Buoy (Solo) — Matt McBane

Release date: February 28, 2025. Singles released in advance.

‘Buoy’ is an album of patterns and ambiance for synthesizers and violin by composer, producer and violinist, Matt McBane.

It is his first primarily electronic album and first entirely solo album on which he plays a variety of analog synthesizers (modular and fixed), violin, piano and bass guitar, and manipulates it all in his computer. While this album marks a new development in McBane’s work, it is rooted in many of the same musical currents as his past music – the patterns and processes of classical minimalism, the sonic manipulation of electronic music, the elemental qualities of fiddle music, emotional nuance, cinematic space, counterpoint, atmosphere – all filtered through the voltages of his synthesizers.

It is the follow-up to his 2022 album on Cantaloupe Music for percussion and synthesizer, ‘Bathymetry’, called an album of the year by Wilco, an album of the month by Bandcamp, and “a musical and sensory journey like no other that has been offered in contemporary music recently” by Montreal’s Pan M 360.

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Artist Statement

‘Buoy’ is an album of patterns and ambiance for synthesizers and violin. This project has its roots in a performance I gave as part of a concert curated by Laurie Anderson and Arto Lindsay at National Sawdust right before the pandemic hit and shortly before I found out my wife and I were having our first child. Developed over the subsequent 3 years, it is my first primarily electronic album and first entirely solo album.

On this album, I fully engage with my electronic influences whereas in the past, I often filtered these influences through novel techniques on acoustic instruments. I embrace the “bedroom producer” (well, actually basement) way of working, recording all the instruments myself at home. On the album, I play a variety of analog synthesizers (modular and fixed), violin, piano and a bit of bass guitar, and manipulate it all in my DAW. Many of the tracks are rooted in improvisation, whether it be on a modular synthesizer patch, or on my violin, interacting with a cheeky app on my phone. Others use strict mathematical processes that come alive in the performance on the synthesizers. After creating initial mixes myself, I then worked with the engineer and friend Joseph Branciforte to create final mixes and shape the overall album.

While this album marks a new development in my work, it is rooted in many of the same musical currents as my past music – the patterns and processes of classical minimalism, the sonic manipulation of electronic music, the elemental qualities of fiddle music, emotional nuance, cinematic space, counterpoint, atmosphere – all filtered through the voltages of my synthesizers. This new direction was further refined through my studies of electronic music at Princeton University during this period with Jeff Snyder, Tyondai Braxton and Dan Trueman while finishing my PhD in music composition.

Much of the album was conceived in the early months of the pandemic and shaped by that experience – the eerie and ominous weeks in Brooklyn with death tolls rising, sirens blaring, fear of what was to come, concern for our fellow New Yorkers; weeks of protesting in the streets; joyous long bike rides across town with my pregnant wife; a cross-country drive to see my grandmother in the days before she died; the anticipation of becoming a parent.

Credits:

Matt McBane: composition, production, recording, synthesizers, violin, piano, bass guitar

Piano recording engineer: Mike Cassedy at home
Mix engineer: Joseph Branciforte at greyfade studio
Master engineer: Paul Gold at Salt Mastering

Paintings: Nicole Schmölzer
Design: Matt McBane

With love to Emily, Isla and Callum