After 8 years...

[ashcat_lt]

I've finally got this damn album together. Most of it was tracked to Fostex D2424LV, and mixed in Reaper.

Check it out, let me know what you think.


Lorenzo's Tractor - Sunless Port

[Snarl 12/8]

I've only listened to a little bit so far, but I'm intrigued. Some of it sounds a bit like Ennio Morricone screwing a laptop, or something. I keep wondering though, what sort of encoding quality I'm listening to? Is all that artifacting intentional, or am I listening to a 128kpbs mp3? Do you have any idea? This stuff sounds like it would sound totally different at full res, somehow. I'm not familiar with that Fostex unit, perhaps it is the culprit? Is it 14 bit or something?

BTW - your output has me beat by a mile in terms of quantity and quality. If you don't count my "work" with vvv.

[ashcat_lt]

Hey, thanks for listening, and for the kind words!

You had me a little concerned re: the artifacts. I just went and checked bandcamp's FAQ, and it turns out that their streams are 128Kbps .mp3. I've listened to it a number of times streaming from there and didn't notice any artifacts, but I guess I had it kind of low and in the background while doing other things, so...

The D2424 is a 24 bit x 24 track HD recorder, and the tracks remained at 24bit right up to through mixing and mastering. They were dithered down to 16bit .wav, which is what I uploaded to Bandcamp. They do all the encoding for the streams and downloads.

[Snarl 12/8]

The stuff I'm calling "artifacts" could be intentional on your part. It could be a sound you like. There's just sortof a sibilance in the upper mids/high end that's not pleasant to my ears. Judging from the content under that, I'll allow that it could be intentional, it's stopping me from listening to all of it in one go though. Still, I like how far you've stretched the tones and still kept a groove going.

[ashcat_lt]

Is it just one song you're having trouble with, or is it all over the album. Can you point me at a spot where its particularly bothersome?

[chris harris]

I could only check it out briefly. I think it sounds rad! Can't wait to have more time to spend with it.

[chris harris]

I also think that what are being described as "artifacts" are things that are common to the type of music that you're doing. I love it. Very interesting and extreme sounds. Nice work!

[Snarl 12/8]

I'm just listening on computer speakers (albeit, niceish ones, IMO) and this kindof music isn't exactly my wheelhouse, but the higher pitched (screetchy-scratchy, if you will) sounds that come in around 2:20 in "Smokewall a" are a good example. The high end, high-mids just don't sound as "complex" to me as the lows and low mids. They sound clipped, maybe. This is a phenomenon that I most associate with bad (low kbps) mp3 conversion, I also find it fatiguing when it's too pronounced. I realize that some music is meant to be fatiguing though, so I don't mean this as a criticism. I'm just trying to suss out in my own ear what's medium and what's message. Signal/noise, etc.

If I'm listening to a 128kbps mp3, I'm pretty sure that what I'm hearing isn't part of the source wav file though. If you took a 128kbps mp3 and stuck it in a daw aligned with the original wav and flipped phase on one, I think you'd hear what I'm hearing.

Look at 3:20 on this video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPwni7yvSQc
It's a very quick demo of subtracting an mp3 from a source file.

Better yet, ignore me and have some fun!

[chris harris]

It could definitely be that the particular sounds are more susceptible to those kinds of artifacts. It could also be that the sounds have similar characteristics to those artifacts. I do hear some tremolo and verby feedback that sound similar to that weird mp3 artifact stuff.

I've still only had a chance to listen on laptop speakers, though. I love this kind of music. And, I love that I can't immediately tell if what I'm hearing is intentional, or a technical flaw.

I'm excited to check this out at the studio when I get some time.