Rob Hordijk will be giving some very unique seminars and workshops at the Modular 2002. These will look at the generation of new waveforms through analogue computing techniques.

Not suprisingly Rob's early background is in sculpting. He is an artist, computer programmer, composer and educator. He is regarded as one of the leading lights of synthesis and sound design on the Clavia Nord Modular and has a deserved international reputation.

When I met Rob Hordijk at the Nord Modular festival last year I was impressed by his approach to synthesis in general. I decided that for this event it was important to get greater insight into his unique ideas.

How did you develop an interest in synthesis?

It must have been around 1970 at the age of twelve, thirteen when I realised there are two categories of things, those made by nature and those made by people. Being young I figured I could make everything that can possibly be made in that last category. At that age one doesn't care about functionality or the resources needed, only about the mere fact of possibility. So, I decided I would spend my life 'making things'. My father regularly took me to museums and concerts, so already at a very early age I was introduced to art in many of its forms. The fact that art doesn't have to be functional appealed very much to me, as function imposes a limit on form. In art only the materials employed impose limits, next to one's own creativeness, of course.

Perhaps at the same time I realised that my dreams didn't only consist of images, but also included sounds. Strange and beautiful sounds. No particular melodies or songs but sounds I hadn't heard when awake. Very intriguing. I still have that.

Later I learned to sculpt and I wondered if I could sculpt sound. I found out the difference is that the sort of sound that appeals to me would need to be generated, its not like 'I have this rock here and now I'm gonna make a sculpture out of it'. So I had to master the tools that generate the material first, and then perhaps I could sculpt.

I gathered as much knowledge as I could from everywhere and everyone I could get it from, which wasn't that easy as there was no Internet yet. The first computer programs I wrote were necessarily written in assembly language. I found that working with sound synthesis is like taming a wild horse, it takes lots of time and patience to be in control of the process, rather than the other way round.

Who would you say are inspiring figures within this area?

For me definitely the Dutch composer Jan Boerman. When I was in my adolescence I heard one of his tape compositions, 'De Zee' (The Sea - 1964/65). I remember it had quite an impact on me, the sounds he used resembled very much what was so intriguing to me. At that time I wanted to be able to make that type of composition.

Are there any significant historic developments, which you think, are underestimated with regards to synthesis and systems?

All the important developments occurred in between the late forties and early sixties. E.g. the tape recorder and the computer emerged from this era. We are still building on those foundations. There has been a lot of refinement and techniques have become much more accessible and easier to work with. Algorithms have been refined. Perhaps only physical modelling can be marked as a relatively new development, though in my opinion it is still in its infancy. Wait until people start to discover that physical modelling opens up a way to new sounds and ways of working. Trying to emulate traditional instruments is in my opinion is only an exercise for developing the technique.

The Nord Modular is a unique open-ended system, which has a sound to match its unique design. What is remarkable is that it is relatively old in computing terms yet is capable of remarkable feats of sound design and processing. How do you see this system develop over the next few years?

One can extrapolate and state that processing power will increase. But how this will affect the creative possibilities I don't know. For me it's simply a great tool, one that I feel very comfortable with.

Personally I hope it will develop into a system that would allow for some unorthodox physical modelling stuff. Not for modelling traditional instruments, but models of bizarre objects that can be made to resonate in bizarre spaces. Along with all the modulation power the system has now.

I think everybody will be doing this in ten, fifteen years, building virtual acoustic spaces filled with virtual acoustic objects. There is no limit to form and/or to the sound of spaces and objects. These can appear, disappear and dramatically change properties under the control of the modulation process. To me it is quite a challenge to be able to direct such assemblies. And I think it fits my approach of sculpting very well. Ultimately, it is a commercial machine and it will be the market which will govern any new development.

Would you draw any comparison between the new digital and old analogue systems?

What I like about digital systems is the precision you can rely upon. I want to create processes and hear what they develop into, not hear the equipment's quirks. So the equipment needs to sound as 'transparent' as possible, it should not colour the sound. Digital modular systems definitely behave better than the analogue ancestors.

The good thing about the Nord Modular is, that one isn't bothered by complex arithmetic or multiple layers. The idea of using a modular approach is a good choice, just as the analogue modular was a good approach. Remember that the analogue modular systems developed naturally from the fifties electronic studios. Many of the downsides of those old analogue machines are now solved in the Nord Modular, memories to store and recall patches, rock-stable oscillators, precise multipliers, etc. But it has retained that immediate, intuitive quality of the analogue modulars.

Who uses the Nord Modular?

Frankly I don't know. Clavia, the manufacturer, sold many units. So there must be plenty of people using the machine. Basically it is just a tool like any other tool, if it fits the job then it is the right tool. I have heard it is used to great satisfaction by people who produce dance music in it's many forms.

What is noodling? Why is this such a unique culture of the Nord Modular people?

The Nord Modular is very suitable for soundscaping. The fact that there can be so many modulation sources and it is so easy to add more allows for very complex soundscapes. The name noodle simply refers to the noodle of patch-cords in such a patch. Noodles are not just random patches, they are built from an idea. It is very easy to set up a basic idea and then start adding elements to the sound while listening what the new elements do. So, it is a way of intuitively building a soundscape. And at the same time it is a journey through sound. Every time you add another element it is like taking a bus from one place to another. You visit one place and then add another element which takes you to another. It is quite fun actually.