Oliver Torr is disrupting your sound waves, mangling your Ableton Live tempo (alongside the awesome duo MIRA新伝統), and assembling drum kits out of AI-surfed YouTube chaos. The Glazmo Network founder has been doing deep research into “sonic mythologies,” and that includes two tools that are must-have for fans of uncertainty, glitch, and general inspiration. Plus, you should look into Oliver’s and Mira’s recent albums if you missed them.
We got to know Oliver Torr through the portal of Bastl Instruments, but he’s gone onto a production career, is now based in Athens, and has opened up his archaic sound design processes on the Glazmo Network Discord.
And now, these tools.
Agitator
First, I’ve raved before about the inventions of MIRA新伝統. Remember last year when we looked at the insanely great HyperSplash, a Max for Live device capable of spawning glitch and foley percussion sounds?
Well, if HyperSplash does percussion sounds, Agitator by MIRA新伝統 and Oliver takes over your entire project tempo. Feed in audio, and it readjusts the whole project tempo, with slew controls for smoothing, rise, and fall. Set a minimum and maximum, and drop this on a track, then go. It’s like Ableton’s own Envelope Follower, except that the official device can’t target tempo. This can.
There’s 3 EUR (or more, if you want to donate/tip) well spent. Requires Ableton Live 12+ and Max for Live.
GLAZMO_RESEARCH + Coriolis Lab
GLAZMO_DREAM_PORT
Here’s what AI-assisted tools are like in a timeline that’s better than our own. GLAZMO_DREAM_PORT is a twist on the AI prompt black-box: snippets of generated koans get turned into YouTube queries, which then returns audio, which then gets sliced into pads. It works like so:
You can even flip these into “corrupted” alternates by hitting the Encrypt button. (Think glitchier/dreamier.) Here’s an example:
Wisely, the plug-in also generates text for clearance, before you release music that gets you into trouble. (If you’re nervous about that, of course, you can always use these for temp track inspiration and go back later — and enjoy Agitator.)
And let’s play it all together for fun, just jamming with the two tools at once:
GLAZMO_DREAM_PORT is macOS-only, but both Apple Silicon and Intel VST3.
Let’s get some music in here
The beautiful thing about both Oliver Torr and MIRA新伝統 is, they’re confident enough in their own chops and imagination to give away their secret sauce — and still trust that you’ll make something different than they do. So you can bet that these bit-warping sonic tools get put to sublime use in their own music.
Mythoplaxy by MIRA新伝統 this year is a trippy, crunchy ear adventure. For all the sound design, it’s wonderfully lyrical, a daydream in deep-space stasis.
Put that duo together with Oliver, and you’ve got a hyperspace scene.
Headstock Comforts deserves more attention; it’s uncompromising digital psychedelica full of details and wonderfully, relentlessly weird. It does that effortlessly; this is for someone who’s ready to develop some fun psychosis with their plug-ins and I’m there for it. Plus there’s some splendid merch by Kristyna Kulikova.
I’m curious what’s coming next.
https://olivertorr.com [honestly do not select strobe on unless you’re a glutton for punishment]
Previously: