Oregon Music News

For seven years, Daryl Groetsch has been soldering and wiring together homemade synthesizers and noise makers with which he has created an impressive body of work. Using the name Pulse Emitter, Groetsch has released–either on his own or with the funding of a label–dozens of small and large releases that feature the spiny sting and low wobble of modular synth noise. It is cinematic electronic music alternately calling to mind images of long flowing wheat fields and foreboding industrial landscapes. It can be soothing–as on his series of releases known as Meditative Music–or it can send shockwaves to your coccyx, like the appropriately titled “Oppressive Nature.”

No matter what tone he takes, Groetsch’s ear for new sounds is unmatched, even among the best experimental and electronic artists here in Portland. Groetsch was kind enough to answer some questions via e-mail about the inspiration behind his unique sound and how he brings it to life on record and on stage.

Listen to “Unearthly” as you read:

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What or who was it that inspired you to start making the music that you do as Pulse Emitter? What attracted you to the world of modular synths?

It was a desire to not play in groups any longer and also to stop making music with beats. The start of the project coincided with the first synthesizer module I made, a Paia VCO. This was around 2003. I had become uninspired by the synthesizers I owned and wanted an analog synth but could not afford one at the time. Interest in synthesizers is part of what motivated me to start going to electronics school and that gave me the courage to start soldering. Building a modular was the best way I found to get the sounds and flexibility I wanted, cheaply.

You’ve released an impressive amount of music over the years. How much of it is prepared/written ahead of time and how much of it is improvisational?

My early recordings are more improvised. I don’t do that anymore. I used to record an entire album in a night or two. Now it takes months. I’m a little ashamed of how prolific I used to be, but those releases were in extremely limited editions anyway. I really take my time now.

What inspires your compositions?

Mental images, imaginary journeys, science fiction, occasionally other music and art. It’s pretty visual for me, often the different musical parts represent elements of the image that is in my mind while composing. Also my music composition degree has been invaluable to me.

How does this translate to live performances–do you try to recreate certain pieces from your recordings or do you improvise based on your mood/the space that you’re playing in?

It is always prearranged to an extent. I’ll have the layers and the basic form set, but the flow of the performance is felt out live. I don’t have the power to recreate my compositions live and don’t really want to, I like each performance to be something fresh. Usually the live sets are inspired by the experiences of the day of the show. That’s why I like out of town shows, I see so many new things during the day, it gives me a lot of ideas. Local shows, all I may have done is wake up at noon, drink coffee, and read a National Geographic, so that’s all I have to go on for inspiration sometimes.

How easy or hard is it to perform live? What is your live set up?

I bring a small version of my full modular synthesizer, a keyboard synth, and some echo boxes. A rough approximation of what I have available to me at my home studio. It’s not too hard to bring out, and it gives me the capability of playing a few different parts at once.

What’s your favorite kind of modular synth instrument?

I don’t have a lot of experience with premade modular synth equipment. I build modules from kits and from scratch: Paia, CGS, and MFOS mostly. I’m not attracted to these new modules for sale that have all these esoteric functions some designer dreamt up. I prefer to have a great quantity of basic modules, oscillators, filters, modulators, utility stuff. I think it’s more creative to make a complex patch with these than just having some wacky module that spits out weird sounds with little effort on the part of the user.

Do you see your music as occupying a particular genre or do you think of it in those terms?

I don’t think it fits a genre exactly. It leans one way or another sometimes. I’m moving from a more noise or experimental bent towards a more ambient or space music one right now. But I generally just call it synthesizer music, because that’s the only constant, the only sound source used.

What do you have planned for the coming months?

More recordings that I’m excited about coming out on a few labels. And a few out of town shows that’ll be fun, the On Land festival in San Francisco, a noise festival in Victoria, BC, and a show in Seattle at a chapel performance space. And I’m working on Meditative Music 4, the latest edition in my series designed for sleep, massage, relaxation, that sort of thing.