Robert Fripp's Diary

Bredonborough Cold morning mostly bright

10.09

Bredonborough.

Cold morning, mostly bright but no snow.

The electrician arrived, at 07.45even a little ahead of time, for further fine tuning. Now, the boiler doesn’t reignite. On a cold morning, that’s hard.

A Rock Gamelan:: Posted by Drumstalktoo on March 19, 2007

Dear Mr. Fripp, I’m not sure how often you check this messageboard (if at all)…

RF:      Most days.

… but if you do happen to stumble upon this, I emplore you to read on.

I am a college student and I am writing my term paper on the evolution of King Crimson. I will be examing your work as well as that of the band, though more specifically, the 1980’s incarnation and the music that was produced by this unit. I have come upon material saying that with this incarnation, you were interested in creating a "rock gamelan" of sorts. I am examining traditional gamelan music as well as King Crimson’s 1981 album Discipline hoping to draw comparisons between the two. If you would be so kind as to answer the quick questions below, I would greatly appreciate it. If anyone else on this board knows the answer, please feel free to respond. To any and all who help, I thank you for your time.

Gerard

Could you elaborate on the idea of the rock gamelan that you hoped to create? What particular aspects of gamelan music were you trying to carry over into this incarnation of King Crimson? When did you become fascinated with gamelan music and what about it was so interesting to you?

RF:      I am grateful to Gerard for his interest & support his interest in gamelan. Please forgive me: these questions were burning to me 26 years ago, but are not currently so. Perhaps research interviews of the time, even The Toxic Tome & Eric Tamm? The questions that presently burn are, well, current burning questions.

Praise for Robert:: Posted by dosware on March 20, 2007

A fan of yours since the late 60’s. Always thought you were eccentric- but now, in 2007, all your music is suddenly very listenable to me.

RF:      I regret it took so long.

You were ahead of your time.  Thank you so much for giving your creativity to us. You have brought joy to many people...

RF:      Eventually, then. And, if I were to rely on press & online commentary, just about as much un-joy as well.

FR Diary March 14:: Posted by itzed2u on March 20, 2007

Regarding RF’s mention of the event "Viacom sues ’GooTube’ for $1 billion, at what point does protecting one’s copyright become detrimental to the artist?  Or perhaps we should ask, in what specific instances does the infringement benefit the artist?...  However, from a business standpoint, some infringements could actually benefit the artist via exposure...  Now having seen clips on youtube, I immediately go and purchase (through legitimate means) more KC CDs, and two concert DVDs so that I can enjoy them over and over in high quality.  Where is the measure for this trade-off of infringement vs. benefit?

At what point? Where the distance between what is claimed to be the case, and what is actually the case, becomes so great that the hypocrisy & cynicism become offensive.

Question One: what is the intent, or aim, that gives rise to (any) course of action?

Question Two: is the usage on YouTube (or whichever site is using unlicensed material) consensual?                   

Google, the Good Guys of our online world, crossed a divide when they acquired YouTube. YouTube content is not, mostly, user-generated. I am averse to GooTube’s claim that they feel "confident that YouTube has respected the legal rights of copyright holders"… when a couple of clicks the evidence to me, if not to Google, that KC/RF copyright material is being displayed, for which has no licensing permission has been sought nor granted.

19.52

A heating engineer arrived at lunchtime, at which time the boiler ignited of itself. But, the system’s water was low, which may have triggered an automatic cut-off. Warmth returned.

An afternoon of practising.

A beautiful evening I…

II...