[HN Gopher] Richard D. James aka Aphex Twin speaks to Tatsuya Ta...
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       Richard D. James aka Aphex Twin speaks to Tatsuya Takahashi (2017)
        
       Author : lelandfe
       Score  : 262 points
       Date   : 2026-01-08 21:17 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (web.archive.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (web.archive.org)
        
       | lelandfe wrote:
       | Context from the prior year:
       | https://pitchfork.com/news/69473-korg-announces-new-synthesi...
        
       | ChrisArchitect wrote:
       | No archive links please;
       | 
       | Source is available: https://warp.net/editorial/richard-d-james-
       | speaks-to-tatsuya...
        
         | lelandfe wrote:
         | That is not the source. In their housecleaning they removed
         | graphics and anchors from the interview, so I'm providing the
         | original.
        
           | ChrisArchitect wrote:
           | ah, weird
        
       | gnatman wrote:
       | He still works for Korg! Leads their R&D branch in Berlin.
        
         | enricozb wrote:
         | RDJ or Tatsuya Takahashi?
        
           | pan69 wrote:
           | > Tatsuya Takahashi is currently advisor for Korg and holds a
           | full-time position at Yadastar GmbH to work on technology
           | based projects.
           | 
           | It's in the lead in to the article.
        
             | enqk wrote:
             | It's also out of date, he leads Korg Berlin now
        
         | windowliker wrote:
         | Yup.
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsWpmrBN9gY
        
       | BLKNSLVR wrote:
       | The depth of knowledge of Richard James surprises me every time I
       | come across articles about him.
       | 
       | No wonder Aphex Twin's music stands out the way it does. He's
       | always a fair way ahead of the curve.
        
         | milleramp wrote:
         | Yes, not to long ago I was looking into the Easter egg in
         | Windowlicker, amazing. https://eeggs.com/items/34824.html
        
           | arcanemachiner wrote:
           | Wow, eeggs.com. Haven't thought about that site in years
           | (maybe even decades).
        
         | spacechild1 wrote:
         | He is indeed a very technical and nerdy person. For example, he
         | was an early adopter of the SuperCollider audio programming
         | language.
         | 
         | Fun trivia: he was trolling the SuperCollider mailing list
         | under the alias "eric hard jams" which is an anagram of Richard
         | [D.] James. Some of his messages were truely horrendous and he
         | got kicked out eventually. He is quite a character...
        
           | publicdebates wrote:
           | Was it confirmed that eric hard jams was actually him?
           | 
           | How strange it is that we so easily forgive bad behavior from
           | people we love.
        
             | _alaya wrote:
             | It's strange but common. I love the music of Miles Davis
             | and consider him a genius. I also give him a pretty poor
             | review in terms of his behavior as a human being.
             | 
             | People are complex.
        
               | coldtea wrote:
               | There's also that fact that Miles Davis doesn't get to
               | review our own behavior as human beings. He might not
               | have liked us as his audience either. His behavior is
               | publicized, and ours (whether it is) is not.
        
             | spacechild1 wrote:
             | It hasn't been confirmed 100% but I remember reading a post
             | by James McCartney (author of SuperCollider) himself, going
             | something like "Shut the fuck up, Richard!". Since they
             | both knew each other personally, I assume that JMC thought
             | that "eric hard jams" was indeed Richard James.
        
             | mft_ wrote:
             | It's not in vogue these days, but rather than forgiving, we
             | can compartmentalise and rationalise.
             | 
             | Being a bad person in one domain doesn't mean that someone
             | can't generate value in another.
        
               | Kreutzer wrote:
               | The genius label we bestow on a select few is often a
               | license to behave badly. I always enjoyed Richard's music
               | but never quite bought the stories told about him.
        
               | shimman wrote:
               | Why are you putting "value" above human decency? Maybe
               | you shouldn't be considered to generate any "value" if
               | you put misery on others, how can any "value" make up for
               | the direct suffering?
               | 
               | There are plenty people just the same, with the same
               | capabilities without the quality of being a tarpit of
               | suck.
        
               | publicdebates wrote:
               | Is there really a distinction? Isn't the altruistic
               | concept that we all have innate value also a statement of
               | _offering_ value, even by our mere existence?
               | 
               | I find it so odd that people overlook severe faults in
               | those whose other qualities they rather love and greatly
               | appreciate. It seems so unjust, yet it's universal.
        
               | bigyabai wrote:
               | A lot of James' discography is predicated on making other
               | people suffer. The album art is offputting, the track
               | listings are usually cluttered and useless, his music
               | videos are scary and confusing, random tracks are
               | designed to torture you (eg. _Ventolin_ ), and half of
               | his music is released under unrelated aliases.
               | 
               | If you're not familiar with Aphex Twin, it's hard to
               | understand that this hatred does nothing to inhibit his
               | success.
        
               | sneak wrote:
               | Just because art is challenging and unpredictable doesn't
               | mean it's interned to make you suffer.
               | 
               | Is Giger's art created to cause suffering? How about
               | Beksinski's paintings? The emotions they invoke are not
               | happiness or joy, but neither are they purely dread or
               | loathing.
               | 
               | Aesthetic pursuit isn't solely (or even primarily) about
               | the emotions it conjures in the consumer.
               | 
               | Remember: the customer is always right in matters of
               | taste.
        
               | spacechild1 wrote:
               | What? Just because an artist makes artworks that some
               | people find challenging does not mean that they hate
               | their audience or want to make them suffer.
               | 
               | Also, what you personally find offputting, other people
               | may enjoy. For example, I don't find 'Ventolin'
               | particularly challenging to listen to.
        
               | gopher_space wrote:
               | Hofstadter's GEB is challenging. Francis Bacon's Popes
               | are disturbing. Aphex Twin is irritating. None of these
               | people hate their audience and they're all pushing
               | boundaries.
               | 
               | Andy Kaufman was challenging, disturbing, and irritating
               | in equal measure and he _did_ hate his audience.
        
               | coldtea wrote:
               | > _Why are you putting "value" above human decency?_
               | 
               | Because human decency is often overrated and hard usable
               | value is often underrated.
               | 
               | If we removed the value (changes, inventions, artworks,
               | products, etc) made by people which were lacking in
               | "human decency" in this or that aspect, billions would be
               | poorer, sicker, die sooner, and have much worse cultures.
               | 
               | > _There are plenty people just the same, with the same
               | capabilities without the quality of being a tarpit of
               | suck._
               | 
               | Understanding is a great component of human decency too,
               | as is not being a sanctimonious hollier-than-thou type.
               | For example, not labelling someone who "wrote something
               | mean in a forum" as "a tarpit of suck", as if that
               | defines them totally, or as if the persons making such
               | statements shit doesn't smell.
               | 
               | Plus "plenty people just the same, with the same
               | capabilities", really? As if the output of an artist is
               | interchangeable with that of another, so that we can just
               | discard those that have done such grave offenses as
               | "being rude on a forum" and just listen to another?
        
               | topocite wrote:
               | I know I have made many mistakes in my life, especially
               | as a dumb kid.
               | 
               | We can't all be on your level of moral perfection.
        
               | hamburglar wrote:
               | You guys are doing a lot of hand-wringing over what was
               | likely just tongue-in-cheek trolling among people who
               | considered each other friends. I could easily see
               | creating a thinly veiled persona to do some annoyance of
               | a close friend and call them an ass-licker in my early
               | days. It's a form of affection.
        
             | esperent wrote:
             | I mean, I haven't even seen any of the messages. Just a one
             | sentence accusation and no proof that it was actually him.
             | Jumping to the decision that there's anything to forgive
             | would be weird based on this.
             | 
             | Even if it was true, who cares? I like the guy's music,
             | it's had a strong influence on me at various times in my
             | life. But I have never had a strong opinion of whether I
             | like _him_ , and I still don't. Why would I?
        
             | bondarchuk wrote:
             | > _Was it confirmed that eric hard jams was actually him?_
             | 
             | Nope. By then RDJ (the actual person) was of course known
             | for using anagrams so it would be an obvious thing to do
             | for any troll.
        
             | coldtea wrote:
             | > _How strange it is that we so easily forgive bad behavior
             | from people we love._
             | 
             | That's part of what loving someone means. It's easy to love
             | someone convenient who never does anything to bother or
             | hurt you.
             | 
             | Besides, he was trolling. It's not like it's a big deal. If
             | you were on a mailing list or usenet group or forum in the
             | 80s and 90s everybody did that, and few if any had an issue
             | with it, we could take it!
             | 
             | We not only forgive but tolerate 100000x worse stuff
             | everyday that directly fucks our lives that we could
             | prioritize not tolerating.
        
             | runjake wrote:
             | If you look in the right places, you'll find some meetup
             | photos that essentially confirm it.
        
             | spacechild1 wrote:
             | He (presumably) trolled a mailing list for a short period
             | of time in the early 2000s. If that's the worst thing he's
             | done, there's not much to forgive.
        
           | brcmthrowaway wrote:
           | Has anyone used SuperCollider or computer music framework to
           | make anything resembling a pop song?
           | 
           | Look at how easily a producer can make a pop song in Ableton
           | https://youtube.com/watch?v=F5CPQ8LU36w
        
             | spacechild1 wrote:
             | SuperCollider would be the wrong tool for the job.
        
             | _annum wrote:
             | Why would anyone use SuperCollider or a computer music
             | framework to make something resembling a pop song?
        
             | bigyabai wrote:
             | Ableton includes a fairly comprehensive SDK called Max for
             | Live, it's been used in a handful of popular tracks before.
             | 
             | Pure algomusic/tracker setups are usually a poor fit for
             | pop music, though. DAWs have indispensable tools for vocal
             | processing that you cannot forego most of the time.
        
             | bondarchuk wrote:
             | Yeah BT lol.
        
             | topocite wrote:
             | Ableton is like the modern day guitar.
             | 
             | SuperCollider and music programming languages are like the
             | modern day bass clarinet.
             | 
             | There isn't much bass clarinet in modern pop music either.
             | Part of what defines pop music is the familiarity of the
             | sound and popular expectation of what music is supposed to
             | be.
        
           | Mistletoe wrote:
           | Can you link to the horrendous messages or summarize them?
        
             | ideasphere wrote:
             | "Ooh look, a girl on the sc list. Let's rape her"
        
             | bondarchuk wrote:
             | http://www.audiosynth.com/files/sc-users-archive/v01.n223
             | 
             | http://www.audiosynth.com/files/sc-users-archive/v01.n224
             | 
             | http://www.audiosynth.com/files/sc-users-archive/v01.n225
             | 
             | http://www.audiosynth.com/files/sc-users-archive/v01.n226
             | 
             | http://www.audiosynth.com/files/sc-users-archive/v01.n227
             | 
             | (note I am not personally claiming this is RDJ)
        
           | spacechild1 wrote:
           | I should clarify that it hasn't been 100% confirmed that
           | "eric_hard_jams" was really him, but many people on the list
           | thought so, including James McCartney himself:
           | Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 22:20:06 -0600       From: James
           | McCartney <---@---.--->       Subject: Re: [ OT ]very low
           | signal to noise ratio .              on 1/17/01 9:18 PM,
           | eric_hard_jams at eric_hard_jams@btinternet.com wrote:
           | >        >> ok boss. i'm really sorry. back to normal now.
           | much better.       >> my apologies.       >>        > ass
           | licker.       >             shut the F up already, richard.
           | 
           | https://www.audiosynth.com/files/sc-users-archive/v01.n226
           | 
           | JMC and RDJ know each personally and hung out together.
           | Here's a picture of the two together: https://www.reddit.com/
           | r/aphextwin/comments/6oheli/screen_ra...
        
             | runjake wrote:
             | It's worth little coming from some random HN guy, but I can
             | confirm eric_hard_jams was Richard D James. We used to hang
             | around similar circles online, and there were a couple
             | meetups. There were a bunch of other Rephlex and Rephlex-
             | adjacent musicians using pseudonyms, as well.
             | 
             | Richard was sort of annoying at times, in the way someone
             | on the spectrum can be. A bit of a troll with poor timing,
             | and poor social skills, but a good, kind lad who spent his
             | time doing things completely orthogonal to anyone else and
             | that made him quite interesting.
             | 
             | I lost touch with him in around 2000-2001. He kinda went
             | dark in those circles. I don't know what he's up to these
             | days, probably raising a family like me.
        
               | bondarchuk wrote:
               | Sure thing, Jake
        
               | runjake wrote:
               | Funny useless trivia: Jake is not my actual name. It's
               | from a movie. :-P
        
               | spacechild1 wrote:
               | That's interesting!
               | 
               | There is also this email from Tue, 16 Jan 2001 19:02:12
               | +0000 in https://www.audiosynth.com/files/sc-users-
               | archive/v01.n225 where he is clearly talking as Aphex
               | Twin. He _might_ be just an impersonator, but given that
               | he speaks directly to James and James calls him Richard
               | has me pretty convinced that it 's actually him.
        
             | roughly wrote:
             | That audiosynth link is a fine thread for anyone lamenting
             | the loss of civility on the modern internet.
        
           | MomsAVoxell wrote:
           | This is probably the best thing I've ever read on Hacker News
           | .. seriously, honestly.
           | 
           | I mean, wtf, the mailing lists are astonishing if you think
           | about them .. like, how UUCP and mailman and qmail/sendmail
           | used to be all you need to get access to the archives ...
        
             | spacechild1 wrote:
             | The fact that we can still access and search these archives
             | 20-30 years later is really amazing. It gives you a glimpse
             | into a different time period. That's why mailing lists and
             | forums are so important! Fortunately, SuperCollider still
             | has a quite active forum (https://scsynth.org/). It makes
             | me sad that so much communication has moved to proprietory
             | platforms like FB groups or Discord servers, most of which
             | will be forever lost in time.
        
         | tea_cult_1 wrote:
         | A different opinion about their music is that it all seems
         | rather ostentatious in an aural sense, and leaves a doubt if
         | some of the praise being heaped on it is 'perfomative'.
        
           | gilleain wrote:
           | Uhm. If I understand correctly, you are saying that some
           | people are pretending to like his music because it is over
           | the top and showy rather than actually good or enjoyable?
           | 
           | While it is possible these fake enjoyers exist, I'm fairly
           | certain a lot of fans of Mr Twin's work like it in a
           | straightforward sense of most music appreciation.
           | 
           | Personally, 'Vordhosbn', 'Windowlicker', 'Rhubarb'... etc are
           | all great tracks. Are there some that I don't get on with?
           | Sure, of course. However I can speak for myself when saying
           | I'm not listening to the music performatively. At least, not
           | much!
        
             | colordrops wrote:
             | I'm an example, in fact I've loved his music since the 90s
             | and never played it for friends because I always assumed
             | they wouldn't like it. And I'm definitely not being
             | performative for myself. It was a bit surprising to me that
             | his music became kind of legendary recently.
        
             | lomase wrote:
             | Even some AFX fans have the opinion that the stuff on
             | Drukqs is "style over substance".
        
               | devin wrote:
               | About as powerful a quote as "Even some Beatles fans
               | think X album is 'style over substance'."
               | 
               | Who cares? Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to crank up
               | Vordhobsn and write some code.
        
               | mprev wrote:
               | To be fair, he was kinda forced to release it following a
               | leak, wasn't he?
        
             | flyinglizard wrote:
             | We need to put his music in the right historical context.
             | In the time his early works were released he was truly
             | different. I don't _like_ his music, but I appreciate it,
             | artistically. I like his art, I guess.
        
               | gilleain wrote:
               | I believe you, but is that not a strange position to take
               | on music? Appreciating it artistically, but not liking
               | listening to it?
               | 
               | Am I right in saying you like the _idea_ behind the music
               | rather than the music itself? That's almost as strange to
               | me as people who do not listen to music at all - it's
               | fine, of course! They are your ears, and you can do what
               | you like with them :)
               | 
               |  _shrug_ Different people are different, I suppose.
        
               | scsh wrote:
               | No it's not strange. As someone who enjoys playing music
               | I have heard a lot of music that doesn't suite my
               | particular tastes, but appreciated the artistic talent of
               | the people creating it because I truly believe they are
               | talented. If you dig below the surface level you can find
               | plenty to appreciate about how something is created, even
               | if the product isn't for you.
               | 
               | You can find something to like about a lot of things. I
               | also enjoy watching videos about wristwatch repairs and
               | seeing the construction of them. However, I do not want
               | one and would never wear one.
        
           | poisonarena wrote:
           | Agreed, been this way for 30 years, and significant amount of
           | effort by him and warp have been adding to cult of his
           | mystique(actually many electronic music artists in the
           | 90s/early 2000s). He is one of the last popular electronic
           | musicians younger generations of "#DAWLESS" guys like now
           | because he kept up that mystique which is basically
           | impossible to have now in the current social media era.
           | 
           | I remember buying some of his tapes and cd's from Amoeba
           | music in 1999 and the feeling they gave me. I often wonder
           | what its like to been born in 2010 and never experiencing
           | this.
        
             | maccard wrote:
             | > I often wonder what its like to been born in 2010 and
             | never experiencing this.
             | 
             | It's always amusing to see these cycles continue. If his
             | music is indeed as good as you claim it will still be
             | listened to - just as so much of the best music of the last
             | 75 years is. People have been lamenting the loss of the
             | thing they felt was their transformative experince, and
             | each generation keeps finding a new generation defining
             | experience
        
               | poisonarena wrote:
               | Thats actually not what I meant. I meant the experience
               | of owning music on cd's/records/tapes. This cant really
               | be experienced anymore since every song ever released can
               | be immediately streamed. Sure you can buy vinyl or cd's
               | at shows but it isnt the same because back then it was
               | radio or buy/own the stuff
               | 
               | And my other point was how lots of electronic musicians
               | seemed so distant and mysterious because they weren't
               | livestreaming and and social media that made them/their
               | personality/tweets etc available.
               | 
               | as for AFX, I think like one in 15 of his songs are
               | amazing, the rest is just noise/filler
        
               | luqtas wrote:
               | your generation never experienced putting your hands, as
               | a kid, into a thin block of metal that can play all the
               | movies and music and books ever produced (or most)
               | 
               | i installed a pirated copy of Windows XP through floppy
               | disks and i had a CD walkman. i was still a teen when i
               | got a ipod touch 2gen. the latter was much more magical
               | to me. sometimes i stare at my android phone with the
               | screen locked thinking how impressive the tech is. termux
               | x11 can go a long way. i don't wear rose tinted glasses
               | even though my childhood was a freaking blast
        
           | alisonatwork wrote:
           | Eh, Aphex fans and IDM more broadly has always been
           | pretentious AF. I think there's a kayfabe effect going on
           | where both the artists and the fans lean so far into the
           | earnestness of it all that it surely has to be somewhat
           | tongue-in-cheek. I suspect that's part of the appeal for some
           | folks, the delight in being obtuse.
           | 
           | It doesn't bother me too much. Many indie scenes have this
           | sort of self-consciously avant garde sub-movement - theater,
           | dance, fashion, games...
           | 
           | While I find 99% of braindance to be aggressively
           | unlistenable and/or thoroughly tedious, the 1% that isn't
           | tends to be truly great. Imo the best thing that ever
           | happened to this genre was digital record stores, because
           | casual fans can skip over all the limited edition vinyls and
           | albums full of abstract noodling and just pick up the
           | bangers.
        
           | bondarchuk wrote:
           | "I don't like it, therefore everyone else who likes it must
           | be only pretending"
        
           | topocite wrote:
           | People would say the same thing about Glass or Reich. People
           | would say the same thing about Messiaen or Ligeti. People
           | would say the same thing about Schoenberg or Webern.
           | 
           | If your expectation of good food is In-N-Out Burger, you
           | might think praise of a three star Michelin restaurant is
           | performative too.
           | 
           | I am not even much a fan of Richard but he is absolutely one
           | of the greatest musical geniuses of the past 50 years bar
           | none.
           | 
           | Avril 14th is my favorite. Clearly Satie influenced but maybe
           | even a little sweeter than Satie
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxTdTaNIUxo
           | 
           | Also consider Satie himself is exactly the type of musician
           | people would have said praising is performative at the time.
           | He wasn't taken seriously as a real musician much at all in
           | his life.
        
             | gilleain wrote:
             | I love 'Avril 14th', I had not connected it before to Satie
             | (who I've only just heard of, my poor musical background
             | knowledge). I see the similarities in the balance of
             | sweetness and dissonance (I suppose).
             | 
             | A friend told me a story about Satie, that they found two
             | pianos in his appartement, one stacked on the other, with
             | unpaid bills tossed on the top. Seems very RDJ-like (or
             | v.v.).
        
           | Lio wrote:
           | > _their_ music
           | 
           | Richard _and_ James Aphex; the Aphex twins. :P
           | 
           | > _leaves a doubt if some of the praise being heaped on it is
           | 'perfomative'._
           | 
           | This sounds rather like someone that doesn't like art in
           | general complaining about those that do. I've heard many
           | people complain about "modern art" in the same way.
           | 
           | I think it's a valid enough opinion but I still like Aphex
           | Twin's music for the same reasons I like Eno's.
        
         | isoprophlex wrote:
         | > It's very simple, but do you want your music to be based on
         | an international standard or on what you think sounds right to
         | you? [...] I'm very glad I trusted my instincts. Listening to
         | that other voice is THE most important thing in creativity,
         | whether you're an engineer or a musician.
         | 
         | To me, RDJs music always stood out as having uncanny, unique
         | melodies and harmonies. As a teenager I fantasized about him
         | being some sort of benevolent alien music shaman, beaming
         | melodies onto our planet.
         | 
         | Stuff on SAW II where you can't figure out if you're hearing
         | single notes or mutating chords and everything is near-
         | synaesthetic bliss. The wistful otherness of 'Italic Eyeball'.
         | Whatever 'fingerbib', ICBYD, and things on Melodies from Mars
         | are doing was very formative to my 16 year old brain.
         | 
         | It's clear that whatever he does, he channels some unique
         | creative juices.
        
           | Xmd5a wrote:
           | I knew it
        
           | eth0up wrote:
           | >>>As a teenager I fantasized about him being some sort of
           | benevolent alien music shaman, beaming melodies onto our
           | planet.
           | 
           | Fantasized? Facts are facts but I admire your humility.
           | 
           | From my phone to Desktop to remote NUCs, his noises pervade
           | them all. And indelibly in my mind.
           | 
           | I think there's still a strong case that he ain't human.
        
       | flippyhead wrote:
       | I really enjoyed this explanation of just how amazing RDJ is:
       | https://youtu.be/5wIOBBodoic?si=HkR05lAGkSiPZVmS
        
       | zahlman wrote:
       | (2017) appears to be the earliest archive snapshot.
        
         | lelandfe wrote:
         | Yeah, I didn't link the first archive as the Soundcloud
         | playlist fully doesn't load. This one doesn't play, but at
         | least the names are searchable.
        
       | publicdebates wrote:
       | Tangential:
       | 
       | "Aisatsana - Aphex Twin - Barbican, London 10th October 2012.
       | It's a bit dark so it's probably difficult to tell but that's a
       | grand piano being swung back and forth across the stage like a
       | pendulum."
       | 
       | "Yeah, it's written for my wife. When I first did that, I did
       | this installation-y art thing at the Barbican with a remote
       | orchestra. [The song] was made on my Disklavier [controlled
       | piano], which was swung from the roof at that gig, and there was
       | this massive Doppler effect. It is pretty mental. There's a bad
       | cameraphone version of it on YouTube, but in the flesh it's
       | fucking amazing. To listen to this piano swinging, you almost see
       | all the notes stretching out, so it'll hit you at different
       | times. I never knew if it was going to work or not, and everyone
       | was like, "What the fuck is he swinging a piano for?" But when we
       | actually got it going, we were just like, "fucking hell." It was
       | so extreme. My friends were like, "Are the strings stretching?"
       | The pitch deviation is that big, it sounds like the actual frame
       | is contorting. Maybe it is, I don't know!" - Richard D. James
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJHsT8kEyzs
        
         | jacquesm wrote:
         | I know the year has just started but I vote this comment of the
         | year 2026. Wow. Thank you. Seriously. Of all the things you
         | could do with a piano this has to be the most crazy, and it
         | just works.
        
           | publicdebates wrote:
           | I reluctantly decline and instead endorse
           | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538574
        
             | jacquesm wrote:
             | There's no debating about taste ;)
        
           | defrost wrote:
           | Goes a few steps past threading metal nuts that move on grand
           | piano strings, that's for ure.
        
         | tnias23 wrote:
         | I thought he was just bullshitting again until I watched that
         | video
        
           | jacquesm wrote:
           | Pure genius.
           | 
           | Now of course we have to know what the rotary speaker
           | equivalent of a grand piano sounds like... anybody have a
           | couple of very large bearings lying around?
        
         | Rendello wrote:
         | Aisatsana, the final track on Syro. For Syro fans, there's a
         | song called "end E2" that didn't make the cut, presumably it
         | would've been the last song.
         | 
         | > Missing track from Syro, didn't make it for technical and
         | personal reasons.
         | 
         | https://soundcloud.com/user21041984001/syro-013-aphex-twin-e...
        
         | 2b3a51 wrote:
         | Stage is quite wide so doppler shift could be in the semi-tones
         | range depending on microphone placement. Estimating the shift
         | at around 3% from that video. The piano is standing on a
         | platform that is itself on the hoist so I'd be surprised if
         | there was much frame bending.
        
         | TheOtherHobbes wrote:
         | Academic electroacoustic music uses large speaker arrays to
         | place sounds in different locations, and "flying pianos" is a
         | standard in-joke. Because you can indeed make a piano sound fly
         | around the room, with or without doppler effects, to taste.
         | 
         | Also, this.
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbnb09xAQR8
        
       | geraldmcboing wrote:
       | This is also a great deep wide-ranging interview/conversation c
       | SYRO release
       | 
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20141111015756/http://noyzelab.b...
       | 
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20141112205122/https://noyzelab....
        
       | sailfast wrote:
       | Programming synths with Scala sounds pretty fun!
        
         | emptybits wrote:
         | And before the wrong Scala crowd gets too excited, the Scala
         | referred to is the musical tuning software from 1985
         | 
         | https://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/
         | 
         | (Not the programming language from 2004.)
        
       | njoyablpnting wrote:
       | Here's a plugin that he commissioned that you can play with:
       | https://gitlab.com/then-try-this/samplebrain
       | 
       | It's hard to overstate the influence RDJ has had on modern music.
       | Maybe even more impressive than his ability to develop multiple
       | compelling distinct styles is the way he has taken existing
       | niches, completely mastered them and then pushed the boundaries
       | all over again.
        
       | jghn wrote:
       | I remember once hearing an interview with cEvin Key where he
       | described Dwayne Goettel as someone who would have probably
       | turned out to be Aphex Twin had he not died, given the era of it
       | all. And that made me take another look at Aphex twin, and
       | appreciate his work.
        
       | rballpug wrote:
       | Placeable.
       | 
       | > _I've since gone on to learn more about this damn 440 Hz._
        
       | SolubleSnake wrote:
       | I love Aphex Twin but my only issue is he keeps saying in
       | interviews how he hates surfers?!
       | 
       | Being a proud Cornish surfer and one of his earlier fans this
       | saddens me. We were his first fans!
       | 
       | There used to be raves in Cornwall like the one in cult UK
       | surfing classic 'Blue Juice'. They were 'lush' (i've noticed
       | Aphex regularly says 'lush' too so is clearly from a surfer-
       | adjacent group of friends and maybe he's just p1ssing about).
        
         | 12ian34 wrote:
         | he is known for speaking all sorts of bs in interviews just for
         | his own amusement, so I wouldn't take it personally :)
        
       | chungus wrote:
       | Very nice read thank you. Still remember very clearly putting the
       | Richard D James album CD into my Sony disc man for the very first
       | time 22 years ago
        
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