The Stuff on B/C + a word about reverb and delay in HNW

 Listen / Download from the Static Park Bandcamp

I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been going for a different sound these last weeks. I've experimented with different settings but most importantly I've decided to really introducde FX like reverb and delay. I used to think that these were a big no-no in wall-making. I mean, of course you can use them, but it seems they shouldn't be heard. It's a bit like plastic surgery...

If you hear the delay or the reverb too much, it is sometimes perceived as "too electronic sounding" or even "plastic" which in my mind is a nicer way to say "fake". I talked about the auditory illusion that should be inherent in HNW in a previous post, and of course using delays an reverb can detract from this illusion of movmeent within the wall by "forcing it"..

So why use these FX today ? Well for one thing I started Static Park to experiment with the limits of the genre and do whatever thing I used to think was not allowed within the genre. That's what genres are for, they allow you to know what something is going to sound like before you even heard it, like "90's NYC Boom-Bap" or "Junk Metal Noise Assault"

The thing is I don't really mind anymore. When I started making walls in 2010/2011 I didn't really know what I was doing.. Of course I'd heard some HNW and it had really fascinated me to the point of wanting to make my own but I came from a different background (mostly electro-acoustic music) so I did lots of weird shit that I probably wasn't supposed to do, like using a computer, putting the sound of running water in the background with The Sandman Wears A Mask project, (of which you can DL two or three albums for free from the HNW Graveyard) and it felt good.

After that, the more I got immersed in the HNW scene, the more I developped an unconscious urge to conform to a certain way of doing things. Like making my walls sound "dry", meaning not over the top delay for instance...

ANYWAY, gear used in The Stuff is as follows:

"On"=

white noise => Dream Crusher => 4 Eyes => Pitch-Shifter (with the Harmonize function at -1) => Super Crunch Box in simple "boost" mode => Bass Big Muff => Octaver => Memory Boy => EQ (with 100, 200, 800 and 1600 hz at 0, 400 and 3200 at -5 and 6400 at -10, I wanted a crunch mostly in the mids, not too high because I initially planned on adding a layer of high-pitched contact-mic squeals but finally didn't)

"Low Substance"=

white noise => Dream Crusher => 4 Eyes => Pitch Shifter (with the Harmonize function at +2, which brings the sound into "electronic" territory, something I used to carefully avoid in the past) => Super Crunch Box in "boost" mode => Octaver => Reverb => EQ (with 100 and 800hz at +5, 1600 at +10 and all the rest cut out)