Digital Album: Thought To Be Extinct

New to my bandcamp page is The Manitou's 2008 album 'Thought To Be Extinct.' I still regard it as some of my strongest material, and am pleased to make it available again. All 13 tracks are streamable for free, and can be purchased either individually or as a complete digital package with PDF booklet: featuring artwork such as that pictured above, the lyrics, and a list of instruments used in the recording.

The Manitou - Thought To Be Extinct

To coincide with the release, I've uploaded a slideshow I made in 2009 to accompany the song 'Switch On, Switch Off.' It features photos I've taken throughout the 00's, of chemtrails and other aerial phenomena (thanks to my dad for the idea!):

The Manitou on Bandcamp

 

I now have an account on Bandcamp for The Manitou's music releases. The Let's Build Mecha! e.p. is already available, a bargain at $5 CDN. It comes bundled with the PDF liner notes, and your choice of high-quality format, including FLAC.

http://themanitou.bandcamp.com/

I hope to get my Thought To Be Extinct album uploaded in the very near future, once I've finished the booklet and gone over the master recordings. There may be some singles forthcoming even sooner than that. Stay tuned!

New Equipment: Korg Monotribe

End-of-season work has left me with little time for audio projects, or indeed to update this blog. But I expect the trend to change as winter draws closer.

As it was my birthday last month, I used the money I received to buy a new piece of gear for the studio. Thanks go to my brother for bringing this cool device to my attention (and for contributing some cash!): the Korg Monotribe 'Analog Ribbon Station.' It's a compact analog synthesizer module with a ribbon-style controller, sequencer, and some analog drum sounds for good measure.

Having had a bit of a go with it, I'm impressed with the range of possibilities it offers considering the simplicity of its design. I can see it becoming a staple tool for strange noises in my productions. I also like the fact that it has control voltage in-and-outs, which means it will interface with a lot of pre-MIDI equipment. In theory, I could control the tempo of the sequencer with my old Boss DR-220A drum machine, for example (thereby enabling me to enter a precise bpm/speed rather than turn the dial and guesstimate).

The step sequencer, which can control both the drums and the synthesizer, is very intuitive. The ribbon controller is hardly precise, but the ability to control a wide pitch-band (at the flip of a switch) makes it great for improvisation. The nicest thing about it is the sound of the synthesizer itself, thanks to the design of the filter circuit, which is from Korg's legendary MS-20 synthesizer. The MS-20 is long out of production, and sells for upwards of $2000 (10x the price of the Monotribe).