I have begun working on an LP. While many have touted the end of the album, I still find I listen to most music as an album. I do listen to songs, but find that if I am going to actively listen to music, I tend to put on an album rather than a song. I prefer an album to a playlist. I also enjoy watching the progress of an artist from album to album. I enjoy the artwork accompanying an album. I like record stores and searching through bins. So, you get it. I like albums as a format. We’ve got the format thing out of the way.
What is an album from the perspective of an electronic musician? Simply a collection of songs? Work from a given time period? A conceptual statement? I suppose any or all of those. For me, writing music is about focusing on a subject and writing music that will illicit feelings about that subject. As my music is almost entirely instrumental, the songs are “about” the subject only in that I am thinking about that subject while working on the song. Still, that highly personal subject matter is how and why I write songs in the first place. So with that, the subject of this album is my late father, Fritz.
It is early days, but my general plan for this project is exploring memories of my father, mostly from my childhood in Ohio. Some of this involves me researching my father’s life. Some of this involves sitting quietly in rooms we once sat in together. I hope to bring in my family and people who knew my father to participate in some fashion with the production. In some instances, this could be a recorded phrase or anecdote about him, in other cases, a portrait or musical performance.
In an effort to fund my music and make it self-sustaining, I will be increasing the online brand presence of No Such Ghost. This will include Patreon, YouTube, Instagram, and the like. Behind the scenes and bonus content will be available. Patch notes and projects for remixes will be available. Most of this will be initially related to Fritz, but will also include stuff from Jamuary and other projects.
I’m hoping to finish the project by October, 2021. Despite my aforementioned fondness for the album format, expect a couple singles prior to the full release. I can’t wait to share it with you.
The plan originally was for a “West Coast” system, but it ended up as a hybrid system, using many different elements. There is a bit of physical modelling, phase modulation, frequency modulation, and good old subtractive synthesis. It’s a surprisingly versatile system, but as with any modular setup, you always want more.