ABOUT THIS EPISODE
RUINS is a sonic excavation that transforms the electric guitar into a study of collapse, texture, and spatial memory. Featuring exclusive performances from six luminaries of the experimental guitar scene, it dissolves the guitar into unstable currents of raw signal and shimmering harmony.
GUITAR MONOLITHS
Recorded and curated by producer Randall Dunn at Circular Ruin Studios, RUINS deconstructs guitar textures into raw sonic material.
Built from the exclusive recordings of six experimental guitarists—Stephen O’Malley, Oren Ambarchi, David Torn, Bill Horist, Ben Greenberg, and Arjan Miranda—the instrument’s engine disintegrates the source material via tape-loop-inspired playback, textural layering, and transformative effects processing.
SPACE, PERFORMANCE, SATURATION
The RUINS sessions were a series of controlled experiments, designed to explore the relationship between space, performance, and saturation.
To provide deep tonal versatility, RUINS offers multiple mic perspectives, including a pristinely captured DI, an array of tube powered amplifiers, an eroded stereo spring reverb, and a cavernous re-amped signal recorded in Berlin’s iconic Funkhaus sound chamber. The built-in convolution engine expands this palette further, complete with a curated library of custom impulse responses leaning toward experimental sound design.
VOICES OF EXPLORATION
Each of RUINS’ six experimental guitarists was chosen for their ability to push the guitar outside traditional musical roles—treating it less as an instrument and more as an interface for texture, gesture, and sonic ritual.
Each artist was given freehand to submit fragments: loops, textures, resonances, and mechanical failures. Their work is unified by a focus on texture, feedback, and raw materiality, forming the basis of an instrument designed to create new timbral languages that explore the outer edges of guitar performance.
SPATIAL
The spatial page enables the construction of the sound environment. An XY pad blends the four core mic perspectives, each contributing a unique material character. Movement between perspectives can be recorded or modulated to create dynamic, shifting soundfields. This is followed by a chain of four convolution reverbs, loaded with an extensive library of IRs, including the sonic signatures of derelict spaces and resonant objects. The entire library of articulations is also available in the instrument category. This allows any sound to be used as a custom imprint, melding its textural DNA onto any performance.
EFFECTS
A chain of six DSP effects provides the final stage of shaping. A sound’s frequency can be sculpted with a multi-mode filter, or degraded with the analogue character of the tape and amp modules. A versatile modulation unit features scale-quantised modal processing, while a tape-style delay and reverb provide further spatial depth.
MODULATION
Movement is central to the engine’s philosophy. Three core sources—an advanced LFO, a drawable step sequencer for custom patterns, and MIDI CC for gestural control—can be assigned to almost any continuous parameter. This allows for everything from cyclical, rhythmic structures to the interdependent motion of a system that feels constantly on the verge of collapse.
LAYERS
The engine features a dual-layer architecture, allowing two independent sound sources to be layered and processed simultaneously. Each layer contains its own distinct set of loops and modulation assignments. This enables the creation of complex formations, where a foundational harmonic layer can be fused with a shifting textural strata, for example.
WHAT’S INCLUDED:
– 258 × PHRASE ARTICULATIONS
+ 48 Ben Greenberg/Arjan Miranda
+ 57 Bill Horist
+ 47 David Torn
+ 68 Oren Ambarchi
+ 38 Stephen O’Malley
– 96 × MULTISAMPLE ARTICULATIONS
+ 28 Ben Greenberg/Arjan Miranda
+ 25 Bill Horist
+ 10 David Torn
+ 21 Oren Ambarchi
+ 12 Stephen O’Malley
– 281 × SOUND DESIGN PRESETS
+ 23 animations
+ 26 atmospheres
+ 17 collages
+ 7 forms
+ 9 loops
+ 31 movements
+ 59 pads
+ 10 ruins
+ 46 textures
+ 53 tones
– 4,636 × RAW .WAV FILES
+ 1,159 sounds
+ 4 mic perspectives
Requires free NI Kontakt Player or NI Kontakt FULL v7.10.7 or higher!
INFO/DEMO/BUY: https://mage.si/5p338
RUiNS: Experimental Guitars KONTAKT
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