Life is full of apparent contradictions...
Posted by Bill: Saturday March 15 2008
Even while espousing the cause of free-improv on acoustic instruments – a place where no-one can hide - I spend hours daily wrestling with Cubase, Sibelius, and electronic drum programming. It seems that jazz really has got to get to grips with electronics, and I am so far unpersuaded by the squeaks and burbs from laptops being manipulated live on stage. Always looks a bit like the ‘player’ is doing the tour accounts. David Torn’s recent show at the Vortex in London, however, was great, and the computer-based trashing of the sound on his excellent new album’Prezens’ has been a real ear-opener. How to do something like that live? Can computers improvise?
To Brunel University, Uxbridge, recently, to find out more, in an experimental day with composer Colin Riley, recording engineer Chris Lewis, and the dangerously intelligent David Plans Casal, who writes algorythms that capture my drums, mangle them and send them back to me in real time for further interaction. Human and silicon in a wary courtly dance. This is cutting edge stuff, and extremely promising. More please.
What do I want? What do I want? Wow – no-one ever asks me that! What I would like, since you’re asking, is an assistant. Male or female. Lives locally in the Guildford, Surrey UK area, has wheels, and an independent income. Probably a drummer, but is dynamite with Sibelius, Cubase, Mandala Drum. In return for drum lessons and gold-encrusted industry advice, he / she programmes and records at my place, maybe 2-3 sessions a week, and assists on live dates. What’s often known as an intern. Am I likely to find this Angel from Heaven? No. In the extremely unlikely event that you are this Saint, get in touch. If any aspect of the job description above doesn’t apply to you, we’d be wasting each other’s time.
With Dave Simmons, the man who started the electronic drum thing. At a Frankfurt Trade Show, mid-1980s.
Random picks from the Forum / Guestbook:
Intriguingly, there seem to be two Michael O’Connors writing in, and worth a comment it indeed is. And no, I have no tapes of Bruford/Wetton/Wakeman trio rehearsals. Wakeman was being pursued by the tabloid press at the time, and refused to come out of his house and play. The only time he did tho’, we did a cracking version of Beelzebub.
Lars Ekland - 3/5/2008 3:35:23 PM
Lars, I’m not sure about the premise of the question – if bootlegs are available for everyone freely, you’ll still have plenty of whackos offering them as ‘Japanese pressings’ on Ebay, and even more whackos lining up to buy them as such. Part of the 180 degree change in the music industry is the artist’s recent and complete inability to control the presentation of his efforts to the market. The minute I perform in public, that performance, warts and all, is in the public domain. Studio out-takes are on YouTube faster than you can say bootleg. It’s a fact of life that we deal with – and I find it quite invigorating actually. It’s an arena in which the strong players will survive. But without quality control or adjudication the sheer volume of content makes for a problem for the end-user. Only thing the layman can do I guess, is get an opinion from the artist as to what he thinks are his best ( better ) moves. Hence blogs, guestbooks. And that’s my first and last word on bootlegs…!
Jay - 3/4/2008 8:14:15 PM, thanks for the Bonzo Dog Band story. Hilarious! And
Davidly - 3/5/2008 12:57:46 AM – good idea .
Jim Fiore - 3/7/2008 7:25:49 AM I read your thoughts and you’ve obviously gone into this in greater depth than I have – nothing to add, but keep experimenting!”
Todd Frank - 3/4/2008 10:18:05 AM wants an exercise on speed and independence. Blimey - two for one. Todd, you’re being lazy! Seriously, there are so many volumes of books out there on this stuff, it’s hard for me to figure out what to recommend. Without seeing you and hearing you, it is all but impossible to teach by blog. Why do you want the speed? (Don’t answer that…just ask yourself!)
Ken Marino - 3/4/2008 10:07:11 AM on stick grip. Ken, I thought drummers before about 1970 stared out with an orthodox grip, rather than matched…(matched is where both sticks are held identically ). Whatever, I was always a matched guy – it all seemed tricky enough to me without having to learn two different hand movements. Orthodox grip is used a lot in jazz – the ‘jazz grip’ – but I stuck with the matched way.
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