Interview with Ah! Kosmos & Hainbach on their album Gentle Hum
An interview with Ah! Kosmos & Hainbach on their new album ‘Gentle Hum.’
Photo credit: © Camille Blake_1
The interview below discusses what non-musical instruments the artists used to make ‘Gentle Hum’ (old lab equipment, a Stanford Research Systems Analog Computer, and more!); how to maintain the unique, plush quality of music like this in the mixing process; what other art inspired this album, and the techniques used for the non-musical instruments.
Eimear O Sullivan, Musicngear: How did the idea of making an album using non-musical instruments come about?
Hainbach: I have long been working with using test and measurement equipment for music, and I have released two pure test equipment records (‘Impulsgenerator’ and ‘Landfill Totems’) a while back. Many of the most interesting pieces of scientific equipment made it into my studio permanently.
Ah! Kosmos is similarly interested in tearing up sounds into their tiniest frequencies and particles, so these are the instruments we often reached for in the process.
Ah! Kosmos: My interest in test equipment and lab devices comes from both my fascination with the history of electronic music, and I feel familiar with lab equipment because of my background in Chemical Engineering.
Musicngear: What were some of the non-musical instruments used?
Hainbach: For example, a bank of HP Dolphin Filters used in marine biology, or in the military to track Soviet divers. Or my wall of nuclear research equipment, used in particle accelerators.
Musicngear: Could you speak on some of the recording and processing techniques used for the non-musical instruments?
Hainbach: These things are meant to hunt for very small voltages in noisy environments. If you give them a music level signal, they explode in a beautiful wash of distortion. A small impulse is enough to yield you massive sounds.
Musicngear: 'In a Pattern Like a Shell' sounds so delicate, like a marble tinkling around a dollhouse made of glass. What musical and non-musical instruments were used for this?
Hainbach: I remember the Moog Muse for the main sparkling pattern, two Princeton Applied Research 189 filters (the exact test equipment version of the ARP 2500 multimode filter) into Stanford Research Systems Analog Computer for the twinkly percussion, and a Welson Synthex on bass.
But Ah! Kosmos has the receipts, as she actually properly names the channels compared to the chaos I create.
Musicngear: I really loved the mixing you did on this album Ah! Kosmos - could you speak on this process?
Ah! Kosmos: I would say that listening extensively and continuously revisiting the songs are at the core of my mixing, editing, and sound design process. I find it important to create some distance and return to the work in different environments, like listening while walking, cooking, or through very focused and attentive sessions.
For the plugins, I used a lot of EQ, Compression, Saturation and FX. To name a few: SPL, SSL, Kirchoff, FabFilter, Tone Projects, Slate plugins. And some interesting plugins from developers like Unplugred, Dillon Bastan.
Musicngear: Was there any other art that inspired you both while you were creating 'Gentle Hum'?
Ah! Kosmos: I had long conversations with the designer Maira Fragoso Peña. The intention was to create a distinct language for the entire process, from the singles to the evolving visual world of the artwork. She developed a derivation of letters for six songs.
In parallel, I was researching palimpsestic drawings and trying to translate some of their layered qualities into the post-production and sound design process.
Connect with Hainbach
Website / Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | X
Connect with Ah! Kosmos
Website / Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | X
About Eimear O Sullivan
Eimear Ann O Sullivan is a multi-genre music producer, audio engineer and vocalist. After receiving a Masters in Music Technology from the CIT Cork School of Music, she went on to operate as a producer under the name Blakkheart. Her releases have received critical acclaim from Ireland's biggest music publications, such as District Magazine and Nialler9, alongside receiving heavy commercial radio airplay. She currently works in Cork recording studio Flashpoint CC. Previous clients of hers include the likes of Comedy Central’s Dragony Aunt star Candy Warhol, rapper Darce and Outsider YP. (Photo credit @Fabian Boros)
Contact Eimear O Sullivan at eimear.o.sullivan@musicngear.com
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