Interview with Roland Kuit
Written by Enrico Cosimi on . Posted in Events
Waiting for the full workshop on unconventional programming with virtual modular synthesizer, we talk with Roland Kuit, one of the most accredited masters of programming that uses the NMG2 – and beyond – have long since learned to appreciate ... Reading offers more than one food for thought.
by Enrico Cosimi
Roland,
you are
an accomplished synth programmer; can you tell us something about your studies?
Where and when and how did you learned how to master synthesizer(s)?
It all
started with my background where music played an important role. My grand mother
played the piano and sang. My grand father played the violin and double bass.
My mother had artistic skills. My father was more technical. My twin brother
Arie Kuit started with clarinet and saxophone and is a famous musician and
iBook developer. The older 2 brothers played the piano/organ and guitar. In our childhood we were surrounded by
instruments. I played the recorder at the age of six. At that time I was also
offered the change to play with a tape recorder (Telefunken). It did not take a
long time before I was very skilled at using it. I became conscious of sound and
explored all kinds of sounds by recording everything that came across:
Surrounding sounds, conversations, and instruments. This really opened up my
ears. Often I deconstructed the piano and made sounds to record.
I was eleven when I switched to play the flute. Within half a year later I
played Bach. It all came naturally. A year later I was admitted to the Royal
Conservatory, The Hague. My first teacher was Mirjan Nastasi followed by Marijke
Bakker. I became very interested in contemporary flute music. Hindemith, Escher,
Fukushima and Van Dijk. I loved to explore the boundaries of my instruments by
studying the extended techniques. It was in my spare time that Pop-music cought
my interest. As a keyboard player the synthesizer came on my path. Here the
genes of grand parents and my father came together: musical talent and technical
insight. I started with a Kawai S-100 which is small yet very useful to learn
the basics. I was enthusiastic and lucky to get hold on an ARP2600.
In between I studied at the Vrije Academie, The Hague. Painting and Art. When I
heard of the Instituut voor Sonologie in Utrecht, I immediately applied.
Historical pieces of electronic music where constructed here. The institute was
founded in 1960 at the University Utrecht. It had the same importance in
electronic music as the studios in Köln and Milaan. I studied analogue- and
digital studio techiques. Whereby modular sound design and composition by Jaap
Vink and Frits Weiland had my preferance.
VOSIM/MIDIM by Werner Kaegi and Fortran V music by Gottfried M. Koenig and
Stan Tempelaars. Here I learned most about the ground principles about additive
and subtractive synthesis. Later, this and extended techniques formed the basics
of research for my books. After the institute I followed interactive composition
and acoustics at the IRCAM in Paris by Kaija Saariaho and Philippe Manoury.
Do you have
worked at Utrecht University Institute of Sonology? Can you tell us something
about the structure and the technical issues? What is the "function generator" ?
We had 2
analogue Philips studio's and 2 digital studio's and recorded at 2 and 4 track
Stüder tape machines. So I got familiar with all kinds of splicing and recording
techniques. After a year I was asked by Jaap Vink to teach analoque studio
techniques as a substitute. Among our tools were oscillators, filters, shapers,
EG's, Ring modulator, Sample&Hold, a big matrix patchbay etc. and all kinds of
tape-loop devices. In the garden was our plate reverb situated. To damp it, a
blanket was used.
The famous Function Generator was developed on this Institute. It was a Sequencer. Clocked at a high speed it could be used as a waveform generator An other lovely piece of equipement was an enormous filterbank(thirds filter). Feeding it with white noise, all kind of harmonies where formed by adjusting the faders.
Composing electronic music in this studio setup was intensive. Patches couldn't be saved at this equipment. Drawing patch architectures was very normal in that time and I still recommend this to everyone who's into modular synthesis.
In your
patches for Clavia Nord Modular G2, it seems you prefer a low-level programming
approach instead of using commonly available high level modules from Clavia's
library:
what is your feeling about the NMG2 philosophy?
In
contradiction to digital prefab modules, where everybody sounds the same when
using the same patch, in analogue equipement the same type of synthesizer will
sound always a bit different due to minor electronica deformations. It’s the
imperfection that gives the personal touch. I like all modules of Clavia, but
getting my finger behind the available modules gives new oppertunities.
Constructing modules yourself is much rewarding, for example wacko oscillators
and filters. Constructing modules the NMG2 is missing, for example a
feed-forward filter. The NMG2 is one of the best modular synthesizers for those
who want invest time and research in it. Speaking for myself, I still squeese
new concepts out of it: Adding coloured reverbs, matrix controlled delay stacks
for spectral effects, vocoders with modal Resonanting neurons and analog
feedback and several methods to generate matrix glitches and shifts of any kind.
Just to name a few.
Do you feel
in some way limited or frustrating the (more or less) closed architecture of
NMG2?
It depends on
the personal approach. Generally spoken limitation may challenge creativity to a
certain point. Speaking for myself it is challenging to work with the few
limitations of this synthesizer. I consider the limitation to be a starting
point to define and create a modular space. The outcome is a patch and a cosmos
of its own. Shortage of DSP however is indeed frustrating.
Today, after
years and years of programming on NMG2, do you feel interest in some peculiar
software platform or hardware instrument?
Yes Enrico,
Sonic Core and Reaktor offer room to develop new things. Interesting.
Here in
Italy, we are suffering a general decline of the arts and government policies to
support the arts, e.g. no money for nothing, no opportunity to play, nothing at
all; do is the same in your country?
Unfortunately
the climate in The Netherlands is not much different. Art is reduced to
merchandise and a piece of art is declined to a product. There is no philosophy
behind it any longer. Most artists are forced to sell their work and lose
sincerity to themselves. But society needs ‘out-of-the-box thinkers’ and
visionaries and we will surely experience the consequences in all fields where
innovation is needed. Research is the basis for change and innovation. This
should be recognized and awarded.
Are you
ever be tempted to work with analog modular hardware?
Yes Enrico. I
worked a lot with analogue hardware. The ARP2600, MS-20 and the Philips
Studio's. It’s still a joy to work with.
Do you ever
be tempted to work with "pure" software like MAX/Msp or Reaktor or
SuperCollider?
Spending time
in learning new software is not only big fun but also necessary. I know
SuperCollider when it was modular! MAX/Msp is a realy great tool and I love
Reaktor. The main fields of interest for me are composing, research and writing.
These fields need to be fed constantly. Paying attention to one field may affect
the other and here I profit from the synergy.
In a
live performing situation, what is your preferred setup?
Just my NM's
and NMG2's rig with a midi controller.
Do you use
controllers or do you prefer to "leave alone the synth structure" in a more
auto-generative mood?
Depending on
the situation I use different controllers. Behringer BCR 2000 knob controller
and the Korg Nanocontrol2 as lecture/performance setup. In performances and
audio expositions I make use of the I-cube with all kinds of sensors.
At this
point, it remains waiting for the 9 January 2013 ... Thanks, Roland!
