Acquired by the British Library Sound Archive, December 2021

1. Research Question
What makes certain combinations of sounds uncanny? When is this simply absurd, and when does it tip over into being scary?

2. Methods
A series of patches were created for a modular synthesiser: Found recordings of various, unidentified speech were sourced and prepared for playback through a Music Thing Modular Radio Music module. These were cut up and triggered using Buchla Sequential Source, Verbos Voltage Multistage, Random Sampling and Shift Register modules, and processed using ring modulation and Gristleiser (distortion & filtering) modules. Melodic, harmonic and dissonant accompaniment was programmed using Complex Oscillators. An ancient Roland CR5000 drum machine provided additional rhythm for some tracks. Patches were set running and live studio performances were recorded. A number of iterations of each track were recorded before a final selection was made.

3. Context of Contribution
‘D.o.A. The Third And Final Report’ by Throbbing Gristle. Industrial Records, 1978.