Matmos and Turing
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Artist:
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Album:For Alan Turing - EP
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Track:Enigma Machine for Alan Turing
"A Musical Enigma (From Seed)":http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2006/09/a_musical_enigma.phpIn a recent tribute to mathematician Alan Turing, electronic music duo Matmos uses the sounds produced by an Enigma machine.

Daniel: ... There's this mantra, "every noise has a note." It's basically true. Even the Enigma machine is in a particular key. Martin came up with a piano part, and then thought, well, let's make it more enigmatic by encrypting his notes.Why encrypt the piano?Daniel: It was about confronting people with the impenetrability of an encrypted signal.You can find a sample on "this page":http://www.prefixmag.com/blog/prefix/2006/09/07/track-review-matmos-enigma-machine-for-alan-turing-for-alan-turing/.Encrypted or not, the first appearance of the piano is chilling; the second, nearly whimsical and wouldn't have been out of place in an early Sesame Street film. There's a certain aura knowing the clicks and whirrs come from the Enigma but the effect fades. It does smack of impenetrability but it's not a wholly satisfying experience - like peeling away the layers and, in the end, coming up with white chocolate Nestle's Crunch. Hrm.

Daniel: ... There's this mantra, "every noise has a note." It's basically true. Even the Enigma machine is in a particular key. Martin came up with a piano part, and then thought, well, let's make it more enigmatic by encrypting his notes.Why encrypt the piano?Daniel: It was about confronting people with the impenetrability of an encrypted signal.You can find a sample on "this page":http://www.prefixmag.com/blog/prefix/2006/09/07/track-review-matmos-enigma-machine-for-alan-turing-for-alan-turing/.Encrypted or not, the first appearance of the piano is chilling; the second, nearly whimsical and wouldn't have been out of place in an early Sesame Street film. There's a certain aura knowing the clicks and whirrs come from the Enigma but the effect fades. It does smack of impenetrability but it's not a wholly satisfying experience - like peeling away the layers and, in the end, coming up with white chocolate Nestle's Crunch. Hrm.









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