Norns plays an odd role in my workflow. It is so powerful for creating endless streams of pretty that it sort of feels like touching fire. In amnesiac looping sessions I’ll record my synths to 4 track tapes at variable speeds then promptly forget how any of the sounds were made.
The daphne oram “moment outside time” committed to a linear physical artifact. Cheating with digital tape simulation, and keeping myself honest with real tape.
The project now is to take these 10 source tapes which also contain residue from what I recorded over and collage from other tapes, then make “mixtapes” for my friends.
The whole project was set off by norns, could not exist without it, yet I haven’t turned mine on in weeks.
An archive of the project as it progresses is available here, I’ve sent 4 tapes so far.
Getting closer to a convention for documenting the work, and I think I’m starting to need a graphic notation for how I write the source tapes to the mix tapes with 1,2,4 track machines.
