20.11.2021 - Admin
The German indie pop duo positron has released an EP. There are no new songs but well-known hits from the band in a special instrumentation. Here you have to admit to the band that this is a very rare idea to re-record or remix songs.
In the studio where positron also records, numerous electronic musical instruments from the GDR brand Vermona were put together. The idea was: “This is what the electronic music of the GDR sounded like.” During a studio session around 2020, the idea arose to re-record some of positron's songs using only old Vermona instruments.
The EP deserves an award for this idea alone, as things like this are rare to find. Overall, the four songs really sound typical of Vermona. As if the tracks were recorded somewhere in Saxony at the end of the 1970s.
This EP does not claim to be a musically perfect work of art. It's much more about a technical demonstration and a journey back in time to the 70s and the method of recording and producing music that existed back then. A year ago, when buying an old tape recorder, there was a Vermona Mixer 1222 from the GDR in a collection of old hi-fi devices. It was then included with the tape recorder for little money. That gave an impulse to deal more with the topic of Vermona, analogue and vintage. Over time, more Vermona devices were added. Then there came a point where you searched specifically. It was actually already clear where you wanted to go. An all Vermona (vintage) production in 2022. We are currently experiencing a delusion towards digitization. This is also the case in audio production. Of course, this has advantages in many places, but it is becoming more and more technically complex and musically comparable. Just as processor performance can no longer be increased in computer technology, more cores are used. In commercial music there is only a mush, but the albums are converted into 3D, binaural and 12/9/48 with 36 loudspeakers in the room. What's the point?
positron and the vintage gear
MS Office used to fit on 5 floppy disks. Today it takes a DVD or a GB download. Some sample packs are 20 GB in size. It takes two weeks to listen to it. Just easy. The idea was born to start and finish a complete production with the inventory of Vermona devices. This means that all sounds and effects up to the finished mix are implemented exclusively with Vermona technology from the GDR. The musical goal was a concept that corresponds to the electronic music of the 70s. There's no denying that either. It was exactly intended to show that electronic music could also be made with the technology of the GDR at the time. An old Tower PC with Cubase SX was used as the necessary tool. But this only served as a “tape machine”. No editing was done in the sequencer itself. In addition, the sequencer served as a drum machine. This was necessary because the Vermona ER9 rhythm machine cannot be set to a desired fixed tempo. For this purpose, the ER9 was sampled in advance and then loaded into drum software. Thus it was also possible to place the drum sounds on individual channels and to adapt them better in the mix. The finished mix was then edited a bit to improve the sound and keep it analog. The final signal then went through a denoiser, an exciter and a compressor/limiter.
positron and the analog production
To add even more analogue warmth to the signal, it was dubbed onto a tape recorder. The main goal for this EP was an all Vermona production, with some compromises. The mixer in particular had some technical flaws that didn't hinder the production, but caused some drawbacks in the overall sound. The project was successfully implemented and now you can decide whether to create a clean mix with a DAW or another mixing console. That ultimately depends on how one evaluates the musical value of the tracks after some distance. For musicians who only work with modern tools, it should be explained: The entire production process was like working in the 60s, 70s and partly 80s. All sheet music was recorded live and had to be correct. Corrections were not possible. The tone generators had no memory locations. Each sound was adjusted manually. The same applies to the mixer.
Sounds: Vermona Formation 1 Vermona E-Piano Vermona Piano Strings Vermona Synthesizer Vermona ER9 Rhythmmachine
Who is the band positron?
Positron is an indie pop duo that was founded near Leipzig in 2005. There is no doubt that the duo is an ideal team when it comes to beats and sounds and their unmistakable strong voice. The songs that are created together and separately are real pop songs that could easily be performed with guitar and cajon. So you have to classify positron differently than electropop that plays in student clubs. At positron there are danceable pieces but also ballads. An advantage for the band was having their own studio. This made it possible to work quite independently and flexibly. Rooms were only rented for live rehearsals. What is noticeable about positron is the lack of a drawer. Many bands of this type have role models and sound like them and sometimes copy the style. You don't find that with positron. This is probably because the respective preferences don't really fit together and so something independent had to come out.
Get in contact with positron
- positron @ vk
- positron @ facebook
- positron @ youtube
- positron @ soundcloud
- positron @ bandcamp
- positron @ instagram
- positron @ twitter
- positron @ rumble
- positron @ dailymotion
More songs you can find here:
"Hold my hand" by positron - shazam
"Hold my hand" by positron - apple music
"Hold my hand" by positron - spotify
"Hold my hand" by positron - amazon music
"Hold my hand" by positron - soundcloud
"Hold my hand" by positron - bandcamp
"Do not watch me" by positron - bandcamp
"Do not watch me" by positron - apple music
"Do not watch me" by positron - soundcloud
"Do not watch me" by positron - apple music
"Do not watch me" by positron - apple music
"No new tomorrow" by positron - bandcamp
"No new tomorrow" by positron - soundcloud
"Freak inside" magneto remix by positron - bandcamp
"I feel like wow" by positron - bandcamp
"I feel like wow" by positron - soundcloud
"Fearful soul" by positron - soundcloud