Back in 2009, one man by the name of Gwilym Gold, fronted a guitar-less but catchy trio from London, called the Golden Silvers. Though they have unfortunately broken up with but one studio album under their belts, they certainly stood out as a unique and slightly envelope-pushing indie group with their breaking of the traditional band format.
Gold hasn’t stopped his efforts to stand out and to cause a noticeable shift to the age-old inner workings of this unpredictable yet sometimes stagnant industry. The newest work from Gold might just turn the music industry’s mindset about recordings on its head. This might seem hard to believe from one, lone man but what would anyone’s reaction be if someone approached them prior to making a music purchase and said…
“If you buy this album, you will never have to hear the same recording more than one time. It will always be new and surprise you.”
The initial premise doesn’t sound possible. Recording is recording. Once a soundwave is zapped into Logic, ProTools, Reason or analog tape, that’s it. As I said previously in an article on the Jammit app, “Once a track is mastered and bounced to a disc, there’s no more disassembly.” Remixes are all afoot in genres like EDM and Dub but still, that requires a revisiting of initial recorded tracks, a remaster, and re-bounce. Gold however, has put these ideas aside with the work he produced alongside music producer Lexx.
The debut, full-length work, titled “Tender Metal,” is played using a brand new musical format called BRONZE, meant to put a subtly unique spin on recordings every time they are played but retain enough for listener recognition. In other words, the BRONZE system doesn’t instantaneously transform a Slayer track into a jazz remix. Gold and Lexx chose to work with a very astute team from the Department of Computing at Goldsmith’s, University of London, led by Dr. Mick Grierson. (Anyone see an easy-to-recall name theme here? It’s a coincidence, I swear.)
As reported in the Music Industry News Network, Grierson describes what exactly makes BRONZE work:
“BRONZE is a brand new creative process, where the composition and production of a musical piece no longer requires the final work to exist in a static form. It can be used for any genre, including organised, highly structured music such as rock, pop and dance music. The quality is equal to that achieved through professional authoring tools. The track will be subtly different each time, whilst still retaining the quality and balance of the original mix.”
Presently, Tender Metal is available only through the Apple App Store for iOS devices. Desktop support for Mac and PC, as well as Android compatibility, are being worked on now. The price is a bit steep for an “app” at $12.99, but if a repetition rut is the problem, this album might just be the solution.
The idea that recordings might be able to emulate the mentality of “new” every time, (think of a rare B-side or intimate live show), that changes a song just enough to keep it fresh – maybe you hear a note hit in just such a way that gets you excited to listen all over again… the static mp3 as we know it may be seeing the beginnings of its end.
Kira is an old school music nerd with a love for all things creative; always searching for music’s common ground. She graduated with an M.A. in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. Drop her a tweet @shadowmelody1
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