#1

I’ve had the idea for this project for a long time and finally got all the ingredients together and found the time to actually finish it:

  • Dash-cam footage of US highways
  • Dictaphone travel commentary
  • Experimental modular synth music

Haha! :yum:

This is the result:

I wanted to limit myself when it came to the audio, so I decided to only use my Snazzy FX modular system:


image
B166D951-4D64-4AAA-AC01-A404B7820922.jpeg915×683 186 KB

I always found the modules intruiging, but never actually bought anything because I also never quite understood what they did exactly. But then earlier this year I had the chance to get my hands on some of them and then got hooked on the idea of creating a system with more or less only Snazzy FX modules. It was a wonderfully chaotic and noisy experience and I’m really happy that I did it. Anyway, just a little backstory. Hope you enjoy the travelogue :slight_smile:

18 Likes
#2

this is awesome…

1 Like
#3

This is pretty rad. It makes me want modular scores for those seven-hour “slow TV” trips through Norway.

1 Like
#4

Very nice! So inspiring to see how people explore self imposed limits to drive creativity!

1 Like
#5

Thank you :slight_smile: I’m really fascinated by driving on those countryside highways in the States which just go straight for hours. I once did a road trip in the Midwest and had the GPS tell me: “turn right in 500 Kilometers” :laughing:

It’s like you’re not doing anything, yet you are moving over long distances while the landscape around you very slowly changes and gradually changes. You can see clouds from miles away, then pass underneath them and then watch them in the rear view mirror for another hour. It’s weirdly meditative. Only problem is that I like to snack while driving, so I usually end up with some added weight at the end of a vacation like that :blush:

In this video project I wanted to convey that feeling of traveling those roads, where your mind can get lost in deep thoughts and your tolerance for marveling at ordinary things is heavily influenced by the surroundings you encountered before. For example driving through an ordinary forest after days of driving through the desert can be an incredible experience and you’re like “Wow! Green trees!!! I’ve never seen such beautiful things in my life”. Haha!

8 Likes
#6

This is such a great concept - I absolutely love it and wish there were more things like it!

1 Like
#7

Thank you very much :slight_smile: I will try to do another one on whatever vacation comes next.

1 Like
#8

It would be interesting to hear more about your experience with the snazzy modules? Any favourites, or favourite ways of using them? Or processes specific bits of them opened up?

If you’ve time of course…

1 Like
#9

I made a big thread on Muffwiggler about it a while back:
https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=193591&highlight=

Generally, I wanted to experience the Snazzy FX philosophy, like I did with other manufacturer-specific systems (Bastl, Klangbau, CGS). The Snazzy FX stuff is always wild, almost never clean and sometimes hard to tame. This required me to kind of learn different approaches to patching, because you are constantly making everything sound more broken and distorted :smiley: haha! That’s nice though, if you’re going for that sound and then, using the utilities, which tend to be chaotic (not random!), you can get some over the top craziness happening. It’s also cool for generative patches.

Let me know if you have specific questions :slight_smile:

#10

Oh that covers it!

Thanks… will peruse.

#11

Very nice work, you did capture the essence of the American road trip. I do one at least twice a year, often with a camera on the dashboard. As a long time New York City denizen,I find it comforting that there are still vast uninhabited spaces to explore. The music really worked as short, self contained, pieces. I always try to limit my modular pieces to three minutes or less. Your method of attaching them to these brief scenes, makes the time limitation seem less arbitrary.