By Keith Walsh
My inbox always brings me surprises. A few days ago something nice came from Switzerland. AORRTA is an electronic musician in Switzerland who sent me a treat for the ears and eyes, as he performs with his modular synth setup from a rooftop, surrounded by gorgeous hills.
See the video below, then my interview with Aorrta where he goes into detail about his gear and inspirations and his live performance, captured on analog tape and with drone video footage.
Synthbeat: It looks like you have a bunch of Eurorack synths. Moog DFAM and MOTHER 32? What do you have?
AORRTA: I am a huge fan of the Moog Sound. So I got some of the AJH Minimod series. They are inspired by the Minimoog from the 70s. I am in love with the glide sound of it, It’s so organic and powerful and much fun to play with. I use many different Eurorack brands in my Modular system. For example Verbos with the amazing Dual and Harmonic Oscillator, some Mutable Instruments and TipTop Audio for the Rhythm section and the ER 101 Orthogonal Devices as a main Sequencer.
Synthbeat: It will be interesting to keyboard players to know: Instead of playing melodies you’re changing other parameters. What are these parameters and what are you doing to them?
AORRTA: The Melodies and Parameters are all programmed and sequenced, that means it’s almost a composition I would say. With different Modules like ADSR, VCF, Glide or VCA and some CV sources, I am able to get some Dynamics and Feelings to the Sound. This interaction with the Modular Synth is one thing I really love about it. You never know what you get because there are always little and sometimes big surprises.
Synthbeat: Is this at the apartment you live? Where is this and how did you get permission?
AORRTA:The name of the location is Areal Stadtufer and it’s on the Countryside in Lichtensteig, Switzerland. It is a former textile factory and now a place to Work and Live. There is a Skatepark inside, some Ateliers from People around the Word, a Tattoo-studio, Sound-studio, Goldsmith, Tiny Loft and much more. My good friend Fabio Sciascia lives and works there. I was helping him to move in there, so I got in touch with the Project and fell in love with it. It is nice and rare in Switzerland to have space like this to explore creativity and to try things out.
Synthbeat: That’s drone footage? Who operated the drone?
AORRTA:This was Fabio Sciascia. I was very surprised how good he flew that little Spaceship around. All the recordings where made in one morning. Huge thanks out to my Dungeon Bro Fabio!
Synthbeat: What does the song mean to you?
AORRTA: For it is a bit of the sum of my first experience with Modular Synthesis. It all started with building my own case and get all the Parts together and starting the “Aorrta” project. It still feels like a beginning of something because there are endless possibilities of how to make music with the Modular Synth. I am really looking forward to see what the future will bring. There are many ideas and visions to explore.
Synthbeat: What’s your musical training and background?
AORRTA:I started playing Bass when I was 13 years old. I still play bass in the Band “Echolot,” some Doomy Sludgy Post Progressive Blackened Metal I would say. Over the Years I played in different Bands for helping out just like LOAD (DarkWave, Synth Pop) or Cold Cell (Black Metal). A few years ago I started to Produce Music on my own and then the love for Synth sounds started to grow. I think live Music is still the best, so I was looking for something more touchable and interactive than a computer. After experiencing/ experimenting with a Moog Sub Phatty and a Korg Polysix I wanted to go deeper in to the void of Synths and so the Modular Madness started.
Synthbeat:What’s the date of the performance?
AORRTA: It was recorded (Audio and Video) at the 8th of July 2022 on a hot summer day. I got Sunburned all over my Body! =)
Synthbeat: The Tascam a cassette or 1/4 inch reel to reel? Model number please? Was this recorded to all four tracks or in stereo?
AORRTA: It was Recorded on a Tascam 464 Tape Recorder in Stereo. I really like the Workflow with Tapes. Its just strait forward and the Saturation fix perfectly to my Music. Jeroen van Vulpen helped my with some beautiful outboard Gear for a bride and warm Mix and Mastering.
AORRTA Online
AORRTA On Instagram
finis
