* No Signal *

Media for a burning world.

Featured Work

New Release! 'Five Lies Left'

13 months in the making, "Five Lies Left" is the first release from my Sudre's Violin solo project. It's been (kindly) described as dreadful, dread-full, and highly experiential.

This project brought me back to a more performance-based approach to recording. The guitar is live, the bass is live, and the synth and piano parts were mostly improvised and minimally edited. (In contrast, most of the sparse vocals are of unnatural origin.)

It's available for free/pay-what-you-want on Bandcamp. You can also stream it on Apple Music, Pandora, or Spotify.
Drone Day 2022

For the second year in a row, on 2022-05-09 I took part in Drone Day, a 24-hour, global celebration of drone & experimental music.

This year's piece is called "The Goth", featuring samples from the Gay Byrne interview with 19-year-old goth Siobhan. You can listen to the WIP on soundcloud.

This is part of a 5-year project tentatively called "Irish TV", featuring a series of 5 monotonic compositions inspired by a 1983 Irish TV talk show. Every successive Drone Day, I will live-stream while I compose, record, and produce a new song in the series.

The complete Drone Day 2022 live session is available on YouTube.
'The Punk' Reviewed on Hard Times Podcast

I got my very first music review on 2021-12-14, on the Hard Times 'Fanboys' Podcast! Starting around the 27:23 mark, they talk about "The Punk", my experimental piece from this year's Drone Day festival.
- "It made me feel a way that drone music never has, that was really really cool"
- "It could be in the soundtrack for Prometheus"
- "It's creepy, it's haunted, but also a little bit uplifting. You feel wonder."
- "It's 99% of the way there, just that high end was brutal. Roll off some of the piercing high frequency; it takes you out of the sense of wonder"
I can't thank @REALpunknews enough for the kind words and constructive feedback. You can listen to the song itself on Soundcloud.
Engaging Conversations: Coraline Ada Ehmke

On 2021-08-29 I was interviewed by David J Hansen for "Engaging Conversations", a series of interviews with Industrial/Goth/Post-Punk DJs and artists.

We had a great talk, covering topics like the creative process, world-building with music, mental health, and the power of storytelling.

The hardest question he asked me was, "What does music mean to you?"

Watch the full interview

Bandcamp Friday

Coraline's music on bandcamp

All my music is available free-or-pay-what-you-want on bandcamp:
Friends on bandcamp

Some folks in my community I recommend checking out:

Live in studio

NOSIGNAL on Twitch

I compose, record, and produce goth, postpunk, experimental/drone/what-even-are-genres music live from my studio at twitch.tv/CoralineAda. The process is part of the art, so I explain everything I'm doing along the way. I even take suggestions from chat!

Regular appearances by boutique synth reissues, weird analog gear, and ebow guitar. Occasional appearances by collaborators.

I usually stream on Sundays at 3pm CT, but check the schedule for the latest. Hit the "Follow" link if you want to get notified when I go live.
Highlight reels
- They Borrow Our Eyes (Session 4)
  Live stream from 13-02-2022. I was, uh… well, there were horses.
- Suzanne
  Session 12, of the Badalamenti-inspired shoegaze cover of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne". This clip features EQ slotting with synth pad and ebow tracks.
- Gas Station Carnival
  Never mind the overblown bass, we've got a good atmosphere going here. Oh, and this is the first song I'm doing for my new solo project.
- More highlight videos on the NO SIGNAL channel on YouTube.

Music Projects

Sudre's Violin

After wrapping up A Little Fire Scarecrow in early 2021, I started a new solo project, Sudre's Violin, to reconcile the guitar-centered approach of my pre-transition music ("Dust and a Shadow") with the synth-centered music of 2016-2020.

You can listen to the first Sudre's Violin EP, "Five Lies Left", on Bandcamp, or stream it on Apple Music, Pandora, or Spotify.

<a href="https://coralineada.bandcamp.com/album/five-lies-left">Five Lies Left</a>
Auntie Kismet

A collaboration with composer and experimental musician Craig Chin. The name is a reference to the band we were in together in the 90s, Uncle Karma.

Craig and I take turns adding or removing layers to compose these pieces. I have a one-take rule: I can either accept my first take for a given instrument, or throw it away. No do-overs!

You can listen to Auntie Kismet on Bandcamp.
<a href="https://auntiekismet.bandcamp.com/album/title-of-work">title of work by Auntie Kismet</a>
Shapes with Two Edges

A collaboration with synth pop duo Eloquent. They keep giving me major keys, so I keep reaching for harmonic minors.

For each song in this collaboration, we "ping-pong" back and forth adding new parts and rearranging the structure until we're happy with it.

Randall Scott creates most of the synth tracks, so I mainly focus on guitar, (spending a lot of time with an ebow.

This collaboration is an experiment to see what happens when crisp, precise, crystalline digital meets messy, analog, and atmospheric. The name comes from an obscure Euclidean degenerate.

We've got plans for a 4-song LP, digital and vinyl.
A Little Fire Scarecrow

A Little Fire Scarecrow was a recording project featuring percussion by Jeremy Green and contributions from Kevin Chatham (bass), Frederick Wells (bass), and Alva Snædís (guitar and bass).

It was my return to music after thinking I had lost my creative center. It was an important part of my journey, not only musical but also personal.

4 years, 8 albums, 65 songs. Only 8 songs left standing. RIP 2016-2020
- (Not the Worst of) A Little Fire Scarecrow
<a href="https://alittlefirescarecrow.bandcamp.com/album/not-the-worst-of-a-little-fire-scarecrow">(Not the Worst of) A Little Fire Scarecrow by A Little Fire Scarecrow</a>
Calamity Orchestra

Calamity Orchestra explored contemporary social and political issues through the lends of retro new wave and post-punk musical styles. It was a collaboration between Coraline Ada Ehmke (Guitar, Synth, Vocals), Jeremy Green (Percussion), Frederick Wells (Bass), and Kevin B Chatham (bass, video).

We released our first single on 2020-12-18 "Cameras" (2020 BLM protests seen through cell, body, and television cameras). Kevin B Chatham created the music video.

Our second single followed on 2021-06-07: "All You Fascists" (a cover of Woody Guthrie's classic protest song mashed up with Dead Kennedys' "Nazi Punks Fuck Off").

All our music is free or pay-what-you-want on Bandcamp. Everything is released to the commons under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
<a href="https://calamityorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/all-you-fascists">All You Fascists by Calamity Orchestra</a>

Mixed (up) media

Video Archive

All the videos from my live sessions, original music videos, tribute videos, and short films. Everything is Creative Commons licensed. Browse the archive on YouTube.
Remix kits

Coming soon! Download stems from some of our favorite compositions. Requests for stems from other pieces are welcomed.
Work in progress

Snapshots of how some musical ideas are taking shape. For the complete archive, "let me give you my soundcloud".
- The Light Grew Strange
  "Too late! Too late! Too late!"
  
  Coraline Ada Ehmke · The Light Grew Strange (Final Candidate II)
- Suzanne
  What if Angelo Badalamenti and Leonard Cohen made a shoegaze song?
  
  Coraline Ada Ehmke · Suzanne (Session 12 Live) - 2:6:22, 4.31 PM
- Gas Station Carnival
  Third piece for the new Sudre's Violin solo project. Features live bass (courtesy of the Lakland Skyline Hollowbody).
  
  Coraline Ada Ehmke · Gas Station Carnival Session 2 - 9:5:21, 4.52 PM
Drone Day 2021

On 2021-05-09 I took part in Drone Day, a 24-hour, global celebration of drone, tone, soundscaping, and more. Streaming live for 2 hours, I created a song called "The Punk", inspired by an Irish talk show from 1982. It was a great opportunity to use my Stargazer drone synth. Something, from nothing, to something.

My Drone Day session performance/documentary: strict copyright or fair use. Or, catch the highlights.