Posted on : By : paul Posted in : bandcamp|discogs|news

you’re probably wondering why you’re here

Funharm?

Funharm was a low-fidelity home recording project that existed primarily from 1981 through 1988. Most of the tracks consisted of improvised synth, guitar, and cheap rhythm machine, recorded straight to cassette, then overdubbed on a modified cassette deck.

Funharm issued two 90-minute cassettes that covered the first three years. For now, the 8.81 – 1.83 and Segments cassettes can be gotten via Discogs, and cassettes, .mp3s, FLACs and other formats can be obtained on Bandcamp.

Other older material is currently being located, edited, and cleaned up (but not too much). New music is being fussed over, as well. News regarding subsequent tracks and releases will be posted here.

If you’d like to buy stuff, need more information, or just want to chat, you can reach me at paul [at] funharm [dot] com.

Thanks for checking in.

Posted on : By : paul Posted in : music reviews|news|pt.audio

2025: Ambient, Atmospheric, and Otherwise: My music reviews on pt.audio

Clarice Jensen album artPart-Time Audiophile, as always, is gracious enough to indulge me and my reviews of favorite recordings of 2025.

pt.AUDIO has been hosting my music and equipment reviews for over twelve years. It posts everything I send them, and doesn’t edit me (however, Kate does, and I appreciate and value her help and support, as always).

Thank you to Scot Hull and Marc Phillips for the platform, and their patience.

Happy New Year to all, and to all a better 2026.

Posted on : By : paul Posted in : terry riley|youtube

Terry Riley is 90 years old today

In 1980, I was working at a record store in Long Beach. A collegue turned me on to this album. Awed, I listened to it weekly for a long time.

I still listen to it every month or so, especially on long trips over the Sierra in my truck.

In 1984, I was sitting in bed in my dingy, cramped studio apartment in mid-town Sacramento, a recently-acquired KORG Poly-800 in my lap.

I decided I wanted to record something that sounded like (or, at least, was inspired by) A Rainbow In Curved Air.

The result was Ideal Planes.

I explored every other Terry Riley recording I could find. None had (or has) the impact that Rainbow had.

Happy birthday, Terry.

And thank you.

Posted on : By : paul Posted in : audio|bandcamp|korg|locations|mono lake|news|recording|video|youtube

New song on Bandcamp and YouTube – “downotocot”

Last month I finished working on something I started at Mono Lake in mid-January.

Back then, it was 10 degrees, with the wind chill often dropping below zero. Three feet of snow on the ground, and the long driveway half-plowed, with a stalled backhoe blocking the last 300 feet. The property’s solar panel arrays had 3 inches of iced snow stuck to them. To get power to the house, the ice had to be chipped — gently — off the panels. It was my first extended experience wearing snowshoes. Parts of it were painful, but, mostly, I enjoyed working to be independent off-grid.

Last month, when I returned to the space, it was the hottest weekend thus far this year in Mono County. The temperature on the veranda was 95F, and I heard the fans start up on my MacBookPro for the first time since I bought it.

After a few hours of sweat, and too many bug bites, I figured the track was ready.

This Friday, August 4, “downotocot” will be made available on Bandcamp. It’s available to be streamed now.

The accompanying video was recorded in January, during my approach to the Mono property from the east, since 395 was closed due to snow between Bridgeport and Conway Summit. You may notice there was only one other car on the road, most likely because it wasn’t that smart to be driving on roads that were, sometimes, less-than-half plowed.

As always, thanks for listening. And watching.

Posted on : By : paul Posted in : ARP|hardware|news|synthesizers

I bought an refurbed ARP Solus on Reverb

ARP Solus
My brother, John, purchased a used ARP Solus in the early 80s. I borrowed it, and played in on the first two Funharm cassettes. I have over two dozen additional unedited tapes of me abusing the thing.

When I moved from LA to Sacramento in 1984, I relinquished the Solus, and I’ve missed it since.

Last month I saw a fully refurbished Solus on Reverb for $1200 plus shipping. I looked at the listing, longed after the lost Solus, and went about my day.

A week later the price was dropped to $1000.

I thought about it for about 10 seconds, then bought it.

It’s in great shape. The top octave on the keyboard is a bit wonky, but the more I play it, the more it loosens up.

It’s good to have a Solus in the house again.

More soon.