Arpeggula by Karmadog
Recorded in 2011, ARPEGGULA is a 21-minute improvisation performed in "real time" on the Roland Juno-60 synthesizer, using the arpeggiator function for which the instrument is well-known. In performing the piece, I only touched the keyboard once, at the beginning to play the 6-note chord which the arpeggiator then repeated for the duration of the piece. The composition was then shaped using the Juno-60’s various effects -- low-frequency oscillators, filters, resonance, waveform, envelope, etc., as well as the speed, range and direction of the arpeggiation. No editing, overdubs, or effects were used (not even reverb). In some ways, this resembles the "West Coast" approach to electronic music, not so much in the technology used, but in the loop-based construction of the piece. It is a tribute to the remarkable possibilities of this instrument, which in nearly 30 years has never ceased to amaze me.
Karmadog is the electric, psychedelic, heliocentric side of keyboardist-composer Greg Pagel. With influences ranging from Merzbow to Aphex Twin to Sun Ra, styles range from groovy IDM to noise, usually in combination.
Since 2013, all Karmadog recordings are live, un-edited performances on new and vintage analog synthesizers.