Reggae & Rattlesnakes is a book about scientists from Leiden and their work. Urban anthropologist Rivke Jaffe contributes a study about Dudus Coke and his influence on daily life in Tivoli Gardens, Kingston (JA). Jaffe was working in Kingston earlier this year when things got very ugly. Reggae en Ratelslangen is presented today in Leiden, dutch edition only.
Runcome Sound is back! Featuring MC Papa Aya, the Soweto Lion, original roots & culture DJ and reggae ambassador, blessed with a voice as sweet as Gregory, but switching to ruffneck just as easily :) Aya will be joined by mad scientist and dub producer Tony Dubshot (a.k.a. Anton Banton) on selector duties and random noise making.
Here's some footage of an all night session in Bar & Boos in Leiden.
Papa Aya hotting up the vibe on a Mad Professor/Lee Perry tune
Judging from this Mr Vegas tune it must have been around 2003. Vegey was always one of the favorites, still is.
No Runcome session without a Frankie Paul tune and crucial oldskool ingredients like Toots and the Maytals, Delroy Wilson, Bob Marley
But these clips are from a long time ago. The new Runcome Sound is gonna be a very different thing. Not really dancehall, not really roots, not really dubstep but more like a one deck dub session, playing strictly Dubbhism productions, forward thinking and forward moving homegrown dub sounds, hosted by Aya and peppered with live fx.
Were kicking off in Leiden courtesy of the Keytown crew, playing at the LVC upstairs (zoldercafe) at the Glue Factory parties on
sat 23th oct RUNCOME DUB SESSION Full Moon edition ~ special guests Leah Rosier, Marcus Hillman & Ome Cor on melodica
sat 18th dec RUNCOME DUB SESSION presenting Tony Dubshot's album 'Dub Experryments' ~ special guests Leah Rosier & t.b.a.
For those who don't know the Leiden reggae scene: Papa Aya has been around promoting reggae music in Leiden ever since the early nineties. He's built an impressive cv working with or being a member of Shower Posse, Cool Sound, Poor Man Friend, The Vibe, Runcome Sound, Ancient Scriptures, Keytown Sound, Dubwise, Crucial Warrior and many more bands and sound systems. Tony Dubshot is running the Dubbhism netlabel and producing mainly his own dub music and sometimes doing remixes for the likes of Subatomic Sound, Mungos Hifi, Volfoniq, Process Rebel, Radikal Guru, Disrupt etc. He was also founding member of the original Runcome Sound.
By the way the Bar & Boos is no more, it had to close down a few months ago after almost 20 years of good vibes (think real estate & local politrixters).
Biographical movies about famous painters are always about pain. The suffering makes these visionary prophets of art more Jesus-like and sometimes it also deepens their work on an emotional level, but believe it or not.. even Bob Ross suffered!
Below is a list of painter biopics with a few movies about Andy Warhol's muses and even some conspiracy theories thrown in for good measure. Read more about painter biopics in articles by Matthew Collings and Peter Plagens. Here's a quote:
"What the comedian Denis Leary said about the depiction of Jim Morrison in the movie The Doors applies to many benighted central characters in movies about artists: I’m drunk, I’m nobody. I’m drunk, I’m famous. I’m drunk, I’m dead."
That same story is also told in movies like Basquiat, Modigliani and Pollock. But if you ask me Pollock is a better movie than Modigliani. Why? Because Pollock is about the man and his paintings, and it's not a melodramatic liquor-soaked fantasy in sepia tones (Modigliani) or yet another saturated high-contrast episode in the eternal battle of good vs. evil (El Greco, Goya's Ghosts).
If you watch lots of these movies you'll notice that the basic script of Van Gogh's story is also quite popular. It returns and there are echoes in Séraphine, Camille Claudel, Frida etc. The final part of this story is not the death of a famous artistic alcoholic but the recognition of an unknown talent and the ever-rising market value of all paintings that are left behind: I'm broke, I paint, I'm miserable, I'm dead, I'm famous, my paintings cost a fortune.
One more thing: why aren't there any comedies about painters, not like Vicky Cristina Barcelona but about real painters? Maybe it's because it would make them less Jesus-like (or Van Gogh-like). I think it's a shame that the Monty Python crew never tried their hand on the life of Theo 'always look on the square side of life' van Doesburg and De Stijl. It's not hard to imagine a dreamcast: Michael Palin as Van Doesburg, John Cleese as Piet Mondriaan (the Judas), Graham Chapman as Walter Gropius (the Big Man), Eric Idle in a double role as Johannes Itten (the Devil) and Mathieu Schoenmaekers (Jesus) and Terry Jones as Van Doesburgs's lovely piano-playing wife Nelly :-) Somebody get me Terry Gilliam on the phone!
pain rating
* this won't hurt a bit ** ouch!! *** this is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you **** perennial pain ***** the agony of christ
Andrei Rublev (1966) painter: Anatoly Solonitsyn as Andrei Rublev (1360s-1427) pain: mute (painter's block), state oppression, brutality painting: mannerism, icons biopic factor: hard to say for a medieval painter, but Tarkovski's poetry is a relief compared to Hollywood-style drama and fantasy quote: "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth before the difficult days come and the years draw nigh when thou shalt say 'I have no pleasure in them.'" rating: *****
The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) painter: Charlton Heston as Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) pain: workaholic, illness, deprivation, perfectionism, exhaustion, recluse painting: mannerism, technicolor, widescreen, Rex Harrison (Warrior Pope Julius II) outperforms Heston, who has too much false hair glued to his face biopic factor: quite realistic quote: "He will paint it or he will hang!" rating: ***
El Greco (2007) painter: Nick Ashdon as Domenikos Theotokopoulos a.k.a. El Greco (1541-1614) pain: homesick, lovesick, the Spanish Inquisition (art critics had not been invented yet) painting: mannerism, glistening shots of dramatically saturated blue, red and yellow pigments being mixed with oil biopic factor: overdramatized Hollywood-style fantasy and some awful acting as well quote: "What is it that turns men into saints? Pain? Torture? Injustice? Belief? Knowledge? Could my painting turn men into saints?" rating: *
Caravaggio (1986) painter: Nigel Terry and Dexter Fletcher as Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571—1610) pain: rebellious, violent temper, self-destructive, notorious troublemaker painting: baroque realism, master of clair-obscur (tenebrism), very dark, very red biopic factor: loose and poetic, deathbed memories in stream of consciousness style, anachronisms like an art critic in bathtub with typewriter quote: "In the wound the question is answered." rating: *****
Artemisia (1997) painter: Valentina Cervi as Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652) pain: male chauvinism, torture painting: baroque, ochre, sienna, the painting scenes are not as hot as the erotic scenes biopic factor: dramatized quote: "You're always painting saints by day and sinning by night." rating: ***
Rembrandt (1936) painter: Charles Laughton as Rembrandt van Rhijn (1606–1669) pain: severe financial troubles, sinful relationship painting: baroque, this one has not aged very well, theatrical acting biopic factor: not too bad quote: "I like the look of you, you've got the head of a tragic prophet." rating: ***
Rembrandt Fecit 1669 (1977) pain: money problems, scandalous relationship, ahead of his time painting: baroque, quite dark, ochres & siennas, has not aged very well, looks quite good but very stiff and theatrical acting biopic factor: not too bad quote: never mind rating: **
Goya's Ghosts (2006) painter: Stellan Skarsgård as Francisco Goya (1746-1828) pain: the Spanish Inquisition (art critics had not been invented yet) war, corruption, oppression, deafness painting: expressionist baroque, very dark, very red biopic factor: slightly overdramatized quote: "If I were tortured i'd confess to anything." rating: **
Lust for Life (1956) painter: Kirk Douglas as Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) pain: religious nut, workaholic, alcoholic, hallucinations, nightmares, insomnia, seizures, anxiety etc. painting: postimpressionist expressionism, begins dark, ends with more gold, bronze and copper, Anthony Quinn does a great Gauguin biopic factor: slightly overdramatized but this one has aged very well quote: "It's a coalmining region, the Borinage. There exists no more miserable people on the face of the earth than the miners who live there." rating: *****
Vincent & Theo (1990) painter: Tim Roth as Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) pain: religious nut, workaholic, alcoholic, hallucinations, nightmares, insomnia, seizures, anxiety etc. painting: postimpressionist expressionism, a-typical Altman movie, wry opening scene of an auction at Christie's but the prop paintings are ridiculously cheap, no Lust for Life heroism, bleak colors biopic factor: probably a more realistic reconstruction of the relationship between Vincent & Theo than Lust for Life, lots of Dutch actors for added authenticity quote: "You can't marry her because you have syphilis and you're the poorest man I've met in my entire life." rating: ****
Klimt (2006) painter: John Malkovich as Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) pain: weak nerves, syphilis, hallucinations painting: symbolism, jugendstil, gold everywhere, very good looking with a hint of kitsch, excellent costumes, interiors and soundtrack biopic factor: billed as a phantasmagoria rather than a biopic, too many dialogues are like little art history lessons quote: "Half the male population of this city is syphilitic." rating: ****
Edvard Munch (1974) painter: Geir Westby as Edvard Munch (1863–1944) pain: puritan protestantism, middle class blues, illness, weak nerves, alcoholism painting: expressionism, symbolism, darkness, the creation of several works is 'analyzed' thoroughly (even the sound of it) biopic factor: an art history lesson, half nightmare - half documentary, a bit as if Munch's story is told by a shrink quote: "I have such dreadful dreams" rating: ****
Moulin Rouge (1952) painter: José Ferrer as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) pain: badly deformed legs, hypertrophied genitals, alcoholism, syphilis, depression painting: post-impressionistic, art nouveau, colorist biopic factor: not too bad quote: "This calls for a drink." rating: ***
Séraphine (2008) painter: Yolande Moreau as Séraphine de Senlis (1864 – 1942) pain: religious nut, workaholic, weak nerves, hallucinations painting: fiercely naive, like Van Gogh painting sunflowers in Henri Rousseau style biopic factor: quite realistic quote:"I hardly go looking for work anymore. I paint. But it's very difficult." rating: *****
Surviving Picasso (1996) painter: Anthony Hopkins as Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) pain: anxiety about death (graveyards, scorpions, cruelty of nature) and an extra large ego painting: blue, pink, cubist etc. painting scenes are a bit bloodless biopic factor: quite realistic, wonderful meeting with Matisse quote: "To sleep with as many women as possible was fine. But to dance with them, that was immoral." rating: ***
Modigliani (2004) painter: Andy Garcia as Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) pain: slightly mad, alcoholic painting: 20th century post-impressionist expressionism, sepia tones, hilarious scene where Modigliani, Picasso and Utrillo paint submissions for a contest biopic factor: overdramatized Hollywood fantasy, but Andy Garcia is better than you'd expect quote: "Solo un bicchiere" rating: **
Carrington (1995) painter: Emma Thompson as Dora Carrington (1893–1932) pain: weak nerves, suicide painting: post-impressionist biopic factor: quite realistic quote: "Ah, semen! What is it about that ridiculous white secretion that pulls down the corners of an Englishman's mouth?" rating: **
Little Ashes (2008) painter: Robert Pattinson as Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) pain: slightly mad, hallucinations, narcissism painting: surrealism, dark umbers & siennas biopic factor: not bad but half the movie is about a speculative gay romance, Lorca and Buñuel are also main characters quote: "The unconscious mind arises like a beast within me." rating: ***
Frida (2002) painter: Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) pain: polio, physical decline after a traffic accident, severe pain, heartbreak painting style: naive surrealism biopic factor: quite realistic quote: "This corpse is still breathing. Try to get me there in one piece. " rating ****
Pollock (2000) painter: Ed Harris as Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) pain: slightly mad, alcoholic painting: abstract expressionism, watch Ed Harris paint lots of 'real' Pollocks biopic factor: quite realistic quote: "I'm traded in for Clyfford Still?" rating *****
Christmas Cottage (Thomas Kinkade's Home for Christmas) (2008) painter: Jared Padalecki as Thomas Kinkade (1958) pain: financial troubles, broken family painting: Christmas tree-style, Marcia Gay Harden (Lee Krasner in Pollock) as Kinkade's mother biopic factor: self-portrait quote: "In the end love is the brightest light of all." rating: *
Basquiat (1996) painter: Jeffrey Wright as Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) pain: weak nerves, white lines, paranoia, heroin overdose painting: neo-expressionist, colorist, very nice scenes of one man shows with lots of big paintings biopic factor: a bit melodramatic, all star cast, sometimes Jeffrey Wright moves a bit like a pantomime actor quote: "This is the true voice of the gutter." rating: ****
ALSO INTERESTING
Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003) painter: Colin Firth as Johannes Vermeer pain: perfectionism, financial problems, jealous wife painting: baroque, absolute mastery of light and space, almost every scene is in Vermeer's style biopic factor: hard to say, biographical details about Vermeer are very scarce, isn't really meant to be a biopic anyway quote: "You looked inside me!" rating: ***
Camille Claudel (1989) sculptor: Isabelle Adjani as Camille Claudel (1864–1943) sculpting: romantic pain: weak nerves, paranoia, schizophrenia biopic factor: quite good quote: "Don't forget, Paul, your sister is in prison with madwomen." rating: ****
FUR (2006) photographer: Nicole Kidman as Diane Arbus pain: weak nerves, depression picture style: Alice in Wonderland meets the freaks biopic factor: imaginairy portrait, melodramatic quote: "Most nights i have trouble sleeping" rating: *
I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) leading actress: Lili Taylor as Valerie Solanas, who advocated male gendercide and wrote a play that she wanted Andy Warhol to produce pain: weak nerves, paranoia, megalomania, men biopic factor: quite good quote: "Jesus Christ, now she's shot somebody." rating: ***
Factory girl (2006) leading actress: Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgwick, who was a model/actrice/aspiring painter in Andy Warhol's entourage pain: weird upper class upbringing, anorexic, weak nerves, drugs, alcohol biopic factor: very melodramatic quote: "They didn't cry. I had to cry for all of them." rating: **
"Yes I know that the slave masters are trying to bring down the African countries."
Surely Robert Mugabe would agree with that!! Here's Sizzla doing the same tune 'Live in Zimbabwe'..
A different kind of message is coming from Zimbabwean reggae artist Zuluman, who currently lives in Cologne, Germany. Careful! video contains shocking images of torture, police brutality etc.
One of the things that can be confusing about FM synthesis is the simple fact that each synth is different. The FM controls are never quite the same. For example, we’ve been talking about ratios in episode 2. You may remember that the ratio between the pitch of the ‘basic sound’ and the pitch of the ‘effect sound’ is extremely important in FM.
The ‘ratio’ control was originally introduced in the Yamaha DX-7, and synths based on the DX-7, like the Native Instruments FM8 usually also have a control called ‘ratio’ (as you could see in the video). But there are also many FM synths that don't have a ratio control. These designs only allow you to change the pitch of the ‘effect sound’ with ‘tuning’ controls (like the LinPlug Albino). This means that you must find your way using awkward half-note steps and ‘fine tuning’.
Why is this a bad thing?? Because it messes with one of the ‘golden rules’ of FM:
If the ratio between the basic sound and the effect sound is simple, you get pure and stable sounds. More complicated ratios produce more complicated, unstable sounds.
In the above video, which features the Adonis Pro, there's no ratio control. The controls for tuning the ‘throat’ sound and the ‘hands’ sound are divided in semitone steps (the long drop down menus). The good thing is that the octaves are indicated very clearly, but there’s no easy way to tell if your current setting is close to other kinds of simple ratios that help you navigate through FM synthesis. So now you’ll just have to trust your ears and try not to get lost.
Musicians who know a bit about music theory will be able to understand why moving up 3 semitones produces a raw and unstable sound, and why moving up 7 semitones produces a clear, stable sound. That’s because in this example, moving up to ‘7’ is the same thing as having a ratio of 3 (which is a very 'simple' ratio). But believe it or not: you are actually moving up a perfect fifth as well...
OK, so that's a ratio of 3, which is equal to 7 semitones or a ‘perfect fifth’. No wonder some people get confused. If you ask me there should be a law against FM synths that don’t have a ‘ratio’ control.
Another thing you’ll be able to notice in the Adonis Pro video is the little box to the right of the tuning controls that says Voice Structure. The current value in the box is (A+B)>C>D. These letters refer to ‘Wave A’ / ‘Wave D’ and the Voice Structure actually determines the role each ‘Wave’ gets to play.
A Wave (or sound, or oscillator) can be either ‘hands’ or ‘throat’. The Voice Structure determines how the sounds are connected, or routed. The physics engineer style terminology for this connection would be ‘algorithm’. We’ll just call it ‘combination’.
In the video example only Waves C and D are heard. The level of A and B is set to zero. And ‘C>D’ simply means C shakes D. Here’s a basic tactic you should really use if you want to keep things simple: set all unused ‘Waves’ or ‘Oscillators’ (or whatever they’re called on your synth of choice) to zero. Why? Otherwise B might be shaking C, and even A might be contributing something to the sound you’re hearing, and you might get confused...
The heart of an FM synth design are the possible combinations of ‘hand’ sounds and ‘throat’ sounds. There are roughly 3 different types of FM-capable synths
- classic analog synth designs like the LinPlug Albino, often a 2 oscillator design where one oscillator is ‘hardwired’ to shake the other oscillator, so there’s no need for the user to select a combination (a.k.a. ‘cross modulation’)
- DX-7 based designs like the Ableton Operator and the Adonis Pro, typically have 4 or 6 oscillators which can all be either ‘hand’ or ‘throat’ in a limited number of preset combinations called ‘algorithm’, ‘voice structure’ etc.
- matrix designs like the FM8, the Image-Line Sytrus or the LinPlug Octopus, where basically every oscillator can be connected ‘on the fly’ to any other oscillator in any way you want, no preset combinations needed
So how do you choose the FM synth that’s right for you?
If all you need is a broad palette of relatively static timbres, the 2 oscillator design could already be enough. Especially if you like to work fast, and also if you think of a synth sound as just a stage in a sound design process. Maybe you’ll load the FM timbre in a sampler or process it with certain effects. If you work like this a simple 2 oscillator type of FM might be exactly right for you.
If you want to get deeper into FM and design complex dynamic sounds you’ll need at least the 4 oscillator DX-7 style of FM. But there’s absolutely no need to go all the way. A matrix design with 8 oscillators like the LinPlug Octopus is simply too much.
It takes years of ear training to be able to tell what 5 or 6 oscillators are doing when they are all shaking each other in some complicated way. Increasing the number of oscillators to 8 is almost like taking it to the level of these freak chess players who are able to play fifty games simultaneously on their 8x8 chess matrix. Blindfolded actually, because at this level of sonic complexity visual clues don’t really help. Instead they have a tendency to distract or even make you hear things that aren’t really there.
Just the thought of that kind of mess can make you feel sick... in fact, playing around with FM synthesis can be a bit like sailing on an ocean of sound waves. There are two ways to navigate this ocean:
- you can simply take off on a little sonic journey, make up new destinations as you’re going along and take snapshots every now and then of interesting sounds you find along the way.
- or you may know more or less where you want to go; in this case you might try to ‘compute’ your way to a certain destination, just like a sailor might use charts, a compass and so on.
But whether you travel using maps, radar, gps, etc. or find your way intuitively using only the stars as a guide, there are always certain clues that are too obvious too ignore, just like every sailor knows that birds indicate that you’re close to land.
So again, here’s the one clue that’s too obvious and important to ignore in FM synthesis if you don't want to get seasick (see pt. 2)
If the ratio between the basic sound and the effect sound is simple, you get pure and stable sounds. More complicated ratios produce more complicated, unstable sounds.
The ISM studio offers a riddim production service for the discerning soundman who needs exclusive hi quality riddims. From ska to 21st century bashment riddims we can supply any type of style.
- electronic/computer riddims, analog finish - clear & heavy sound, maximum depth & attention to detail - hi quality masters in any digital format up to 24 bit/96 kHz
This is how it works: you tell us which riddim you want, in which style, key and tempo. Next we send a sketch for you to comment on. Then the track is finished. At a later stage we can mix in voices too but we don't handle contacts or arrange sessions with vocalists!
If you need riddims that are played by a live band we can direct you to the right people.
TONY DUBSHOT - OMEGA DUB
"weird & otherworldly harmonies ~ over 1500 downloads already" free download at split notes
THE BLACK EXORCIST
"fancy footwork ep ~ demented marco bernardi remix" buy at juno
buy at beatport buy at boomkat more storesDUB EXPERRYMENTS
"up to di time/timeless dub album"
in all digital stores in september
THE LEYDEN SCHOOL
"kiss of judas ~ almost gothic in a natural way"
out on dubbhism spring 2011
HIPPIES WITH WOOFERS
"a blast from the past ~ retrolofimiamibashment on steroids"
out on dubbhism fall 2010
MI GUN HI TEC LIKE WINDOWS XP
"the bass hooligans are back ~ it's musical murder ~ strictly hi tec"
out on dubbhism fall 2010
TONY DUBSHOT - STEP IT UP
"now here's where we start steppin ~ rescuing dance music from the blahs"
out on dubbhism fall 2010
VINTAGE DUBS VOL.1
"basslift edition ~ oldskool riddims with fat bottoms"
out on dubbhism fall 2010
VINTAGE DUBS VOL.2
"remix/redub edition ~ various artists kinda ting"
out on dubbhism fall/winter 2010
VINTAGE DUBS VOL.3
"gundown at the ism studio ~ oldskool instrumentals edition"
out on dubbhism winter 2010
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