8 ms·

Richard D. James aka Aphex Twin speaks to Tatsuya Takahashi (2017)

280 points by lelandfe 10mo ago

lelandfe 10mo ago
Context from the prior year: https://pitchfork.com/news/69473-korg-announces-new-synthesizer-with-aphex-twin-presets/ https://pitchfork.com/news/69473-korg-announces-new-synthesi...
ChrisArchitect 10mo ago
No archive links please; Source is available: https://warp.net/editorial/richard-d-james-speaks-to-tatsuya-takahashi https://warp.net/editorial/richard-d-james-speaks-to-tatsuya...
- lelandfe 10mo ago
  That is not the source. In their housecleaning they removed graphics and anchors from the interview, so I'm providing the original.
  - ChrisArchitect 10mo ago
    ah, weird
gnatman 10mo ago
He still works for Korg! Leads their R&D branch in Berlin.
- enricozb 10mo ago
  RDJ or Tatsuya Takahashi?
  - pan69 10mo ago
    > Tatsuya Takahashi is currently advisor for Korg and holds a full-time position at Yadastar GmbH to work on technology based projects. It's in the lead in to the article.
    - enqk 10mo ago
      It’s also out of date, he leads Korg Berlin now
- windowliker 10mo ago
  Yup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsWpmrBN9gY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsWpmrBN9gY
BLKNSLVR 10mo ago
The depth of knowledge of Richard James surprises me every time I come across articles about him. No wonder Aphex Twin's music stands out the way it does. He's always a fair way ahead of the curve.
- milleramp 10mo ago
  Yes, not to long ago I was looking into the Easter egg in Windowlicker, amazing. https://eeggs.com/items/34824.html https://eeggs.com/items/34824.html
  - arcanemachiner 10mo ago
    Wow, eeggs.com. Haven't thought about that site in years (maybe even decades).
- spacechild1 10mo ago
  He is indeed a very technical and nerdy person. For example, he was an early adopter of the SuperCollider audio programming language. Fun trivia: he was trolling the SuperCollider mailing list under the alias "eric hard jams" which is an anagram of Richard [D.] James. Some of his messages were truely horrendous and he got kicked out eventually. He is quite a character...
  - Mistletoe 10mo ago
    Can you link to the horrendous messages or summarize them?
    - ideasphere 10mo ago
      “Ooh look, a girl on the sc list. Let’s rape her”
      - 0x1ch 10mo ago
        I assume if this was brought to his attention today, he would denounce anything said. People mature. Boy, if League of Legends chat logs from 2012 ever got out...
flippyhead 10mo ago
I really enjoyed this explanation of just how amazing RDJ is: https://youtu.be/5wIOBBodoic?si=HkR05lAGkSiPZVmS https://youtu.be/5wIOBBodoic?si=HkR05lAGkSiPZVmS
- Yeask 10mo ago
  You may like the track or not, but making Bucephalus Bouncing Ball in 1997 is just fucking nuts.
zahlman 10mo ago
(2017) appears to be the earliest archive snapshot.
- lelandfe 10mo ago
  Yeah, I didn't link the first archive as the Soundcloud playlist fully doesn't load. This one doesn't play, but at least the names are searchable.
publicdebates 10mo ago
Tangential: "Aisatsana - Aphex Twin - Barbican, London 10th October 2012. It's a bit dark so it's probably difficult to tell but that's a grand piano being swung back and forth across the stage like a pendulum." "Yeah, it's written for my wife. When I first did that, I did this installation-y art thing at the Barbican with a remote orchestra. [The song] was made on my Disklavier [controlled piano], which was swung from the roof at that gig, and there was this massive Doppler effect. It is pretty mental. There's a bad cameraphone version of it on YouTube, but in the flesh it's fucking amazing. To listen to this piano swinging, you almost see all the notes stretching out, so it'll hit you at different times. I never knew if it was going to work or not, and everyone was like, “What the fuck is he swinging a piano for?” But when we actually got it going, we were just like, “fucking hell.” It was so extreme. My friends were like, “Are the strings stretching?” The pitch deviation is that big, it sounds like the actual frame is contorting. Maybe it is, I don't know!" - Richard D. James https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJHsT8kEyzs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJHsT8kEyzs
- jacquesm 10mo ago
  I know the year has just started but I vote this comment of the year 2026. Wow. Thank you. Seriously. Of all the things you could do with a piano this has to be the most crazy, and it just works.
  - publicdebates 10mo ago
    I reluctantly decline and instead endorse https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538574 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538574
    - jacquesm 10mo ago
      There's no debating about taste ;)
  - defrost 10mo ago
    Goes a few steps past threading metal nuts that move on grand piano strings, that's for ure.
geraldmcboing 10mo ago
This is also a great deep wide-ranging interview/conversation c SYRO release https://web.archive.org/web/20141111015756/http://noyzelab.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/syrobonkers-part1.html https://web.archive.org/web/20141111015756/http://noyzelab.b... https://web.archive.org/web/20141112205122/https://noyzelab.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/syrobonkers-part2.html https://web.archive.org/web/20141112205122/https://noyzelab....
sailfast 10mo ago
Programming synths with Scala sounds pretty fun!
- emptybits 10mo ago
  And before the wrong Scala crowd gets too excited, the Scala referred to is the musical tuning software from 1985 https://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/ https://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/ (Not the programming language from 2004.)
njoyablpnting 10mo ago
Here's a plugin that he commissioned that you can play with: https://gitlab.com/then-try-this/samplebrain https://gitlab.com/then-try-this/samplebrain It's hard to overstate the influence RDJ has had on modern music. Maybe even more impressive than his ability to develop multiple compelling distinct styles is the way he has taken existing niches, completely mastered them and then pushed the boundaries all over again.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
jghn 10mo ago
I remember once hearing an interview with cEvin Key where he described Dwayne Goettel as someone who would have probably turned out to be Aphex Twin had he not died, given the era of it all. And that made me take another look at Aphex twin, and appreciate his work.
rballpug 10mo ago
Placeable. >I’ve since gone on to learn more about this damn 440 Hz.
SolubleSnake 10mo ago
I love Aphex Twin but my only issue is he keeps saying in interviews how he hates surfers?! Being a proud Cornish surfer and one of his earlier fans this saddens me. We were his first fans! There used to be raves in Cornwall like the one in cult UK surfing classic 'Blue Juice'. They were 'lush' (i've noticed Aphex regularly says 'lush' too so is clearly from a surfer-adjacent group of friends and maybe he's just p1ssing about).
- 12ian34 10mo ago
  he is known for speaking all sorts of bs in interviews just for his own amusement, so I wouldn't take it personally :)
chungus 10mo ago
Very nice read thank you. Still remember very clearly putting the Richard D James album CD into my Sony disc man for the very first time 22 years ago

280 points by lelandfe 10mo ago

Context from the prior year: https://pitchfork.com/news/69473-korg-announces-new-synthesizer-with-aphex-twin-presets/ https://pitchfork.com/news/69473-korg-announces-new-synthesi...

ChrisArchitect 10mo ago

No archive links please; Source is available: https://warp.net/editorial/richard-d-james-speaks-to-tatsuya-takahashi https://warp.net/editorial/richard-d-james-speaks-to-tatsuya...

lelandfe 10mo ago
That is not the source. In their housecleaning they removed graphics and anchors from the interview, so I'm providing the original.
- ChrisArchitect 10mo ago
  ah, weird

gnatman 10mo ago

He still works for Korg! Leads their R&D branch in Berlin.

enricozb 10mo ago
RDJ or Tatsuya Takahashi?
- pan69 10mo ago
  > Tatsuya Takahashi is currently advisor for Korg and holds a full-time position at Yadastar GmbH to work on technology based projects. It's in the lead in to the article.
  - enqk 10mo ago
    It’s also out of date, he leads Korg Berlin now
windowliker 10mo ago
Yup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsWpmrBN9gY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsWpmrBN9gY

BLKNSLVR 10mo ago

The depth of knowledge of Richard James surprises me every time I come across articles about him. No wonder Aphex Twin's music stands out the way it does. He's always a fair way ahead of the curve.

milleramp 10mo ago
Yes, not to long ago I was looking into the Easter egg in Windowlicker, amazing. https://eeggs.com/items/34824.html https://eeggs.com/items/34824.html
- arcanemachiner 10mo ago
  Wow, eeggs.com. Haven't thought about that site in years (maybe even decades).
spacechild1 10mo ago
He is indeed a very technical and nerdy person. For example, he was an early adopter of the SuperCollider audio programming language. Fun trivia: he was trolling the SuperCollider mailing list under the alias "eric hard jams" which is an anagram of Richard [D.] James. Some of his messages were truely horrendous and he got kicked out eventually. He is quite a character...
- Mistletoe 10mo ago
  Can you link to the horrendous messages or summarize them?
  - ideasphere 10mo ago
    “Ooh look, a girl on the sc list. Let’s rape her”
    - 0x1ch 10mo ago
      I assume if this was brought to his attention today, he would denounce anything said. People mature. Boy, if League of Legends chat logs from 2012 ever got out...

flippyhead 10mo ago

I really enjoyed this explanation of just how amazing RDJ is: https://youtu.be/5wIOBBodoic?si=HkR05lAGkSiPZVmS https://youtu.be/5wIOBBodoic?si=HkR05lAGkSiPZVmS

Yeask 10mo ago
You may like the track or not, but making Bucephalus Bouncing Ball in 1997 is just fucking nuts.

zahlman 10mo ago

(2017) appears to be the earliest archive snapshot.

lelandfe 10mo ago
Yeah, I didn't link the first archive as the Soundcloud playlist fully doesn't load. This one doesn't play, but at least the names are searchable.

publicdebates 10mo ago

Tangential: "Aisatsana - Aphex Twin - Barbican, London 10th October 2012. It's a bit dark so it's probably difficult to tell but that's a grand piano being swung back and forth across the stage like a pendulum." "Yeah, it's written for my wife. When I first did that, I did this installation-y art thing at the Barbican with a remote orchestra. [The song] was made on my Disklavier [controlled piano], which was swung from the roof at that gig, and there was this massive Doppler effect. It is pretty mental. There's a bad cameraphone version of it on YouTube, but in the flesh it's fucking amazing. To listen to this piano swinging, you almost see all the notes stretching out, so it'll hit you at different times. I never knew if it was going to work or not, and everyone was like, “What the fuck is he swinging a piano for?” But when we actually got it going, we were just like, “fucking hell.” It was so extreme. My friends were like, “Are the strings stretching?” The pitch deviation is that big, it sounds like the actual frame is contorting. Maybe it is, I don't know!" - Richard D. James https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJHsT8kEyzs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJHsT8kEyzs

jacquesm 10mo ago
I know the year has just started but I vote this comment of the year 2026. Wow. Thank you. Seriously. Of all the things you could do with a piano this has to be the most crazy, and it just works.
- publicdebates 10mo ago
  I reluctantly decline and instead endorse https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538574 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538574
  - jacquesm 10mo ago
    There's no debating about taste ;)
- defrost 10mo ago
  Goes a few steps past threading metal nuts that move on grand piano strings, that's for ure.

geraldmcboing 10mo ago

This is also a great deep wide-ranging interview/conversation c SYRO release https://web.archive.org/web/20141111015756/http://noyzelab.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/syrobonkers-part1.html https://web.archive.org/web/20141111015756/http://noyzelab.b... https://web.archive.org/web/20141112205122/https://noyzelab.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/syrobonkers-part2.html https://web.archive.org/web/20141112205122/https://noyzelab....

sailfast 10mo ago

Programming synths with Scala sounds pretty fun!

emptybits 10mo ago
And before the wrong Scala crowd gets too excited, the Scala referred to is the musical tuning software from 1985 https://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/ https://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/ (Not the programming language from 2004.)

njoyablpnting 10mo ago

Here's a plugin that he commissioned that you can play with: https://gitlab.com/then-try-this/samplebrain https://gitlab.com/then-try-this/samplebrain It's hard to overstate the influence RDJ has had on modern music. Maybe even more impressive than his ability to develop multiple compelling distinct styles is the way he has taken existing niches, completely mastered them and then pushed the boundaries all over again.

deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]

jghn 10mo ago

I remember once hearing an interview with cEvin Key where he described Dwayne Goettel as someone who would have probably turned out to be Aphex Twin had he not died, given the era of it all. And that made me take another look at Aphex twin, and appreciate his work.

rballpug 10mo ago

Placeable. >I’ve since gone on to learn more about this damn 440 Hz.

SolubleSnake 10mo ago

I love Aphex Twin but my only issue is he keeps saying in interviews how he hates surfers?! Being a proud Cornish surfer and one of his earlier fans this saddens me. We were his first fans! There used to be raves in Cornwall like the one in cult UK surfing classic 'Blue Juice'. They were 'lush' (i've noticed Aphex regularly says 'lush' too so is clearly from a surfer-adjacent group of friends and maybe he's just p1ssing about).

12ian34 10mo ago
he is known for speaking all sorts of bs in interviews just for his own amusement, so I wouldn't take it personally :)

chungus 10mo ago

Very nice read thank you. Still remember very clearly putting the Richard D James album CD into my Sony disc man for the very first time 22 years ago