Karbon-karbon
The group of musicians
The term Karbon-Karbon is used for a group of norwegian musicians who performs and
produces their own compositions. Most of their qualities are identical to the material
they took their name from, please see the column on the right for details. (Some
abstractional capabilities may be needed on the readers part.)
After indulging in the those hard facts, you might want to ease up with something
more light-hearted... read some trivia.
You should also check out Karbon-Karbon's
music — that's what's all about, after all.
Should some questions still feel unanswered, you could always contact Karbon-Karbon.
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Carbon-Carbon
The group of materials
The term carbon-carbon composites (CCC) is used for a group of materials in which
highly ordered graphite fibres are embedded in a matrix of carbon. The most striking
feature of CCC is their capability to retain mechanical properties in many environments
to temperatures in the range 2000-3000°C. The low thermal expansion of these
materials makes them dimensionally stable over a wide range of temperatures. This
feature is also very beneficial with regards to withstanding of thermal shocks.
In addition, they represent a lightweight and high-strength material class. The
structure of the material, and correspondingly its properties, may vary. The fibres
embedded in the graphite matrix can either be oriented in a single layer or have
a 3D architecture. One limiting factor for CCC is their tendency to oxidize at temperature
between 600-700°C. Remedies for this exist, but they are costly. CCC are very
expensive to manufacture, often requiring highly time consuming processes. This
limits the range of applicability, leaving the materials a choice for the most demanding
conditions, where few or no alternatives exist.
Properties of carbon-carbon composites
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Property
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Fine grained graphite
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Unidirectional fibres
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3D fibres
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Elastic modulus (GPa) |
10-15 |
120-150 |
40-100 |
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Tensile strength (MPa) |
40-60 |
600-700 |
200-350 |
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Compressive strength (MPa) |
110-200 |
500-800 |
150-200 |
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Fracture energy (kJm-2) |
0.07-0.09 |
1.4-2.0 |
5-10 |
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Oxidation reisitance |
very low |
poor |
better than graphite |
Applications of carbon-carbon composites
- Missile nosetips
- Leading edges
- Solid rocket motor throats
- Heat shields
- Heating elements
- X-ray targets
Many of the "black areas" on the exterior of the space shuttle are carbon-carbon
composites.
Thanks to Dr. Erling Østby for this precise description of carbon-carbon.
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Lars Mikalsen plays guitar and programs synths - sometimes he plays guitar through
one of his synth patch creations.
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Jørgen Thorstvedt sings, and more often that not on Karbon-Karbon's recordings;
he sings more than one voice at a time.
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They both program drum beats, but once in a while they call upon their drum playing
friends for assistance.
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Lars favours Fender Stratocaster guitars, but occasionally uses his Steinberger.
He uses no real guitar effects or amplifiers, only software emulations.
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Jørgen sings into an Alesis microphone. He used to plug his mic into a tube pre-amp,
but nowadays he favours one with temporal harmonic alignment.
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They both compose Karbon-Karbon's music, but seldom in each others company - a noteworthy
expection is purle's chorus. Every Karbon-Karbon song features contributions from
both Lars and Jørgen, but as time goes by they have difficulty identifying who contributed
what.
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Lars uses heavy picks (2 mm) and light-top/heavy-bottom strings (.010-.052). His
guitar's volume and tone controls are always on 10.
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Jørgen prefers to record his vocals with the microphone cord on the floor between
his legs, and a pencil in his left hand. Nobody knows why, including himself.
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The Karbon-Karbon EP
Karbon-Karbon offers harmonically complex and melodic alternative pop/rock on their
self-titled debut EP. Karbon-Karbon are characterized by their at times untraditional
chord movements and their sophisticated vocal harmonies, which put together results
in a melancholic and thorough soundscape. The guitar work often utilizes unorthodox
sound effects, and has an originality and technical precision in the solo parts
that until now hasn't been associated with alternative pop/rock. In combination
with a number of creative electronic aspects, the aforementioned elements constitute
the Karbon-Karbon sound.
The five tracks of the EP were composed under the slogan "must sound good on a beat-up
acoustic guitar", but from this basis the songs have been orchestrated with fashionable
digital synthesis - though with the purpose of recreating controllable "vintage
warm" analogue sound. The result is a collection of melodically strong songs that
in instrumentation and soundscape creates a synergy between hi-tech digital and
analogue retro.
Karbon-Karbon's members are Lars Mikalsen and Jørgen Thorstvedt. The songs were
composed and produced in their entirety by Mikalsen and Thorstvedt in collaboration.
They also played and programmed all parts on the EP themselves, though with prefigurative
assistance from skilled percussionists on selected tracks.
Tracks
The Karbon-Karbon EP contains the following compositions:
- Ocean — a hovering intro transitions quickly to
a synth based verse with semi-funky drums. The bridge and hard-hitting chorus is
carried by catchy vocal lines that immediately stick to memory. Some sources allegedly
claim this track summarizes the synth pop and hair metal of the 80's in one song
– a claim Karbon-Karbon refrains from commenting upon.
- Purle — tribal drumming and dissonant guitar riffs
define a suggestionizing foundation for the evolving vocal lines of the verse. The
chorus is a symphony of multi-instrumental harmony lines, served on a bed of arch-typical
Karbon-Karbon chord movements.
- Roses — Karbon-Karbon will probably never come this
close to straight forward rock again – dense vocal lines just barely escapes
getting drowned by slide guitars and primal chords of the feedback-generous kind.
- Pinicube — an express train of a track offering
surprising details around every corner – including double-bass, a chorus in
15/8 time, spectral guitars, vocoders and mathematical drums on a ph.d. level.
- Dizzy — electronic pling-plong and an acoustic rhythm
section are united in this gliding composition. Relaxing vocals and an inspiring
cadenza concludes the EP in a dignifying manner.
Previews of all tracks are available at musiconline.no
Inspiration
Karbon-Karbon gladly admits having listened closely to the following artists:
Depeche Mode
Radiohead
Kraftwerk
Jeff Buckley
Allan Holdsworth
Others think Karbon-Karbon sound somewhat similar to:
Beach Boys
The Stranglers
Smashing Pumpkins
Alice in Chains
Pink Floyd
The Cure
Karbon-Karbon
Karbon-karbon are
Lars Mikalsen (guitar, bass, synth, programming)
Jørgen Thorstvedt (vocals, drum programming)
Record Company
Karbon-Karbon EP (VRCD008) is released on Villa
Records
The Karbon-Karbon EP
Karbon-Karbon leverer harmonisk kompleks og melodiøs alternativ pop/rock på denne
selvtitulerte debut-EP’en. Karbon-Karbon kjennetegnes med de tidvis utradisjonelle
akkordsammensetningene og de sofistikerte vokalharmoniene som sammen gir et melankolsk
og gjennomarbeidet lydbilde. Gitararbeidet benytter tidvis uortodokse lydeffekter,
og har en originalitet og tekniske presisjon i solopartiene som til nå ikke har
vært forbundet med alternativ pop/rock. I kombinasjon med en rekke elektroniske
momenter, utgjør overfornevnte elementer det karakteristiske Karbon-Karbon sound'et.
Utgivelsens fem titler ble komponert under parolen ”må låte bra på kassegitar”,
men har derfra blitt orkestrert med nymotens digitale syntese – dog med den hensikt
å gjenskape kontrollerbar ”vintage” varm analog lyd. Resultatet er låter som står
på egne ben, og som i instrumentering og lydbilde synergerer høymoderne digitalitet
med analog retro.
Karbon-Karbon’s besetning består av Lars Mikalsen og Jørgen Thorstvedt. Låtene er
komponert og produsert i sin helhet av Mikalsen og Thorstvedt i fellesskap. De trakterer
instrumenter og programmerer alt på denne EP’n selv, dog med forbilledlig assistanse
fra drevne batterister på utvalgte spor.
Spor
Karbon-Karbon EP inneholder følgende komposisjoner:
- Ocean — en svevende intro bringes raskt over i et
synth-basert vers med semi-funky trommer. Broen og det tungtslående refrenget bæres
av catchy vokallinjer som sitter etter første gjennomhøring. Noen har påstått Ocean
oppsummerer 80-tallets synthpop og hairmetal i en og samme låt - noe Karbon-Karbon
forøvrig avstår fra å kommentere.
- Purle — tribal-trommer og dissonante gitar-riff
definerer et suggererende rytmefundament for versets lange vokallinjer. Refrenget
er en symfoni av flerinstrumentelle harmonilinjer, servert på en seng av erke-typiske
Karbon-Karbon akkordprogresjoner.
- Roses — så nære streit rock vil nok Karbon-Karbon
aldri komme igjen - tette vokallinjer overdøver såvidt slide-gitarer og feedback-spandable
primal-akkorder.
- Pinicube — et ekspresstog av en låt med overraskende
detaljer rundt hvert hjørne - inkludert kontrabass, refreng i 15/8-takt, spektral-gitarer,
vocoder og matematiske trommer på doktorgradsnivå.
- Dizzy — elektronisk plingplong og akustisk rytmeseksjon
forenes i denne svevende komposisjonen. Relakserende vokallinjer og en inspirerende
kadens avslutter EP'en på en verdig måte.
Audielle smaksprøver kan oppleves hos musiconline.no
Inspirasjon
Karbon-Karbon innrømmer gladelig at de har lyttet godt til følgende artister:
Depeche Mode
Radiohead
Kraftwerk
Jeff Buckley
Allan Holdsworth
Utover overfornevnte artister mener andre å høre trekk musikalsk sammenfallende
med
Pink Floyd
Smashing Pumpkins
The Cure
Alice in Chains
Beach Boys
The Stranglers
Karbon-Karbon
Karbon-karbon er
Lars Mikalsen (gitar, bass, synth, programmering)
Jørgen Thorstvedt (vokal, tromme-programmering)
Plateselskap
Karbon-Karbon EP (VRCD008) er utgitt på Villa Records
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The Karbon-Karbon EP was released on
Villa Records spring 2006, and features five original tracks written, performed
and produced by Karbon-Karbon.
CDON
Platekompaniet
CDplanet
musiconline.no
iTunes
MSN music
Prefueled
Music from Norway
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You can contact Karbon-Karbon by sending an e-mail to
contact@karbon-karbon.com
Please respect that Karbon-Karbon only plays stadium-size concerts.
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