On June 8th I performed Sonidos de Cuba at the Vancouver Mini Maker Faire. My wife was also showing off her Drift clothing and accessories (you can check out her stuff here). Previously I had used a laptop running Ableton Live with an Akai APC40, a Korg Electribe ES1mkII and my trumpet. This time I debuted my new live setup focused around the Elektron Octatrack. I’m also using an Arturia MicroBrute, MFB Kraftzwerg, Electo-Lobotomy Sonic Forest, Manastone Hank Drum and Trumpet. Changing my setup has caused the songs to evolve quite dramatically. I’m still playing back stems from each song on the album, but sequencing them on the Octatrack has changed the way they’re configured. The Octatrack is also sequencing the two synthesizers which imparts some great new life into the material. Continue reading “Maker Faire 2014 and a WCMA Nomination!”
Tag: Breaks
CDs and Contests and Gigs and News and Stuff
The CDs of Sonidos de Cuba have arrived! I’ve already given a few out to some of my Rockethub supporters and the rest of you will receive them soon. They look great thanks to Tania Clarke’s wonderful album artwork. Next I’ll send off a few to CD Baby so the physical copies will be available there too.
It’s a little funny. Two of the people I’ve given copies to have commented on how long it’s been since they’ve bought a physical CD. I know the format is definitely waning in use as people move towards digital and cloud based music, but I really wanted to have some physical copies. It just makes the album feel that much more real, complete, and professional. Continue reading “CDs and Contests and Gigs and News and Stuff”
The Stories behind the Sonidos
Sonidos de Cuba (Sounds of Cuba)
In March of 2010, I travelled with my fiance to Cuba for ten days. Despite the short amount of time I spent there, I was overwhelmed by the complexity, culture, rhythm and pulse of the country. I brought with me a Zoom H4N portable recorder and gathered various snippets of the rich acoustic landscape. After returning home, I began using these recordings as a foundation for my own music. I spent many hours editing, warping, looping, filtering, sampling, and mangling the sounds to distil them into songs. Over the next three years, I created an album of electronic music that attempts to tell the story of this visit. I made this music in an effort to relive and restructure not merely the recordings, but the memories of my time there in order to share this journey with others. Hopefully you’ll feel transported as you listen and enjoy these Sonidos de Cuba. Continue reading “The Stories behind the Sonidos”
Sonidos de Cuba, finished at last!
Sonidos de Cuba is now live and available for download from Bandcamp and CD Baby. I’ve also ordered a limited run of CDs with beautiful artwork by Tania Clarke of Side-B Design.
You can get the album through either of the links below:
http://scottmfr.bandcamp.com
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/scottriesterer
My subscribers may have received a flurry of e-mails in their inbox yesterday. I sincerely apologize for that! I was diagnosing a problem on my website that made the widgets appear at the bottom of the page, and the apparent solution was to republish every post. I didn’t realize that it would e-mail each post again! You’ll notice that the widgets are back at the side of the page, and now there’s a nice little Bandcamp store ready for action.
In the next couple days I’ll be making a more detailed post about the album, describing and explaining the stories behind the songs and the recordings used in the songs.
Morgan Page Remix Featured in Shah DJs Shahcast!
My “Twisted Road” remix of “The Longest Road” by Morgan Page was featured in the latest SHAHcast from Vancouver’s Shah DJs. You can click on the link below to check it out…
SUBLIME SOUND 