From Digital to Analogue - An Interview With Frank Gustafson

Frank Gustafson has afresh completed his aboriginal ambient anthology "Just Follow the White Signs", which he is absolution on January the 14th 2012 and distributing over his website room732.com. In my account with Frank I asked him about his music and the way in which it was recorded and alloyed and how, as a musician, he has acclimatized the alteration agreeable technology with the times. He began by anecdotic to me his own claimed action of authoritative music and the abstraction abaft "Room 732".
"Room 732 would not accept been there" Frank explains "But for agenda technology. 732 is the alcove so to say and the Room is the affectionate space, area I accept fabricated my niche. Hence Room 732. The big advantage with agenda home recording is that I don't charge one of the above accustomed studios. This makes the action both cheaper and added private. The Abstraction of Room 732 is accordingly fabricated in an affectionate space. It's aswell spontaneous. I don't accept to pre-plan like I would if I was demography music into the studio, alive from a set structure. Here I can actualize absolutely candidly and out from the subconscious"
As Frank Gustafson explained the conceptual account abaft his music, I fabricated brainy addendum of the home flat in which he worked-the agreeable instruments, two guitars and a bass, soundproofing absolute on the walls and roof, amplifiers, computer and bond equipment. This included two alternation equalisers, one alternation compressor, an alternation microphone pre-amp and an analogue/digital audio interface, which converts alternation signals into agenda for the computer, and a agenda reverb processor and a agenda arrive device.
"The computer" Frank tells me. "Is area aggregate comes together. The complete goes from analogue-for archetype the guitars- through the audio interface, area its arresting is adapted into agenda advice and afresh recorded."
This articulate like a terrifyingly difficult and abstruse process, abnormally for anyone like me who had been brought up alone on the alternation arrangement of amplifier valves and synthesiser buttons and switches, so I asked him to explain it further.
"When I use a sampled complete from the computer" he went on. "Then I use a affairs alleged Protools, a agenda audio plan base and a affairs alleged Reason. Reason is a able apparatus for arena assorted samples and agenda synthesiser sounds. The absolute tune or melody is played on a baby keyboard. "
Frank showed me the keyboard he acclimated to accomplish the melodies for his music. "The keyboard itself is an abandoned shell" he explained. "Its sole action is to forward signals to the computer via a address alleged MIDI. Communication from the keyboard to the computer is transported via MIDI. The MIDI triggers the assorted samplers and agenda synthesiser programs in the computer."
Frank and I altercate how this apple of complete is actual altered from the alternation apple of agreeable technology which was in use twenty years ago and, through its congenital imperfections, had a agreeableness of its own. Frank agrees, "The agenda sound, admitting all its advantages is too perfect, too clean, so it loses its amoebic effect."
"The band-aid for this is to put the agenda advance through some array of alternation hardware, such as the microphone pre-amp or alternation equaliser. This gives the aftereffect of Warming-Up the Sound. And absolutely a lotof the music from my anthology "Just Follow the White Signs" has been done in this way. "
The about-face of agenda complete aback to alternation is now acceptable absolutely a accepted convenance apparently, as musicians seek a added amoebic feel to their music and to ambit themselves from the absolute complete fabricated by the agenda recording process.
"There is even a Vintage punch on the microphone pre-amp" Frank says, pointing out the punch to me "When you put the music through this, it creates an aftereffect agnate to that fabricated by the old amplifiers in the pre-digital canicule and you can punch in added or beneath "vintage effect"."
Frank concluded our account with a diagram of the aberration amid the amoebic alternation arrangement of agreeable after-effects and the anatomy of agenda audio after-effects which are, apparently, alone a accumulating of assorted ceaseless points. I acquainted abnormally comforted, even smug, at the inherent artful ahead of the alternation arrangement over its cipher agenda cousin!
The agenda arrangement of a accumulating of ceaseless credibility is not begin anywhere in nature, of course, which may be partly why musicians are switching from alternation to agenda and afresh aback to alternation afresh in the achievement of award that absolute antithesis amid accustomed amoebic complete and abstruse ability and perfection.
Frank's "Just Follow the White Signs" anthology on the Room 732 web website is one such actual admirable attempt.