#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (Z) Zaventem. Going back to ‘Chanson de Charleroi’ for this. A certain M.Fontaine drove me, in his Citroën BX, from Charleroi to (Brussels) Zaventem Airport once. He played ‘Ultra’ by #DepecheMode on the stereo… voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/track/chanso...
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (Y): Yamaha CS01. The synth of which I am most fond. Compact, intuitive and fine for coming up with lead lines, riffs, bass ideas et al on. uk.yamaha.com/en/products/...
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (X): Xylophone (in absentia, for now.) No VPP songs involve a xylophone, or a synth approximation of one. A challenge for this year is to release something that changes this :-)
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (W): Waverley. My song ‘The Sight of Your Smile’ (standout track on #HomeSounds according to @revivalsynth.bsky.social!) starts with the narrator recalling being at Waverley Station, some years back, awaiting the Glasgow push-pull… en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinbur...
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (V): Ventriloquist. Opening the ‘Portable Songs’ EP - so named as I trawled through some things on my #portastudio - is a song inspired by previous day-job work with folk who weren’t puppeteers... voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/track/the-ve...
Entry C in #VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ was ‘Chanson de Charleroi’ … I mentioned then that @nathanjay.bsky.social produced two great remixes of it; here he is, this evening and out of the blue, describing it as “a great melancholic electronic pop song.” A very nice musical end to the weekend :-)
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (U): ‘Unpeeling The Onion.’ Unusually, for me, an instrumental! Commissioned for a ‘Creative BasildON’ event, it references a structure in the New Town. Had my first @katyskylab.bsky.social @skylabradio.com play through it. voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/track/unpeel...
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (T): Tascam Porta 05 HS. This is in the loft currently, so there’s no photo to share. My first and only #portastudio, which was so exciting to use “back in the day” that I wanted working on @voltagepoetry.bsky.social to evoke something similar… and it does :-) #cassette
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (R): @revivalsynth.bsky.social Promoting & encouraging makers of electronic music on a range of platforms. Very nice things said about my song ‘The Ballad Of Françoise & Anatole’ and a phenomenal review of #HomeSounds are just two examples :-) linktr.ee/revivalsynth
Most of the front panel of a Yamaha QY10 Walkstation. Black plastic with a single octave piano-type keyboard (made of black & white rubber buttons.) 12 further black buttons above these and four yellow to the left. A clear plastic display strip above partly reflects some nearby trees. Behind are a blue and white painted wall, pale brown brick shed and base of a chimney stack. There is a grey sky and trees that are in full (green) leaf, beyond and above the wall, shed and chimney.
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (Q): #QY10. Given my current writing project is #walkstationtostation this is a very obvious inclusion! The photo shows mine outside the #Brunel museum in Rotherhithe. One riff and a bassline idea from the train ride there are part of two “underway” songs as of today :-)
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (P): Patch 76 on the BassStation II. This is a sort of plastic piano sound I programmed on the synth. It’s been used on a few things, including the main riff of the ‘From Hull To Helsinki…’ version of ‘Coast.’ voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/track/coast-2
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (O): Oostende. ‘Oostende 80’ is a song of humanity and hope. I wrote it as part of the 1st #albumwritingclub challenge; rerecorded for #HomeSounds. voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/track/oosten...
Detail shot of part of a BassStation II synth. Black & white plastic keyboard fills much of the image, with a small part of the control section towards the top - this is black with pale blue vertical and horizontal lines separating different sets of controls on the synth. The Porta, LFOs and Envelopes sets are seen in part.
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (N): Novation BassStation II. The fanciest synth I own; it is monophonic but nice to create patches on and really quite expressive. It’ll almost certainly by triggered from the #QY10 as part of #walkstationtostation.
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (L): Loopingstar. If you don’t know, Loopingstar is the musical outfit of @showhomebrew.bsky.social’s Kev Grosvenor. ‘The Cable Spinners’ started as an instrumental of his; it was a joy to write lyrics for and then sing. loopingstar.bandcamp.com/album/the-ca...
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (K): King’s Cross Station. Part of the modern concourse roof features on the artwork for the ‘Electrochansonsdeux’ mini-album. K is also the opening letter of Keith, which happens to be my first name :-) voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/album/electr...
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (J): Jeff. The name of the musician behind Observatory - making lovely electronica in the East Riding. We collaborated on ‘How Did It Get This Wrong?’ Lyrics & vocals by me, music all him. First airplay of it was from @pelegrim.bsky.social
on.soundcloud.com/snsbSbR9z9zA...
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (I): IK Unosynth. My newest instrument - albeit second hand from a friend who lives at the edge of the Forest of Bowland. It may be triggered from my #QY10 as part of the #walkstationtostation project. Has anyone got good views on it? www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ik-m...
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (H): Home Sounds. A travelogue with #portastudio vibe (though not actually recorded on my Tascam 4-track); nine songs in various locations, reachable by train from London King’s Cross or St. Pancras. #lofi #synthsky voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/album/home-s...
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (G): Germany. More precisely ‘New East Germany’ - a song inspired by thoughts I had whilst awaiting a train at Stratford International once. It’s available on a @showhomebrew.bsky.social compilation as well as here… voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/track/new-ea...
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (F): FRBH Recordings. The #walkstationtostation project is based on doodles tapped into my #QY10; discovering this @frbhrecs.bsky.social got in touch to share the Ireless ‘QY10 Ditties’ release! The label is based near the best looking #volcanicplug in these islands too :-)
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (E): Electronic Sound Magazine. My first knowledge of Deerful’s work (see yesterday’s A-Z post) was a review of ‘Peach’ in the pages of @electronicsound.bsky.social. A lovingly-produced periodical. I’ve bought copies in various railway stations. www.electronicsound.co.uk
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (D): Deerful. Emma Winston isn’t on #BlueSky (so far as I know), but @wiaiwya.bsky.social - through whom she released ‘Peach’ - is. The album that inspired me to start @voltagepoetry.bsky.social; finely-written songs, small synths. deerful.bandcamp.com/album/peach
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (C): ‘Chanson de Charleroi.’ The most #lofi release to date & its synth-dulcimer riff got used for the intro to a @darktrain.bsky.social episode once! @nathanjay.bsky.social has made two fine remixes of this song too :-) voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/track/chanso...
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (B): #Brutalism. Is there a synth music law about nodding to this style in one’s work? I have a song called ‘Soft Beneath The Brutalist Skies.’ Here’s a link to something on a brutalist building of significance to me :-) canmore.org.uk/site/184050/... #synthsky
#VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ (A): Arbroath. The working title for my song ‘Coast’ - until I wrote a verse on a train to Margate. I recall being blown away by lovely feedback from Some-E of @platronic.bsky.social on its 2019 original recording - linked here: voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/track/coast
Monochrome image of a Casio VL-Tone synth/calculator on a white table top.
This is the #VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ thread. Songs, synths, places, labels, collaborators, podcasters et al. Plenty of shameless tagging and thank-yous along the way. Starts on 6th January… #synthsky
Grey concrete slipway, running from the foot of the picture to its middle (where it plunges into very low waves of the Thames Estuary) and with painted stencilled letters saying “never stop dancing” (albeit the “o” has been rubbed out!) There is mid-brown sand to either side of the slipway. The waters of the Thames are largely grey and rippled, whilst there are three container ships on the horizon. The sky is a pale blue with a band of white cloud above.
2024 is almost through. From 6th January I will be posting a #VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ which will tag various folk, albums, places, instruments etc. that I’ve found to be helpful or inspiring (including this year.) Happy New Year in the meantime! #synthsky
It was a huge thrill to have #HomeSounds released through @hartshornmusic.bsky.social this year. A travelogue with a #portastudio feel. Some tales from it will feature in a #VoltagePoetryProjectAtoZ thread during January… #lofi #synthsky
