Category: Uncategorized

  • A Consequence Of Distance

    New Cutlasses album A Consequence of Distance releases today! Last December, I put up an open request for artists on Twitter to collaborate on a project inspired by the parlour game Consequences. I created an initial set of sounds using acoustic instruments processed through a palette of DIY effects that I have made. I then sent these to the artists, who worked with them and sent them back, iterating like this until we had finished a piece of music. Today you can finally hear the results!

    Available on Bandcamp https://cutlasses.bandcamp.com/album/a-consequence-of-distance as a digital download, or on the physical format making its big comeback, CD! Housed in a lovely hand-assembled laser cut case. All profits donated to charities to help arts venues struggling post Covid and fighting Climate Change. If you buy today, Bandcamp are donating their share to NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a racial justice organization, so even if this isn’t your cup of tea, why not buy some other music today, so you can help the artists much more effectively than streaming, and contribute to achieving racial justice!

  • Spirit of Gravity

    Spirit of Gravity is Brighton’s longest running (and best) night for experimental music. I was honoured to return, this time with a streamed performance. I can’t wait until I’m able to attend SoG again as a punter when Covid restrictions relax.

     

  • Sands

    I’ve been working on an STM32 granular processor on and off for about a year now. It’s called Sands, and if you follow my instagram you’ve probably seen some of its development.

     

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    A post shared by Scott Pitkethly (@cutlassesmusic)

    I’ve managed to get the hardware working (based around an STM32f446 with a WM8731 audio codec), but I’ve hit a bit of a brick wall with it sonically. Everything is working as expected, but I’m not as excited by the sound as I am with my Glitch Delay, which I use on pretty much everything!

    I had an idea to port the firmware to VCV Rack, so I could easily try it with lots of different modules (with one or 2 exceptions, I only really own modules I’ve built myself). Here is a very simple example (ironically I do own Rings and a Turing Machine).

    If anyone interested in granular wants to try Sands on VCV Rack (Mac only currently), then email me. I’m keen to get feedback, and suggestions, or even see it working in a patch you’ve made.

     

  • New EP

    My new EP, “The Days That Remain And Those That Follow” is available now! This EP was recorded in the first half of 2020 and reflects at a macroscopic scale, on the insanely tumultuous events of the year, but on a more personal level it echoes the anxiety and joy of impending parenthood.

    The somewhat immovable deadline of my son’s birth provided a power motivator to finish the tracks, even though he arrived slightly before the tracks were totally completed. The pieces were created using my DIY instruments and effects, starting off as live improvisations, and slowly polished into finished pieces.

    I plan to do some track breakdowns, to dig into how these were put together. Check back in the following days.

  • RadioDrum

    Recently, I’ve been working on a new firmware for the RadioMusic by MusicThing Modular.  I wanted to get some drums into my case using as little HP as possible, so came up with this. The drum patterns are stored as text files on the SD card. Currently it only supports one pattern, going to be working on multiple patterns next. Some of the samples were recorded from a vintage adding machine I found. You can use your own samples, but they have to be compiled into the hex executable file. You can find the source code on my GitHub https://github.com/cutlasses/RadioDrum if you want to check it out.

     

  • New workshop incoming

    I’m going to be doing another workshop on using the Teensy to work with digital audio. Come along and build and program circuits, and make some NOISE. It’s at the Sonics 2020 festival in Hastings. I’ve been involved in the festival for the last few years, it’s great, and I really recommend checking it out. Lots of lovely pubs in the old town part of Hastings too! Sign up here.

     

  • Digital Audio with Microcontrollers Workshop

    I’m going to be running a workshop on Saturday October 12th for Brighton Digital Festival. See here for tickets. It will be an introduction to creating and processing digital audio using microcontrollers. The workshop will centre around the Teensy, which if you read this site, you’ll know I’m quite keen on! Teensy is a development board similar to Arduino. You will ‘bread board’ (a method of quickly prototyping circuits without soldering) your own circuit, which will utilise the Teensy along with buttons, leds, and potentiometers, which you’ll patch together to create a circuit. You’ll learn how to use the Teensy’s audio library and visual design tool, to connect together audio effects, and download the result onto your circuit, allowing you to experiment with sculpting and distorting sound.

    The workshop will not require any specialist knowledge. There will be some programming and connecting of components, but you will be taught everything you need to know.

    You must bring :

    • Laptop (capable of running Arduino IDE, it runs on Linux, macOS and Windows and doesn’t require a particularly powerful machine)
    • Headphones

     

  • Hackoustic

    I’m really excited to be featured as part of the ‘Hackoustic: Presents’ nights at Iklectik in London on September the 21st. I’ll be doing a small talk about my DIY instruments followed by a performance, and will then give any interested members of the audience a chance to try out the instruments for themselves.

     

     

  • Recovering and recording

    I’ve been off work recovering from an inner ear operation, which I might talk about more in the future. In between lying on the sofa and general convalescing I’ve managed to finish a new track. The first thing I’ve actually completed since I released the album.

     

  • Streaming EVERYWHERE

    Cutlasses is now available on pretty much all streaming services, including some I’ve not previously heard of. Search on your streaming service of choice. Here it is on Spotify