understanding the future sound of london

[evileye]

im a big fan of future sound of london and am keen to understand how they did some of there tracks does anybody have any insight as to how they did stuff
thanks
for any help.

[tangentmusic]

lots of samples and some synths;)

ive noticed thet used some samples from the films,black hole,scanners and believe it or not the goonies(sloth's laugh).

lots and lots of different samples/noises is really what there tunes consist of.

[morphex]

Tangentmusic is right about FSOL's abundant use of samples. In fact, I think of them as being one of the pioneers in sampling technique and production style. They would use just about any sound source and find some use for it, whether it be water used for drums or factory noises for rhythm or ambient backgrounds. They did it all, and (IMO) they did it with class and innovation, we could learn a lot from their example. Even though we have cutting-edge tools at our disposal, I bet if you locked FSOL in a studio without all of this great software, and just some Akai samplers and a synth or two, they would knock out an album that would sound totally new and fresh without even breaking a sweat. That's because they knew what their gear was capable of and how to use it blindfolded.

I'm still amazed at some of the beautiful tracks they created for us all to enjoy.

Peace - morphex

[zakbelica]

I'll echo Morphex's comments- I'm also a big FSOL fan. For some insight, there are some good liner notes to their ISDN album as well as the matching realtime-tweaked tracks. They also do quite a bit of self-sampling; taking snippets of their own performances and playing them back as instruments. Very well done stuff.
-Zak

[stale bread]

yep yep, I don't know about pioneering anything but masters of what they do for sure, and if you're into sample mastery check the ninjatunes label, as well as amon tobin, akufen and co

[stale bread]

and definitely check ice cubes americas most wanted album

[mcetinsoy]

They are also greatly into delay techniques to create pads and partitions from simple samples..

[dirty oscillators]

not that it really matters but i think they were using the Akai S-1000's for a while (like a lot of people were!).

lots of samples, lots of effects, nice high end mixing console, and lots of experimenting!

[Bruce Bartlett]

Buy up a bunch of obscure instrumental records that you think nobody will ever have heard of, like Nik Tyndall. Take very long samples, to add to the illusion that you created them yourself, and mash them up with each other and a few distorted drum beats. Presto! Instant FSOL.

[adl]

In one of the booklets you can see the OSCar Synth

[botkiller]

As Brian Dougans (one half of FSOL) puts it in the electro music documentary, "Modulations", "We were never musicians, we were just collage artists". FSOL has said often that they don't really feel that they make music, they simply put pieces together to make songs. That's not entirely true, of course - they are amazing musicians. But, their technique, as to how they put their songs together, is something that is all their own.

I'm not sure what they use now - but for years they were mostly using Akai samplers and various keyboards. Many of their samples are found sounds or pulled from records, such as they sampled "Tougher than Leather" by Run DMC on ISDN.

There are a ton of great videos on Youtube about FSOL and them talking about their production techniques and what they think of music in general. They are, without a doubt, one of the most influential electronic groups in all of history.

[deastman]

They are, without a doubt, one of the most influential electronic groups in all of history.

I think that might be a bit of an overstatement. I never found them particularly inspiring, and I wouldn't exactly eleveate them to the same level as, say, Kraftwerk. ISDN had its moments, and the first half of Dead Cities was pretty good (when they finally attempted to write actual songs). Lifeforms was so boring and simplistic that I returned it to the store.

The Orb is another ambient group from the same period who, IMHO, blows them away when working in a similar style. FSOL did gain significant recognition for a short time within a small subgenre, and that makes it natural for fans of their work to see them as hugely influential, but in the greater scheme of electronic music, they are scarcely a blip on the radar.

[botkiller]

They are, without a doubt, one of the most influential electronic groups in all of history.

I think that might be a bit of an overstatement. I never found them particularly inspiring, and I wouldn't exactly eleveate them to the same level as, say, Kraftwerk. ISDN had its moments, and the first half of Dead Cities was pretty good (when they finally attempted to write actual songs). Lifeforms was so boring and simplistic that I returned it to the store.

The Orb is another ambient group from the same period who, IMHO, blows them away when working in a similar style. FSOL did gain significant recognition for a short time within a small subgenre, and that makes it natural for fans of their work to see them as hugely influential, but in the greater scheme of electronic music, they are scarcely a blip on the radar.

Well my friend, I disagree with you entirely, but I'm not really in the mood to argue. In my opinion, they are more influential than most acts, and in yours, they're not, so, you know, there's our opinions.

PS I'm listening to the Paupa New Guinea translations EP right now and further solidifying my beliefs

[mcetinsoy]

I myself find FSOL not inspiring (i don't really like sample-based productions),but worth listening.

[dirty oscillators]

Lifeforms was so boring and simplistic that I returned it to the store.

i thought Lifeforms was a great album during the time it came out (93?...94?).

they may not be the most influential electronic act but certainly they had a large following for a while.