Robert Fripp's Diary

Continuing responses.

12.38 Continuing responses:

4. A response to the recent Guestbook comment, on the marketing intentions of the Diary.

i) As we are all by now well aware, Fripp is an acknowledged Shameless Marketing Weasel, and a Venal Leader. Anyone not prepared to deal with these unarguable facts should take their business elsewhere, to a paragon of the ethical business world. Perhaps to Richard Branson and the Virgin companies?

ii) Shameless Marketing Motives would not explain the care, energy and attention put into these Diary postings.

An analogy:

Friendship brings many rewards, in many ways and forms.
Some of these are seen in the world of commerce.
Yet if the motivation behind friendship is the bringing of rewards, this is not friendship.
If this is not friendship, there are no rewards.

5. Robert's response to postings:

What becomes clearer and clearer to me, with each posting to the Guestbook and to ET, is that our comment on others is a detailed description and commentary upon ourselves, our own degree of understanding; the view from our own window.

If our window is in the basement, it's not much use extrapolating from that experience what a view of the garden might be like from a window on the ground floor. If I'm really interested in seeing the garden, my concern will be on how to get out of the basement.

22.13

On this day 84 years ago my Mother was born.

On this day, one year ago, I was performing as G4 with G3 in America, soundscaping with my Mother in mind. (This soundscape may be heard on "Sometimes God Smiles").

On this day, today, at this time, The Late Shift is underway. We are working on Club Selection No. 2. Feeble, pathetic, hopeless attempts to tune a mellotron gives way to a guitarist introducing the first piece of the evening: "Pictures Of A City". The distortion doesn't go away but the music cuts through it.

Before we began The Late Shift proper David sang to me several of his songs, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. David has written a musical. How to present this, and bring it into the world, is of growing concern and interest at DGM.

News:

1. Tomorrow we begin to post out Club Release No. 1.

2. The sale of historic KC mellotrons: we currently have an offer of £10,000 for the "In The Court" beast. The "In The Wake" mellotron (I'm looking at it now) is also available. That leaves the three single manuals from "Larks", "Starless", "Red" and "The Nightwatch"; plus one single non-provenanced single manual mellotron.

Boz has now announced "Cirkus" and is singing some of the most tongue-twisting and psyche-flapping rock lyrics of the period.

3. I intend to dispose of some of my surplus-to-requirement guitar related equipment. This includes:

i) Pete Cornish guitar pedal boards from the early 1970s;

ii) My Watkins Dominator 17 watt amplifier from "The Ravens", the very first group I played in (1961). The Dominator amp is the feature of a recent book on rock groups in the 1960s.

iii) The two Roland synthesiser guitars (manufactured by Ibanez) played by Adrian and myself in the "Discipline" period.

These will be accompanied by two GR300 (little blue) synthesisers, but I can't guarantee that they are the original ones we used (I have acquired several over the years).

(The Hohner pianet now playing on "Cirkus" is also for sale).

4. This evening I was talking to Tim Williams of Psappah, the Manchester based contemporary music ensemble, who may become DGM artists.

5. My e-mail is increasing. May I suggest earnest mailers engage no more than three question marks in any one letter? And preferably one. The presence of proliferating question marks indicates that the questioner doesn't have a real question.

6. All age seating for P4: I have been on the telephone to The Agency in New York:

Boulder: the promoter had one show with an All Age section; we have requested both nights and are awaiting an answer.
Richard's, Vancouver: 19+ (State law)
7th. Note, S.F.: All ages
Seattle: 21 and over (rigid State law)
Crystal, Portland: I am waiting for a reply.

This is now the audient's responsibility to check further.

Response to DGM Correspondents:

From JS: "What's the prob with acoustic drums?".

Well, I would have to ask John: "Which acoustic drums did you have in mind?". John's question has a broader generic than concerns me. So, assuming John's reply is close to this: "The acoustic drums that impact upon your inner ear", some comments...

A. General practical concerns:

1. Acoustic drums are loud. If you play in a group with two drum kits, and are a guitarist sitting between them, large perspex sheets are a necessity. If you stand, or sit, in front of them you also need large perspex sheets. And/or earplugs.

I find it very hard to listen / play / engage with other musicians using various strategies to prevent me listening, hearing and engaging with them.

2. The same holds in rehearsal rooms. Like, Crimson can't use Adrian's studio because we'd be deafened. So, we have to go to a larger rehearsal room, which is less friendly, less available, more expensive.