In the olden days, 2019, I did a tune bemoaning people using Bandcamp as a shop window and selling elsewhere. Doesn’t happen so much now, can’t think why. I did dull video for it recently just to have something to put on YouTube and Bandcamp No Fee Friday seemed an apt time to publish it.
I Talk To The Trees
It’s About That Time Of Night Volume Twenty Four
Many moons ago I posted online the odd tune suitable for late night listening but the varying embedding restrictions and ephemeral nature of the web meant the individual posts became hard to maintain. So having collected them into compilations I thought I might as well stick ’em on Mixcloud.
- Al Bowlly – My Melancholy Baby
- Eric Clapton – Never Make You Cry
- Gert Thrue – I Play The Body Electric
- Clifford T Ward – Home Thoughts From Abroad
- Christian Bruhn – Timm Thaler
- The Barok & Roll Ensemble – Eine Kleine Beatle Music
- Takahiro Kido – Improvisation For Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectual Museum
- Ennio Morricone & Edda Dell’Orso – Veruschka
- Karl Heinz Schäfer & Leonie – Couleurs
- Eliza Carthy – Ten Thousand Miles
- Chris Isaak – Wiked Game
- Butterbeer – Listening To Another Sunny Day Makes me Forget You
- Joop Stokkermans – The Chapel In The Moonlight
- Four Star Mary – Fate
A Little Light Music No. 3
A Little Night Music No.2
During which which I finally succeed in recreating the sound of a cheap children’s ‘mooing’ toy using hundreds of pounds worth of equipment.
On an interesting Sound On Sound podcast interviewing a developer of Yamaha’s FM synths they mentioned the FS1R module, one of which I bought around the turn of the century when they were going cheap having not proved popular. On that prompt I looked up what they were being sold for these days and after getting over the shock I dragged mine out for a noodle.
Backing comes courtesy of an Argon 8M and Arturia Microfreak (C’est chic).
Made up on the spot – hard to believe I know.
What I’d forgotten was that the FS1R has the elusive MIDI Mode 4 allowing each string to have its own channel meaning amongst other things better tracking and independent pitch bend. A bit like MIDI Polyphonic Expression does today and allowing you to play in a more guitar like manner. (I may go wild and do a video at some point that demonstrates that rather more obviously than the one here.)
Perhaps of note is that the Yamaha synthesizer and Roland GR33 I’m using to convert the signal from the hexaphonic pickup on the guitar to MIDI are twenty year old technology. (Hexaphonic means it picks up each of the six strings individually for later processing. Some very clever modern pedals and software can work out individual notes from a standard guitar output but there are still some things that can’t be deduced using that method).
The Cyclone II is of similar vintage with some modern accoutrements, most recently Wilkinson WLS130 locking saddles which are a great aid to tuning stability on an old fashioned Fender type of tremolo unit if you’re attempting extreme wobbles. It also has a LSR roller nut, Graphtec string tree and locking tuners I stuck on over a decade ago and can’t remember what they are.
The Cyclone shouldn’t be confused with the Squier reissue which has Stratocaster rather than Jaguar pickups and most importantly lacks the go faster stripes of the original.
It’s About That Time Of Night Volume Twenty Three
Many moons ago I posted online the odd tune suitable for late night listening but the varying embedding restrictions and ephemeral nature of the web meant the individual posts became hard to maintain. So having collected them into compilations I thought I might as well stick ’em on Mixcloud.
- Dudley Simpson – Blake’s 7 Theme
- Gallon Drunk – Solitaire
- Peter Skellen – You’re A Lady
- Lööf – Water Tree
- Michel Deneuve – Comme Une Autre Realite
- John Carpenter – Assault On Precinct 13
- 心温まる Harp Ensemble – Cocoon
- Nils Lofgren – Here For You
- Holger Hiller – Oben Im Eck
- AF Harrold – Time Piece
- Bryan Ferry – Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
- Neil Sedaka – Laughter In The Rain
- Gerald Finzi – Eclogue For Piano & Strings
- Virginia Astley – Darkness Has Reached Its End
It’s About That Time Of Night Volume Twenty Two
Many moons ago I posted online the odd tune suitable for late night listening but the varying embedding restrictions and ephemeral nature of the web meant the individual posts became hard to maintain. So having collected them into compilations I thought I might as well stick ’em on Mixcloud.
- Beipana – 7th Voyage
- The Jazz Messengers – Soft Winds
- Abba – The Winner Takes It All
- Loudboy With Nena – Hiding
- Judi Dench – Send In the Clowns
- サコウリョーマ – きみはゆらめき
- Tanya Donelly & Bill Janovitz – Better Things
- Kaliklas – Smallville
- Alpaca Sports – My Favourite Girlfriend
- Thomas Walter – First Day
- Ronny Cox – Cortelia Clark
- Edwyn Collins – Ghost Of A Chance
- Rotary Connection – Living Alone
- Todd Rundgren & Daryl Hall – It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference
Man Of Arun – Fallen (2019)
Man Of Arun – Indiecompetent Band (2019)
I’ve been knocking out videos for some of the Bandcamp stuff to stick ’em on YouTube. Just words and chords.
A Little Night Music No.1
Combining mucking about with toys and trying to get back to playing things all the way through I’ve knocked out a tune and a video which may become part of a series.
Made up on the night.
Features the strangely underrated AdrenaLinn which was doing many of the things recent effects pedals major in getting on for twenty years ago. Not much to note other than perhaps the pedal board splitting part way into two audio paths with the ability to loop either separately which in turn can be captured by the Boss RC50 tacked on the end.
It’s About That Time Of Night Volume Twenty One
Many moons ago I posted online the odd tune suitable for late night listening but the varying embedding restrictions and ephemeral nature of the web meant the individual posts became hard to maintain. So having collected them into compilations I thought I might as well stick ’em on Mixcloud.
- Darling Violetta – Sanctuary
- Eric Ericson Choir – All Through The Night
- Joe Meek & The Blue Men – Valley Of No Return
- Blancmange – Why Don’t They Leave Things Alone
- Electric Light Orchestra – Telephone Line
- Laura Nyro & Labelle – The Bells
- Baccara – I’ll Learn To Fly Tonight
- Dick Gaughn et al – Wild Mountain Thyme
- Uminecosounds – アラビア
- 井手健介と母船 – 青い山賊
- ラッキーオールドサン – ミッドナイト・バス
- Peter, Paul & Mary – Puff The Magic Dragon
- films – 8.15
- The fin. – Till Dawn