Hystersis is a solo musician based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. I have played in several black metal and industrial bands, then decided to follow an individual course. This allows me the greatest of freedom to combine any style, instrument and image in order to convert my fascination with the world around me into music.
Releases
The 8pmcityscapes EP (playing time 24 minutes) is released in two formats. The 8cm CD-R is limited to 50 copies. This handnumbered limited edition comes in a mini-dvd box, with a booklet. The music is also available as MP3 downloads.
Background of 8pmcityscapes
Many people have tried to understand the urban: scientists, architects, planners, painters, musicians, sculpturers and urban explorers. I follow Byrne, when he says that understanding the urban requires an approach that surpasses disciplinary restrictions. I recorded 8pmcityscapes with that reason. I consider the EP as a sonic laboratory that helps me exploring and understanding the essence of the city at sunset. It supplements the numerous statistics, pictures, narratives and histories that describe the city. I spent many years recording the sounds of the streets, its people, the concrete structures, highways and stations, busy squares and the empty warehouses. The many field-recordings used at 8pmcityscapes are from post-industrial cities such as Rotterdam and Hamburg, but also from metropolis such as London and Bangkok. As this collection was building up, I desired to transcend the level of merely collecting recordings. The next step was to make more abstract collages of recordings and sounds. Those collages or soundscapes are the foundations of 8pmcityscapes. The final step was to write the soundtrack that completes the description of the essence of the urban: harsh and uncomfortable at times, bittersweet at other times, sometimes clear, sometimes incomprehensible; sometimes in the back, sometimes straight into your face. It is not a pretty picture. The homeless in grafitti-sprayed metro trainsets, the bag ladies, the prostitutes or the fanatic streetpreacher are as much part of the city as is beautiful architecture or nice parks. Indeed, I'm convinced that the construction of malls or the ferocious hunt for 'abnormal' people only create superficial boundaries between the real and the fake. In the end: the city is what it is: big, harsh, cramped...
Sampes and field-recordings on 8pmcityscapes
8pmcityscapes relies heavily on the use of samples. Many of the samples and soundscapes are actually field recordings I made in several cities around the world, including Rotterdam, Hamburg, London and Miami. I use a Sony PCM-D50 recorder for most of the recordings, some were made with a cheap Olympus dictaphone. All samples and field recordings that I made and used on this EP are available for free from Freesound. Besides my own samples, I have used samples from the other people. They are credited here:
Acclivity, Bram, Bram, f_ttsSandyrb, Studiorat, Than van Nispen, Than van Nispen,
Young Daddy
I used two drumsets on 8pmcityscapes: Teleport8 and TicTacShutUp
To get more information on Freesound, go here
Copyrights
This work, 8pmcityscapes has been released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work, and to remix and adapt the work under the following conditions: (1) You must attribute the work to Hystersis (but not in any way that suggests that Hystersis endorses you or your use of the work); (2) For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work; (3) Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.
Instruments used on 8pmcityscapes
All guitars, bass and synths on 8pmcityscapes are played and recorded by Hystersis. The basic set-up was fairly simple: Ibanez or BC Rich > TurboRat and DOD Flanger > Laney GC120C. No post-processing, except in 'Streetpreacher'. Main synth was ZynAddSubFX by Nasca O. Paul. All drums were programmed in Kristal, using sampled drums by Teleport8 and TicTacShutUp. See under 'Sampling 8pmcityscapes' for more information. Most samples and field recordings were made with a Sony PCM-D50 solid state recorder.
