John Christian

Jerechoes

I've been trying to find a sweet spot where the things that make Berlin School style sequencing so good combine with more contempory rhythms. I love the hypnotic power of music that repeats but is always moving, shifting your reference points all the time. There's a lot of people out there who are used to a music (or DJ) playing without keys, without conventional melodies, so why not bring them some of the goodies that they missed out on in the 70s?

This music was created for the Oxford EMOM event in May 2023. I played again at the Aldershot Modcaf a week later. I really think this is the best attempt I've made at capturing the style I have in mind (although maybe edging closer to Berlin than Ibiza!). The two performances have similar feel, but are quite different in the details and evolution so I wanted to use them both (as I've done before).

Gear: Nord Modular G2, Roland MC 101

This is very minimal setup, minimising the time taken to set up and it is portable enough to carry to a gig via public transport. It's even been to the Netherlands by train, without any problems.

The G2 makes it possible to build a complex device, and then to customise its control surface to play it without an attached computer. Jerechoes is based around this approach, with multiple layers of sequencers and generative systems all available for hands-on control. The Roland provides drums and a couple of static sequencer layers (it's also there so I can change G2 patches while the Roland covers the pause while it rearranges itself. I'm not doing that yet). 

I've been trying to find a sweet spot where the things that make Berlin School style sequencing so good combine with more contempory rhythms. I love the hypnotic power of music that repeats but is always moving, shifting your reference points all the time. There's a lot of people out there who are used to a music (or DJ) playing without keys, without conventional melodies, so why not bring them some of the goodies that they missed out on in the 70s?
This music was created for the Oxford EMOM event in May 2023. I played again at the Aldershot Modcaf a week later. I really think this is the best attempt I've made at capturing the style I have in mind (although maybe edging closer to Berlin than Ibiza!). The two performances have similar feel, but are quite different in the details and evolution so I wanted to use them both (as I've done before).
Gear: Nord Modular G2, Roland MC 101
This is very minimal setup, minimising the time taken to set up and it is portable enough to carry to a gig via public transport. It's even been to the Netherlands by train, without any problems.
The G2 makes it possible to build a complex device, and then to customise its control surface to play it without an attached computer. Jerechoes is based around this approach, with multiple layers of sequencers and generative systems all available for hands-on control. The Roland provides drums and a couple of static sequencer layers (it's also there so I can change G2 patches while the Roland covers the pause while it rearranges itself. I'm not doing that yet).

Fragrant

Moon

Hydro

In August 2021 I played the title track live at the opening ceremony of Reading Hydro, an amazing community project that has built a hydro-electric power plant on the Thames at Reading. It's a long form ambient piece that burbled around in the background while the team and local dignitaries sipped bubbly and rightly congratulated themselves.

Dry Run is my practice session recorded in the studio about a week earlier. It's quite different; on the day I had to use less of the watery effects as they were losing in the battle with the weir thundering away beside me. Maybe more significant was a shift to a brighter sound palette - it was after all a very happy day.

The music is based around long loops, many recorded around View Island where the Hydro is located. These are mixed and mangled and combined with some synthesized sounds all coming from a single Eurorack case.

I'm never sure how the world will respond to long ambient tracks like this so I'm putting it out there as cheaply as I can. Let me know what you think of it - then I can say I was testing the water (ha!).

In August 2021 I played the title track live at the opening ceremony of Reading Hydro, an amazing community project that has built a hydro-electric power plant on the Thames at Reading. It's a long form ambient piece that burbled around in the background while the team and local dignitaries sipped bubbly and rightly congratulated themselves.
Dry Run is my practice session recorded in the studio about a week earlier. It's quite different; on the day I had to use less of the watery effects as they were losing in the battle with the weir thundering away beside me. Maybe more significant was a shift to a brighter sound palette - it was after all a very happy day.
The music is based around long loops, many recorded around View Island where the Hydro is located. These are mixed and mangled and combined with some synthesized sounds all coming from a single Eurorack case.
I'm never sure how the world will respond to long ambient tracks like this so I'm putting it out there as cheaply as I can. Let me know what you think of it - then I can say I was testing the water (ha!).

John Christian Reading, GB