Ocean Of Sound / DEEWEE - EMS Synthi 100 (listening session)

• DEEWEE — EMS Synthi 100
(Listening session in 4DSOUND, world premiere)

Especially for Ocean Of Sound, David & Stephen Dewaele (aka Soulwax/2manydjs) are creating a 4DSOUND version of their album EMS Synthi 100 (from 2020). The duo has always been fascinated by collecting instruments and recording gear. Their passion hasn’t been born by completism: simply every new item inspires a world of new possibilities. The one item that always eluded them was the EMS Synthi 100 - a huge and rare analogue/digital hybrid synthesizer that can create a near infinite array of sounds.

The album sounds simultaneously futuristic and retro as it highlights the versatility, uniqueness and warmth of the Synthi 100. Remarkably, a synthesizer that was first launched in 1971 continues to excel in 2020, aided only by patient restoration and fresh creative input. Each side of the vinyl features a long piece of music, each of which is divided into three movements. While they can be heard separately, David & Stephen Dewaele, urge people to listen to the entire experience from start to finish.

Commissioned by STUK & Het Depot, DEEWEE - with the help of studio prodigy Pim Gombeers - created a 4DSOUND version of this already iconic album. For this they traveled to Berlin to mix the composition in Monom’s 4DSOUND studio.

CREDITS

Written, recorded, produced and mixed at DEEWEE by David & Stephen Dewaele | This album was made with the kind assistance of and in collaboration with IPEM, Gent | Photography by Younes Klouche | Art direction by III-Studio | Spatialized & produced by Monom Studios, commissioned by STUK - House for Dance, Image & Sound for Ocean Of Sound 2023 | In the context of: New Horizons | Dieric Bouts Festival, an initiative of KU[N]ST Leuven: www.diericboutsfestival.be | Special thanks to: Pim Gombeer

ABOUT THE SYNTHI & IPEM

IPEM, a Ghent University research group focused on Embodied Music Interaction, is the owner of the EMS Synthi 100. The synth, which is housed in the Art Science Interaction Labs of UGent (asil.ugent.be), has been fully restored and is currently part of the "living heritage" research project