Studio report (5)

This post is about collaborations on the new Hystersis album. Previous posts already mentioned that I have teamed up with Machinist to co-compose a number of tracks. Some of them will end up at the new album and I really think of those tracks as co-productions, not just Machinist contributing one or two things.

Secondly, I got fed up with programming drums. Drums on ’8pmcityscapes’ were programmed and I wanted to make them sound natural so a lot of work went into programming human-like fills and sounds. But why not ask a real drummer? I’m very happy to report that Richard of Terzij De Horde has been so kind to accept the invitation and record all live drums on the new album. I’m a great admirer of Terzij De Horde so it goes without saying that I’m very proud of this collaboration.

Studio report (4)

It has been a while since this page was updated. Work on ’8pmcityscapes’ successor is still going and moving in the right direction. About half of the tracks are done now. Recent work involved the production of three guitar-oriented tracks. That was quite a challenge. I wasn’t very satisfied with how the guitars sounded, being very fat and big on the low end. I couldn’t quite understand what the issue was until Machinist told me that it all sounded like an ‘American stadium metal band’ and he was right. So we spent a lot of time making the guitars sound worse and less unpolished! It is astonishing to experience that downgrading sound is really difficult. I’m not talking about making it sound more lo-fi just for the sake of it but is definitely a matter of making it sound harsher by doing less. Also, I rerecorded some guitar parts and did that all in one take, even if there were mistakes, to make it all sound more ‘live’ and less over-produced. It was definitely one of the more interesting experiences. Now it is back to recording more music.

Studio report (3)

Here is quick report from the studio. Work on Hystersis’ first full-length album is progressing well. I’ve finished one track in collaboration with Machinist. This is probably one of the tracks at the end of the album. We are now thinking about doing more tracks together. Let’s see how that works out… Work on other tracks progresses whenever I have time to work on it, which is usually during weekends.

Also, a big surprise announcement regarding the new album is coming up. More about that later…

Studio report (2)

Hystersis is back in the studio to work on the yet-untitled full-length follow-up on 8pmcityscapes. I’ve recorded demo versions of three tracks and a fourth track is underway. I asked my good friend and highly-talented multi-artist Machinist to cooperate on one of the tracks and yesterday we recorded the first outlines. Work on the album will progress slowly as it is done in between other jobs.

Interview with ZwareMetalen

Following the review of 8pmcityscapes I did an interview with Dutch metal website ZwareMetalen.com. The interview is published here. The interview also pays attention to Betontoon so it is a nice overview of all things heavily urban.

Review of 8pmcityscapes @ Lords of Metal

Dutch leading metal (and slightly beyond) webzine Lords of Metal did a review of 8pmcityscapes (read it here in Dutch). Thanks to Marcus for this review. Much appreciated! And don’t forget to check out Marcus’ Deadcell. I consider them as one of the leading contemporary industrial acts. Their shows are always special.

Review:

“Marcus: En dan nu….eindelijk een release waar ik weer ouderwets blij van word. Hystersis’ ‘8pmcityscapes’ is een EP met rauwe soundscapes, wat direct met het ‘kraakfeest underground gevoel’ associeert. Ook denk ik direct aan de zaterdagavond underground dansavonden eind jaren 90 (toen het daar nog leuk was en voordat de commercialiteit haar intrede deed). Ja, dit project maakt volledig waar wat men op haar website beloofd: “We are convinced that it is creativity that makes good music, rather than large production budgets or expensive studios.”

“Zonder te vervallen in standaard drones en hysterische noise zonder richting bevat ieder nummer van deze EP een prachtige sfeer. Stadsgeluiden (opgenomen in Rotterdam, Hamburg, Londen en Miami), machines, repeterende samples & drums bouwen op tot een eclectisch hoogtepunt. De verpakking van deze release is lekker eigenzinnig met een mini DVD case met daarin een mini CD, inclusief creatief verzorgde inlay. Op de inlay staat tevens vermeld om welke kopie het gaat. Er schijnen zelfs maar 50 exemplaren van te zijn. Prachtig en helemaal limited dus.”

Score: 85/100

Review of 8pmcityscapes @ ZwareMetalen.com

The guys at ZwareMetalen.com wrote a review of 8pmcityscapes. Thanks guys, very much appreciated!

Full text below (in Dutch) by Bart Alfvoet

“Hystersis – 8pmcityscapes (A Soundtrack For The Restless) – Betontoon, 2009

Eind vorig jaar bracht het Rotterdamse Hystersis een kleinood uit. Een heel klein schijfje in een DVD-doosje. Er zouden er maar 50 van bestaan, ik voel me vereerd. Deze solo-artiest heeft ervaring in black- en industrial metal-bands en schakelt nu over op… dit.

Wat dit is, weet ik niet goed. Een soort amalgaan van ‘Ulveriaanse’ scapes, symbioses tussen stedelijke geluiden, stoorzenders, akoestische black metal-intro’s (denk Diabolical Masquerade), machinale riffs (Godflesh) en desolate toestanden (Axis of Perdition). De vijf nummers op dit kleine schijfje zijn vrij toegankelijk, althans, dat zou het toch moeten zijn. Het bestaat namelijk voor een groot deel uit geluiden die miljoenen mensen dagelijks doorstaan. Krakende omroepers, herhaling door de speakers in het station, remgeluiden, verstedelijkte ambient. Daarnaast een drone aan metal, soms schitterend zinderend (Streetpreacher), soms geschift (Neonlights & Ticklines).

Een obscuur plaatje, deze rusteloze compilatie. Een soort Nederlandse stadsversie op Blut Aus Nord’s MoRt, maar dan door de ogen van Rubber Johnny op downers. Fijn. Volledig te downloaden op de website van de band maar je koopt hem natuurlijk op de Betontoon-sites of bij de band zelf.”

Back in the studio

8pmcityscapes is out now for half a year or so and received many positive comments. Meanwhile I set up a new (small) home recording studio with some new equipment and started to work on new songs for first full length Hystersis album. Work is still at a very early stage so I can’t give many details but the music will be a progression from 8pmcityscapes with an emphasis on melancholy and abandonment.

A new album about to be born

About field recordings (3)

The previous installments of this little series showed the Tascam Porta One and the Olympus VN-480 Both had advantages and disadvantages but usually more disadvantages. When some money was available I did not hesitate to buy a new one. Careful comparison across the net (see e.g. here) made me decide to spend a bit more than I initially wanted and I bought the Sony PCM-D50 It is not a cheap recorder but it is the very best I ever owned and I can only chime in with the many users across the internet who praise this recorder as the best one around at the moment. It can do 96kHz at 24bit maximum (higher quality than a CD), has great sensitive stereo microphones that can tilt at several angles, has lots of storage space (including an extra memory card I have 8gb available, more than I ever used) and many other cool features. One of the most impressive functions is its limiter. If I understand correctly, it records two signals, one at the user-defined volume and one at -20dB. Both run through a buffer and the latter kicks in whenever a hefty peak in the signal occurs. It really makes recording much easier. Just listen to this recording in which the dynamics are perfectly captured by the recorder.

Also, the recorder just looks cool and slightly old-skool. It has an aluminum case and that is really durable.

This is really the best investment in recording gear I ever did.

About field recordings (2)

After my adventures in the pre-digital era described here came a long hiatus so that when I returned to field-recordings the digital time had arrived (for a while, really). The advantages of digital recordings are numerous and easily outrun the advantages of analogue equipment when it comes to field-recordings. It is light, small, easy to handle, has not mechanical parts that can break down (provided you work with flash memories rather than discs). It is durable, gets you a lot of mileage out of batteries and shows little wear. So, with little money to spend, I bought the Olympus VN-480. It costs an enormous 110 Euros quite a few years back. Below you can see what it got you that time:

Lovely VN-480

It is extremely easy to operate. Just put two AAA-batteries in the back and you are ready to go and record all those sounds.

Truth be told: it was awful. As in: really awful. Oh yes, it was light and small and all that but the best it could manage was 22050Hz, 88kbps, 4 bit, mono. (just) Good enough to dictate a letter to your secretary but that is where it stops. Anything it recorded sounded plastic, with an overemphasis on mids and highs and total absence of low. It also made a lot of noise by itself and had the tendency to add distortion to any complex sound that was recorded.

Nevertheless, it was useful for me as I learned how to deal with digital recordings (especially when it came to polishing sounds back at home). And I did most of the field-recordings on 8pmcityscapes using this cheap machine. For example in this recording that I made in London and that features prominently in the song ‘Streetpreacher’. The distortion actually adds something to the recording. Still, the Olympus is now gathering dust as I found a replacement. More about that later.