Which is somewhat ironic - I have spent my career making recordings that (hopefully) demanded attention, rather than just being heard, and here I am annoyed that Beethoven won’t provide sonic wallpaper for my morning.
And on the subject of sonic wallpaper (not), it is somewhat amusing to note that "Live at The Orpheum" is praised for having dynamics (little compression), damned for being too quiet (not enough compression), blamed for the back line being too quiet, blamed for the back line being too loud. Who’d be a producer?! And having worked on The Vicar album (with no drummers, such freedom), the Starless boxed set (with one drummer), the forthcoming THRAK boxed set (with two drummers), I would say that the current incarnation has exactly the right number of drummers.
Which reminds me - anyone who enjoys drummer jokes (which, let’s be honest, is everyone who plays in a band, including the drummers of whatever number) can now download DGM’s first App free from iTunes - Android to follow shortly. (search on Drummer Jokes.)
The other topic which is touched upon in the guestbook, the question of the CD vs DVD vs Download vs Vinyl, is a somewhat burning one within the office at present. We no longer live in a "one size fits all" world. Making an album, with an order loving compiled, is no longer enough. When the album appears for download or streaming, the first three or four songs on the album become de facto "singles" i.e.. people peruse the first few tracks to see if they like it. This requires a very different running order (unless you assemble your albums, as David Bowie reputedly did, by putting his favourite track first and so on). So we now, for example, need choices for the first four tracks of a Vicar download. Answers on a postcard please.
Soundscapes are much more difficult, as many of them are wonderfully impossible to pin down, That is what makes them so special, but also makes them difficult to choose, In my experience, a soundscape that transports you one day will not necessarily do so the next (not entirely true, Pie Jesu and Midnight Blue are glorious each and every time I hear them - but it is the case with some of the more ephemeral pieces. Push too hard and they fall to dust in your fingers). In the new spirit of conversation, I shall, however, get Mr Stormy to assemble the suggested pieces for an office listen. Can’t be worse than Beethoven (yes, that’s a joke).
"Let us embrace our mistakes as friends and teachers."
