Patch Notes: Qasim Naqvi

Pakistani-American musician Qasim Naqvi is perhaps best known as a founder member of acoustic trio Dawn of Midi, in which he has played drums since 2007. Outside of his work in Dawn of Midi, Naqvi is an accomplished solo artist whose compositions have been performed by ensembles including the London Contemporary Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and soundtracked many films and documentaries. Naqvi’s recent solo releases, such as 2019’s Teenages and 2020’s Beta, have made extensive use of synthesizers and modular systems. In this episode of Patch Notes, we invited Naqvi to perform at Pioneer Works, a non-profit cultural center in Redhook, Brooklyn. “The building dates back to 1866 and was originally a railroad track factory,” Naqvi says. “Now it’s a massive performing arts space. With my equipment, I was merging two systems that I’ve been configuring for a couple of years, a Verbos System and a Serge System. I also used a few random modules to connect everything: a Quad VCA from Intellijel and an X-P