I called these pieces ‘tape collages’, as they were created using a Realistic DJ mixer, three second-hand Sony cassette tape decks and my father’s reel-to-reel tape recorder. I assembled a number of spliced tape loops of different lengths using the reel-to-reel machine, as well as multiple tracks recorded onto cassettes, which were then all mixed together live for a final mix.

Sound sources included appropriated sounds from my record collection; shortwave radio noise, tones and broadcasts; room sounds and outdoor noises; simple FM synth textures; microphone noises; controlled feedback; whistles and noise makers; improvised piano and even my own voice. Eventually, I acquired some semi-pro digital effects, first an Alesis MicroVerb III multi-effects unit with delay and reverb and later a DigiTech RDS-4000 delay with flanger, chorus and delay.

In the interest of sharing and archiving these pieces, I have digitized each one, done some minimal clean-up and uploaded here. Some pieces were recorded in mono. Others were recorded with different material in the Left and Right channels in order to be mixed in the room during playback. Pieces marked ‘REMIX’ had additional delay and reverb effects added at a later date. Pieces marked ‘TRACK’ are individual tracks that were meant to be played together and mixed during playback. Where possible I have noted the dates they were recorded or mixed.

Direct downloads are available from the Internet Archive, in both MP3 and Ogg Vorbis format:

• 1, 1991 (15m23s, 20.1 MB MP3)
• 1 REMIX, 1991-08-15 (16m27s, 39.5 MB MP3)
• 2, 1991 (24m31s, 29.8 MB MP3)
• 2 REMIX, 1991-08-15 (24m32s, 58.9 MB MP3)
• 3, 1991-05-12 (46m58s, 112.8 MB MP3)
• 3 REMIX, 1991 (46m28s, 111.5 MB MP3)
• Atmospherical, 1991 (33m11s, 79.7 MB MP3)
• Darkness TRACK glass, 1991 (45m50s, 110 MB MP3)
• Darkness TRACK voice and piano, 1991 (46m20s, 111.2 MB MP3)
• International, 1991-08-21 (46m39s, 112 MB MP3)
• Intrigue, 1991-08-21 (46m44s, 112.2 MB MP3)
• JFK, 1991 (46m32s, 111.7 MB MP3)
• Looped sounds, 1991 (38m23s, 92.2 MB MP3)
• Mysterium, 1991 (46m44s, 112.2 MB MP3)
• Mysterium TRACK, 1991 (51m21s, 123.3 MB MP3)
• The Weirding Room, 1991 (46m58s, 58 MB MP3)

NOTES: digitized from the original cassette masters at 96,000 Hz sample rate and 24-bit sample depth, using a PreSonus Firebox into Sound Studio 3. Each piece was normalized to -0.3 dB with minimal finishing in iZotope Ozone 4 and encoded to MP3 using iTunes at 320 kBits/sec variable bitrate, high-quality settings.

1991 cassette sound art works by Jeffrey Melton aka nofi are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on works at www.nofi.org.

Stats of the Union tells health stories in America.

Sound Cells – Universal iOS App Creates Generative Music.

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SunVox – Multiplatform Modular Music Creation Studio.

Surprise Surveillance Theater: An Experimental Drama with Unwitting Stars.

Japanese artist Eiji Watanabe cuts butterflies out of printed field guides and sets them free, covering the walls and ceilings of installation spaces.

15 Shopping Rules of Thumb.

Every individual needs emotional and intellectual support from her creative tribe to sustain a positive, thriving and aspiring practice.

Hidden is an app that lets you spy on the person who may have stolen you laptop.

Urban Quiver camera bag from Blackstone Bags.

Today is the official release date of my album, summer sequences, volume one; $8 = 1h16m of ambient, downtempo, minimal music + a 12m bonus track, The Suite Science v.6. If you don’t wish to make a purchase but like what you hear, consider clicking the Facebook button (on the right) or sharing on Twitter (below the description) and spreading the word.

Unwind, a weekly event for ambient, downtempo, experimental electronic and nujazz music, returns to the patio at CS3 for the summer, starting with a kick-off party on Friday, June 3, 2011.

Join me and fellow residents Adejai (aka Josh Helton) and Josh Elias along with occasional special guests every Friday this summer from 8 p.m. until later on the patio at CS3: Calhoun Street Soups, Salads, and Spirits.

Sponsored by Fort Wayne Electronic Music (FTWEM). Find Unwind and FTWEM on Facebook.

In preparation, I have posted 2011-05-31 Unwind practice live session for FREE download. It’s much more beat-oriented than I intend to play, but I was trying out different configs for my Ableton setup.

UPDATE: I moved the 2011-05-31 Unwind practice live session (1hr00m27s, 72.6 MB MP3) from my Soundcloud to here for posterity.

A collection of downtempo electronic and sequenced minimal compositions. Digital download via Bandcamp and limited edition cassette coming in June, 2011.

The Silent Stars is my “side-project” for exploring (slightly) different directions in music. El libro principal is a “concept album” featuring granular synthesis, microsound tone colors and freeform arrangements. These pieces are my take on post-ambient space music using modern digital methods; an homage to the early electronic music pioneers, post-prog-rock instrumentalists, early New Wave synthesists and proto-New Age experimentalists of my youth.

Production Notes

Granular synthesis and microsound techniques were used for sound generation. Sources include: flute, harp; strings; toy instruments; vinyl records; elementary sound waveforms and more.

Density GS and Pulsaret instruments were the primary instruments. Arrangement, mixing and mastering was done with Ableton Suite. Processing effects were limited to resonant filters, grain delay, reverb and EQ.

Track listing

El libro principal

1. cadenas v.01 – 06m56s
2. el enlace v.01 – 08m53s
3. grana fina v.02 – 09m21s
4. piscinas v.01 – 09m40s
5. s’arpa v.01 – 07m02s
6. masa brillante v.02 – 20m57s

el libro principal by The Silent Stars

I have released two collections of ambient, freeform and microsound compositions:

melton.granular.01 and melton.granular.02 collect my recent work in microsound-scapes, featuring granular and pulsar synthesis, freeform rhythms and tone colors. Tracks can also be streamed on my Soundcloud page.

Production Notes

All sounds were created with Density GS and Pulsaret instruments (both the standalone apps and Max for Live versions). Arrangement, mixing and mastering was done with Ableton Suite. Processing effects were limited to resonant filters, grain delay, reverb and EQ.

Concepts & Aesthetics

Taking John Cage’s statement “There is no noise, only sound” as a starting point, these compositions explore the hinterlands of microsound particles and drones, non-sequenced rhythms and the diversity of organic and synthetic timbres. Rather than be static, each piece evolves with components that swell and recede, resonate, percolate, pulsate, shimmer, flutter, meander and migrate. Sample sources include: strings; flute; toy piano, bells and cymbals; vinyl records; elementary sound waveforms.

Track listings

melton.granular.01

1. Angularity v.01 – 04m00s
2. The Chymist v.01 – 23m31s
3. Coronal Mass v.01 – 09m14s
4. Dressmaker v.01 – 03m44s

melton.granular.02

1. Tetrad v.01, pt.2 – 09m16s
2. A Froward Mass v.01 – 24m26s
3. Penumbra v.01 – 06m07s
4. Promises v.02 – 12m38s

My next from-the-vault podcast is a live practice set from April, 1997 (53min:36sec, 97.4 MB MP3). I don’t recall what event this was in preparation for or have a tracklist, so I’ll just offer it without specifics.

NOTES: My gear for the set consisted of an Akai MPC-2000 sampler/sequencer, Alesis SR-16 drum machine, Novation BassStation analog monosynth, Korg Prophecy digital monosynth, Yamaha TG-33 digital synth, Tascam Porta 07 4-track/mixer, Alesis Microverb III multi-effects, Digitech RDS-4000 flanger/chorus/delay, DOD distortion and flanger pedals. I added EQ, multiband dynamics, stereo widening and loudness maximizing to clean up the mix and remaster for 2010.

My next from-the-vault podcast is a mix of six tracks from Soundtrack (37min:28sec, 56.3 MB MP3). Released in 2000 (and still available in its original form as a free download), Soundtrack was my sixth full-length release on CD-R and combined elements of acid, ambient, chill-out, downtempo, IDM, techno and trance styles. In addition to remastering these tracks for 2010, I added some 909 beats to move the mix along.

Track list:

1. Dreamy
2. Jetset Sunrise
3. Twilight
4. Suspended
5. Remembering
6. Seven Taos

As an added bonus, the complete album Soundtrack (2010 Remaster) is now available for purchase on Bandcamp. Immediate download of 9-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. Album download includes a hi-res JPEG digital collage from the original artwork. One track from the original release, Patience, has been lost from its original recording and is not included. Remembered, a remix of Remembering, is included as a bonus.

NOTES:  My gear for these tracks consisted of an Akai MPC-2000 sampler/sequencer, Novation BassStation analog synth, Korg Prophecy digital synth, Nord Lead 2 digital synth, Mackie 1604-VLZ mixer, Digitech Studio 400 multi-effects, Alesis Microverb III multi-effects, Digitech RDS-4000, Presonus stereo compressor. I added EQ, multiband dynamics, stereo widening and loudness maximizing to clean up each track and remaster for 2010.

My next from-the-vault podcast is a mix of eight tracks from Devices (43min:04sec, 67.8 MB MP3). Released in 1999 (and still available in its original form as a free download), Devices was my fourth full-length release on CD-R and combined elements of ambient, chill-out, IDM, and techno styles. In addition to completely remastering these tracks for 2010, I added some minimal techno beats to move the mix along.

Track list:

1. Invocation (vocoder)
2. Spirus Falls
3. Wonders of Nando
4. Stance
5. Home Capsules
6. Beq Ultra Fat
7. Netro
8. Stolen

As an added bonus, the complete album Devices (2010 Remaster) is now available for purchase on Bandcamp. Immediate download of 12-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. Also included are two bonus tracks of spoken word/vocoder material, a PDF of original booklet artwork and a JPEG digital collage.

NOTES: My gear for these tracks consisted of an Akai MPC-2000 sampler/sequencer, Novation BassStation analog synth, Korg Prophecy digital synth, Nord Lead 2 digital synth, Mackie 1604-VLZ mixer, Digitech Studio 400 multi-effects, Alesis Microverb III multi-effects, Digitech RDS-4000, Presonus stereo compressor. I added EQ, multiband dynamics, stereo widening and loudness maximizing to clean up each track and remaster for 2010.

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I am pleased to announce my 2008 Summer mix podcast (1hr05min, 74.9Mb MP3) of original music for your consideration. It’s equal parts reflective, chilled-out, lazy. A suitable soundtrack for your morning cuppa, yard and crafting projects, reading on the couch, afternoon coding sessions and breezy evenings on the front porch.

Track order:

1. Lost Things (Cascade dub)
2. La Palma (1984 CIA Factbook mix)
3. BASIC language
4. Departure Lounge, Pan-Am
5. 3mb (2008 Tabla revisit)
6. Circular Object (Sunset Island dub)
7. Dexu (2008 defenestration)
8. Aguadulce

I have uploaded a mix of recent original music (1hr19min, 90.61 Mb MP3) for your consideration.

Track order:

1. Book of Morvern
2. Chthonic (min)
3. Meshed
4. Agmatist (S&S dub)
5. Loaded (acid vs. mix)
6. Little iniquities
7. Disco drift
8. Electrum
9. Helial II
10. Paths of Unintention

Bonus outtakes (13.8 MB zip archive):

1. Tight house – has more variation in the original that didn’t export
2. Untitled (2008-02-03) – didn’t fit well in the overall mix

I have uploaded a mix of recent original music (65 minutes, 107.93 Mb MP3) for your consideration. Lots of ambient, granular, drone and chill this time around.

Track order:

1. Dub V-Dub
2. Slow Dance
3. Fineness
4. Untitled (2007-11-25)
5. Deep Time (parts 1–3)

I have uploaded a mix of recent original music (70 minutes, 117.96 MB MP3) for your consideration.

Track order:

1. Deterritories
2. nwRdrSbcltr (this.slowWater remix)
3. DBA (version)
4. Clockwork children (slowSun mix)
5. Blue Ocean Labs
6. Math art

When I was in high school, I listened to a lot of early New Order (and by extension Joy Division). The albums Unknown Pleasures, Closer, Still, Movement, Power, Corruption and Lies, Low Life and Brotherhood made up a large portion of the soundtrack of my teenage life.

At that time, finding their records (CDs had yet to become ubiquitous) and much information about them was difficult. Their cover artwork was cryptic and intriguing, and the air of mystery around them and their work gave me the sense of inclusion in some subversive, secret society. Being a fan meant playing part collector and part detective.

Recently, I watched New Order Story (their bio vid from 1993, produced in connection with Republic) to get some insight on their emergence. It’s worth watching to get the inside story but also feels dated, suffering from overproduction and hubris (possibly from their new record label).

To this day, the sinister edge of their post-punk, proto-electronic early work still takes me back to that bygone era. With that, I have uploaded my own version of one of their seminal tracks for your consideration: nwRdrSbcltr (this.slowWater remix) (11:28 minutes, 22.1 MB MP3).

I have uploaded a mix of recent unreleased music (38 minutes, 63.4 MB MP3) for your consideration. It begins with a building wall of sound and pattern before winding down to a sparse reverie. Enjoy,

Track order:

1. Wavebots Converge (alt.version)
2. Last Stretch to Gateway Two
3. Labwork I : Division
4. Chymical Comfort Farm
5. Labwork II : Learning Modules
6. Granular Winds
7. Labwork III : Clear and Exit

I have uploaded Sprt.Wys (Spirus Unites All Worlds Apart in Dub) (10:14 minutes, 19 MB MP3) for your consideration.

Back in 1997, I played around with reworking the song Joyful Girl by Ani DiFranco. I thought her sedate vocals combined with the simple acoustic guitar for a nice listen—and sample-worthy material. I also liked the ironic, trip-hop-ish version featured in this video (YouTube). I never got very far with that remix, but I’ve kept a few loops in my sample library ever since.

While testing some Audio Unit plug-ins I made with SonicBirth (it’s free and open source now, BTW), I dug out those loops from ten years ago. The result is a relaxed, ambient travelogue (slightly reminiscent of Aphex Twin’s extended remix of Journey by The Gentle People, a favorite from my ‘chill out room raver’ days).

I have uploaded Jfl_Grrl (Chill Kids Rework) (18:12 minutes, 34.5 MB MP3) for your consideration.

I have uploaded a mix of recent unreleased music (50 minutes, 87.37 MB MP3) for your enjoyment.

Track order:

1. Nerd Rock, excerpt
2. Laxometric
3. Snwd_Ndr
4. Little Book of Germs vol. III
5. Ocean Strategy, Blue
6. Slow Ghosts Rise
7. The Thaumaturgeon
8. Sector Boundary