MEDLET’S TALE >> © Neil Hodder
 |
| Supported by MUSICCA™ |
Is 3 years typically the length of a full time
Uni-Degree thing? Did, done, charity polo-shirt, a B.A. (Hons) Degree, a
creative Honours Programme etc, 3 a student (87-90) 2:1; all done: 97 an Med
year.
10
then after my first Degree learnt another de sonde field expressive. Life HAD, for me (MEDLET) changed; I had become an employee of ARTEDU Ltd. Between commitments to learning teens &
lecturing people I did probably like serious news action research: the art of
composing/recording. Not to say I tried to solo perform or “band” of any
description. I’d already performed live on several occasions in edu-contexts-experienced
some good receptions and “fan” comments but stage and studio pressure never;
never a performer per se and at times
documented in this text I was primarily interested in making independent cuts:
nothing else mattered and it was rather like making drawings which may or may
not be shown at some point in the future. I have never enjoyed decorating my
walls with anything extra.
These
memories on the period are at times like dummy sleeve designs for future release
mostly and might have been done at the time; but contain several mini-essays
written since the period of research play 97-2000; a personal aid memoir and they were not conceived
for commercial release. Too long the discs and tapes of 97-2000 had no
accompanying notes and now this text lights my
collection. Bands come and go in 3. It is a considerable time and I learnt
substantially; Degree intensity is an understatement, not to mention £$
invested. In my view the £$ was spent a trifling interest sum, comparatively:
free. “Stage” names invented purely for the purpose of this document. It did
not go too far: but even a construct is potentially marketable and susceptible
to plagiarism; on second thoughts, no, the work was not all that transcendental,
or truth is told…. Essentially, v. musical times lie ahead. I am listening as
hard as I can and I still hear my
records, which is worth all £$ etc in the world (sorry). Some of the biggest
bands from the 1960s beg the question “should anything else ever be recorded at
any level?”
Nway: when I C used masterpieces selling for a
fraction of their new “value” shortly after their release; new titles priced up
for ludicrously small sums in supermarket clearance sections; re-masters of
albums which should be re-recorded, assuming the artists are still alive and
able to do so, and re-distributed in their full digital beauty1; new
albums selling for 10p on tape (doubles); sleeve notes making excuses for the
sound quality of a live recording made in the 21st Century and when
I hear ensembles performing at major events starting a song, stopping and
restarting; lead vocalists not quite aware of where to come in over a chord
sequence during a sell out concert performance; of bands, having toured
indefatigably and having released numerous studio albums, still being in a
crippling level of debt; distorted vocal parts on 24 bit re-masters; music shop
owners demonstrating kit and struggling to time properly through scales;
commercial recordings thrown together; traffic on released demos; my music
idols swearing foolishly in interviews; I am pleased that I opted
for the anachronistic private recording process which resulted in a diy double:
works which are in time and tune at least. I have the satisfaction of never
having made a single commercial musical error: so many major artists have had
their mistakes broadcast globally due to managerial complacency; although their
mistakes sell of course.
Billions of recordings exist already Vex – the collection; music as an art form is
perhaps best appreciated as a live experience only; but mine were, nevertheless,
created: completely solo recording efforts.
Basically, in the year _997, aged 3_, I
re-evaluated some of the tunes I had composed as a kid (like millions of
creative and impressionable adolescents).
“My best
teenage friend Steve Shadow and I were into music. Ste and I would mime to
Rapido on LP record and record our own drivel unashamedly from a Casino
keyboard. We both bought hi-fi kit and started jamming on our own guitars. I
learnt some theory and started to write some decent naïve stuff of my own which
was quite well received at the time, 14 or 15 years before”.
I suppose
this move might be considered a tad immature but hey - guys in their 60s and
70s are doing their teen stuff on stage at sell-out concerts.
“The DD00 had been clanging away on the
front seat of the car during two tours of the suburban areas of the city. A few
well meaning and well built individuals drinking on pub benches outside reacted
silently and there were even a few smiles but sound is essentially nothing. I
decided to call it a day and I skidded home through the winding lanes sampling
the sound of the throttle on the Renault and the breathing of its engine on my
Walkman pro. I got in to my partner’s place listened to the samples about 5
times and simply crashed with my Cantable brass” Life is too short.
“This is
cooking Medlet said the keyboard player gleefully about 1 meter off the floor.
I was busying myself with a wah pedal and the band was really meshing properly
– exhilarating stuff. Things soon disintegrated”
I had already been a member of several “duos” and
I had composed briefly with a future _uteur; he sold me my first
“Our best
stuff was done at his home using his drum kit during our first meetings as 6th
Form students but unfortunately no tape was rolling of any description. He used
to get a lot of flack as a student but he could drum.”
It
had been over a decade since I had recorded on a p_rta-studio-
“I watched as
during the mix down of our day’s recording he started to fiddle unforgivably
with the balance controls - completely screwing up the stereo image on the
recording”
and at
least 5 years since I had improvised and recorded some guitar parts in a professional
recording studio (The C_ach H_use, Bristol) with T_d and the B_ys and the producer of The Str_nglers front man – Ch_is G_ul_t_n. “The Bristol tapes were the first “professional sounds” I had made since
I was broadcast on Beeb Nationwide during the 19_0s (Budget day). I put the
guitar parts down in one take and it was rather like having a tooth removed at
a good dentist”. For some reason I had only recorded the odd demo on a
monophonic Jap compact cassette recorder in the meantime (using a Yam
 |
| The Coach House Studio, Bristol, recorded CJ Moore's "What Happened to Peggy Sue". Medlet, a member of Ted & the Boys, could have sounded more like Buddy Holly on rhythm & lead guitar parts. Nevermind. |
Discs 1 and 2 (The Music Rumour & Minuet
No.27): After trying several electro-acoustic guitars I bought a fairly
expensive option, a Takamine E150. I also invested in a Tascam 4_4
professional home recorder (ubiquitous devices I know). Masters were mixed from
it onto a renovated Sony Walkman Professional and later, after a positive
discussion with my sister Oanmi in
One of the
hits on TV, currently, and I hardly need to make reference to what have become
National obsessions, is the competition show FATV on which absolute amateurs
are given the opportunity to perform songs to the Nation. Musically gifted
people are “discovered” through FATV and others are exposed for what they are.
To digress slightly, the organiser of the
On a lighter note my 2 finalised discs are
amongst countless similar recordings which litter the planet: of no real importance; private diaries;
outcomes of self taught music making; arrival at the age of 30; by-products of
the home recording revolution triggered by the availability of domestic digital
recorders in the 1990s; trivial pursuits made for trifling sums of money;
potential demos for FATV competition show access; would-be commercial
recordings; done for my own amusement – crochet – precious possessions in my
household at least; tragic?.
They
do provide me now, however, with a historical ability insight. Some “songs” are
only OK a decade later and vice versa. They should perhaps be confined to the
musical equivalent of the book of short stories which Kate Adie points out in
her autobiography5 exists in virtually every other household. But
they also sound rather like those beautifully packaged CDs which sell in shops
for around £16; I hear so many of my
derivative chord trails on other people’s tunes who have possibly beaten me to
it with their derivatives and maybe they have been beaten to it with one or two
of their other derivatives: great fun.
It is less painful to be ripped, or rip for that matter, within obscurity
excluded or self-excluded from commercial musical concerns, perhaps. Many
people are actually burning their own
entire collections to hard disk now and disposing of their collections
completely: they have payed for their
own losses & presumably this is entirely fair trade.
Of course, albums selling in record shops are
invariably put together on grand or limitless budgets and modern recordings
benefit from full digital production. Minuet
No.27 is mastered from 4 track analogue compact cassettes. The 414 was
implemented according to instructions rather like a toy, admittedly, and signal
paths were pruned. Top end equalisation creates quite a live instrumental
quality which is sometimes missing from commercially available ADD releases.
The Marantz digital recorder was the perfect machine on which to master I
believed at the time – there does not seem to be much which distinguishes it
from.
Two
compact cassette variations of Minuet
No.27 exist despite repeated listening analysis (multitrack mix downs) and
two direct stereo recordings (cassette) were made of “rehearsals”: all recorded
on the Sony Walkman Professional with unconditional Lve. My recording process
was tidy controlled and essentially inexpensive. I took no risks whatsoever;
rightly or wrongly: I had steady work in Edu and so did Anj partner at the
time.
Later on in the recording process I began to toy
with a much larger range of instruments: a Yamaha keyboard belonging to my
brother, Kral, and the PSR 28, 55 and DD10 Drum Bank (a formidable cluster of
extremely used kit which actually only cost a trifling sum of money). The Radio
Constru Centre (a local shop) “custom made” my guitar and other leads and
cables fairly cheaply. Awesome sounds could be created and recorded to pro-ish
specification for virtually pennies: high times and preferable to the pressure
of a real studio. It sounds crazy but
it is worth sacrificing to retain absolute process control and the fun quotient.
During a search for used instruments and leads I
met Stephen an owner of a more sophisticated “home studio” and he gave me a
guided tour a quick sound demo and we had some coffee. Minuet No.27 is a simple concept album inspired very much by a
conversation with him: an invitation to use his recording gear to record the project. Should I let somebody else
manage my sound in their studio or persevere with a DIY job? I asked myself.
The trials and tribulations of settling for the latter option constitute the
vague narrative content of the recording: it simply tracks the progress of an
individual attempting to create his own hit records independently (perhaps
wrongly). Song excerpts (never complete tunes) explore lyrically subjects such
as management issues and audience reactions but leave an awful lot to the
imagination. A collection of good practice runs simply doubles as a narrative:
listened to with enough concentration. Ironically the album, as far as I am
aware, is fairly original in this sense. Using demos to create an entire
concept album may not be totally uncharted territory but it has surely not been
done too often in the form of a specialist Hi-fi prototype. Minuet No.27 is perhaps as conceptual as most other concept
albums. The remaining “tracks” are just aptly titled collections of completely
unrelated material which is written first and foremost for my own amusement.
On the downside: explaining
my behaviour to others (i.e. neighbours); used kit failing (i.e. pedals);
setting up kit and maintaining concert pitch; issues with microphones (only 2
of 4 alternatives actually worked satisfactorily); mixing down (never really
approaching what you had hoped for: rather like some studio time); buying
totally inappropriate kit which refuses to work; sleeping with compact cassettes
under the pillow……
Strauss reportedly composed waltzes within one
hour. It cannot therefore be too compositionally complacent to spend three
years assembling a jigsaw of incomplete songs and instrumentals: all the pieces
are in place and I hold absolute proof; the music is my sole responsibility.
With hindsight I believe that I was constructing my own form of “progressive
rock” on a two-decade delay setting; I had not been exposed to very much “prog
rock” material prior to 1997 (when “Closer
to the Edge”, one of my favourite records, was released by Yes in 1971 I was regrettably aged only
4) but I had owned LPs by groups such as Yes
and their incredible Canadian imitators and developers Rush. I had also attended live performances by Meatloaf and Marillion during
the 80s and Steve Winwood/Traffic in
the 90s. “Hardly any live work has been worth listening to and the sound
quality always disappoints”. I also
attended a benefit gig by Robert Fripp. So my hunch, following what might have been a
life changing conversation with the recording company referred to me by
Ladybird Books, that my efforts were marketable
was quite possibly wrong: I perhaps, therefore, made a correct-ish decision to
withhold the work; my tunes were arguably too anachronistic – yes I bottled.
“I received a call on my mobile phone from a giant of a record company but soon I was looking at the food parcel my gorgeous ex-partner and her beguiling daughter had purchased for me to leave them with - she'd also, recently, walked in on me viewing Annie Chong's widely acclaimed balling documentary one evening but that's another story (!)"
But too anachronistic for who exactly? you could
be forgiven for asking. Admittedly, I had few listeners to cater for at the
time; my work in sound was hardly sought after. So a word or two on the
objective quality of the work I was producing is perhaps necessary.
Fortunately, perhaps, an indication of the range
of ability is presented commercially
(look in HMV). We can buy titles in a number of formats which are ridiculously
amateurish sounds recorded professionally and successfully marketed: I liked
the process of composing and recording work which was at least as listenable on
an independent level. I may do it again in the future: I may not; because there
are plenty of tunes available which other consumers are absolutely sick of
hearing on the used market: its fine.
Now, in 2009, I am currently studying music theory: I do not own an instrument and it is possible. I no longer own much kit (there are a few relics) and I have nothing on the boil. I do not have to play. I have the satisfaction of not having any of my works commercially mismanaged in any way: my works for example will not sound distinctly amateurish one year, semi- professional in another and OK in the next. I hold my two discs and they are going nowhere immediately. They are two of an almost infinite number of mix possibilities but more importantly they meet only minimum standards theoretically (like the output of many commercial groups): they are not ready.
10 years after the process I am almost content to listen to or discover
people who have worked in a similar manner to me. There appear to be very few
of them (Gomez are entertaining); this was the raisson d’être for Discs 1 and
2. Fiddling with a cheap multitrack recorder was interesting and amusing but my
best work is recorded directly in stereo. I believe in working within copyright
law and to my knowledge all the tunes are as original as their form permits: if
typical chord progressions are
printed and marketed worldwide……………………….
It
has occurred to me recently that if copyright law was impossible to infringe
perhaps far fewer recordings would exist – who knows? My independent recordings
are part of an arguably over-sized 20th Century human sound
recording archive: the collection.
Finally, imagine a cool looking long haired
musician in a recording studio being interviewed by a TV journalist on camera
ready for live transmission. Imagine media attention of that scale. You can
maybe imagine him leaning against a studio monitor as he speaks about the magic
of the sound he has invented. Now, picture yourself as that person and imagine
that it is you in front of the camera: you have some great music stored on disc
to share with the world and ready to go. But you are not talking to the camera
about albums and other nice things. You are about to admit that something
absolutely terrible has happened to you through your long hair to the TV
camera. You lean on the speaker monitor and begin to converse with the
journalist. “Is your hearing completely destroyed?” asks the journalist and
continues “By the way, before you get too excited about a tune you have created
it is worth having a look at a score by one of the really big composers written
as it was intended to be read. You may decide to try something else. Not just
anybody can do it.”
Now,
I invite you to grab a piece of paper and write an extension to the scenario I
have just asked you to imagine. I will start it for you and you can carry on
from my point of conclusion: OK at least think about a possible continuation.
Start here:
“You
do not need to remind me about the complexity of classical scores. But I know
of a woman named Rose who was a musical prodigy as a child. She attended one of
the best music schools in the country and now she cannot get a job and she
could starve.”
“Where
is the justice?” replies the journalist. Now it is over to you…
SKIP the blue print if you value your originality or the album graphic prototypes are of no interest. Scroll down and the main narrative will resume when it's back to black text.
- DISC 1 (THE MUSIC
RUMOUR) CD Digital Audio recordable for consumer.
1
Dreamdown: The speed of my guitar playing here is increased electronically on
the mixer. The chords are part of a song which I performed live with a small
student choir 0.33 2 Silence 3 That
thing is not you: One of the first recordings I
made with guitar pedals 2.48 4 Newyam digital drum bank and the
percussion range of an electronic keyboard being tried 1.06 5 Interval 45:An
attempt to create the effect of a sequencer manually 1.37 6 lcdlove:Possibly
one of my best mix downs and one of the few with a bass line 1.15 7 Silence 8
thewaystare:Decent production on this track which is inspired by bands such as
The Associates and Ozric Tentacles 1.12 9 missedageniusinstrumental 1.58 10 Too
high: This track is quite live sounding due to mixer limitations. The distorted
guitar parts are mixed ludicrously high: decent solos but no bottom end to
complete the picture 1.53 11 Coin: Very “The Tape Recorder” (Nijsen, 1967).
Coins are used. I will not expand any further 3.48 12 Speakup: Some creativity
again here with the speed facility on the mixer unit 1.16 13 Silence 14
Gameplay: It is not quite possible to emulate a real drummer with the drum bank
2.43 15 Disco 1.13 16 PIN 2.47 17 missedagenius: Microphone experimentation is
used to the detriment of the melodic and harmonic qualities of the song. It had
to be done at the time I’m afraid 1.58 18 KRONW 2.06 19 Too high to 0.51 20
Silence
- DISC 2 (MINUET No.27)
Mastered
on the 17th June 2000 and recorded in multitrack form between 1998
and 2000.27 minutes and 23 seconds overall running time.
CD
Digital Audio recordable for consumer
1
Note: Vocal and writing sample 0.21 2 treading: Yamaha keyboard percussion and
melodic lines. A Tokai “original series” electric guitar is used for the rhythm
guitar part. The sea was sampled on Polzeath beach,
- NGO: live
performances on guitar and banjo
A
side only metal tape (100)
November
3.10 Gbanj 2.00 The oak wood 3.12
- ARPEGS: live guitar
performances
Chromium
dioxide (46)
A:
A very good idea 1.06 Four 1.55 Four 1.39 Arpeggio 1 Dreamdown 2.14 Arpeg 2
Dreamdown 2.41 Dream down 1.56 Arpeg 3 Snow 2.49 Arpeg 4 LCDlove 2.42 Arpeg 5
Snow 1.51 Arpeg 6 Snow 2.48 Arpeg 7 Snow 1.01 Overspills from deletions of Snow
1.22
B:
A8 Too High 2.57 A9 Bluet 1.35 A10 LCDlove 1.57 A11 SG 3.39
- WORKATS: multitrack
masters
A
side only chromium dioxide (46)
Dreamdowndeletionmix
3.48 Snow 2.18 Atwork 3.25 Kronw 3.28 Workat 2.16 Dreamdown arpeggio remixed
2.13 Workat continued 1.18 Kronw 1.41
- INSEND: multitrack
masters
Chromium
dioxide (46)
A:
Our Country will succeed PG 3.45 15K digital 2.01 No news 0.30 what you are
listening to NOW 1.24 Heaving PG 2.37 during a quiet break in the recording
process 1.25 U 3.48 Four 2.19 during a quiet break 0.15 A very good idea 2.00
Note trade 2.31 Overhearing 0.56 Living with it 2.00
B:
Deluge 2.58 Treadingtrodden 2.09 Kronw 2.19 Snow 2.18 That thing is not you
2.45 Kronw acoustic strum 1.45
- QUIETLP: multitrack
masters
Chromium
dioxide (90)
A:
Note trade 1.03 Our Country will succeed 2.55 Note trade excerpt 0.52 Four 2.06
Overhearing 0.53 Heaving 2.14 Stop 3.13 Living with it 0.25 Deluge 2.32
Treadingtrodden 1.56 Your usual 4.12 U 3.32 15K digital 1.52 Notetradegoodidea
1.58 Within 0.18 Fourf 2.05 That thing is not you 4.35 Notetraderemixexcerpt
0.52 Fourff 2.03B: Reading of The Future of NQT care (Med research at UCIE1996-7)
13.2
- 2110: The 2012
compilation of some of the best stereo masters from CDs 1 & 2
Recycled
metal tape (100)
 |
| Please follow this link below to the Dreamdowndeletionmix chord sequence (a tune written about all wars): just hit the PLAY button and experiment/lyricise: https://www.musicca.com/chord-player?id=4a27f68 |
A few findings: Most of the “tracks” are listed but this is not an absolutely exhaustive catalogue unfortunately. Anyway, the foreword I wrote about learning a great deal from my 3 year inquiry. I hope that you are able to largely draw. I would, however, like to draw your attention to a few revelations.
The
most disturbing discovery I made is about the speed of my own limited ability
gain. My first recording, of the “research” period, was the tape NGO in 1997 (3
rough and ready live pieces of guitar and banjo-yes an old Premier G). It is
extremely difficult to reconcile it with future recordings in multi track form
such as “thewaystare” (a track from The Music Rumour CD).
A
formula for mastering a subject (3 hours per day of subject practice) was
revealed last year (2008) on a major radio station. Some (approximately 20%) of
the practical outcomes (the recordings) of my studies testify to this formula
perhaps. During the production of these notes I was staggered by the number of
pieces I had actually committed to tape (the equivalent of the life span output
of many bands). In terms of quality and quantity my inquiry indicates that
massive leaps in personal progress can be made through intensive studies. How
many people with an aptitude for music could plausibly put out, let us say for
the sake of argument, 8 – 10 high quality albums of material over a couple of
years with a bit of determination? Too many perhaps. The progress possible is
ironically almost a discouraging
factor. It really is possible to achieve recordings of a ludicrously high quality
through regular practice with cheap gear.
Is this the reason why musical prodigies are left on the scrap pile and out of
work? Is this the reason why people so enjoy the competitions screened on TV
for absolute amateurs? The opportunity to ridicule what is commonly regarded as
good bands in one fell swoop – is life really that simple? What does being
talented actually mean? Possibly nothing, arguably - sorry a very bleak conc. I
know.
The notion of natural
talent is one which my research forces into too serious a degree of question.
Interval 45 off The Music Rumour is almost an illustration of ability gain in
itself but it is not my place really to discuss the quality of the work from a
subjective viewpoint (some of you have been there I can tell). All I can say is
that my research makes me far more interested in the music produced by virtually anybody. If you try buying
cheap used albums or library loans (if money ‘s tight) from this perspective, I
can assure you that you might be in for some gorgeous surprises – music you
think you can’t stand can be better than you imagine I guarantee it.
The very best groups are, to an extent, always
beyond criticism despite the most articulate vitriolic commentaries on their
creativity. They have the power to: sing about an issue in one song and
contradict their own argument in another; make as many mistakes on stage as
they like; spend decades apart and reform and still be winning players. Many of
us love them unconditionally and their works will always sell. But what were
many of these artists like when they first started? What level of ability did
the individuals possess? These questions underpin the research documented in
these notes. Possibly millions of recordings made by composers living in
obscurity raise similar questions through their efforts. If you listen hard
enough you may hear the ability gains of your favourite musician. Alternatively,
you could purchase a guitar (nothing too
cheap) and make an immediate start on your own stuff. You may surprise yourself
if nobody else; thnQ 4 reading.
“PLAYBACK*AtimeTDbatteredaladadecadeoNO!atimetdtuneslikegoldontheglasspathsawplayedmillionedupsawfourdecadesongsontheglasspathlikesilvhuhhh£10donstatenemptprin£10bantheglasspthsilvtunescreenvshstoodubls10penny&discs20twice&10onpthIsawitmytunetalentonthepathsawitmytunetalentonthekeptonsoldtenagosawitmytunetalentontherescuedtaperscoredatimetd100nysnohearthetnowtomefirstmepublishedmefirstmetunesoloTorsion-oldsongstudiotooREW
atimenowbatteredaladadecadono,notunoutNWfndrnk?drnktotler?toanotunet82.4Hzhuhhhfan
jstblackshinedownlitlightonlyrstyinwyafatnursitdaldvrdal dslwlinkttdfn REW”
 |
| A proud member of the Silver Disc Club as a kid, Emp MEDLET is a music Mag who delights in upcycling trashed tunes: "beg, steal & borrow". |
SIDE 2 LE
VIEUX In the 20th
Century so I made a noisy time aged 30 and spent many nights sleeping rough on
sound. I left an xtremtext behind written today and my section next is written
in time since a 6-hour tape journey one decade back. The ideas, cheap and old
went down and stayed there to be dust itself. Rhymes and keys and metal to cut
me I played only in time note-free. Then, I slowed to a stop and started to see
the heart of songs and disc-sets glittering and saw not an atom of any interest
within the hour. I used picked up bics to come to these small conclusions in
type and they are now textstorob: 2 intotal; OK? Iwritenicefunwthn:
Utunes:
How good are the deals on used records? I decided
to pan for gold between 22nd August and the 7th September
2006.I had already targeted a number of albums as definite future buys but I
also broadly targeted the whole rock and pop genre during my visits to:
registered charity shops (perhaps the best sources of the cheapest second hand
music); second hand shops and one long established retail outlet in the process
of closure; in two separate counties in the UK.
Buying: to play or not to play?
On the downside I had to return two tapes and
also retained two worn products (I purchased CD and compact music cassettes
only).I donated one item back to charity due to its condition.
On the upside I managed to buy 9 digital tracks
and 206 analogue tracks: 16 album titles for £8.53 (if I nip into _ _ _ on the
high street I might be lucky enough to find one title for that sum). Two of the
tape titles were new closure buys and cost £0.10 each: an album and a double
album on tape. The double tracks therefore cost £0.03125 each (not 2009 prices)
in brand new condition. The one title I bought on CD cost one full pound (a
classic rock remoter): £0.11 per track (yes, that expensive compared to the
tape equivalent). Satisfyingly two tapes retained their original shop price
stickers (£1.99 and £6.99). A generous second-hand dealer allowed me to help
myself from a free box outside her shop to an item I was searching for in very
clean condition (a cassette storage box I imagined I would need).
Titles: target buys, compromises, intrigue
purchases or a waste of precious money?
Titles purchased were from record companies such
as: (sorry these are in anagram form) Gamolyp; Retinaoc; Stelart.
I had priced at least 3 of the purchases in a
local record shop with a view to buying them on the new market but they ended
up costing me in total only
£1.20 (on tape): following an obsessive search
admittedly. The remaining titles in the collection I bought were to be blunt
intrigue purchases.
The big issue: value for money
Did my research confirm that good value for money
can be obtained by shopping on the used market?
Not really.
Wear on CDs and tapes is theoretically nil but
the original packaging and the material quality of the merchandise was
extremely variable: £0.94 of my hard earnt cash had to be refunded during the
research and some of the tapes are a little grubby to say the least. Searching
for the titles demanded endless patience determination and car fuel. Despite
the fast and cheap acquisition of a collection of arguably fine sounds my own
inclination following the research is to look for new bargains (18.75% of the
titles bought). The average price of used items which looked fit for purpose
was £0.41 (not that cheap considering
that now, in 2009, it is possible to walk into some supermarkets and purchase
new CDs for £1 if it is your lucky day)
Sadly 26% of the purchases were damaged or needed
to be returned. Quality varied hugely as well as pricing. A tape which sold for
£0.20 in one shop was selling in another for £1.50 (550% more expensive).
Products on sale for example at 11.6% of their original selling price (£5.99
reselling at £0.69) are priced according to their place in the market: roughly.
Give-away _ _ _ play lists on CD were selling for around £1 in cash in the charity
outlets as well, at the time 2006
Mykit:
My early record purchases on vinyl were played
back on the family Boots music centre: LPs by The Police and UB40 did sound
entertaining and I do not recall questioning its sound quality. I bought my
first real component around the age of fourteen (a Sharp cassette deck). Who
tapes sounded spectacular through a volume control less headphone output. I
have since put together a number of collections of components: good systems? I
will never be totally sure……
Subsequent teen components included: JVC cassette
deck,
The Boots system concept was one that I abandoned
in subsequent component purchasing as four further rigs were mixed separates.
Only recently (2006) have I returned to a single manufacturer system. The
reason for this is quite possibly financial or a willingness to spend or it
could be attributed to the influence of magazines in my purchasing situations and
decision making. Ironically one interconnect in my current system is worth two
of the other entire collections of components I have owned previously.
Differentiating between high end components as far as sound quality is
concerned is not easy. The audible difference between an interconnect costing
£30 and one which costs say £500 is arguably subtle: the leads do however truly
sound different and one of them is better! In order to understand this, it is
necessary to buy and burn in and listen over a period of time. Shop demos can
be great but they are unlikely I believe to be enough in themselves. The only
key to really high quality sound is money and it always has been. It is now
time to put the record of my systems on the platter.
MEDLET'S System Chronology:
1 Rotel RP50 turntable Philips 480 CD player NAD
3020 amplifier Maxims Monster cables
2 Marantz CD 50 Cyrus 1 amp (clear) Maxims on
brick stands
3 CD 50 Cyrus 2 (quickly replaced by a Naim Nait)
Kef 103/3 Reference Series speakers wired with NAC speaker cable Linn LP12
Akito K9 turntable Nakamichi 2 cassette deck bespoke rack
4 Marantz DR700 CD recorder Magnum A amp and 2020
CD Linn Intek amp Kef 103s Linn Pekin and Leak Stereothetic tuners ARO for the
LP12 Chord DNM and Monster cabling
Sound Organisation stand - FUN (!)
5 Naim CD5i NAC112 preamp NAP150 power amp 103s
(too much quiescent noise) - AWESOME (!)
Current system: QUAD: CDP2 909 22Ls Chord Signature interconnect cheapest Sony DVD remotely connected as a transport into one of the electrical coaxial inputs of the CDP2 with a 5m Chord Prodac (an arrangement, inspired by a Stereophile magazine music server article, which aims to maximise the advantages of running a two box disc playing system: still at an experimental stage). QUAD's rep goes before it (chaired by the great Duke of Edinburgh at one time): MEDLET'S FAVOURITE KIT FOREVER.
I am considering placing an advert for a deck
like my old Sharp and of course the Who tape…… 2006
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| THE "CURRENT" & MORE OF MEDLET'S VINTAGE SOUND DROIDS |
SIDE 3 NO
WAVES: Medlet, hmplayed
recorder pretend and he recorded as if he lived within a different reality –
hmthicknote Medlet learnt not to mime at least.
Have I continued to make home recordings as well
as conduct action research on sound and come to the conclusions printed on the
last Side since the year 2000?
“PAUSE mode has been activated for more than a
decade in one sense but at the same time I’m still listening to the mixes that
exist already and decision making on them; the tempo has merely slowed and the
music is still being made in the strangest sense; the demos have more than
served their purpose and, believe me, they were extraordinary value for money.”
More seriously, “What do I truly want to listen to?” is a question which
I still find difficult to answer. Having hugely enjoyed record purchasing and invested
a substantial amount of time making recordings I still struggle with that one. What
do I actually want to play and
actually commit to tape? can be an insufferable question. I would studio a
maximum of 5% of the material referred to in Side 1 – not much on which to base
a musical enterprise of any description – which is why the diagnostic process
described in Side 1 is definitely worth the effort. A probability of 0.05:
creating something half decent in demo form – a lot of effort went in to the
100 – enough said? Then again the tiniest fraction could produce a decent
commercial return potentially.
The tests (x100) were a laugh to make but raised
innumerable questions (stylistic etc); the sort of questions which were even
worse to confront in silly band contexts.
Medlet’s work
cannot really even be classified as pukka amateur recording due to technical
deficiencies, sheer gormlessness and lack of authoritative musical know-how.
But such artistic expression or craft or experimentation is quite lawful –
anyone can make some noise – it is so easy in this technology. Studioing such a
naïve artistic output seems ludicrous but my dems and the dems of major
signings compared the epiphanic realisation hits me that there is so little
between the two but also so much: naturally it is nearly all in the business
plans – or is it?
So Medlet’s
Tale is like a chapter in many people’s lives - I would conjecture. Many of us
add to the collection in whatever
form and where is the gratitude?
Hmthicknote’s
future as a tunester is precarious. I never touched a lot of the material which
I composed as a 16 year old; the stuff was well received at parties, Xmas 2009
in
My macchiato then, which was 3 years in the
creation, was the basis, perhaps, of a decent piece of decision making. 5% of
the stuff may or may not work. Was it totally worth the effort to arrive at
such a conclusion? Some people believe that it is all done in the studio anyway
– “groups aren’t musicians” I heard somebody whisper in a public house once.
“Making a
record in a professional studio is going to be like catching an ultra-fast taxi
to the City centre of Fame and fortune – easy and hassle free – it just needs
to be booked”.
Design is a
tough activity – for hmthicknote divine intervention is required. Should Medlet
persevere and continue to work as a songwriter and musician in parallel to
industrial activity? Why not? – two down, two is not enough, two must go or
should I stay with it? Research perks make the activities worthwhile at times –
sound quality is machine not wire dependent I discovered: the savings I have
made on cabling expenses have paid for the project in its entirety and a few
other future endeavours as well.
There
you are - it is on record for anybody to read in this Issue, Issue 7 of my
series of texts on Art and creativity. I have a few down almost and two to
maybe take into a studio and pay £150 per day (or take the tapes to
Side 4 A message from the author – (dans une bouteille)
Dear reader
The original sound recordings
referred to in this text are a collection of 100 preparatory studies
(machiatos) – studies which could, potentially, form the basis of professional
recordings. They are not released and commercially available and most of them
were never intended to be. I hope that the draft blueprint track listings page does not give
the impression that they are available – although that is not beyond the realms
of possibility.
Conversely, you may not have
gleaned from the text that I have made two professional studio recordings as a
guitarist but not as an independent artist – demos are discussed in this
document and not finished productions. Incidentally the pre-studio versions of
these recordings were made on a deck which cost me the princely sum of £20.00
(in 1992).
Of course the processes which
result in finished recordings and the recordings themselves mean without the essential quotients of artistic
fame and real demand for the captured
sounds. Recordings are traditionally the by-products of successful performance
work and not vice versa. Good ideas should arguably not be demoed – on a remote island etc.
If you are a home recording
enthusiast you have my respect and admiration – you might profit from quickly
establishing the quality of your output, or attempting to, and arriving at a
ballpark probability figure – I scored myself (a few other people seemed to as
well unfortunately) 0.05 or 5 good tunes in every 100: my reason for pressing
the PAUSE button rightly or wrongly.
We are all lucky to be able to
listen to the mesmerising talent of world-class musicians on record releases.
This text is perhaps a reason to buy them; I even regard nearly all home
recording endeavours as a bit of a joke; properly recorded record releases now
digital has peaked are invariably exquisite sounding and exceptionally cheap –
even at £16. This text, however, is in no way a comment on or criticism of any
professional musician’s recordings – that is another story and not for me to
write.
So it all depends exactly what
you are after during or following the process of creating recordings. There are
a myriad of record creators doing broadly similar things with the technologies
available to them and sometimes there is very little to differentiate their efforts.
Some are cunning; go the extra couple of miles and demonstrate their virtuoso
status obliterating competition and resisting the talents of competitors for
eternity: 0.05% of my commercial CD collection maybe. Some arguably
misunderstand song (no real offence meant) and rely upon marketing expertise-
that is their business which I am lead to believe is extremely lucrative.
“I
have recorded HIM, HER THEM & US but I am still playing guitar in bars in
the evenings for twenties and tens” (Pro collaborator)
EASY: drum programming;
major/minor chord sequencing and harmonic mood creation; good sound quality.
Making a chord progression sound all quirky and interesting by introducing
subtle simple chord inversions or variants.
HARD: Making it in 2011 – but who
really wants an induction to an industry so beleaguered by people and sink amongst them at whatever speed out of sight. Some
people continue to play and record because they simply have not heard what is
actually available. It might actually be more intelligent to 4_4 forever.
Finally – one of my favourite drummers said in a promotional interview on TV fairly recently that good playing is about knowing about mistakes others have made and learning from them. I guess that Medlet’s Tale is about realising the Art of knowing what not to do at any given point. Not doing something is of course not necessarily an indication of lack of potential ability. It can, on the contrary, demonstrate a measure of artistic judgement. All art, by its nature, contains omissions – of course there may be a lot to lose by doing nothing
Notes
1 My letter printed
in “Auditorium: Imperfect Sound forever?” (Audiophile Magazine, October 1992)
criticises on a fairly generalised level the sound quality of digital
recordings available on CD. New discs are of course invariably easier to listen
to and they are far from “imperfect”.
2 See Q Magazine
Issue 34.I question the language used by Roger Waters in an interview (afraid
so) in Q Mail. Perhaps Regent Street Polytechnic actively encouraged the use of
such expression. Now, of course, it is a relatively tame outburst: the language
has moved on, possibly. I no longer write letters to magazines inspired by
Ortun which get published for better or worse.
3 The Guitar
Handbook, Ralph Denyer, 1992.
4 Too many to list here: Brandenburg; _ _ _ _ box; Split Milk; Regatta; Outlandos; Buzarro; Wappun; Doonstretch; 2110; Forever New.
5 The Kindness of
Strangers, Kate Adie 2002
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