83 - Mad Scientist (Album)

Hi there,


I just wanted to share this project of my Master's thesis: 83 - Mad Scientist. It only took me almost 30 years since starting producing songs to publish my very own and therefore first album.

I aimed to produce a lo-fi hip hop album (using various tape or vinyl FX heavily) using the trope of Mad Scientists by sampling respective works (usually films) and chopping and mangling these samples into a new kind of musical collage. During that project I had several troubles (MPC Live 2 battery defect, death of a family member) shortly before submitting, so I am only 95% content with the result. I'd love to have experimented on the sequence of the songs as well as using more kinds of micro-edits and automation, but it is what it is now.

After roughly eight months of working on it day and night I am just exhausted and happy to have it handed in.


Feedback is heavily appreciated!

Link: https://soundcloud.com/83themadscientist/sets/mad-scientist

I had a quick listen the other day, nice and very consistent old movie lofi sound.
I wonder how you got that consisten sound throughout all the tracks, Is it all sampling?

Also I wonder what kind of thesis requires you to make an album.

moonlake wrote:I had a quick listen the other day, nice and very consistent old movie lofi sound.
I wonder how you got that consisten sound throughout all the tracks, Is it all sampling?

Thanks for your kind words.

It mostly is. Some samples needed treatment, mostly filtering early during production. I occasionally used MPC FX like Flavor or Flavor Pro via resampling if they sounded too clean, but that was a rare occasion. Usually filters sufficed. I just had quite a good frame of reference and an image of the sound I wanted to have in the end.

More glue came in later. There‘s almost no track or buss that wasn‘t treated with one or the other effect. I used Wavesfactory Cassette and RC-20 (or sometimes Flavor / Flavor Pro) to mold all tracks / busses into some kind of shape. Later I bought Sketch Cassette II and immediately fell in love with that. That one was added to four of every five tracks, sometimes in a subtle, sometimes a more extreme matter.

Nevertheless, processing sounds together with the same compression, EQing and finally adding these FX always does the trick.

moonlake wrote:Also I wonder what kind of thesis requires you to make an album.

It‘s a Master of Arts. You usually need to apply with the creative idea you have. It‘s a Master of Arts Professional Practice (Audio Production). I studied at SAE Institute Cologne, where you get a degree from a British university. Mine‘s from Middlesex University, recent ones are certified by Hertfordshire University. Less tracks would have been okay, but that‘s what I aimed for.