that line 6 pedal. i'm about to re-buy one of those again for EXACTLY this purpose.


there's a delay setting called auto-volume echo. set up an A/B box ahead of the pedal and run out to two different amps. set the repeats all the way up (infinity) and the time all the way down (repeats every 3 seconds or so).

and its almost like cheating. hit a note, it swells, fades out, then back up as it catches up with the original sample. with it in stereo you can have different pitches kind of floating back and forth into each other. breathtaking live, especially at the mostly rock venues i end up at.

very nice in the bedroom as well, but i think that thread's already been tackled...


cheers,

ned b.

[teleharmonium]

I am partial to the drones from radiator heating systems, our old apartment would emit the most amazing shit for about a day when they started up the boiler for the first time in the season.

As far as recordings, here are some favorites:

Organum - Sol Mara, Horii
Charlemagne Palestine - Holy 1/Holy2
Terry Riley - Persian Surgery Dervishes
Tony Conrad and Faust - Outside the Dream Syndicate
La Monte Young - The Second Dream of the High Tension Line Stepdown Transformer
Terry Fox - Berlino/Ralletando

[pscottm]

my fave drone-esque recordings are gavin bryars' 'titanic', string ensemble recorded in a nepoleonic-era water tower, great.

also, stars of the lid's 'the tired sounds of..' fantastic. aslo, chessie's 'overnight' is good. i like these recordings because they achieve thier drony ambience via acoustics, not outboard.

but not to forget the digital side of things, i really like ekkehard ehlers+stephen mathieu 'heroin', a true fave.

as for instruments. i think a hammond organ, harmonium, or pump organ w stops are my favorites for droning out. also, any stringed instrument such as violin, viola, cello, etc. if only i could play them. : (

then there's the shit you can do w max/msp.. additive synthisis, perpetual resampling of live ambience, etc. i like it all.

drone on.

[aurelialuz]

drone box.

alex

[HuskerDude]

as for instruments. i think a hammond organ, harmonium, or pump organ w stops are my favorites for droning out.

If you listen to "Heroin" by the VU, you'll notice there's a hammond organ playing the same note for all 6 minutes in the background. Definitely helps give that song it's dark, creepy vibe. (the lyrics/content help, too)

[RK1]

Good thread, I like drones.

I've seen several guitarists work up some interesting drone stuff. One guy was doing tabletop prepared guitar and he would take little handheld electric fans with plastic blades (he also had some blades replaced with string) and set them against the strings and this would great a gentle drone of that note.

Another guitarist was playing acoustic at a dance performance and he had a handheld electric drink stirrer that would spin and hit the strings and create a cool drone effect while he fretted.

Sruti boxes are neat too.

RK