wes9 wrote:Early Devo...check out "Hardcore Devo, Vol.1, '74-'77."

rayj wrote:I picked up an old Korg MS-20. If you patch the headphone out back into it (via any CV, but 'total' is always fun), you get really aggressive sounds, especially with the ring modulator. It works as a guitarish sound, with more ugly mess. It also gets more difficult to control...

Basically, distorted analog synths. Hard to go wrong with a MiniMoog into an SVT. You will know when you hit all the sounds you want to hate instantly. Take a little time to tweak the programs/settings, and you can go from lame disco to horrifying mess fairly quickly.

Maurice wrote:

galanter wrote:Does anyone want to try to generalize from these examples? Are there arranging pointers or timbral rules of thumb for mixing synths and guitars hard and good?

I guess I'd say let the synth be a synth, and not (say) a fake flute or fake sax or fake violin or whatever. Like in Ubu, Allen Ravenstine's use of the EML-101 was to create these very industrial sounds (as in "sounds of industry," not like the genre that's become known as "industrial")--hisses like steam pipes, geiger counter crackles, end-of-shift-at-the-mill whistles, sounds that might come from a bank of electronic test equipment. The synth can then be harsh and powerful in its synth-space, while the guitar can be powerful in its way, and there's no confusing the two. Difficult-to-control analog synths (particularly modular synths) seem good for this purpose, maybe because the old ones wouldn't stay in tune very well, so players who didn't want to keep tuning would have to do things other than play melodic lines. Also, ring modulation is your friend.

Rimbaud III wrote:

galanter wrote:Or (perhaps this is easier) are there things that one should avoid?

Sweeping pads. Well, ANY pads really. String sounds too. And orchestra hits. Keep yer flippin' paws off the frappin' arpeggiator too.

Barking dog effects are okay though.