What are you listening to at the moment?...

[Drewmidorn]

Sometimes... very rarely.... I write without any idea of what the purpose is. Most of what I do is writing to a brief (even for my band is kind of a brief).

Well this week was one of those un-briefed flights of fancy.

If you fancy a giggle.....

http://www.myspace.com/aldouspinch

its really nothing very serious!

D

[Robusto]

Myspace and Facebook are blocked at work, but I'll give that a listen later, Drew.

I'm going to be listening to a hell of a lot more music now that I've bought a home cinema system. I don't know why I haven't got this sorted out years ago. I guess it's because a significant amount of dosh goes on instruments, recording gear (small-time) and PA. I've test-driven a few systems round at friends' houses, and the 5.1 mixes of live gigs are awesome.

We share all budgets in our house - but I can get what I want without any moans (cigars, amps, blah blah) if it comes from earnings from live gigs and not from the collective pot.

Although my missus jokingly dismissed this purchase (not yet arrived) as BOYS' TOYS, she'll be in there as soon as she can with every bit of Radiohead she has in any medium.

Meeting People Is Easy.
I can't wait to share Thom Yorke's upbeat sense of humour in surroundsound.

Last night, I took to my friend's house DVD selections of Tears For Fears, Elton John, The Flower Kings, plus Cloverfield, 28 Days Later and The Day Today, through a system which I subsequently walked home, clicked online and bought. I was sold!

I cannot wait to watch bollocks like The One Show through the system when it arrives. And I'll get off on Carla in Coronation Street a bit more.

How the hell I let home cinema slip past me when I bought a fine TV last year I'll never know!

[Drewmidorn]

That sounds awesome Bryan! A lot of the 5.1 mixes have the vocal bang centre and nothing else... this means you can strip the vocal out really easily and do you're own remix. Although you can't with Robbie Williams as he doesn't like his vocal being exposed. I don't think its because he's worried about people using it though! lol

D

[Robusto]

I didn't know that, Drew. I may be trying it out.

I had to learn Mr Bojangles for a moment with our singer in the band's set, and ended up listening to Robbie Williams's version. I've never really listened to him before. He has an unusual voice...

My mate put on some remixed CDs including The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway by Genisis circa 1970, which I haven't listened to in decades. They really jumped out of the speakers, and there is a bee or wasp that was on the original release which now takes off and flies around the room in surroundsound. It's so OTT, but really fun!

Best bit - for me - is being able to hear the decay on keyboard sounds. It's wonderful! DVD live gigs are a better moment than the live gigs themselves.

02 gigs can be dreadful for audience sound.

(I'm not an over-intense goon about these technical things. Neither in home audio, nor in band kit nor keyboards. If I like them, I like them. No meaningful frowns).

After Cuba, I think I'll get a Nord.

[Drewmidorn]

One of the coolest Keyboards I've ever played was the Hammond B3 thats on all the Bob Marley stuff at Island records... it was wrecked... broken keys the lot, but it sounded awesome. Mind you I was so excited about it I may have sounded as bad as it looked! lol

The Nord stuff is great. I love the stage piano. I'm afraid apart from my old Juno 60, toy piano and accordion I now use nothing but samples as I don't need to be able to take it out and gig it. Last time I played keys live was years ago. I think if I had to now I'd take out the powerbook and run all the sounds from Reason.

[Robusto]

I'm learning to use Reason at home now. Rather, my 16 year old is teaching me!

[Drewmidorn]

Without getting too geeky I usually run it as a rack along side logic or pro tools. The sequencer thats built in is fiddley and not very user friendly. But the sounds are great.

[Robusto]

My son is combining software like this. To be honest, I am a player - but I know I've got to understand the tecchie side of it thoroughly to record/write/escape and fly at home and with other people.

I was classically educated in just about every way. Piano, Latin, indeed in all methods of learning. Fortunately I've had to undo that approach as a teacher and think about how anyone learns anything. To be frank, at the end of my spectrum, I have kids who cannot learn much at all, but one keeps trying.

I've written with very sympathetic tecchie friends over time, but have been a bit gormless about the studio processes because I knew they understood and could carry on without input from me. I sometimes see myself as Madge Allsop to Dame Edna, but at least I smile a bit more these days.

Now - at last - I have found a player mate who is a sensitive musician - and a very funky one - who also speaks exactly the same language. He will talk to me about the tecchie side of things, omit what is not necessary, and aims (without an Ofsted fuckwit pistol) to teach me something every time. We're aiming to get together every week, if possible, to record and write.

We swap Morrisisms. We have most of the CM 'scripts' in our heads, and we have an overwhelmingly similar world view. It is great.

I'm having to screw in BT Vision, Edna, but I'll cop for a listen of your Myspace, and will lob my Reverbnation thing in a bit later. I've done that before, but we have daily newbies (which is cool) so I'll bung in some sounds too to see if other musos are joining up, et aussi pour encourager les autres...

[Drewmidorn]

I never really wanted to be a Techno geek, but it was the only way I could record my songs when I was younger and over the past 15 years I've learnt a few tricks... however I'm still happiest working with an engineer...I'd quite happily never touch a mac again but its not really an option in the modern world where they want three hours of music written, recorded, mixed and mastered by yesterday... and all for sixpence.

Seriously though stick with the technology... not for itself, but because it will allow you to liberate your ideas. Its just another tool. I bet you spent ages in the 80s trying to work out the DX7 or M1 and then realised that really its simple and gets easier as it develops (leaving modular synthesis aside that is.... which is a black art if you ask me).

D

[Robusto]

My first was a Korg Poly 800. It is still underneath my bed!

That was a real task for a piano player to bump over to a non-weighted plastic monosynth, but it was the thing to do, and the DX7 was exciting. I used to disappear to the music shop in City Road, Sheffield, and loll about and play for hours on one of those.

I agree with you. Technology liberates. I have never gone over to a Mac of any kind. Not through resistance because I know they are superb. I guess I've just got stuck with Gates, and have never saved up enough to go over to Apple. I will, tho. Both of my lads use them for media courses, so they want me to buy for them.

Cuba comes first, now!

I played your track several times whilst porking my BT Vision into existence and really liked it! Is that you singing? Very smuggler-esque, and Tom Waits is a friend! (I play Tom Waits to 11 and 12 year olds to wake them up and start thinking. Get them off the endless "new" Hallelujahs). Very nice hook. It made me think of the Scissors Sisters at one point!

Will there be more on there? Not had time to read the blurb, but noticed you'd written something about rum and cigars. Nice! And indeed it would be nice to knock back builder's tea and a D4 together somehow, sometime.

Here's my Reverbnation. The track I like best is Manston Marie because it's nonsense. Crap, even. There are a couple of non-ring blowing videos there, too.

[Drewmidorn]

Bryan, glad you liked it...I think there will be more..."Gin palace Lilly" and "The Prisoner" are floating around my head... however I've got to get the jean album ready for mastering and I'm working on an album for a young singer sonwriter... it also looks like I'm going to have to write 52 songs in a month (along with three other writers) for some BBC kids thing... I will force a couple of days for Aldous too.

I've been working with a songwriter tonight and we've been talking about Leonard Cohen, TomWaits, Jeff Buckley and Queen. lol

Shes a great writer but a little blinkered... possibly like your 12 year olds.

I find the argument that this x factor girl (who give her her due is an awesome singer) is a disgarce for covering a Jeff Buckley tune very funny indeed. The Buckley version is great... but its a cover! lol

Love the energy of the reverbnation picture. Looks perfect. I'm going to dip into it now.

D

oh and I must appologise... that is indeed my voice... rarely sees the light of day if I can help it... in fact there's nothing on there that isn't yours truly! lol

[larrysputnik]

Sometimes... very rarely.... I write without any idea of what the purpose is. Most of what I do is writing to a brief (even for my band is kind of a brief).

Well this week was one of those un-briefed flights of fancy.

If you fancy a giggle.....

http://www.myspace.com/aldouspinch

its really nothing very serious!

D

I must say that this is the most brilliantly written song I've heard in a long time. Part naval officer part peg-legged pirate; what a concept Where can I hear more of your stuff Drew? There weren't any more songs at the link.

[Drewmidorn]

Thanks Larry, I'm genuinely humbled.

There is more stuff at my band's page which is http://myspace.com/abandcalledjean but thats much more poppy and some more at my page which is http://www.myspace.com/drewtracks but at the moment thats all JEAN too.

I'm going to pop some more stuff on the Aldous page as I record it... I only uploded the page this morning, as I finshed recording Smack Head Jack yesterday, so I'll let you know when stuff is up!

Thanks again. Its always really great to hear encouragement from people who don't HAVE to say they like it! lol Although my mum rang up to say she thought it was good and she usually just asks if everything has to be so loud!... to which the answer is of course yes!

D

[larrysputnik]

Thanks Larry, I'm genuinely humbled.

There is more stuff at my band's page which is http://myspace.com/abandcalledjean but thats much more poppy and some more at my page which is http://www.myspace.com/drewtracks but at the moment thats all JEAN too.

I'm going to pop some more stuff on the Aldous page as I record it... I only uploded the page this morning, as I finshed recording Smack Head Jack yesterday, so I'll let you know when stuff is up!

Thanks again. Its always really great to hear encouragement from people who don't HAVE to say they like it! lol Although my mum rang up to say she thought it was good and she usually just asks if everything has to be so loud!... to which the answer is of course yes!

D

Ill check it out. I'm looking forward to more songs like Smack Head Jack. By the way, the picture of you rocking that guitar pose that was borderline split cracks me up. Any more of those calisthenics moves coming out on stage or was that a one time occurrence?

[Robusto]

I'll befriend lol you on the jean and personal sites later. I listened to the initial track over breakfast! Great stuff.

50 odd songs for a kids' thing on BBC. Wow! Brilliant commission!

Halleleujah. It's funny. Do you know the simulacrum theory thingie? A poorer artistic copy? A cover, essentially? lol!!!!!

THIS

Poor Alexandra!

It's all great fun - and you get to do it full-time, you bugger!