Len Sasso has a review of Sonic Fiction on the Electronic Musician Podcast today. I’ve been following Len Sasso’s reviews and tutorials for years – particularly his books and tutorials on Reaktor and Metasynth. His knowledge of the more intellect and esoteric side of digital sound has, I’m sure, inspired many electronic musicians today. He has also written a nice piece of music in this podcast demonstrating the alien and erie sound of Sonic Fiction. Check it out at about 21m:43s in to this podcast: EM Podcast with Sonic Fiction

Torley is back with his extremely entertaining and informative Project Preset segment, where he goes through all the presets in a sound library and explores all the possibilities within. His demonstration of Sonic Fiction goes very deep into all the instruments and their variations. For anyone interested in what this Kore Instrument is all about I highly recommend checking it out. Torley has an acute sense of bringing out the full potential of sounds by really getting inside, feeling and reacting to the tonal depths and conceptual Sci-Fi colors, experiencing them the way they were meant to be experienced, letting the alien worlds inspire and playing the sounds while realizing the infinite dynamic ranges and possibilities. I highly recommend subscribing to Torley’s channel as there is a wealth of useful information presented in a very creative and entertaining way. Thanks again Torley for putting this together!

Time for another update and another Kore Instrument release. My new project titled Sonic Fiction was a labor of love. Immersing myself in the world of Science Fiction for inspiration, I have designed 100 instruments and 800 individual variations that might be described as alien and other-worldly. Synaesthetic soundscapes, playable and dynamic pads, strings, keys and percussion all made from acoustic sources influenced and embedded with the imagination of what lies beyond our very tiny planet. Expanding on the idea I had for my first Kore Instrument, Acoustic Refractions, this new project takes one giant leap beyond the recognizable into distant worlds of wonder. Much time was spent researching literature, films and other sources and finally to translate those ideas into playable sound. A good author will describe scenes, places and objects in a way that you can gather all your senses together to experience them. Many times when I read such books I can literally feel the sensations of, say, a cool dampness in a dark cave chiseled in the side of a mountain. And through the silence, the sound of water droplets echoing in the distance, resonating with a subtle but rising wind playing harmonically rich contralto and soprano solos through the cracks of textured rock. Through the brilliance of those artists and writers, Sonic Fiction was born. And for that I would like to thank them, particularly Dan Simmons, author of Hyperion, for the sources of inspiration they provided me in this long and incredible journey of sound. These sounds take you to places that have been thought of in different ways by many different people – residing only in the mind, they are reminiscent of a dream. And like a dream there is much depth, things can be guided in a specific direction. There are controls… but you are not necessarily in control.

For more information on this Kore Instrument visit Native Instruments website: Sonic Fiction

Torley, the social media guru and virtual world expert, put together an amazing review and video where he demos many sounds of Acoustic Refractions. Please go to torley.com to check it out. Highly entertaining and very inspiring for me. Thanks again Torley! I’ve also embedded the video here:

For anyone interested here is an interview from the German Keys magazine describing a little more detail into the process of creating Acoustic Refractions. Hopefully I can get a translation of their review soon too! Read more »

January 26th 2008, Native Instruments releases my first Kore Instrument aptly named Acoustic Refractions.

The basic idea behind Acoustic Refractions was to take any object (artificial or natural), coax from them their own unique musical qualities and shape them into acoustic-like instruments. With careful programming I was able to give these otherwise dull objects a voice.

You will be able to find a bit more detail regarding the creation of these sounds in an upcoming interview from the German Keys magazine. I’ll post a translation on this blog when it is released.