Alessandro Cortini is a unique musician. Most well known for his extensive work with Nine Inch Nails, Cortini, an Italian guitarist-turned-synthesist, has made a career of experimenting with various electronic instruments. While going to an arts academy in LA to study electric guitar in his late teens, Cortini was introduced to synthesizers which he gravitated towards as a means to shed the restrictive traditions of music making. To rid himself of the idea that “X must be played in Y manner” for it to be correct or good. In a 2019 interview with Clash, Cortini notes,
There was almost a bar set at that height, and that didn’t really lend itself to using the guitar as a communicative and creative instrument for me to develop my own language and voice. It was like, ‘Oh if I can’t play this Steve Vai piece then I’m not good enough.’ When I got to synthesizers it was a much more direct connection between me and whatever I was hearing, because I had no schooling in it.
As part of his musical evolution throughout this century, Cortini has also taken to embracing the imperfections of analog electronic instruments. Analog instruments are noisy. They always have been. Mics introduce noise, as do preamps, compressors, equalizers, synthesizers, and audio effects like delays and reverbs. Every piece of new gear added to a chain of instruments or recording gear introduces its own noise floor and sums with everything else. An untold number of man-hours have been dedicated by musicians, producers, and audio engineers to rid music of the noises created by the gear used to create and record music. But Cortini has eschewed the temptation to rid his music of noise, and instead leaned into the imperfections of analog gear as an important part of his music making process. Rather than trying to eliminate noise, Cortini welcomes it and uses it as part of his compositions. It’s part of his persona as a musician to explore the limitations of gear to find what makes it sound unique.
And indeed not only does he compose music exploiting design limitations, but he’s also collaborated in the design of a synth, the Make Noise Strega, designed around the idea of using a particular delay chip that is widely known to be noisy. In an interview with synthhistory.com early in 2024, Cortini notes,
Two main things allowed Tony to utilize this platform in a different and unusually expressive way, in my opinion.
1- The PT chip usually gets filtered in order to get rid of noise at lower cycles / delay times, while the noise is something that spoke to us, so Tony’s challenge was to extrapolate its beauty in a way that could be utilized creatively rather than being an obstacle. He really worked hard on that and I think it shows.
2- Delays are usually placed at the end of the chain. Our idea and priority was to put it as the centerpiece of the instrument, on one end to allow to develop it more and exploit different aspects of its sonic peculiarities, and on the other to direct the user’s attention to it from the get go by placing it in the middle of the instrument. That way, it’s the first thing you play with, rather than a later stage of the sonic sculpture.
The Strega is an interesting synth. With the noisy PT2399 delay at the center of the instrument, Strega imparts a nostalgic sound like nothing else. Whether used as a sound source itself or as a sound processor it embraces that noise and transforms the input into a shadowy figment of its former self. Strega doesn’t have a distortion circuit, as such, which makes the delay even more important to imparting texture and grit in the style of Cortini. He turns what most consider a flaw into beauty.
Today’s piece, ERA, is a track by Cortini recorded during Strega’s design process. Cortini and Make Noise invited some of the most celebrated synthesists in the world to test and record music with Strega, and that creation process became part of a freely released album released by Make Noise Music titled Strega Musica (which I highly recommend) after Strega was released. It’s a slow, somber ambient piece centered around a very simple 4 note sequence in E Major, augmented by a second sequence that tracks alongside. Cortini routinely uses two Stregas and two touch controllers/sequencers to improvise most of his later material. All of his performances use a new sequence every day, and are performed as part of an elaborate improvisation. As ERA broods onward the intensity is heightened as more of the character of the delay chip at the heart of Strega is revealed, washing the sound over with waves of noise, accompanied by soaring harmonics from the oscillator’s wavefolder. It’s a beautiful piece that is quite powerful.
Although a good set of headphones is always nice, ERA will benefit from playing it through speakers, preferably with a subwoofer. The house will shake. In a good way.
Listen Here >>>>> Era by Alessandro Cortini
I do love the analog synths, having built a few you can make Happy mistakes and they still work fine. nice write up
Cool stuff.
OT for spud and OMWC (in particular), I saw on FB some chart about rising brix in cabernet grapes from this source and thought it was a spoof. Nope, just more evidence of idiotic over specialization.
It is fascinating what comes up. 20 years ago it would have been my father’s old office partner in charge of that conference.
Thanks for the write up. Always interesting to see what ‘creatives’ are thinking doing. I wish I thought outside the box, so to speak, more than I do.
That said… that music link. Not my thing. Just letting it play, I could feel my tension and irritation building. Not sure I’d be able to sit through the whole thing without being very unpleasant – well more so than normal – to be around.
That tension buildup is part of the point, which is to engage emotionally and intellectually with art. That you felt tense and irritated means he did his job.
That’s not to say we must like everything everyone has ever created, but to be challenged is part of the point.
Challenged/engaged = “how did they do that? Never heard that progression before. How did they play that?!?! I’m going to have to figure that out”
Challenged != “this is grating on my nerves. I’m getting irritable.”
That’s like poor mastering with heavy clipping (not saying that’s what this is, just it’s a similar reaction on my part); just getting increasingly irritated/tired/fatigued without knowing why. If making me feel tense and irritated is his job, I’m not shopping there.
If it needs to be said, obviously IMNSHO. To each his own.
With an analog synth you get the conundrum of do you mike the thing or do you go straight to the mixing board. If you go straight to the board record the result digitally it was technically never a sound until the listener plays it.
This is true.
Transmissions from an alternate reality.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/robust-us-economy-may-not-need-trumps-big-reforms-2025-01-13/
Robust US economy may not need Trump’s big reforms
Trump inherits strong economy with low unemployment
Concerns over inflation, deficits may limit Trump’s policy options
Experts warn Trump’s policies could disrupt economic stability
Mark Zandi: Always Quoted, Often Wrong, Never In Doubt
https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2011/06/16/mark_zandi_always_quoted_often_wrong_never_in_doubt_99077.html
Paul Krugman when Trump was elected in 2016.
“So we are very probably looking at a global recession, with no end in sight. I suppose we could get lucky somehow. But on economics, as on everything else, a terrible thing has just happened.”
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/opinion/election-night-2016/paul-krugman-the-economic-fallout
This stuff is over my head, but I enjoy the music that is linked.
Nice!
Glad I could bring something new to your life for the day that you enjoyed.
Is it too late for a daily ray of sunshine?
https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmile/comments/1i1a5fb/my_grandpa_warming_a_newborn_pig_by_furnace/
Only in standard time, which is why we need year-round DST.
we need year-round DST
No.
One can only continue to fail upward so far.
Sonos CEO behind disastrous app exits with $1.9 million severance
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/01/sonos-ceo-behind-disastrous-app-exits-with-1-9-million-severance/
I’ll happily fail for $1.9M
For that kind of money, I could fail every day if they needed me to.
I’d fail for half that.
I’d fail for half that.
Hell, I fail for nothing at all every single day! I could get paid for that?!
You aren’t failing big enough to command that kind of buy out.
Way back before TOS, the same people had a site called Suck.com. I remember a cartoon of a guy sitting next to Trump on a park bench. The guy was complaining he had too much debt, and Trump told him he didn’t have ENOUGH debt. As in, if you owe the banks enough money, they do what you tell them.
TOK – John Maynard Keynes is credited with saying, “If you owe your bank a hundred pounds, you have a problem. But if you owe a million, it has”.
Spoiler: it’s $1.9M worth of Sonos gear.
And the new app is still garbage.
But you are getting regular updates. And they are providing lots of communication. And they’ve told you how much they value you.
Yet, somehow, users just want an app that does what it used to do. Amazing…
We now know where everyone from Juicero went.
https://spicerr.com/
Brought to you by Hooli
Praise to Mike Judge.
Middle out compression for the win!
More like the Human Heater by using microwaves and heating a person’s skin.
I really need to buy and re-watch that whole series. So many little gems in there.
There is literally nothing any form of computing can bring to that.
But there are many forms of humans that will believe it will.
I built something like that for a senior engineering project class back in school. Except that it was for booze. 16 constant-flow battery operated chemical pumps, an Atmel microcontroller, and a bunch of RTC code to get the thing to operate.
We only used it with actual booze one time – the results were not exactly encourging.
There’s several… devices… like that out there. At least the stadium got rid of those this year. Last year they had them and tried doing some themed cocktails for each game. The staff was… below even my lowest standards. The girlfriend got an Amaretto Sour at one game (I forget which team they paired that with), and asked what was in it. The person operating the device did not know.
Holy cats, that link – I haven’t seen such a fawning blowjob masquerading as a product review since I let my Eurogamer subscription expire.
Project Lloyd had a lot of problems, with calibration, dispensing time, and, er-sanitation (the dispensing pumps were bought used, and I never found out exactly what they were used for…), but the biggest obstacle was that I found out that I enjoy mixing cocktails, and automating it took a lot of fun out of the drinking. I suspect that you know what I’m talking about…
lulz
Oh the YT spot…that has Clippy written all over it
https://youtu.be/kQjy8Hw-7Y4
This is going to turn out to be a goof, like Smartpipe, right? Right?
This is the kind of gimmicky gadgetry that used to get laughed at during hour 4 of a 6-hour flight, when you’ve stolen the last copy of SkyMall and are tired of reading the safety placard for the 10th time.
Smart pipe is real now. There’s even a litterbox version for cats. This is the world we live in.
Their product line won’t be complete until they launch SmartCarpet. 😖😸
“Smartpipe Inc. is a registered sex offender”
When err is literally built in?
OFFS 🙄
Bro2: Would you say that you and Mom ow the house equally?
Aunt Selfish Cunt: Well, yes, I think so.
[explanations of the cost of long-term care and that we need to draw on the equity of Mom’s portion]
Aunt Selfish Cunt: We are not selling the house. It’s our home.
Me: Without selling the house, how are we going to pay for mom’s long-term care?
Aunt Selfish Cunt: That’s not my problem.
🤦♀️
Then where ASC is going to live is not your problem.
Yes.
But.
They made the deed joint tenants (my mother should know better). We have to file for a partition something.
Anyway, last week, they had been freaking out over paying Feb mortgage. I said, “No problem. I’m on Mom’s bank account. I’ll just write you a check.”
Yay.
Today, I asked, “Without Mom, how are you going to pay the mortgage?”
“That’s none of your business.”
[Spongebob One Month Later]
“So, Mojeaux, can you write us a check for your mom’s portion of the mortgage?”
“That’s not my problem.”
Let me guess – ASC is not what we call steadily employed?
I’m sorry for all this trouble, Mo. Having to deal with parasitic family is the worst, especially at a time like this.
By the way, I can’t vouch for this potential resource , but it might be worth a look. Anyone use this site to search in your own area?
We found a place.
👍
If the aunt wants to keep the house she can buy it either in a negotiated sale or by bidding at the judicial sale following a partition, or she can take her half the check from a sale to someone else. I wonder whether someone could diplomatically explain to the aunt that those are her choices and the best one is likely for her to buy you mom out since that one doesn’t involve the same legal fees? Diplomatically is important here.
Good. One less thing to worry about.
Sorry about ASC. 🙁
Take out a reverse mortgage for your mother’s half.
Then not worry about repaying, not your problem..
Trials and tribulations of family life.
I never expected to be paid back for all the “loans” to my kids. I haven’t been disappointed or surprised.
I like 8 bit remixes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ukg4E75HBU
And Floppotron:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsVjCZG4cyI
Heavy Metalloid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtRVTYMA87k
And Trump is the crazy one.
“According to Reuters, the rules were updated from the original proposal to exempt vehicles weighing over 10,000 pounds, which would allow companies like BYD to continue to assemble electric buses in California.”
US finalizes rule to effectively ban Chinese vehicles, which could include Polestar
https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/14/24343497/biden-china-vehicle-software-ban-polestar-waymo
Anyone seen Ozy?
https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1879218042372243960
Very cool. I freely admit my ignorance to most of it, other than NIN. As a drummer, I’m pleased I know a few scales, and know how to construct a Myxalydian or Dorian ones! (I’ve never needed to use ’em, frankly.) That’s the extent of my notational knowledge. Hilariously, sheet music for drum set-work is kinda nonexistent. They’ll tell you when to play a fill or when a break is, with just diagonals where you’d actually play your own shit. I’ve witnessed bandmates playing with pedals and effects, but I only know them by noise and observation. However!, most everything is made better with fuzz bass.
I had an electronic kit that was the dopest dope you’ve ever smoked. Tech was good enough 15yrs ago where the sensors could accurately detect dynamics and even rolls and programmable rim clicks. I predict that will be a purchase when I get my own apt + $ and excited to see how it’s progressed.
I have a lower end, high end electronic kit by Alesis. Looks like an actual kit rather than just pads. But the construction is iffy. The midi jacks keep coming loose and falling inside things. But it does sound great when it’s working.