The Secret Weapon

[Soul_Slip]

It seems everyone is focused on an “instrument” when I do not necessarily believe that to be their secret weapon. I recall in a few interviews that when asked about a “secret weapon” they did not say much other than they specifically use a Grundig r2r tube type tape recorder. As others have mentioned, it seems they use an analog tape process that effects pitch in a somewhat controllable fashion. I use methods like that in my own recording studio. Those tape recorders have pitch op amps as well as for speed that you can easily change the tone, speed and overall sound quite easily. They described that the grundig allowed for a special “magic eye” which is actually a vu meter for the tube in/output that has a special saturation threshold spot on the “eye” that according to the brothers “gives a 1000 years of grain”. Now that coupled with some of the methods mentioned above would easily result in the sounds we here. No one has mentioned their personal skill at applying and controlling dynamics between their track parts... I’d even say they are geniuses at choosing what works and doesn’t and to me that’s the secret weapon... their brains

[Wildfire]

It seems everyone is focused on an “instrument”

That's because it's been stated in an interview that it's a synth.

[747Music]

It seems everyone is focused on an “instrument” when I do not necessarily believe that to be their secret weapon. I recall in a few interviews that when asked about a “secret weapon” they did not say much other than they specifically use a Grundig r2r tube type tape recorder. As others have mentioned, it seems they use an analog tape process that effects pitch in a somewhat controllable fashion. I use methods like that in my own recording studio. Those tape recorders have pitch op amps as well as for speed that you can easily change the tone, speed and overall sound quite easily. They described that the grundig allowed for a special “magic eye” which is actually a vu meter for the tube in/output that has a special saturation threshold spot on the “eye” that according to the brothers “gives a 1000 years of grain”. Now that coupled with some of the methods mentioned above would easily result in the sounds we here. No one has mentioned their personal skill at applying and controlling dynamics between their track parts... I’d even say they are geniuses at choosing what works and doesn’t and to me that’s the secret weapon... their brains

The real secret weapon is their brains, yes. But that is not the secret weapon we are discussing. Unless Mike bought their brains for $100 on a bus from a friend.
Your point though is partially mine in that the weapon is the SH101 and the secret is how they use it (it's filter).

I'd love to play around with that "magic eye". That part of the interview has captivated me since I first read it.

[Soul_Slip]

I still believe it’s their understanding of song dynamics that is their true secret weapon...

[747Music]

I still believe it’s their understanding of song dynamics that is their true secret weapon...

I 100% agree with you. Someone could have all of their gear including their secret weapon and more and make nothing but crap music.

[Soul_Slip]

Exactly, are we also forgetting the aforementioned “coffee spill in the circuitry” effect....

[Flory]

I forgot where I had seen it but there was a webpage stateing the past of boc and one of the lines were 19xx (Forgot the year.) Bought secrete weapon for 100 pounds from a friend.

[747Music]

I forgot where I had seen it but there was a webpage stateing the past of boc and one of the lines were 19xx (Forgot the year.) Bought secrete weapon for 100 pounds from a friend.

Did you see it in the link I posted above? The year was 1988. The info was from their band biography on the old imusic website.

This one:

The secret weapon is a synth. They said it was a synth. They also said Mike bought it from a friend on a bus for 100 bucks..

Do you have a source for this info ?
Very interesting

http://bocpages.org/wiki/Official_Biographies#imusic.com

1988: michael bought what he now describes as the band's "secret weapon" synth from a friend for £100 whilst travelling on a bus.

[747Music]

Exactly, are we also forgetting the aforementioned “coffee spill in the circuitry” effect....

YES! Only great minds can spill coffee on open synth circuitry and then when they listen, be able to determine that it "needs more coffee." Maybe Scottish coffee is the secret.

*Warp employee appears*
Warp Employee: "You are on the right track. Please accept this pamphlet."

Me:

[Mikey]

Mate...that's no coffee beans. It's rabbit shite.

[Evenflow]

Could a old modular be part of the secret weapon equation some how , not that they got it on a bus or anything like that but connected somehow ?

[747Music]

Could a old modular be part of the secret weapon equation some how , not that they got it on a bus or anything like that but connected somehow ?

No. The "secret weapon synth" is one thing. However, their sound as a whole is attributed to a large amount of instruments, gadgets, bells, whistles, caffeinated beans, brotherly love and psychic connection, psychedelics, mathematics equations, hostile ducks, and an expensive security system (inclusive of said hostile ducks).

[Evenflow]

Could a old modular be part of the secret weapon equation some how , not that they got it on a bus or anything like that but connected somehow ?

No. The "secret weapon synth" is one thing.

Ok thanks , I was thinking along the lines of maybe they got a module like a Moog oscillator or something like that to put into a modular .

[Evenflow]

They described that the grundig allowed for a special “magic eye” which is actually a vu meter for the tube in/output that has a special saturation threshold spot on the “eye” that according to the brothers “gives a 1000 years of grain”.

The real secret weapon is their brains, yes. But that is not the secret weapon we are discussing. Unless Mike bought their brains for $100 on a bus from a friend.
Your point though is partially mine in that the weapon is the SH101 and the secret is how they use it (it's filter).

I'd love to play around with that "magic eye". That part of the interview has captivated me since I first read it.[/quote]

Has anyone toyed with this magic eye thing , the idea is very fascinating .

[Evenflow]

They described that the grundig allowed for a special “magic eye” which is actually a vu meter for the tube in/output that has a special saturation threshold spot on the “eye” that according to the brothers “gives a 1000 years of grain”.

I'd love to play around with that "magic eye". That part of the interview has captivated me since I first read it.

Has anyone toyed with this magic eye thing , the idea is very fascinating .

[Evenflow]

They described that the grundig allowed for a special “magic eye” which is actually a vu meter for the tube in/output that has a special saturation threshold spot on the “eye” that according to the brothers “gives a 1000 years of grain”.

I'd love to play around with that "magic eye". That part of the interview has captivated me since I first read it.

Has anyone toyed with this magic eye thing , the idea is very fascinating .[/quote]

[Evenflow]

They described that the grundig allowed for a special “magic eye” which is actually a vu meter for the tube in/output that has a special saturation threshold spot on the “eye” that according to the brothers “gives a 1000 years of grain”.

I'd love to play around with that "magic eye". That part of the interview has captivated me since I first read it.

Has anyone toyed with this magic eye thing , the idea is very fascinating .

[Casiotone]

uh, you ok?

[Soul_Slip]

They described that the grundig allowed for a special “magic eye” which is actually a vu meter for the tube in/output that has a special saturation threshold spot on the “eye” that according to the brothers “gives a 1000 years of grain”.

I'd love to play around with that "magic eye". That part of the interview has captivated me since I first read it.

Has anyone toyed with this magic eye thing , the idea is very fascinating .

Yes, I have two r2r machines with a “magic eye” tube vu meter. They sound amazing. Although mine are not Grundig... I have a pioneer and Dokorder 4 track with sound on sound echo processing. The magic eye has a few “sweet spots”, by which if you run hot at around +4db-+6db in the red, it definitely “ages” the recorded track and sounds so warm and slightly distorted, especially if you run synths through effects boxes. It sounds even better when the signal is passed through multiple machines.
Here are a few tracks I recorded with that type of tube tape process:
“Germination Sunglasses” (magic eye + speed and pitch shift onboard tape op amps)
https://soulslip.bandcamp.com/track/ger ... nglasses-2

“Windows of the Divine” (major tube tape saturation+Magic eye + analog filter sweep/dokorder tape echo)
https://soulslip.bandcamp.com/track/win ... the-divine

“Frames of Reference” (4 track tube echo+magic eye, slow speed+pitch lowered with onboard op amps)
https://soulslip.bandcamp.com/track/frames-of-reference

[Valotonin]

The, now famous, BoC pitch-shifting is actually done in a series of controlled environments to ensure that the sample can retain the same speed whilst its pitch is altered and still be considered true analog. A small pressurised cube with a speaker in one end and a microphone in the other is filled with varying quantities of helium/ sulphur hexafluoride dependent on if one wishes to increase/decrease the pitch of a sample. The soft pitch-shifting is done by blowing on a tube attached to this box very rapidly to achieve a natural and erratic but very warm sounding vibrato effect as the balance of air to helium/shf is shifted naturally.

To achieve a sample that is faster but still retains pitch, they speed up/slow down the tape and then calculate the right ppm ratio of helium/ sulphur hexafluoride needed in the gashifter to bring it back up to the desired pitch.

Of course, to prevent the sample sounding fluoridated if it is lowered, they bless it with several chunks of pineapple afterwards.

To get a sample sounding "Too orangey" they transfer it to the visual soundwave that would usually accompany an older film on tape (this works by having a light shine through it into a sensor and transferring the level of light back into an audio signal) and then place a translucent orange segment between the tape and the sensor. The blue berry sounds of "Blueberry" were made by simply smearing the pulp of the berry all over the sensor.

The dark, metalic echoes and various other effects heard on Tomorrow's Harvest were all made using a dismantled farming equipment. Playing a sample through the rusty exhaust pipe of a Combine Harvester worked incredibly well on Sundown and burying the master tape cut of New Seeds inside an abandoned grain silo for seven months really gave it a certain thematic je ne sais quois.

Source: Things that BoC didn't do but you would be entirely unsurprised if they really did do.