Peace Pieces

by Robert Willey (1993).

Hardware:

• Macintosh SE computer
• Roland Sound Canvas module
• Yamaha KX76 keyboard controller
• Korg Wavestation synthesizer
• Mackie 1602 mixer
• Lexicon LXP-1 reverb
• Panasonic SV-3700 DAT recorder

Software:

• Studio Vision (Opcode)
• Intelligent Music UpBeat (David Zicarelli)
• Programmable Instruments (Robert Willey)

The sounds and processes had a big effect on the musical ideas, textures, and forms. UpBeat was a cool program that was used on half the album's songs. It allowed the user to set boundaries on random events that varied the notes you played, creating variations in drum pitch patterns. I think the fun of working in this environment comes through in the recordings. The era ended when my Macintosh SE's screen finally gave out, since UpBeat was not compatible with new versions of Apple's operating systems. The other important piece of software, Studio Vision also went by the wayside with the demise of Opcode. It had easy-to-construct subsequences that could be linked together, resulting in clear jumps from one texture to another. The computer went out in the trash one day, like my IBM PC-XT did, the one I wrote the first programmable instrument programs on with Rick Bidlack.

Apple Macintosh SE computer

Yamaha KX76 controller

Korg Wavestation keyboard

Mackie mixer

Roland Sound Canvas tone module

Lexicon reverb