a poke in the ear with a sharp stick vol. II

various artists

rarefaction

1994 CD-ROM

(originally released by osc)

reviews

“Listed as one of the Top Discs of all time (2/95).”— Keyboard Magazine

sound library

Rarefaction ups the ante with Poke Volume II, unleashing more than 1,800 unnatural samples including 150 rhythmic loops (with BPM), 170 ambient textures, 500 percussion sounds and 800 melodic samples. This CD-ROM contains 16-bit linear mono or stereo AIFF files samples at 44.1kHz for use in any Macintosh-based digital audio system, such as bias Deck, Pro Tools or SampleCell. Thrill to the sounds of rack torture, fake animals, Oakland Jail ambience, interstellar kitchen noises, throbbing machines and weird gloomster dialog.

Sound designers on this disc are:

charles Maynes: is a sound designer based somewhere. He is now a proud father, but still finds time to churn out millions of amazing new sounds on an hourly basis.

D. Saint-Ape: is part human, part intelligent being. He recently traded in his toaster oven for an old Russian tube amp that gives his samples their uniquely Slovic tone.

SnowCone: is not a bald English DJ. He recently finished recording his 10,001st drum sample, and is wondering if perhasps he should try his hand at something new instead.

Thomas Dimuzio: was trying to stay warm in Boston (out behind the junkyard) while he worked on many many projects and dreamed of San Francisco fog...

Nate: is the (San Francisco) east-bay king of low end funk. He is probably playing his new 5 string fretless at this very minute.

Bobb: (no, not Jim. No, not the church of), after 'eliminating' the last of his band members, is currently mutilating vocal samples until they scream for mercy.

Atau: dopples digits at CCRMA by day, and plays garage surf music by night. He was last seen chasing small zoo animals and Scrubbing (TM) the sound out of them.

Joe Niski: is a guitar player living in Portland, Oregon. He recently chainsawed his vintage stratocaster while in search of that perfect industrial sound.

Gerry Basserman: vows he will never play another NAMM show, well maybe. He owns some of the coolest hats in the known universe, and you probably own some of his synth patches.

Dave Nelson: owns and operates Poolside Studios in San Francisco. If you don't find him mixing film scores or recording Foley artists, you won't find him.

SMAK!: (the Grand Poobah of the OUT! movement), his ears still ringing from his pre-Post Industrial machine

deconstructivism, is kept locked in a small room in our garage, where he toils endlessly under hot and harsh conditions editing sounds. He IS the granddaddy of the Poke series...