Digipak, 4C print

The drones on this album were created using a Yamaha SY77 FM synthesizer from 1989. I have a special relationship with this machine - it was the first "big" synth I ever bought, and it has contributed to almost everything I've recorded over the past 30 years.

1 Signal to Noise III 6:24
2 Signal to Noise IV 13:05
3 Signal to Noise V 10:40
4 Signal to Noise VI 7:28
5 Signal to Noise VII 12:55
6 Signal to Noise VIII 12:26
7 Signal to Noise IX 9:10

The SY77 features six FM operators with multistage looping envelopes. I've always enjoyed crafting steady drones with it -sounds that slowly evolve into something new over time. The output of the SY77 is routed through a Dynacord DRP 20 reverb and recorded into a DAW. For each piece, I recorded four tracks: one with a very low note, one with a medium-low note, one with a high note, and one where I played freely, following my intuition. The results were then edited and lightly processed to reduce excessive noise in certain sections. I also occasionally added reverb and pitch shifting, using my own custom algorithms.
Signal To Noise Volume II picks up where my 2004 album Signal To Noise left off, revisiting the same techniques and instrument twenty-two years later.
Cover photo taken by Robert Henke on February 1, 2004, at Joshua Tree National Park, CA, USA.


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* Robert Henke is back with a new album under his Monolake alias. Instead of simply being a collection of tracks, it has a deeper story. Here it comes:
* In the late 1970s, a series of significant enhancements in technology further accelerated the evolution of the digital age. Graphical interfaces, networked computers and new software tools allowed to design and manufacture integrated circuits with tens of thousands of functions on one chip; a process called Very Large Scale Integration - VLSI. The structures became so complex, that for the first time computers were needed to build the next generation of even faster computers.
* As a result of that evolution, the heart of a computer could now be put onto a single chip - the microprocessor was born. It made possible the move from large mainframe systems to personal computers, allowed teenagers to build systems in garages and become billionaires, gave birth to the game industry, and also enabled the creation of completely new electronic musical instruments: digital sound generators, drum machines, samplers and effects.
* Most of the signature sounds on the VLSI album were programmed using early digital synthesisers; machines built by individuals or small teams of adventurous engineers and music enthusiasts during the 1980s, stretching the imagination of what could be done with a handful of chips and a good idea.
* The VLSI album is sonic archeology. Tiny artefacts of the instruments used have been carefully excavated and brought to new light. What was once perceived as limitation and dirt can now be experienced as character, colour and patina. The interaction with these machines guided a minimalist and structural approach to sound and rhythm, expanded and re-contextualised into a futuristic soundtrack, utilising the recording technology of 2016. The result is inspired by early techno, UK breakbeat and dubstep, african dance rhythms, future glitch, ambient and a variety of amazing academic computer music.
* The concept for VLSI emerged during an artist residency at the Center for Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University in 2013, which helped me understand not only some deeper technical aspects of my trade, but also the social and cultural peculiarities of Silicon Valley.
* Thus, the VLSI album is also a reflection of very present social, economic and political topics driven by high tech companies more powerful than governments. The dystopian undercurrent in the music is deliberate.
* Some of the 'historic' instruments used:
* Alesis Quadraverb Dynacord DRP-20 Emu Systems SP-12 Turbo Ensoniq ASR-10R Eventide Eclipse H3000 Lexicon PCM-80 480L Korg DDD-1 Linn Linn Drum NED Synclavier II Oberheim Xpander PPG Wave2.3 Quantec Yardstick SCI Prophet VS Yamaha DX27 DX7
* VLSI marks the endpoint of a series of six EPs, released between 2014 - 2016. The source material from these EPs has been re-arranged and augmented for the album, with additions of previously unreleased pieces.
Track Listing:
01 Arit * 02 Inwards 03 Crash 04 LogC * 05 Geometry Engine 06 Dystopia 07 Pio * 08 Error 07 Unit * 10 Nmos * 11 Glypnir
Total running time: 70:00
* previously unreleased new works.
Produced by Robert Henke 2014-2016. Pio co-produced by Electric Indigo. Mixed by Mark Ernestus and Robert Henke. Design by Snc. Graphics adapted from 'Introduction to VLSI Systems' by Mead Carver and Lynn Convey, 1979.
Monolake will perform the material live as a surround show. The usual suspects will write reviews.
Album website link: http://www.roberthenke.com/releases/ml-032.html


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More