Tag: puredata

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Livewire Session: Darth Presley

October 10th, 2026

Darth Presley and the H.E.A.P. performing selections from Monstrum Pacificum Bellicosum

Darth Presley: Bandcamp, Spotify, Facebook, Insta: @darthpresley_americanhero, TikTok: @darthpresley

What is the H.E.A.P.?
The H.E.A.P. stands for the Heuristic Electronic Algorithmic Philharmonic. It is a system of computer programs (written in PureData), synthesizers, samplers, video synthesizers, and drum machines that provide the groove that Darth Presley lays down his stylings upon. The setup also includes a looper pedal, allowing Presley to layer several guitar grooves.

What is up with the video?
The video is generated by the Sleepy Circuits Hypno (thanks to the Digital Innovation Lab  at Stonehill College for their support through a Digital Innovation Grant). The Hypno is a video synthesizer which is being controlled by the same algorithms used to generate the accompaniment, hence the video changes in time to the music. The Hypno, in this instance, is being used to process source video, which comes from the 1925 silent film The Lost World.

What is Monstrum Pacificum Bellicosum?
That is the forthcoming album by Darth Presley and Slash Gordon. Currently twelve tracks from the album have been released on Bandcamp (darthpresley.bandcamp.com). New tracks are released once every couple of weeks, so stay tuned! The complete version of the album will be released in December 2026 (or thereabouts) on all major streaming services. Monstrum Pacificum Bellicosum is not a collection of songs in the conventional sense. It is a collection of grooves that can be improvised on.

Each tune on the setlist is precisely three minutes and twenty seconds long. That combined with the tempi may aid you in keeping up with the setlist, should you care to follow along.

Roc (100 bpm)
Delver (96 bpm)
Windghost (120 bpm)
Wyste (80 bpm)
Aboleth (88 bpm)
Rampager (95 bpm)
Catoblepas (80 bpm)
Megalodon (116 bpm)
Moonbeast (132 bpm)

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FriYay: Darth Presley & the H.E.A.P. Live at the New Bedford Art Museum:

Bio: I have had some horribly disturbing waking dreams of being a monstrous apparition, part-man, but mostly machine; soulless and demonic, terrorizing man and beast alike with sounds unlike any other, sounds that alternately inspire and chill, lifting spirits only to dash them again on some distant rocky shore comprised of dissonance and psychotic visions. I am haunted by sizable blackouts, what some refer to as lost time, and frequently awaken in unknown locations, smelling of Malört and regret with nothing to explain my activities save for a plectrum and a few patch chords.

The H.E.A.P. (The Housatonic Electronic Algorithmic Philharmonic):
Dr. Todd Gernes: electric guitar
Darth Presley: fretless bass, theremin
Volca Sample 2, Volca Keys, Volca FM 2, EYESY (video synthesizer) driven by algorithms written in Pure Data.

Schedule:
6:00:00PM Roc
6:03:20PM TriStar
6:10:00PM Delver
6:13:20PM 737
6:20:00PM Ankheg
6:23:20PM A300
6:30:00PM Windghost
6:33:20PM DC-8
6:40:00PM Untitled Ambient Piece
7:00:00PM Bulette
7:03:20PM Wyste
7:06:40PM 727
7:13:20PM Aboleth
7:16:40PM 707
7:23:20PM Rampager
7:26:40PM DC-10
7:33:20PM Catoblepas
7:36:40PM DC-9
7:43:20PM Megalodon
7:46:40PM 747
7:53:20PM Moonbeast
7:56:40PM Hydra

TriStar, 737, A300, DC-8, 727, 707, DC-10, DC-9, & 747 are from the album Rotate (Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music). Roc, Delver, Ankheg, Windghost, Bulette, Wyste, Aboleth, Rampager, Catoblepas, Megalodon, Moonbeast, & Hydra are from the forthcoming album Monstrum Pacificum Bellicosum (projected completion 2026). The untitled ambient piece will hopefully be released on an album planned for 2025.

Special thanks to: Scott Bishop, Dr. Todd Gernes, Dr. Uma Hiremath, Dr. Greg Maneiro, Garrett McComas, and the Digital Innovation Lab at Stonehill College.

www.facebook.com/DarthPresley
darthpresley.bandcamp.com/
@darthpresley_americanhero Instagram
@darthpresley TikTok

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Sabbatical: Week 12 Update

It has been a productive week, with 13 phrases recorded on electric cello. I recorded phrases for the beginning and end sections for TriStar, A300, 727, DC-10, and DC-9. I also recorded phrases for the center sections of DC-8, 707, and 747. This leaves only six electric cello phrases to record next week, although it is a short work week due to Thanksgiving. Last week I mentioned that I was thinning out the orchestra samples in some of the movements. This week I continued that process, thinning out A300, DC-8, 727, 707, and DC-10. In fact, I only have two more movements to thin out.

On the next album front, I now have three working algorithms from the first batch of six movements from the album. Between ME7ROPOL17AN 7RANSPOR7A71ON AU74OR17Y and Rotate, I’ve been having a lot of fun creating and releasing albums. Given that the next major album will not be ready for three or four years, my plan is to sneak in some lower stakes albums in the meanwhile. One of them may be an album of live performances of Rotate. On Tuesday I will be performing with the New London Drone Orchestra. Since I’ve been playing electric cello for the last couple of weeks, I figure I’ll play that instrument while I’m good and warmed up. I’ll be running the instrument through a bunch of effects, and I hope to record the audio of my contribution to the performance. Assuming all goes well, I may continue to perform with the group a couple of times every year. I may be able to take my recordings from those performances to put together an ambient album.

Since I’m sharing the audio for 727 this week, I figured I’d include the score to the string quartet part for those who want to follow along. At rehearsal H, only the notes A, C, D, and E are used. These notes work out really well for bowed strings, as they’re all open strings on one or more of the instruments. This allows me to use harmonics, a favorite musical sound of mine, for the last four measures.