
Doug Lynner
Release date: June 14, 2024
Doug Lynner is a true virtuoso of the Serge system. His mastery of the instrument comes from the experience that only a lifetime of performance and practice can give. The Four-Sided Note takes you on a journey only a true master can navigate.
"The Four-Sided Note", by Doug Lynner refers to four pieces. Each song takes on different tones and rhythms. The pieces vary from extremely fast polyrhythm to melodic rhythms and string-like sounds that go from long solos to washed ambiances. Finally, a piece starts with a piano-esque timbre and takes off to outer space, back to a familiar polyrhythm, and then awash in ambience.
A fifth song is included, which is all four pieces unedited into a single track. This was my preferred way of listening as it was the original performance piece.
The performance used several different systems, with Doug's 50-year-old Mystery Serge, the first commercial Serge synthesizer, at the forefront. A small part of his Elby Serge (silver-faced) and a Zeroscilator (black-faced) were also used.
The show took place at Anno Domini in the center of San Jose’s SOFA District. It was performed in quadraphonic, with Doug set up in the center of the room and the audience set around him. Also on the bill that night was Franck Martin from PeachyMango.
PeachyMango is Franck Martin's project, and is a record label known for its spacial music releases, so it only made sense to release this album on the label. The Four-Sided Note is the first release by anyone other than Franck Martin on PeachyMango.
This exquisitely recorded piece was performed in quadraphonic and, recorded to 4 channels and mixed for 8.1 Dolby Atmos by Franck Martin. The version on Apple Music is encoded with to get the quad Spatial Experience. I was listening to the version on Bandcamp in stereo.
Here are some questions that I was able to ask of Doug Lynner and PeachyMango's Franck Martin.
Modular World/Bill McGuire (BMcG):Â : PeachyMango has until now released only music by Franck Martin. What brought about the opportunity to release Doug's album?
Doug Lynner: The Four-Sided Note project was facilitated by Franck’s fascination with spatial music and his openness to collaboration and community. When I invited him to perform that evening I didn’t know that he would offer his quad environment for the show. I sure didn’t want to waste the opportunity when he did so I roughed up a quad output system within my Serge.
Releasing the album on Peachy Mango, instead of my own NeatNetNoise label, made perfect sense since people already looked to it for spatial music releases.
Franck Martin/PeachyMango: The goal was to release this music in Dolby Atmos. So we worked on the rendering in Space of the original recording in my Studio. Once we were happy with the Atmos version, I rendered the binaural version and distributed it. It was, I think more convenient for me to take care of all the publishing including BandCamp due to the specifics of releasing in Atmos.
BMcG: Can you describe a bit of the event at Jose’s Anno Domini Gallery for the live performance?
Doug Lynner: Anno Domini is in the center of San Jose’s SOFA District, the city’s art and nightlife district, and plays a central role in the activities in the SOFA throughout the year. They are fully supportive of experimental music. Concerts take place in the main gallery so all concerts are surrounded by art. Anno Domini is a must-see on any visit to San Jose.
BMcG: Was Doug in the center of the quad system?
Doug Lynner: Yes, I was in the approximate center along with Franck Martin who also performed that night. The audience was situated around us and also within the quad field so that they could fully appreciate the spatiality of the evening.
An opening act played in stereo and used the traditional stage. Seating was adjusted for each performance to best use the space.
BMcG: On the PR page you talk about "In-the-circuit" performance style. What do you mean by that?
Doug Lynner: It describes a performance POV that is more part of the patched circuits than an external player of the instrument. Imagine my arms as being extensions of the patch cables instead of operating a keyboard. I further the music by direct interaction with the patch cords, switches and knobs, performing on the instrument in the most direct way through circuit interaction.
BMcG: I've watched videos of Doug playing the Mystery Serge and can't quite grasp how large it is. Is what I see on Doug's YouTube page from March 2022 similar to what was used for this show?
Doug Lynner: Here is a shot of my performance setup that night. I use different instrument configurations for each show. The Mystery Serge, the first commercial Serge synthesizer, is the large box directly in front of me. My hands are on it in the picture and should give you a size reference. Its approximate size as shown is 21 inches by 33 inches.
The Mystery Serge is 50 years old.
Also being used are a small part of my Elby Serge (silver faced) and a Zeroscilator (black faced).
Though the Mystery Serge is my most treasured instrument I don’t often perform concerts with it anymore because my other instruments can more easily be scaled to the requirements of each show.
Thank you to Doug and Franck for so graciously giving me their time and answering my questions.
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