less concepts, by dan derks

less concepts

by dan derks

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n-So this album is absolute sonic candy. Favorite track: his name was squeeze.

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Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

includes liner notes in PDF which detail: process, approach + *less concepts* app walkthrough.

Purchasable with gift card

$3 USD or more
limited ed. cassette
Cassette + Digital Album
cassette in soft poly case featuring 3 additional unreleased songs and sticker of cover art (by @suitcasedog).

Includes unlimited streaming of less concepts via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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	1.	take away my hands 03:06
	2.	noah the alligator shark 01:51
	3.	I don't want the others to know I do not have a hoverboard 04:27
	4.	they swam with their moms and lived happily ever after 02:35
	5.	his name was squeeze 04:55
	6.	I had depression for MONTHS 05:33

about

*less concepts* was recorded between 5/16/2018 - 6/22/2018.

The song titles are (respectfully, if a little tastelessly) stolen from short stories + drawings made by kiddos at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

The compositional content — rhythms, melodies, harmonies — was all decided in real time by algorithms. This was made possible by Teletype, a small computer-y device that allows a person to code *how* and *when* they want musical events to happen. Among other things, it uses lists to keep track of notes and voltage to communicate with oscillators (the raw voice of a synthesizer).

Teletype is also a platform that’s been heavily developed by the community that uses it (llllllll.co), through the curation and expansion of its musical code language.

These pieces were created using one of the operators in Teletype’s code: cellular automata. It has been a real, deep joy to explore and I didn’t know much about the science of it before, so I made a free app for you to explore it too. The app and + in-depth explanation of the process can be downloaded at github.com/dndrks/less_concepts.

credits

released October 28, 2018

The master was wonderfully handled + helmed by Sage Kim at Lacquer Channel Mastering in Toronto, Ontario. I chose Sage based on her excellent treatment of folk material, which manifested nicely in this master -- she unearthed harmonic relationships I had long forgot about and put enough of her fingerprint into the project that I can listen without hearing *myself* in the work.

The artwork is an original piece by Racquel Cable. Her work can be found on Instagram under @suitcasedog

Extra thanks to Jonny Butler, Kyle Chamberlin, Sean Hellfritsch, Michael Hetrick, and Nick Sanborn for their guidance and feedback through the mastering process + documentation build.

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about

dan derks Chicago, Illinois

soundandprocess.com

discography

phylum

Oct 2019
live @ the observatory

Jan 2019
nested

Jan 2019
less concepts

Oct 2018

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