DGM HQ Mr Stormy has
09.33
DGM HQ.
Mr. Stormy has arrived with the van & is loading boxes of tapes for tranting to the store I…
II…
09.51 Viewing The Vicar’s introductory DVD…
… and I am persuaded.
Off to Dorchester.
14.21 The store holds all manner of items: furniture, old equipment, DGM tapes & a pile of book-boxes that belong to local pals who were asked to move from their own store.
That’s a HiWatt of many-traveled miles with KC in the early 1970s…
There’s two Pete Cornish pedal boards I…
II...
… which were cannibalised for the Arny’s Shack rig of 1984.
Attached to one (top pic) is the first volume pedal I used & my only effect with KC live in 1969 (in the studio, I used fuzz as well). The volume pedal was fitted to the first Cornish pedalboard in 1970, along with fuzz & wah-wah. My contribution to the technology was to fit a by-pass switch for the effects when not in use: too much tone was lost going through pedals that were not in go mode.
On top of the board above is the
Univibe given to me by pal Robin Trower in 1975.
The store I…
II...
III...
Leaving Mr. Stormy & Big Ben to their shelf-erecting & loading, into town & a visit to the treaty bookshop
Words Etcetera. The proprietor is a bass player of 25 years & works with TLev’s bass book. Carrying two acquisitions around the corner for coffee & lunch I…
II...
III...
… and now back at DGM HQ.
15.12 Mr. Stormy & Big Ben have now also returned…
… carrying the original artwork of Lizard & a Marshall mini-stack…
15.25 Orchestral Soundscapes underway in DGM SoundWorld I with David at the controls I…
II...
III...
Stunning. David is working with the original orchestral recordings, of Soundscapes transcribed by Bert Lams, orchestrated & arranged by Andrew Keeling, recorded at the
Amsterdam Concertgebouw thanks to the endeavours of
Gert-Jan Blom.
GJ was also responsible for the releases of Mr. Gurdjieff’s harmonium recordings & the Oriental Suite, both
impressive achievements.
David has treated the orchestra’s playing as if it were a Soundscape to be Soundscaped. So, in places this recreation of a recreation has four orchestras simultaneously; and becomes something entirely of its own.
17.35 An offer has come in for RF to co-headline on a tour of the US next year; it has been gratefully declined. I am no longer a touring player.
17.45 A response to questions from a BA Honours student in Creative Music Production & Technology at an English college…
Quick overview: surround technology is not sufficiently established to merit or support extensive surround mixing.
… and MPEG surround players being installed in cars.
I visited DTS in Los Angeles in 2001 & was hopeful that the breakout would come via in-car systems. That hasn’t happened.
What would you say is the main reason for the meagre proliferation of surround sound music in the market place?
What factors affect the technological take-up? The same factors that affect the demand curve: fashion, advertising, taste, habit, inventions, prices of near substitutes, expectations of trends, changes in price, changes in the distribution of income, the quality & quantity of the money supply.
What are current listening practices? Probably the most important development in the past 7 years is the prevalence of the i-Pod & in-ear listening. Headphones simulate an immersive listening experience that surround gives without headphones: a sonic womb.
In 1967-68 the listening practice was to go to a friend’s house & sit on the floor with a team of chums to listen in stereo. Today, if that were the primary listening convention, it might be listening in surround.
Which piece or pieces of music that you have worked on would you most want to hear reproduced in surround if any? And which ones that you haven’t worked on?
What music most benefits from surround mixing?
1. Music which belongs more properly in an “environment” rather than on the concert platform, or conventional performance spaces
An example: the work of Guitar Craft takes place in Guitar Circles where the audience is often within the Circle.
2. Complex music.
Eg King Crimson Double Trio, Charles Ives, Centipede, Mahler.
3. Just about any music!
Eg Haydn string quartets, any string quartets, chamber ensembles…
Would you want to remix your older material into surround?
Yes & no. Yes, because it all sounds richer, clearer, with greater transparency. No, because I don’t drive looking in the rear mirror. No, because very few people will ever hear the outcome of lots of work. No, because the economics don’t justify the work. Yes, because some KC fans such as Steven Wilson & Jakko Jakszyk are doing most of the technical work for almost nothing.
Do you believe surround sound music can add a spatial reality to a recording that would otherwise be missing in a conventional two-channel stereo one?
Clearly. For example, in stereo there is one stereo. In quad, there are six stereo positions – AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD.
Have you any plans to be involved in any surround sound productions yourself in the near future?
Currently working on THRAK (KC 1994) with Jakko Jakszyk.
As an artist do you feel that the greater artistic possibilities that surround sound makes possible (Additional spatial reality or indeed unreality) can provide inspirational fuel for the creative mind and can enhance artistic expression and thought processes?
It may & may not, it can & it won’t. What stimulates the creative mind is a larger topic. For some, the technology might be a trigger –an installation, for example. For others, like the touring player, it has such little relevance to their lives.
For solo Soundscape performances, where possible I do play in surround; and the Solar Voyager (my rig) is configured in quad. But this is outside the mainstream of performance & listening practices. And for more ambitious performers, in large venues there is a problem with time delay between front & rear speakers.
Do you think surround sound envelopment equals greater listener involvement…
Surround has little effect on the quality of listening; although it might initially attract the listening attention. But this does not develop volitional attention necessary for active listening.
Hope this helps!
23.39 E-flurrying ending with a batch of piracy-arisings. A good GC e-letter to end.
Not a lot of light pollution here…
The floor.
