Utility Music Book by Josh Mason (+CD)

Josh Mason explored a Doepfer A-100 modular synthesizer for a whole year, he recorded his findings and wrote a book about them – attempting to learn more about the fundamental building blocks of synthesis and with the goal to prove that even nowadays synthesizer-based music can be realized without the aid of modern DSP and "shiny" hardware within the format.

Utility Music is the result of a year long exploration, beginning on January 1, 2019 and ending December 31, 2019. Josh started a new patch every Monday, continuing to develop it until the end of the week. On Saturday it was time to perform the patch without making any new additions. Sunday the day for recording work of the week, taking down patch notes, then taking the patch apart so that the process could begin all over again the next day.

The final audio portion of the project is a mosaic assembled from these weekly stems, provided as a CD, accompanied by a 72-pg. bound book containing further information on the project as well as weekly point-to-point patch notes and insights into process.

It is highly recommended that the listener experiences the audio portion of the project in conjunction with the written material.

Artwork, Writing and Design: Josh Mason
Technical Assistance: Andrew Weathers