Militant Science

Programming

The framework of this sound is the programming and ADF's approach to this was very inspired by the "jump up" ragga-jungle that had it's heyday around 1994-95. For "Rafi's Revenge" and "Community Music" all the sequencing was done using Cubase on an Atari and the sampling with an Akai S3000XL.

We would usually start by sampling drumloops but programme our own rhythms on top using individual percussive sounds. Also, we messed with the loops themselves so they weren't just playing their original rhythms and sometimes chopped them into smaller samples. Programmers Deeder and Chandrasonic often used Cubase's 'paintbrush' facility to get that 'driller killer' effect. Check out "Buzzin."

We also sampled lots of loops we had programmed in a Boss DR660 drum machine. Our favourite samples aside from jungle drum breaks were of course Indian percussion loops and snippets of regenerative noise like those nicked from On-U Sound records (thanks Adrian!)

On the first album "Fact & Fictions," we used an Alesis MMT8 hardware sequencer and an Akai S950 (except for "Box"). This is the gear we'd used in "Headspace," the sound system where Dr Das and Chandrasonic learnt a lot of their programming and performing skills.

For "R.A.F.I." (which was only released in France), though we were now using Cubase we still used an S950. We transferred these sounds into an S3000XL initially only because of the S950's long loading up time in live situations.

Composition

Composition for the material on "Rafi's Revenge" and "Community Music" was done collectively. The computor would be programmed with guitar and bass being jammed alongside, with each of these influencing the programming as well as each other. Even Sun-J would be 'dubbing up' the sequences through the mixing desk. There would always be a pool of samples and rhythms and basslines etc. that we'd try out in different songs. Sometimes, we used the same samples in different songs but 'Eq'ed and pitched differently. A song wouldn't necessarily start from the programming but from anywhere- a guitar melody, bassline or lyrical idea.

For us, programming wasn't just a technical issue, but carried emotional weight- certain sounds suggested certain themes and lyrics. We often wrote words, all of us sitting around a piece of paper, scribbling down ideas.

Live

At some point, everyone in ADF had performed with Headspace (Harry K, now DJ with Apollo 440 was a core member.) Headspace had an Alesis MMT-8 sequencer, which would be used to mute sounds in and out, and an Akai S950 and various drum machines- all pretty stable gear for live, and fairly rugged. Various instrumentalists and vocalists passed through the collective and there'd be interaction between the (so-called) 'live' instruments and the technology. The principles used in ADF's live performances are pretty much the same except there are more bits of equipment and song structures are much tighter and shorter (though "Scaling New Heights" is harking back to a Headspace type vibe.)

We copy the Cubase sequences to Alesis Datadisk, a MIDI playback device, which then runs them live.

The outputs of the S3000XL sampler are fed through an onstage Spirit 328 digital mixing desk, which goes left (L) and right (R) out, to the front of house. Sun-J effects and generally 'dubs up' these sounds. A digital desk means all the "EQ," panning and level settings for each song can be instantly recalled.

Sun-J has an arsenal of rack mounted and pedal effects units and filters with which to morph the sounds. Delays are matched to the speed (bpm) of the songs and often syncopate the rhythms even more.

For a few songs, where the programming's too complex or there are too many samples, the beats come off DAT. All the bass and guitar is live. Dr Das and Chandrasonic are very tight due to years of playing with drum machines. The 'feel' of the bass is not something you could get out of a sequencer. Also, some of 'Sonic's guitar sounds more like a mad synth than straightforward guitar.

Pandit G, unlike 'mixing' DJs provides longer, looser sounds like flutes and strings which float in and out of the whole sound and which he also effects himself. He also uses two Akai S20 samplers to play (mainly percussive) loops in between songs as inserts. These add spontaneity to a set that has become quite structured, as the rest of the band isn't quite sure what sounds he will drop.

Sun-J also has Korg Prophecy and M1 keyboards with which to add melodies and noise which isn't necessarily in time, contrasting with the tightness of the beats. He has a separate little mixer- a Mackie 1202 to deal with those.

Louie, the front of house engineer puts echoes on the vocals, the guitars (in addition to Chandrasonic's own) and on the beats when they're coming off DAT. He's famous for his exploding snare drum reverbs and panning effects.

Everyone listens and reacts to changes other people make. Sometimes, when we make a mistake but it sounds good, we try to repeat it and it becomes a part of the composition. Audience reaction and energy seriously affects what we do on stage. That's partly how the music is constantly evolving. We never try and reproduce what we've recorded on a CD.

In the studio, we try and put things down together so there's that interaction and vibe that we have live. Sun-J even puts down a stereo track of him effecting the sequences. If bass and guitar and vocal parts are fine, we keep them rather than overdubbing everything.

The Future

Constant touring has meant that we've had negligible time in our own space to write new material as we used to, sitting round a computor. We also feel we've pushed that kind of programming, with its immense detail, as far as we want to.

We've experimented with the Akai MPC2000 (which is now the mainstay of the ADFED workshops) but are increasingly working on highly portable units such as the Korg ES-1 and Zoom ST224 sampler-sequencers. These are loop ('phrase sample') based, have built in effects such as distortion and are extremely exciting.

We've also been very inspired by Indian tabla machines and raga sequencers (one such, called a "Sunadamala" is where we sampled the raga from that formed the basis of "Scaling New Heights.")

In the new year we are going to incorporate a kit drummer and a dhol (Panjabi drum as used in bhangra) player into the live and recording set up (we've already done some sound system work with them). They should work nicely against the less complex, yet still significant, programming.

Listening to Miles Davis from his 72-74 period (eg. "On The Corner"), 23 Skidoo, Muslimgauze, On-U Sound and up to the minute Bhangra and ragga will definitely affect our future sound.

We will continue to be 'militant scientists....'

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