June 13, 2018

The perfect cup of Turkish Coffee?

After 20 years or trial and error I’ve finessed it down to a pretty good cup of Turkish. Not sure I’ve had one better, but I’m open if it comes along. Here’s my method:

I start with a touch more than 2 tablespoons of medium-roast, whole-bean Arabica coffee. After much fussing, I’ve settled on pedestrian 8 O’Clock Coffee in the standard red bag. (It’s what the Bosnians who first taught me to make Turkish Coffee used and a fairly well-kept secret. Shhh.) Though bags of 8 O’Clock are weeks away from their roasting, but the whole beans remain fresh a long time.

If you feel the need for something fresher, the problem is that most roasters don’t understand what Turkish Coffee is. So that overroasted “Turkish grind” (that they likely can’t grind fine enough) from your local place can be a real disappointment, even when it’s fresh ground.

Arabica is superior to the Robusta bean and roasting plays a big role in the flavor. Medium roast has a fuller coffee flavor compared to both a light and dark roast and also retains more caffeine than dark does.

I grind the beans into a fine powder in a burr grinder. A good, hand-crank, burr grinder rips the beans apart as opposed to cutting them. Some speculate that ripping releases more flavor. For sure, the powdery consistency (fine as cocoa) of a burr grind for Turkish Coffee exposes more of the coffee surface area to the water so you get more flavor. Also, the heat created by electric-blade grinders can rob coffee of its taste. Grinding fresh is a necessity and its best to grind enough for each pot you make.

I use 2 tablespoons of Sugar In The Raw. The large grains take longer to dissolve at the bottom of the pot and start to caramelize better than refined sugar. This enriches the flavor of the coffee.

I also use a healthy dash of ground, green cardamon, which is traditional to add to Turkish Coffee in many places. In addition to a flavor that blends flawlessly with coffee, cardamom soothes any bitterness. Deep brand from India is excellent. Tip: The better grades of cardamon will smell more peppery than piney.

I add these three ingredients to a thick, tapered Turkish pot called a Jezve or Ibrik. The narrowed top of the pot helps to create foam that holds in the flavor. Traditional tin-lined copper or brass were once preferred for their even heating, but the more-modern clad stainless steel work just as well. You can use a butter warmer, provided it tapers at the top. The method here is for a 12 oz. pot. Having the pot near full creates better foam, retains the flavor and settles the grounds better.

I add a little cold spring water and stir the ingredients until pasty. Then I add more until I have 10 oz. of water well-stirred in the pot. You want the ingredients blended so there’s no dry coffee floating on top.

I put this on a medium heat on an electric stove. (You might want to use low heat if using gas.) You want the coffee to cook slowing to caramelize the sugar, and get the full flavor from the beans, but not come to a boil through the foam. The edges will start to swell when done. This should take 15-20 minutes. If the heat is too high you can burn the fine-grind of the beans, which can make the coffee bitter and taste like ash.

The traditional method for Turkish Coffree is to cook the coffee almost to a boil three times, but this cooks out the flavor. Instead I stir twice during cooking which keeps the heat more uniform throughout the pot and runs less risk of burning the coffee. The early stirring helps to keep grounds from getting caught in the foam. Once done, remove from heat and let the pot cool for 3 minutes. This helps settle the grounds.

2 oz. ceramic Turkish cups are best for serving, but espresso cups work fine. Pour slowly into the cup and more grounds will stay in the pot. This method makes four, 2 oz. cups.

Turkish Coffee is often served with baklava, a cookie or Turkish delight and accompanied by a glass of water. The water cleanses the palate and makes the next sip more flavorful.

I didn’t talk about the hundreds of variations I’ve tried that led me here. Many of my methods above break with the tradition of how someone’s dear, sweet Jadda used to make it. But I urge you to try the above and see if you don’t agree this gives you a smoother, more-flavorful cup.

Talk about this on Twitter

See more Turkish Coffee articles

food turkishcoffee

April 28, 2018

Infinite Jets how-to: Repeater.

Works like a delay on the Hologram Infinite Jets Resynthesizer, but rhythmically repeats the sample instead of echoing it. For this effect, set the following:

Voice to Glitch A
Env Shape to square
Env Time to infinity
Dimension to 5p
Trigger to Mono
Dry to @2p

Dimension speeds up the repeat. Choke your strums and the repeats sound like a piano.

Hear it ▶︎

Talk about it on Twitter

Read all the Infinite Jets posts

Get Infinite Jets on Amazon

music pedalurgy infinitejets

April 21, 2018

Infinite Jets how-to: Sample-and-hold filter.

In the two Synth modes of the Hologram Infinite Jets Resynthesizer pedal you can craft a classic sample-and-hold filter similar to the original Maestro Sample Hold (created about 1976). This randomly steps the high-Qed low-pass filter, revealing individual overtones. Likely the first use of this effect on record was the Who’s Relay from 1972. Pete Townsend created it originally on an ARP 2600 synthesizer. For this effect, set the following controls:

Voice knob to Synth A or Synth B
LFO Shape (Footswitch A + Env Shape) to Infinity
LFO Freq (Footswitch A + Env Time) to Noon
LFO Depth (Footswitch A + Dimension) to 5p
Env Shape to Square
Env Time to Infinity
Trigger to Mono
Dimension to 5p
Dry to your preference

The LFO Freq controls the speed and length of the hold. Sounds best on sustained chords.

Hear it ▶︎

Talk about it on Twitter

Read all the Infinite Jets posts

Get Infinite Jets on Amazon

InfiniteJets music pedalurgy infinitejets

April 17, 2018

Five steps to better aviation with Hologram’s Infinite Jets Pedal.

This amazing granular “resynthesizer” doesn’t get all the love it deserves. I think much of that is the result of players not setting the pedal up for best performance and not completely understanding how it works. Follow these five steps for happier skies with Infinite Jets:

Know what it’s not. It’s not a traditional guitar pedal. Infinite Jets is a synthesizer. It has oscillators (Voice knob) going into a voltage-controller amplifier (Env knobs) through voltage-controlled filters and a delay (Dimension knob). Think of it as three basic synth modules and it’s easier to understand and control. It’s not instantaneous. Like all granular synthesis, Infinite Jets samples your instrument live. So there’s always a lag between sampling and playback. It’s the nature of the beast. It’s not like anything you’ve heard. You may be able to get organ, flute, violin and cliche synth sounds out of IJ, but it’s not designed to imitate anything: The resynthesis process is unique, so it’s designed to create sounds of an unexplored realm.
Do a factory reset. It’s possible between being built and arriving in your hands, your Infinite Jets had the internal parameters tweaked. Doing a factory reset means you’re starting from square one for the best possible behavior. To reset: hold down Footswitch A and B while plugging in the power. The LEDs will do a circle for about a minute and stop when reset.
Use good levels. As with any volume-trigger-based pedal, Infinite Jets is expecting a reasonable level going in: not too hot, not too quiet. For best results in triggering, Infinite Jets should come after compressors and before modulation in your chain.
Calibrate. If you don’t set the sensitivity, your Infinite Jets may not trigger with each note or chord. To calibrate: hold the Bypass and B footswitches for two seconds. After the flash dance, release. Then play the quietest notes you normally play. IJ will do another flash dance when it knows enough about your playing dynamics and you’re set to go.
Read the manual. If your 55-page isn’t worn ragged, you’re not getting the most this pedal has to offer. Each Voice mode is unique in its resynthesis, effects and controls, so each Voice requires a deep dive to get the most out of it. This is probably the most complex pedal you’ll own (and likely most expensive too) so taking the time to learn it will make it more than worth your investment.

There a gazillion other pointers, but I think these are what’s needed to get a good start to proper piloting of your Infinite Jets.

Talk about it on Twitter

Read all the Infinite Jets posts

Get Infinite Jets on Amazon

InfiniteJets music pedalurgy infinitejets

February 25, 2018

Red Panda Lab Tensor Recipes.

As with Red Panda’s Particle effect pedal, there’s a learning curve to the Tensor. None of the knobs on the Tensor use the standard, left-is-less-right-is-more configurations. They also do different things depending on where other knobs are set. You get a QuickStart guide with the Red Panda Labs Tensor. That’s kinda like buying a surplus space shuttle and getting a single sheet of instructions on how to fly it.

This article isn’t designed to over-explain the Tensor, but instead to give you some actual usable effects this time machine can do. Unless otherwise noted the path is:

Godin Multiuke > Fairfield Accountant Compressor > Tensor > Rockett Boing Reverb > TC Electronic Wiretap Riff Recorder

You can hear all the samples as a playlist on SoundCloud

Reverse on demand.

Hold the On footswitch and the last thing you played (up to 2.4 seconds long) will repeat in reverse. HEAR IT ▶︎

How to play Since the Tensor is constantly streaming, the last 2.4 seconds of what you’ve just played is already recorded. Strike a chord or play a 2-second solo and hold the On switch. Release it for a clean exit or keep holding and the tape stop effect engages after 2.4 seconds.

Variations Add some reverb (as in the demo) to smooth out the effect.

Randomess.

While you hold down the On footswitch you get random glitches that change pitch and speed. In the demo, I added the Shift Line Force directly before the Tensor. (This is a freezeverb, similar to the EHX Freeze or EHX Superego pedal.) HEAR IT ▶︎

How to play Hold the On footswitch.

Reverse Tremolo

This cuts the signal into grains and plays them back in succession in reverse. It creates a choppy/phasey tremolo. HEAR IT ▶︎

How to play Tap the Hold footswitch and release immediately to capture the smallest snippet possible. Sounds best with strums and subtle picking.

Octave down.

In Live Play mode, you can use the Pitch knob to add a bass octave to your dry signal. HEAR IT ▶︎

How to play Tweak the Pitch knob to the octave setting. Tap the On footswitch and play.

Variations Turn the Pitch knob to 7a and you get two octaves down.

Octave up.

In Live Play mode, you can use the Pitch knob to add a twinkly upper octave to your dry signal. HEAR IT ▶︎

How to play Tweak the Pitch knob to the octave setting. Tap the On switch and play.

Variations Turn the Pitch knob to 5p and you get two octaves up.

Harmonic arpeggiator.

Repeats what you play twice at an octave up. HEAR IT ▶︎

How to play Tweak the Pitch knob to set at one octave up. Hold the HOLD footswitch to set loop length between. The demo uses a one-second loop.

Variations Turn the Time knob to the right for more repeats. Set the Dir switch to Rev for reverse arpeggios or Alt to alternate between forward and reverse. The Tensor doesn’t have a feedback knob to get a “normal” delay, but you can get a clean, single repeat in this mode by setting the Speed knob to 5p and the Pitch knob to noon.

A few pointers to help you get along with the Tensor.

The Tensor is a digital tape loop recorder with highly-controllable playback. Tape speed is the main function of this pedal. With the Time and Pitch knobs, you can alter aspects of the tape speed.
5p is the normal setting for the Speed knob. At noon, the tape is stopped.
The buffer is always "listening”, even when the pedal is off. In Live Play mode the Tensor plays what’s already in the buffer. In Hold and Rec modes, the Tensor starts recording a new buffer before playing back.
It may not be obvious that the LED above the right On footswitch must be lit for the effect to be engaged. Seems pretty “duh”, but it’s confusing since the Hold footswitch also can activate the On footswitch.
When the right LED is lit, but the left LED isn’t, you’re in Live Play Mode. Pitch and Speed will affect the signal.
Random only works when other knobs are not at their default positions. The further off they are from default, the greater the random effect.

Tensor manual

Comments? Posted them on my Twitter.

music pedalurgy

Page 1 of 9 Older →