I couldn't resist putting together a brief and, I guess, nostalgic
snapshot of my musical life - it's never been spectacular, but I've
always been lucky enough to keep busy and find interesting stuff to do. Historical
order seems to make the most sense for this little trip down memory
lane. I've had the good
fortune to work and play with some great musicians over the years -
check out the originals when you can, I've indicated websites where
possible.
SLENDER LORIS - Through the 70's - I played in a jazz trio, quartet, a good time western swing band, a jazz fusion 5-piece but by far and away my favorite rock/pop band of the time was Slender Loris. Converted fire trucks to haul the gear, late night curries, lugging around a Fender Rhodes e.piano - what could be better? It is also when I learned what the electric piano really sounded like - useful experience for my FM voicing to come. Slender Loris was a great band in all of its various incarnations - a continuous stream of good lyrics, tunes, angst and fun. Here are a few clips. Visit the memorial web-site at www.slenderloris.com for a full low-down on the musicians and writers... (Would you believe it, a re-mastered version of some of the songs of Slender Loris is now -30 years later - available on CD Baby! Slender Loris, "Natural Selections". A big thanks to Loris musician Andy Morton, for keeping the band alive).
JUNE TABOR -
Traditional music, and what luck to meet and to accompany June Tabor. I
played on two or three of her early albums alongside artists that I've
lost touch with, but never forgotten. Hi Ric, hi Martin, hi Andy - how
are you all doing? Hi June - I hope it's OK to include these short
snippets from your early work - I still get tingles listening to your
stuff... The picture is linked to June's official home page
www.junetabor.co.uk
2nd VISION - Late 70's - Jazz fusion with 2nd Vision: John Etheridge (guitar), Ric Sanders (violin), Mickey Barker (drums), Jon Davey (bass) and myself on piano and CS80. This was a neat band with talented players but somehow, no real plan. We wrote some interesting pieces and played them together for a while in one form or another, but in the end, it was somehow just too difficult to keep together. John is a stellar guitarist - check out his website www.johnetheridge.com , Ric was the driving force in the band and has since spent many years with Fairport Convention and is a prominent figure on the folk/jazz scene. Mickey (also in Slender Loris) and I played together many times in different outfits and doing demo tours throughout the seventies and early eighties. I miss him, now - where are you, Mic? I know he spent many years playing heavy metal with Magnum. Jon Davey runs a small publishing company in South London.
YAMAHA - From the mid-70's and throughout the 80's, I found myself more and more
involved in the world of synthesizers and electronic music. The first
example was made on the DX7II when it came out in about 1985 - "The Only
One" has some great examples of FM "stuff" on the sounds - squeaky
guitar, plucked bass and muted trumpet, all pure FM sounds. Then there
was the MIDI Grand Piano. One was installed at Yamaha's R&D Studio in
London, where I was based for a while. I couldn't resist having the
occasional late night moody tinkle on the keys, hooked up to a TX816 to
provide surprisingly effective string sounds. Later on in the 80's, the
SY77 was introduced by Yamaha. I wrote a strange demo for this,
engineered with the help of a friend and colleague (aka "mblaze" ). The
idea of the demo was to make it sound, when it started like an old '78
record playing on the veranda of some old colonial house somewhere out
in the jungle... the big sounds would come later. Well, it raised a few
eyebrows amongst the marketing powers of Yamaha "It's not stereo", "It
sounds tinny and scratchy" they said - yes, its supposed to! It was all
planned... Anyway, it became an SY77 demo tune called "Her Majesty's
Vortex" ...
Morph Ariel
HerMajesty's Vortex
RINGTONES - Since 2002, ringtone development has proved a rewarding and interesting musical experience. My own involvement with this medium has largely been to provide ringtone marketing material for Yamaha, who make a particularly powerful audio chip for cellphones, the MA series and a corresponding file format called SMAF. You can find out a bit more about SMAF by visiting Yamaha's website www.smaf-yamaha.com. I've written some articles about SMAF, and some tips on ringtone development which are posted there. I do have a comment about ringtones though... For the first time since I don't know when, a consumer device - in this case, the mobile phone, contains within, a fully functioning electronic music synthesizer. You buy a cell-phone, you've got a synth in your hand... and waiting in the wings is a large flock of MIDI musicians, ready to program original music for it, in the form of polyphonic ringtones. But the newfound freedom of this particular music marketplace won't last long. There is a trend towards mp3/AAC compressed audio playback for ringtones and the published-music-machine, that is the collection of established record labels, will soon be dominating the market with ringtones that are recorded clips made directly from their artists original recordings. The ringtone as a medium for remixes and original material could easily fade away, leaving only a pale version of the music already inhabiting the current hit charts coming out of our purses and back pockets whenever the c-phone rings. Shame... but maybe a few original, purpose designed and original ringtones will survive. I do hope so, because it is a great and different music opportunity. I've enjoyed making many ringtones for Yamaha that exploit the features of their MA series audio chips and demonstrate it's synthesis capability. Here are some mp3 examples. "Tech Chimes" was the first ringtone that I ever wrote, back in August 2003. Gizakys and Old Clock appreared on an NEC handset under different names...
ISLAND AMBIENCE - Recently, I've spent more time on the piano and keyboards just enjoying playing, improvising or creating soundscapes. Music integrated with visual arts is becoming my "thing". ISLAND AMBIENCE is a collaborative multi-media work by myself and Bainbridge Island pastel and watercolor artist Ray Styles). It is a DVD comprising 12 art & music cameos, each approximately 3~4 minutes long, containing a selection of approximately 12 paintings and photos transitioned together with video effects, and a specially written music accompaniment. The Cameos reflect the landscapes, color, light and ambience of Bainbridge Island, and are collected under three headings of Air, Earth and Water. The whole work can be looped, allowing for a continuous display of compelling art and music - or individual cameos can be viewed separately. The " ISLAND AMBIENCE" DVD is currently available on e-Bay and local Bainbridge downtown stores. Here are a few video clips...