Never On Sunday

A new series of recordings from Conny Plankton sees explorations with the Lush VST Synth from D16. These explorations were carried out with solo instances of Lush 2 and synced up to different VST Synths and other hardware devices. The Final Mixes see journeys into all sorts of styles, approaches and directions. Never the same way twice as someone once said!

The title of Never on Sunday came from a strange piece of flotsam found on a beach in Northumberland. This seemed based around an old theme of Never on Sunday as a happy drunk propping up a lamppost. The found object features in the title track, and the final track shows a copy of the family ornament on the same theme from my childhood. Strange repetitions...

Hinterland

November 2023 sees a new album of recordings and mixes from Conny Plankton. There seems to be a bit of everything here – from atonal drones and landscapes; to rhythm-based explorations; to ambient soundscapes to strange alien textures. Performers in this series of mixes include new presets with the Hive and Massive X VST Synths; new patches with the Nifty Eurorack set up; exploring the new sample libraries and settings within the Arturia Microfreak Synth; developing a series of freshly-edited loops and samples, and working with new Plug ins such as Wolfram for effects and further modulation. Hope it hits the spots before your eyes!

The Day of Album Releases

This is probably quite deranged - or at the very least a  flagrant disregard for the rules and conventions, but October 5th 2023 is the day that Conny Plankton chose to unleash two albums on to the world on the very same day. So here we go...

Neck Of Moles

October 2023 sees a new series of recordings from Conny Plankton, loosely unified under a common theme of bringing the Arturia MicroFreak into sync with the Hive and Massive X VST Synths – but it soon evolved and expanded into working alongside edited loops, timestretched drones, and additional external devices such  the Nifty Eurorack and the Roland MC505 Groovebox. Enjoy folks!

Bug Metallic - the Magic Bullet Mixes

This album is different from the norm – whatever that means – in that is based on three mixes that were already made for three different sites. Each them have the common theme of being based on samples and sound bites from Magic Bullet, the experimental-electro warped brain child of Mick Magic.  Magic Bullet is very much worth checking out, and can be found at:

http://www.mickmagic.net/Magic%20Bullet%20Index.htm

Each of the three original mixes have been reworked with additional samples, arrangements and new Conny Plankton artwork, so they are not just duplicates that can be found elsewhere. So now…let the Magic begin…

All Hail Metaphorium

 A new series of recordings sees a series of explorations based largely around use of the rather excellent soundset, Metaphorium, for the Hive VST Synth. This was rolled out under different presets and synced to different plug ins and devices such as the Massive X VST synth, the Eurorack Nifty set up, the MC505 Groovebox and the Arturia MicroFreak hybrid synth. The results range from rhythmic arps and sequences, to drones and atonal soundscapes, to worlds of alien noise.

All of the photos used here were taken by Conny Plankton during a recent visit to the Western Isles of Lewis and Harris: A most magical part of Scotland!

Lazarus

 A new series of recordings from Conny Plankton: Although these started off life based around the common theme of working with new presets and voices from the Hive and Massive X VST synths –  much of the source files were riddled with problems and glitches and a lot of the original material had to be extensively remixed and reworked. So this is a Lazarus project – due to the resurrection and rebirth of much of the source material.

Four Conny Plankton Mixes for Summer '23

Conny Plankton has been even busier than usual, and four long mixes have been recorded and uploaded to Mixcloud. Each one has a markedly different theme with all of the details and links set out below. Take it away folks!

Magic Bullet Unitas Mix

A Complex Mix based on material produced from my old chum Mick Magic and his Magic Bullet Project. Magic Bullet can be found at: (http://www.mickmagic.net/Magic%20Bullet%20Index.htm). The samples were taken from appearances on Radio Shows (https://www.mixcloud.com/Mick_Magic/) or from the Unitas series of sound collages, made available in the three -part compilation, Communitas. (https://mickmagic.bandcamp.com/). For this mix, all of the samples were extensively reworked, broke down onto loops, drones and synth patterns, and then reconstructed into this brain-melting mega mix!

Interstellar

This Mix was inspired by reading about the concept of the classic Interstellar Wotnot track by Syd's PF came about from Syd listening to the theme old BBC Sitcom, Steptoe and Son which under the lysergic influence. You can read the story in A Very Irregular Head by Rob Chapman. So this here Mix explores the possibility that step further with samples from TV themes Including other soundtracks from Ron Grainer, who penned Old Ned for Steptoe and Son), various versions of the original track, and overdubbed with loops and samples made from selected samples of source audio converted to Midi files and played through different Synths. The  Final Mix is an intriguing soup and one for a Very Irregular Head indeed.

Korruptor

A complex mix based around key events of a controversial film director. Rather than try to aim for cliches or sensationalism in this Mix, the core samples were taken from interviews describing major events in the protagonist's life. These samples were set alongside loops from Genesis P-O and one of the versions made he/her made about Mr P. This Mix may well cause its own share of controversy as people fight to take sides of one of the most controversial film directors ever. Genius or Corruptor. You decide...

Resurrection Special

A Mix based on four unreleased tracks by Conny Plankton - actually the tracks in question were rediscovered while clearing up an old Soundcloud Archive. Here they have each been deconstructed, rearranged, and reassembled through a series of segues into one long continuous mix, which probably burn out your cerebral cortex.

In The Flow

In the Flow is a new video release from Conny Plankton: The visual material is based around Conny Plankton video recordings made around various seas and rivers, together with material from a wide range of exotic sources. Artificial Intelligence treated graphics plays a considerable role here, with neural network software such as Deep Dream Generator (Trending Dreams | Deep Dream Generator) playing its part.

The audio track, Flow is from the Conny Plankton album of the same name, which can be found either elsewhere in this here blog or from the Conny Plankton Bandcamp site.

Go for it!

Largonaut

 A new series of recordings from Conny Plankton, loosely unified under the vaguely common theme of using the Largo VST Synth by Waldorf. This concept quickly evolved into pairing and syncing with other VST Synths, working alongside edited loops and samples, and in tandem with various hardware devices. The Final Mixes mutated into something as unpredictable as ever.

Paradigm

 A new series of recordings from Conny Plankton, loosely connected by the common theme of exploring different patterns and sequences – originated as loops and edited samples; developed from VST and hardware synths – but most often through a combination of different sources. The results are varied and unpredictable, crossing a range of genres and styles.

Destinate

A new series of recordings from Conny Plankton sees continued exploration in working with multiple instances of VSTs and hardware synths – often based around live performances which were then edited down with multiple resamplings, filters and effects, and further real--time modulation. The final mixes bridge a wide diversity of genres from sequencers and arp-based experimentation, to atonal ambience, to industrial soundscapes.

Rubix

 A new series of recordings sees the introduction of a serious piece of kit into the Conny Plankton sonic arsenal: The Roland Rubix 4 by 4 is an audio interface which allows 4 in or 4 out – or 4 mono or two stereo inputs to be recorded direct to Ableton Live and each recorded input edited separately afterwards. These means different synths and hardware effects could be set up to record direct into Ableton. Often synced into different VST synths, this made for an altogether different approach to recording and mixing – especially in that mixers were bypassed altogether and everything recorded and played back through the interface. Of course, the finished mixes are as varied and unpredictable as ever!

The Sons of Plankton

There has been lots of big time editing and general moving around here in the world of Plankton recently: After Recent changes to the Mixcloud site limiting users to only ten shows for free, new Plankton Mixcloud sites have now been developed, with existing shows and mixes now transferred to the capable hands of the Sons of Conny Plankton, So Let me introduce to you:

Donny Plankton

Ronny Plankton

Jonny Plankton

Bonny Plankton

Links to these are also in the sidebar of the blog. All mixes have now been set up so they will still play their original places in this blog, so most people may not notice the difference. It does mean that people can still access all of the Plankton Mixes however!

Flow

 The latest series of recordings in 2023 see a series of sessions based on experimental approaches to using Ableton as both source recorder and editor. Most mixes were based on use of both the Hive and Massive X VST Synths playing simultaneously as source, with a few fleeting guest appearances from the Arturia MicroFreak synth, the Nifty Eurorack set up and the Roland MC505 Groovebox thrown in for good measure. The final mixes cover a wide variety of styles and genres – from atonal noise, to sequence based trance, to dark ambient soundscapes – and that's only the first track!

X Marks The Spot

 2023 rolls in with a new series of recordings from Conny Plankton. This time round, everything is based around a loosely connecting theme of explorations with the MassiveX VST Synth from Native Instruments: So we have atonal landscapes and dark ambient textures, interwoven with ARPs and sequences, loops and samples – to take us into new and undiscovered horizons.