Moulin Noir live!

For the first time since 2010 there will be a live performance at the festival 

Smör Synthpop & Kärlek #4

Saturday, december 6th at Nalen, Stockholm. New music will be played. (OMG I'm still struggling since I obviously believed I was Rick Wakeman's cousin when I wrote it)

Tickets are available here and  here.

Second sidecar for the Zebra modular

The modular synth that should never ever grow has grown again, with yet another Doepfer minicase.

Annoyingly I had the Doepfer A-162 dual trigger delay in a drawer. Make Noise Function in the first sidecar works as a dual trigger delay, but usually I want to use that module as envelope. It can do both, but only if the delay times are equal to the envelope times. Function is also the only cv controllable envelope I have. For complex cv you need to control when things start. Ergo I needed the Doepfer trigger delay in a more useful place than in a drawer.

I also had done the noob:ish mistake of having too few mixers. Those boring utility modules you don't realize you need until you are short of one. Since the Doepfer A-138c polarizing mixer is one of the most flexible and very affordable I settled for another one of those.

But what made me build another sidecar is the Happy Nerding Super Sawtor module. It's like "supersaw" on a Roland VA synth, but analogue and even better. Controlling the spread with cv is amazing. Then I had ten HP space left. And wanted another vca, a filter and an audio mixer. Frequency Central Vougue and Electro Cardiogram do all, but I didn't really want a "quirky" vca. I had to skip the mixer and went for the TipTop Z2040. This is not the SSM 2040 circuit though, it's a discrete construction following the patent. I have several synths with the similar SSM2044 (Kort Trident, Mono/Poly and Kawai K3). TipTop Z2040 is improved compared to the original. The original lowers the total volume much as resonance is increased, keeping distortion low. The TipTop filter can mimic that, but also has a mode around zero on the gain knob where the volume is compensated as resonance increases. Above zero gain Z2040 has a pretty fat overdrive. The vca can be placed controlling the gain or after the filter with jumpers. I'm using it after the filter.

Well, now that the modular has one Ms-20 like filter section, one multimode filter inspired by Oberheim Xpander, and one low pass filter inspired by SSM 2040 (Prophet 5 rev II). Maybe I can finally finish some new music ;)

Update 2015-01-08: The blind plate is now replaced with a CFM BHWR (Bipolar Half Wave Rectifier).

Eva med Adam

Some pictures from the play "Eva med Adam" at Boulevardteatern, Stockholm. Written, directed and starring Annika Forslund Rimbléus, featuring me and my brother Magnus Wikholm. It turned out even more magic than I imagined. Magnus wrote the music, I added some garnish, an earthquake made with Korg MS-20 and some birdsong. I also played a little part as the devil. A burgulary at the theater didn't stop us. I lost a Tapco Mix 260FX in a Thomann hardcase and a Tama Techstar TAM 500 drumsynth in a Warwick Rockbag mixerrack with a Digitech DSP-16. But I had a spare TAM 500 and Magnus bought a new mixer. The result was beyond anything I imagined. Directors eye Michelle Nordlander, Light by Simon Söderberg, DMx light by Magnus Wikholm. Photograps by Jonas Wahlin.

You got to hear this

The swedish speaker brand QLN was the brainchild of hifi enthusiast Mats Andersen. It was later bought by another company and manufacturing was moved to china. QLN now seems dormant but this speaker is still available from Hifi kit. [Edit 2015: Long sold out now.] Mats was probably not involved in the design, but whoever did it got it so right. My opinion is that it's among the best you can buy regardless of price. And they now go for 3500 swedish crowns. (Slightly more than €350 at the moment.) Imagine the best studio monitor you can think of and add a sweeter high end that goes much higher, that it spreads the sound much better and goes straight down to 28Hz. This is it. You need an amp that can deliver lot's of current, but any small affordable good one like NAD or Cambridge will deliver. You sure don't need a subwoofer. If you really want to hear what Moulin Noir sounds like, this is the shit. And I'm not paid for saying this :)

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year

 

Listen:

Gläns Över Sjö Och Strand

Ramblings in blue

I think I'm in need of the brand new blue energy dome. I had not noticed a fabulous new album by Devo "Something For Everybody" is out.. with a completely hilarious campaign on youtube. This is easily the best Devo album since "New Traditionalists". Get the deluxe version!

Wisdom of today: If you don't document changes in the studio, you will at some point have to play a quite boring game called "follow the cable among a trillion other cables". Documantation, documentation.. the importance can't be overemphasized.

Seth Schwartz took a lot of pictures at the Drop Dead Pre party in Stockholm here.

I am finally discovering compressors... after almost 30 years. Well I've always used them, especially on busses. But now I'm discovering mixing in to single band compressors for effect instead of "unhearable" multi band compressors. So I went on a shopping spree and got me ART PRO VLA II, Joe Meek MC2, FMR Audio RNC and RNLA. I already had DBX 166 (the ancient version), DBX 266 XL and recently some digital SSL emulations in the Duende mini. Actually I've tried the 266 XL on the master with marvelous results but wanted different sounding options. No you don't have to have a $3000 compressor for this... don't let any status brand blinded type fool you. If you mix in to the compressor even a 266 XL can sound fantastic.

Drop Dead Preparty setlist

It was a wonderful event.. more about it later. Did you take some photo's? Please contact me. Here is the setlist:

Dance of the Beauty
The House of Richard III
Kiss Me Quick
The Waiting Game
Conformia
Utopia
Windmill
Welcome Home
Spellbound
I Can't Sleep
Maria Calling
Descending (Basement Area)

Drop Dead Preparty, July 23

Moulin Noir Live at Drop Dead Warmup party july 23:d

DJ:ing at SAW June 17th

DJ Dynamo Beat - conspiculously similar to yours truly - celebrates his birthday DJ:ing at Synth Afterwork, 6:e Tunnan, Stora Nygatan 43, Stockholm, Sweden. Expect some fabulous, forgotten and unusual new romantic hits =)

The noise-modular aka "The Zebra" is finalized!

The last modules were the TipTop Z3000 VCO, Analogue Solutions SY02 (Korg MS-20 inspired filter/vca) and the Doepfer A134-2 crossfader. Placing is pretty dictated by the depth of the modules. Z3000 and SY02 had to go to the right. Schneidersladen helped with a bus extending cable, since the MFB backplane only has eight bus contacts.

Specs ended up pretty impressive: 4 VCO:s, 4 LFO:s, 3 envelopes, 3 VCA:s, 3 filters (though 2 are permanently in series), 2 mixers, 2 mixer/buffered multiplier/inverters, 2 crossfaders (also useable as VCA:s), 2 noisegenerators, 2 slew limiters, 2 808:ish sound sources, 1 random voltage and one 2x4 multiplier.

What didn't get there? Well, sample and hold, but two of the LFO's has the usual random S/H waveform so that is sort of covered. There is no true ring modulator, but the MFB OSC-02 has built in MS-20 like X-OR based ring modulator so that is also sort of covered. I had wanted a waveshaper, but I preferred another bigger VCO with more ins and outs.Yes, the Peavey Spectrum filter is gone.. It's no longer needed.

Component list from left to right

Racks: Schneidersladen

Upper rack:
MFB powersupply/midi interface
Doepfer A-117 DNG
Doepfer A-118 Noise
MFB Dual LFO
MFB OSC-02 Triple VCO
Dopefer A-138b Mixer
MFB Dual ADSR
Doepfer A-132-3 DVCA
Doepfer A-106-6 XP VCF

Lower rack:
MFB powersupply/midi interface
Doepfer A-140 ADSR
Doepfer A-170 SL
MFB Dual LFO
Doepfer A-180 Multiples
Analogue Soulutions MX224
Doepfer A-138c PMIX
Doepfer A-134-2 Dual VC CF
Analogue Soulutions MX224
Tiptop Z3000 Smart VCO
Analogue Solutions SY02 Multimede filter/VCA

This will have to do. Now it's time to make some new music.

Plugiator and other news

I have finally published the images from the Ultrafoxx gig in the pictures area.

The Dynamo Beat club, where Hans and I DJ:ed drew a pretty decent crowd. Unfortunately we were riddled with technical problems, mainly a power amp that now and then refused to work. Shortly after 2 am it gave up completely. Well well, people seemed to have fun anyway.

I am still waiting for the last modules to the modular. In the mean time I bought myself a digital synthesizer. I have been depressed lately, and nothing is better to cheer me up than a synthesizer. Nowdays I have to make sure I get a small synthesizer for obvious reasons, this therapy has some serious space related drawbacks. ;D I had wanted the Plugiator with the Prodyssey plugin for quite a while, and now Thomann had a very good price at a fully loaded one. The technology comes from originally from Creamware (now Sonic Core), who's plugin products for dedicated Sharc DSP hardware is almost the only virtual analogue synthesizers I like. I plan to use the Prodyssey live. In the studio I am more interested with the FM, wavetable and organ synths than the analogue emulations.

The christmas cap was unfortunately not included. ;) I think my needs for digital synths are filled for quite a while now. (I nicked the picture from use audio, but since I endorse the product I hope they don't mind.) I also got an Alesis Multimix 8, to be able to patch in more of my effect boxes. It's simply the best and well thought out 1U rack mixer available today.

Club Dynamo Beat

Club Dynamo Beat - A mysterious event that exists once in a lifetime..

DJ:s Anders (Moulin Noir) & Hans (Run Level Zero) plays a wild mix of synthetic favourites.. From Shock, John Foxx and Krisma to Mesh, Skinny Puppy and Depeche. Expect the unexpected. "Dance, Dance, Dance" sings Claudia Brücken.
Live appearance from the fabulous [twilight] theatre: http://www.myspace.com/twilighttheatremusic
Entrance: Free!
Time: 9 PM
Location: Sugar Bar, Kammakargatan 9, Stockholm, Sweden

Happy New Year!

A prosperous new year to you all!

My only new years promise:
There WILL be at least one new Moulin Noir CD this year.

Photo by Diana Malm from the Ultrafoxx gig.

Setlist for the Ultrafoxx gig

I have spent some time in Portugal on a much needed vacation... spending some time learning the digital camera that has been collecting dust for years.

Info and pictures from the Ultrafoxx gig will come up soon. I am now collecting pictures from photographs... and have trouble finding pictures of Hans Åkerman. If you photoed Hans at this gig - contact me!

The setlist:

The Tower
Maria Calling
Kiss Me Quick
The Waiting Game
Castles
Utopia - Here We come
Live Happily
Spellbound
I Cant Sleep
Descending - Basement Area (the never ending version)

Moulin Noir LIVE 24/10

Modular, Step III

What initially would be a one rack simple modular concentrating on noise and drum sounds got a second rack.. and is still growing. Since my wallet was a bit drained because of the Voicelive 2 and an in ear monitoring system this step contained just two modules: The Doepefer A-140 Envelope generator and a second MFB Dual LFO. I would like to have had four envelopes, but due to planned future modules I just couldn't fit the 12 TE for another MFB Dual ADSR. I had 8 TE to play with and that was it. Also the Doepfer has other features than the MFB. It doesn't have the Hold stage nor a lin/log switch. But it does have much longer times with a three way rocker switch for range, and the inverted out frees up the the MX224:s for other use. Placement is quite dictated by the depth of the modules. To the right will go some big and very deep modules, so the position to the left was the only option for the 5.5 cm deep A-140. Three envelopes and four lfo's will have to do. MFB lfo:s can be used as simple envelopes. Most importantly I bought 25 more wires. I had _grossly_ miscalculated how many wires that is required ;) (The red wires leads to the peavey filter that annoyingly has the inputs on the back side.)

VoiceLive 2 arrived

I finally received the TC-Helicon Voice Live 2. Initial testing some presets with one of AKG:s absolutely cheapest consumer market dynamic microphones I concluded this thing is fantastic. The "built in technician", makes even this decent consumer mic sound great. Voice adaptive eq, deessing and a gate that seems to work as seemless as a well setup downward expander. And the harmoniser sets entirely new standards. The choir voices sound absolutely fabulous.

My original idea with this was partly to not have to lug around a heavy vocal rack live, and partly to test choir arrangements in the studio as a composing help. The voices can then be rerecorded with my "real" voice when I figure out a good arrangement. But this thing is so good you can use it for choirs in the recording. It even handles when you go from singing to a whisper. I had heard some nice demo's on the net before buing but it sure surpases all my expectations.

Downsides? Well, I've found one. A wallwart with a flimsy connector that is bound to pop out live. It's a pity since it's so well thought out for live use otherwise. A notebook style external powersupply would have made sense for such an expensive piece of gear.

So and slow it grows

Now it starts getting useable. In the second rack this far: Doepfer A-170 Dual Slew Limiter, A-180 Multiples, Analogue Solutions MX224 Mixer/Inverter/Buffer, Doepfer A-138c Polarizing Mixer and a second AS MX224. Placement is a bit dictatded by the fact the MFB rack is quite shallow where the power/midi module is.

Moulin Noir Live at Ultrafoxx

For more information see Club Ultrafoxx at myspace!