13Hz
Serge Protector
13Hz is a synthesizer-based project of Richard Adams, which is perhaps not as well known as his other considerably “noisier” pedal-based project, Thirteen Hurts.
This specific 13hz release, Serge Protector, began to take shape back in 1999, when Richard was able to procure a Serge Modular synthesizer.
While no stranger to synthesizers, this was his first time having hands-on experience with such a beast. For him, it was strangely akin to starting from scratch as that is what a modular synthesist is required to do.
No push buttons to store patches, no MIDI, no standard keyboard, and every module required connection to another module via banana cables just to get a sound.
What these pieces from Serge Protector represent are the end-result of concentrated fiddling, tweaking, and composing; Focusing more on the sensation of sound, and a myriad of “happy accidents” rather than using a more cerebral approach to modular synthesis.
Originally completed in the late summer of 1999, a very small handful of cd's were burned to disc and handed out to even fewer people, one even making its way into the hands of Naut Humon (Rhythm &
Noise / Recombinant Media Labs).
However, marketing and exposure was never a strong suit of Richard's,
so the project simply faded away. Until now. Here we are, 25 years later, and Serge Protector has been reborn, remixed and remastered for the listening pleasure of anyone interested in such endeavors.
For those curious about the technical details, all of the sounds are created using a four-panel Serge Modular system purchased from the then Oakland, California based Sound Transform Systems. This was
recorded direct to hard drive through an Event Electronics/Echo “Layla” interface using Cakewalk software on a home-built computer running Windows 98.
