You may know Kieran Foster by his other aliases — illformed, dblue, MaDHaTTeR. That’s just how omnipresent he was as a light in electronic music communities, from the music and rave scene to software to Renoise. His sister has made his legendary Glitch2 effect free in his memory. Instead of pouring one out, you can crank up its sequenced sound-morphing powers and let his work live on.
Kieran died at the start of June at the age of 47. My condolences go out to his family and friends — and also to say that the impact he’s made on the larger tracker, music, and tech communities is felt deeply. It’s worth reading this memorial text, which describes him as “leaving the world a legacy of his music, sound, art, legendary software and overwhelming goodness of character.”
He’s survived by his sister Joni. A particular thanks to his friend jenoki who’s been liasing between Joni and the wider community.
There are “FSU” plug-ins, and there is Glitch2: a deep, multi-lane sequenced multi-effect with randomization and mutation. It’s now free to download and use across VST2, VST3, and AU formats on macOS, Windows, and Linux. For a sense of what it can do:
Part of why it’s so important to me to know the people who make the tools is that I hope we aren’t just extracting some cool sounds from your work. I really feel grateful that we get to know the spirit in the code and circuits.
taktik of Renoise writes a really moving remembrance:
Kieran aka dblue a fellow friend and Renoise member passed away
But let’s give some space to what he put out in the world. From Bandcamp, Kieran was “Grumpy sod. Salty geezer.
Maker of silly noises. General all-round nerdy bloke. I made that Glitch VST. Let’s get weird!”
And music:
You’ll be deeply missed, Kieran.