corduroyinstitute

[corduroyinstitute]

October 17, 2020: Four years ago today, Corduroy Institute recorded a piece which would eventually become the closing track on our album Take the Train to Manchester—”You Always Loved Everything…”

https://corduroyinstitute.bandcamp.com/track/you-always-loved-everything

https://music.apple.com/us/album/you-always-loved-everything/1723644317?i=1723644332

https://open.spotify.com/track/5N4Wkeg3ATiXn7VrIjrAzP?si=3336105942d04e43

This was the third and final song of the Lost October Sessions, and it was also the second to be recorded on that date. Circa 10:45 PM, the duo performed a rhythmic layer involving the MC-707 and the Bass VI. S.A. Morin then recorded himself running the Bass VI through the EHX Superego Plus followed by some MC-707 finger drumming atop the latter half of the song. This was his first time creating percussion using this technique. We concluded the evening by doing a mixdown that faded from the original drums into S.A. Morin’s drums to create a dynamic shift over the course of the track.

The next day, following additional experimentation as a duo, S.A. Morin departed and W. Ruiz decided to do something he has never done in the context of Corduroy Institute: overdub and layer solo improvisations atop an extant recording. He made numerous passes on the V-Synth with several different patches, and then he used the Tascam DP-24SD Digital Portastudio to destructively edit down these layers into a wall of swirling orchestral sounds.

When S.A. Morin heard this, he was inspired to supplant his first Superego Plus performance. He then selected lyrics from among the dozens of stanzas W. Ruiz had crafted in 2020. Both members recorded vocals, with additional work over the next two days. At that point, we had essentially recorded the first song for an album which we did not even know we were on the path to making. Vocal reverb was added in November, and the final mix was completed in the summer of 2023.

"You Always Loved Everything..." not only concludes Take the Train to Manchester but it is also on Episode Four of the @afterglowechoplex podcast. We hope you take the time to enjoy the song within its original context along with its recontextualized position within a virtual mixtape of shoegaze-adjacent independent music.

https://linktr.ee/afterglowechoplex

[corduroyinstitute]

October 17, 2020: Four years ago today, Corduroy Institute recorded the instrumental that would eventually become “[A] Girl Named Philosophy.” This took place during the Lost October Sessions in which we temporarily decided to forego the random number generator concept which was propelling our Eight/Chance/Meetings album.

On that afternoon, W. Ruiz sampled S.A. Morin’s Bass VI into the Roland MC-707. This sound was manipulated via modest time stretching and situated on a drum rhythm. Then, we improvised by having S.A. Morin play a Bass VI bassline as W. Ruiz manipulated the aforementioned sample with reversals or fades, all atop the sparse drum backing of the MC-707 and the adjacent Korg Electribe ES-1.

Following this improvisation, additional melodic riffs on the Bass VI were sampled onto the MC-707. An overdub ensued as S.A. Morin triggered these samples on the MC-707 and W. Ruiz added live sound treatments via the unit's effects section. To this day, the track is notable in our discography for not employing any synthesizer sounds.

The song seemed likely to remain an instrumental until it was given vocals in March of 2022. These vocals, in turn, were embellished with live dub echo effects in July of 2023. Today, “[A] Girl Named Philosophy” appears as the second song on Take the Train to Manchester following the album’s instrumental title track.

https://corduroyinstitute.bandcamp.com/track/a-girl-named-philosophy

https://open.spotify.com/track/1FTl7a1HttInvjtjNNMR9U?si=5529422df3944559 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-girl-named-philosophy/1723644317?i=1723644319

[corduroyinstitute]

October 15, 2020: Four years ago today, Corduroy Institute recorded an instrumental that would become "They Don't Even Know." Our first in-person collaboration since February of that year, the occasion signaled the start of the Lost October Sessions.

When S.A. Morin arrived at the O' Higgins Laboratory of Recorded Sound, W. Ruiz had a complex array of drum machines—Elektron Digitakt, Roland MC-707, Korg Volca Beats—synchronized via MIDI and plugged into the Tascam DP-24SD Digital Portastudio. The first musical layer involved the drum machines playing in tandem as S.A. Morin added a circular bassline on the Bass VI.

For the song's melodic content, S.A. Morin relied on EHX Superego Plus pedal to guide his Bass VI into tremolo-rich tones reminiscent of a synth. W. Ruiz used the MC-707's pads to play a choir sound he crafted by layering built-in ROM tones from the unit atop his own custom samples.

After completing this cathartic improvisation, we knew we hadn't lost our ability to craft instant compositions. New musical work followed in the ensuing days and months, and over the years this piece faded from memory.

As we took stock of the material we had on hand in the summer of 2023, this instrumental emerged from obscurity to become a contender for the album we were devising. We returned to the multitracks to make subtractive edits which yielded more dynamic and spacious drums.

"They Don't Even Know" can now be found on the second half of our latest album, Take the Train to Manchester. Nestled in between two other abstract pieces, it adds a counterpoint to the album's many lyric-driven experimental pop songs.

https://corduroyinstitute.bandcamp.com/track/they-dont-even-know

https://music.apple.com/us/album/they-dont-even-know/1723644317?i=1723644325

https://open.spotify.com/track/1LGhO5uIix01ZQUtLjJ2At?si=ST65cK7RRtOH3NAY7BrPzA

[corduroyinstitute]

Friday, October 4, 2024: Tomorrow is Bandcamp Friday and today we would like to encourage you to support our experimental pop endeavors since the website shall waive their standard platform fees and pass all revenues directly to independent artists like ourselves.

The entire Corduroy Institute discography, along with select pieces of physical merchandise, is available at the following rates:

Cassettes are valued at 10 USD plus shipping

Compilations are valued at 10 USD

LPs are valued at 8 USD

Mini-LPs are valued at 5 USD

EPs are valued at 4 USD

Pins are valued at 4 USD plus shipping

Singles are valued at 1 USD

Your continued support for our non-profitable institution allows us to continue to pursue all aspects of sonic research.

[corduroyinstitute]

Wednesday, July 5, 2024: A session that began with the library music and beat tape concept from our recent conversations proceeds to subvert the very foundations of our compositional methodology. Our latest YouTube video document from that day illustrates an unforeseen move towards xenochrony, Frank Zappa's principle of juxtaposing unrelated recordings to form unexpected musical events.

On Corduroy 75, we had recorded—for the first time in our history—two wholly unrelated musical performances within the same project on the Tascam Portastudio 2488neo multitrack recorder. W. Ruiz first suggested adding overdubs to Jam 2, but S.A. Morin pivoted towards unifying our two improvisations. Each of us grabbed a few of the Tascam's faders and then we manually crossfaded from Jam 1 into Jam 2.

As the title of the video states, we instantly knew that "This is the vibe." Xenochrony's fundamental effect was to present us something completely unlike anything else in our catalog. The sound seemed to hint at something new, something we facetiously referred to as "our beats/prog album."

The power of the textural change we heard during the musical sweep indicated we had reached an aesthetic turning point. The next step was almost obvious: Undertake a third improvisation.

[corduroyinstitute]

Wednesday, July 5, 2024: On this date, Corduroy Institute recorded a second jam for Corduroy 75.

For the first time in our history, we consciously recorded a wholly unrelated musical experiment within the same project on our Tascam Portastudio 2488neo–and by extension, we subverted the core fundamentals of our methodology.

Unlike the majority of our pieces, Jam 2 employed no drum rhythm. Instead, the Elektron Digitakt drum computer provided only a looping melodic motif. W. Ruiz then held sustained notes on the Ensoniq EPS 16 Plus which allowed his atmospheric samples of the V-Synth to stretch out and layer atop S.A. Morin's Bass VI, itself effected by Boss DM-2w analog delay. Clocking in at just over two minutes, Jam 2 of Corduroy 75 would not be the last one of the evening. Far from it.

For now, however, we are pleased to announce that our second short-form musical experiment from July 5 is now available on YouTube. We have augmented our studio performance with archival camcorder footage recorded in the Los Angeles area on the night after the first Cruel World Festival in May of 2022. We hope you find the result to be compelling.

Further videos await.

[corduroyinstitute]

Wednesday, July 5, 2024: Corduroy Institute begins recording Corduroy 75. This session was motivated by the library music & beat tape idea which had been circulating in our recent conversations. This new underlying logic allowed us to subvert our foundational approach to recording. The process can be viewed on YouTube below:

Typically, Corduroy Institute records two consecutive improvisations: a layer of rhythm via the Bass VI and a drum machine followed by a layer of melodic content via a guitar and a synthesizer. This time, however, we simultaneously recorded the Bass VI, the Digitakt, and the EPS 16 Plus together in a single round of improvisation.

This meant the drums would stay constant,  almost like a metronome. The synthesizer would also try to focus on a few core chords, leading to far less exploration than usual. The Bass VI would have to be tasked with maintaining both groove and liveliness during the improvisation.

Furthermore, we kept our performance brief. Rather than aiming for a 3-5 minute pop song structure, we decided to play for just over 2 minutes. Following a brief rehearsal—itself an anomaly—we recorded our performance in front of two cameras. The take began well, but there were moments where the keyboard playing lost its way as it had never before been so constrained.

Following the improvisation, we listened to a playback of the music (abbreviated here for your convenience). We found bits of the performance usable, and soon we were about to muse on new directions for Corduroy 75. That conversation, however, will be revealed in a later video.

[corduroyinstitute]

Wednesday, July 5, 2024: A month ago today, Corduroy Institute recorded music for the first time more than a year. Recording began at 1:40 am, making this one of the most nocturnal sessions in our history.

Even after midnight, S.A. Morin had been tidying up the Bancroft Laboratory of Auditory Sciences while W. Ruiz revisited synth-like sounds he had designed on the Ensoniq EPS 16 Plus along with rhythms on the Elektron Digitakt. Many of the tones dated as far back as 2019 while most of his drum sequences were of a more recent vintage.

One such pattern, based off a handful of E-mu SP-1200 samples obtained from NTSC/PAL by The Daydream Sound, worked quite well with a synth patch whose name suggests it made in late 2022. The sonic possibilities of this combination attracted S.A. Morin into the recording space, and soon we created a new project file on the Tascam Portastudio 2488neo.

This session involved many firsts. Notably, we actively discussed the chord progression and rehearsed prior to recording our improvised performance. This might be the most pre-planned and coordinated musical effort we have ever done and, for your benefit, we are now sharing some of the footage online.

Additional information about Corduroy 75 is forthcoming. For now, we hope this information not only sheds light on our future but also reveals the extent to which all of our released world thus far has been reliant on pure intuition and improvisation from Corduroy Institute's sonic researchers.

[corduroyinstitute]

Thursday, July 4, 2024: A month ago today, Corduroy Institute convened at the Bancroft Laboratory of Auditory Sciences to record music for the first time since May of 2023. Both members had the day off, and there was a sense that something novel could emerge from the library music & beat tape idea which had been circulating in our recent conversations.

Before starting, however, there was a general need to tidy up the space. Knowing that we would need music to enliven the work, W. Ruiz brought his most recent musical discovery: Mother-of-Pearl Moon, the 2024 album by And Also The Trees.

S.A. Morin enjoyed the somber album's progression, but it was the second half of "Visions of a Stray" that caught his attention. The textures felt like something not too dissimilar from our extant musical inclinations and our future aspirations.

After the album was done, more work remained before music could be made. W. Ruiz had to do extensive cleaning, cabling, and reorganizing of the recording space in order to integrate the Digitakt into the studio so this Elektron drum computer could be used for its first session since March of 2022. He also set up cameras to capture any possible performances on video.

Only after midnight would we be able to begin a most unique recording session.

[corduroyinstitute]

In the last few years, life's circumstances have exposed the members of Corduroy Institute to various forms of music which exist to serve as incidental accompaniment for visual media or as background grooves for enhancing the ambiance of particular spaces.

Subconsciously, the raison d'etre of library records and beat tapes has become a talking point within our in-house assessments about our future directions in sound: What if, rather than pursuing a full three minute pop song, we instead aim to quickly devise a two minute instrumental that can temporarily set a definitive mood?

This approach could, perhaps, offer us an avenue for using our instruments and our abilities in a novel manner.

[corduroyinstitute]

Five years ago today, we released our second full-fledged studio album—The Gamut of Their Philosophy. Recorded between late May and July of 2019, we used our methodology of musical improvisation and literary cut-ups to craft an album containing eight lyrical pieces and one instrumental.

The album entailed numerous firsts. For instance, we obtained a vocal compressor that gave vocals a more impactful presence. In addition, it contains our first forays into using the acoustic guitar. We thus gave our work a new texture, explored mic'ing acoustic instruments, and discovered how it is fundamentally different from an electric guitar. Finally, during the sessions we recorded a plethora of songs and for the first time had to leave material out in order to achieve a more cohesive album. These pieces were saved for a release that came later in the year.

The post-release experience was also unique. Our first interview, courtesy of VenuxNadya, came in the wake of the record. We also made contact with a few of our heroes; some were intrigued, some not so much. Perhaps most importantly, the album's opener achieved a level of accessibility which we experimental pop artists always strived for. "Her Book of Poems" garnered spots in playlists and even some college radio airplay. KCRcollegeradio and Chillroseradionetwork have both played this unique gem from the catalog on their respective airwaves.

By Corduroy Institute’s own evaluation, the record constitutes our most cohesive release. Today, we invite you to revisit this cornerstone of our recording history. Stream the album or purchase it on Bandcamp to become enveloped by character studies formed through indeterminacy and chance.

https://corduroyinstitute.bandcamp.com/album/the-gamut-of-their-philosophy

[corduroyinstitute]

Friday, July 27, 2018: Six years ago today, Corduroy Institute recorded the seventh song in our discography, "Soft Light and Loneliness." For the first time, the song's cut-up lyrics shall be presented in full.

https://corduroyinstitute.bandcamp.com/track/soft-light-and-loneliness

https://open.spotify.com/track/2JSUCPSzgPBaI8oQetI8Cn

As per our institutional methodology, we first recorded two layers of improvised music on our Tascam 2488neo Portastudio. W. Ruiz used the Digitakt for drums and the Korg Volca FM as a synthesizer. S.A. Morin first used his Bass VI then moved to his Telecaster, itself conplemented by an effects chain focused on tremelo and fuzz.

After the musical performances, both members sat together down to create lyrics using cut-ups from the B. Davis Archive. Eventually we crafted four stanzas. After pasting them onto the journal, we proceeded to sing our words atop the instrumental. The narrative seems to present fragmented character sketches of two—or three?—individuals. As their relationship will only coalesce in each listener's own mind, we invite you to provide your own interpretation of this song's lyrical scenario.

Though a scratch mix was assembled on the Tascam that night, the song's final mix would not be completed until September of 2018. Corduroy Institute would, however, reconvene the next day to record the final song on our second EP.

[corduroyinstitute]

Corduroy Institute is pleased to reveal that our YouTube channel now features the second recorded instance of our application of the cut-up technique, all with the added bonus of a unique instrumental backing track.

https://youtu.be/FLwXYWyg3A0?si=IRINfUGJaE8NZg7_

Given the indeterminacy inherent in the methodology, the timelines involved in the cut-up technique can never be known in advance. Sometimes it can take an hour, sometimes it appears almost fully formed, and sometimes nothing is forthcoming. This particular stanza took over ten minutes to make.

To accompany this video, W. Ruiz turned to our multitracks archives for novel sounds that could provide a backing track. He found a pair of interesting elements from December of 2020: his V-Synth strings from "An Interpretation of Our Own Story" and his EPS 16 Plus performance from "You Bring the Sunshine, We Bring the Blackout."

[For reference, the complete songs are presented below]

https://corduroyinstitute.bandcamp.com/track/an-interpretation-of-our-own-story

https://corduroyinstitute.bandcamp.com/track/you-bring-the-sunshine-we-bring-the-blackout

These two tones were first combined to create a sparse ambient piece. A few days later, however, he mangled this music by inserting it within a modular patch inside of VCVRack 2. The outcome of this process was then slowed down, creating the unusual digital textures which create as the quasi-orchestal background music for our video.

We now invite you to view the full example of sound and vision on YouTube to see how our approach follows the lineage of David Bowie, William S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and Tristan Tzara as well. A final video recorded stanza awaits...

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Wednesday, June 26, 2024: Corduroy Institute captures the stanza-making process on video. We are pleased to reveal that since more than one stanza was crafted on that evening, tomorrow our YouTube page shall feature the second recorded instance of our application of the cut-up technique—and the third one will follow in the near future.

Follow us at https://youtube.com/@corduroyInstitute today.

[corduroyinstitute]

Wednesday, June 26, 2024: For the first time in Corduroy Institute's history, our stanza-making process was video recorded. We hope this document will illustrate the way in which cut-ups can come together to form the stanzas we sing in our experimental pop songs.

To capture the process, W. Ruiz had to first set up his camcorder at an angle that could properly display the words. Once this was ready, he began to reach into the B. Davis Archive for cut-ups. This video demonstrates how the different lines can be juxtaposed to elicit unique notions, all of which can expand or dissipate based on whichever new lines emerge.

The fascinating part of employing this methodology is the indeterminate timeline inherent in crafting stanzas from randomized cut-ups. Sometimes it can take an hour, sometimes it appears almost fully formed, and sometimes nothing is forthcoming. This particular stanza was completed in less than four minutes.

To accompany the video, W. Ruiz considered adding commentary atop some incidental music. He reached into the archives and found a preliminary mix of "Eclipse Over the Sierra," the closing track from Corduroy Institute's all-instrumental Chair No. 12 album. He slowed it down twice, trimmed it, and filtered it through Arturia's Tape MELLO-FI effect inside the video editing software. Note: No commentary was added once the music was in place.

Upon seeing the video, S.A. Morin remarked that "Eclipse Over the Sierra (SLOWED & REVERBED) feels magical. Highlights the lineage from Cluster to us."

We now invite you to view the full video on YouTube to see how our approach follows the lineage of David Bowie, William S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and Tristan Tzara as well.

[corduroyinstitute]

Corduroy Institute is pleased to announce that soon we will release a 3:49 video which documents how we created a stanza by juxtaposing cut-ups to evoke something which transcends the intent of the original texts. This video will be posted on our YouTube account @CorduroyInstitute

For now, we offer viewers this Reel which captures a fleeting moment from the video recording. In it, a pile of cut-ups from the B. Davis Archive comes into view of the camcorder for the only time in the video. We have added a special backing track which was made by taking the 3:49 video's unique song—itself a derivative work based on a Corduroy Institute piece—and mangling it inside VCVRack 2 before slowing down the results three times.

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We hope you enjoy this unique audiovisual offering. Perhaps it will convince you visit our YouTube channel once the full video is uploaded. If you do, subscribe to the channel so as to not miss this and future forays into our forms of experimental pop research.

https://youtube.com/@corduroyinstitute?si=zMf_iHq4VmTrtGHh

#CorduroyInstitute #eclipseoverthesierra #BDavisArchive #experimentalpop #dreampop #cutups #collage #lyrics #songwriting #stanza #lyricist #dada #analogcollage #cutuplyrics #cutumethod #VCVRack2 #recortes

[corduroyinstitute]

Monday, July 8, 2024: Earlier this week, Corduroy Institute posted a poll on Instagram Stories to determine whether our followers would be interested in seeing the process whereby cut-ups become stanzas.

The results of this poll proved to be surprisingly positive. As such, we are pleased to announce that soon we will share a video which documents one foray into how we craft the cut-up lyrics for our experimental pop project.

More news forthcoming.