BOC Samplers

[Mr?]

I've not heard another album like it, I need geogaddi 2!

[Mr?]

Does anyone know of another album like this?

I've heard hiphop albums that have been made with a similar process but nothing this psychedelic and rich!

[re-phaelam-ed]

This artical mentions Logic Pro but this is Campfire Headphase era...

http://www.emusician.com/news/0766/boar ... ada/142201

I would how they did this for Geogaddi...

I know i'm getting into real detail here but it always intrigued me how they composed their tracks...particually how it's sequenced.

you are directing your question at the wrong people. all you will get is speculation and conjecture. the ones that can truly answer are boc.

[Mr?]

This artical mentions Logic Pro but this is Campfire Headphase era...

http://www.emusician.com/news/0766/boar ... ada/142201

I would how they did this for Geogaddi...

I know i'm getting into real detail here but it always intrigued me how they composed their tracks...particually how it's sequenced.

you are directing your question at the wrong people. all you will get is speculation and conjecture. the ones that can truly answer are boc.

That's all i can do as i neither have any way of contacting them or think they're not gonna openly explain to me how they put it together.

[Sun Drugs]

Does anyone know of another album like this?

I've heard hiphop albums that have been made with a similar process but nothing this psychedelic and rich!

This comes close sometimes. unique in its own right

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE4HhVA3YBM

[re-phaelam-ed]

This artical mentions Logic Pro but this is Campfire Headphase era...

http://www.emusician.com/news/0766/boar ... ada/142201

I would how they did this for Geogaddi...

I know i'm getting into real detail here but it always intrigued me how they composed their tracks...particually how it's sequenced.

you are directing your question at the wrong people. all you will get is speculation and conjecture. the ones that can truly answer are boc.

That's all i can do as i neither have any way of contacting them or think they're not gonna openly explain to me how they put it together.

they have said they sample instruments they've played. and that they have used an s1000

[Mr?]

Still trying to work out how they put together Geogaddi..
I know they sample and process all the audio when making a track as well as probably sample all the bass and synths to get the sounds all organised and sounding nice and aged. Then use an analogue sequencer to trigger samples as well as lay down the samples live to tape ...but it still baffles me how they could do all this and make it sound so nice...

when using a sampler like an s1000 they must quickly run out of sampling time. some of the beats are drastically bit reduced which makes sense but it's still dense!

[hauntedology]

I know that they are fans of the Akai s1000 - you can here the time stretch function a lot in Music Has the Right To Children.

[re-phaelam-ed]

akai s1000 x2

[Jonse]

"How do you create your drum patterns?"

"It's a mixture of live performance and step sequencing. Sometimes, we make up sounds and then program them tightly in a really synthetic way. Other times, we want it to sound really rough, so we'll just jam on the drums live. For instance, "Dawn Chorus" is a single-take jammed beat that I played, while "1969" has a live beat all the way through mixed with other beat tracks."

http://bocpages.org/wiki/Dawn_Chorus

I wouldn't look too far into BoC's comments. Dawn Chorus is one of few post-MHTRTC tracks that uses a beat sampled from something that already exists (unless he's referring to something later into the track, or this was before the album was released) and 1969 is definitely not "live" considering it's looped over and over again as well as reversed for a moment.

Not much question how they put together the album. I'm not sure what's so confusing about it. There's absolutely no reason they'd be doing pretty much anything more than their melodic leads and other ambient sounds solely on samplers, nor has there ever been a reason for them to. It's really simple: use x for x, y for y, z for z. A lot of equipment used, lot of DATs/CDs and probably a whole lot of magnetic tape burned through with Geogaddi - it stands out to me as being distinctly computer-free in comparison to MHTRTC - I believe this was not only the intention but one of the reasons it sounds so different. Probably also the reason they'd "never do something like [Geogaddi] again", because at the multitracking/compression/mixing stage it must be utter hell to put together shit like Alpha and Omega and The Beach at Redpoint (anything with the sheer amount of layering these tracks have) traditionally in extremely high quality (doing anywhere near "everything" on a few S1000s would completely pave over so much of the detail on the album so even if this were hypothetically the case, they'd be using that S3200).

[d e n]

Rodeh I appreciate your post and agree with you, it is pretty simple... it comes down to BOC being great musicians... but you're making too many assumptions re the drum discussion. Correct me if I'm misunderstanding.

1969 absolutely could have been recorded live, then sampled and looped... and possibly layered with programmed or sampled percussion on top - or vice versa. Just because they sampled themselves doesn't mean it's inaccurate to say it was played 'live'. Dawn Chorus could have had some simple percussion set to the harmonic/melodic elements and then subtracted for Mike to lay down the heavy beat we hear on the recording. If they make simple comments on the music I'd believe them.

[747Music]

Rodeh I appreciate your post and agree with you, it is pretty simple... it comes down to BOC being great musicians... but you're making too many assumptions re the drum discussion. Correct me if I'm misunderstanding.

1969 absolutely could have been recorded live, then sampled and looped... and possibly layered with programmed or sampled percussion on top - or vice versa. Just because they sampled themselves doesn't mean it's inaccurate to say it was played 'live'. Dawn Chorus could have had some simple percussion set to the harmonic/melodic elements and then subtracted for Mike to lay down the heavy beat we hear on the recording. If they make simple comments on the music I'd believe them.

That's how I understand it too, and almost word for word what I was gonna say.

[StarblazerUK]

Chances are there was sequenced and live tracked instruments/drums and they it's just being run through the samplers input and via it's preamp. It gives that sampled crunch sound without actually needing to sample and replay/sequence it.

[Auditor]

I know that discussing the gear that BoC use is a moot point, but I was wondering, since there are a lot of musicians on these boards, what people think about how the Boards sequence drums. I hear that they used computers a bit on MHTRTC, but on Twoism and Geogaddi, the drums seem less sequenced, and more resampled. I am really interested in how other people think BoC create their evolving drums, which are sometimes quite complex (Telephasic Workshop), and other times very simple (sixtyniner).

[d e n]

not saying some compu wasn't a mart of music has the right but they only ever explicitly said that they tried to compose more with computers after music... and before geogaddi. and then stopped because it killed the spontaneity.

asking how they put it all together is like asking what created existence.

i wouldn't be surprised if they got busy with MPC's!

maybe we could ask what helped them do it?

trusting in themselves
spending more time playing and less time worrying or talking about gear
making an effort to spend little time getting distracted on the internet
making bonfires
listening and reading to subversive music/books

[cubistking1906]

I always got the vibe that Geogaddi was arranged with digital samplers/sequencers/computers which then control actual old hardware units (crusty synths, modulars, analog drum machines) via CV/MIDI, which are then run through a classic 70's analog mixing board, and finally dropped to tape at the actual multi-track recording phase with lots of classic hardware effects added while going to tape. All of the samples sound like they've been run through an analog mixer and dropped to tape as well, probably on a few dedicated tracks in addition to the instruments.

I recognize the Roland Space Echo specifically on Diving Station. It provides that creepy whooshing growl that rises up at the end. Their gear sounds the most analog by far on that release, and it sounds like they scored some really crusty synths and old drum machines with cash earned from MHTRTC.

Also, the original vinyl pressing master seems to be from a tape master, as opposed to the much more digital CD master. The sound of the two versions is like night and day really. The vinyl mastering honestly brings tears to my eyes because its so analog and grainy, just like watching a beat-up reel of a nature film from the 70's.

[Auditor]

I always got the vibe that Geogaddi was arranged with digital samplers/sequencers/computers which then control actual old hardware units (crusty synths, modulars, analog drum machines) via CV/MIDI, which are then run through a classic 70's analog mixing board, and finally dropped to tape at the actual multi-track recording phase with lots of classic hardware effects added while going to tape. All of the samples sound like they've been run through an analog mixer and dropped to tape as well, probably on a few dedicated tracks in addition to the instruments.

I recognize the Roland Space Echo specifically on Diving Station. It provides that creepy whooshing growl that rises up at the end. Their gear sounds the most analog by far on that release, and it sounds like they scored some really crusty synths and old drum machines with cash earned from MHTRTC.

Also, the original vinyl pressing master seems to be from a tape master, as opposed to the much more digital CD master. The sound of the two versions is like night and day really. The vinyl mastering honestly brings tears to my eyes because its so analog and grainy, just like watching a beat-up reel of a nature film from the 70's.

Well this makes me a shitload more excited about my Geogaddi LP coming in the mail

and I'm pretty sure MPC's were a big part of their setup twoards the beginning

[cubistking1906]

Definitely a lot of MPC action going on. Very good for time and pitch shifting.

[Auditor]

yep, and I've always thought their "secret weapon" might be something like an Ensoniq EPS or some other kind of keyboard sampler. I don't really want to know or care about the equipment they use. Probably the same shit most of us used back in the day. I just like how inspired they make us to make music

[d e n]

keep in mind though theyve explicitly said they try to avoid using stand alone effects units and will always try to reach a sound they have in mind without them - eg, attatching a microphone to an ice cream speaker motor to create a leslie effect (i think it was ice cream).

thus what you can draw from the gear they use is kinda meaningless because its only about what they do with it that means anything ! amen auditor!

sounds about right on the space echo though considering its such a classic box

and
MPCs are beautiful instruments - watching JEL play them live is other wordly.