Here is a really nice recording of the second movement of
String Quartet Op. 76 No.1 by The
Catalyst Quartet. For the Jazz lovers out there, I think this one even
contains a Nelson Riddle-approvable chord texture or two for the likes of
Sinatra. Enjoy!
I frequently fall in love with music, but this one
crush-level above the normal. I remember the feeling of picking up a cassette
tape with John Coltrane's "Love Surpreme" at a gas-station after a
really rainy fly-fishing trip in the mountains years ago. This track contains
some of that haunting drive that would play in my mind long after the music had
stopped. Perhaps not as experimental, but none the less.
A descriptive and under-used word for music that has
struck me in recent years is "severity": When a piece of music is
dark, perhaps in a minor key and with a strong sense of rhythm and forward movement;
it has strong elements (melody or otherwise) that you cannot help but immersing
yourself in — but! it does not put you in a dark mood! Rather, it puts you in a
heavy contemplative mood. It unlocks the compartments of the mind that deals
with existence, respect, meaning and perhaps even love. But in the case of
love, in the sense of understanding its foundations; not joyfully, not sadly,
but inquisitively.
Music that brings out the "severity" of life
makes you straighten your back and bend your mind. It makes you neither happy
or sad, but it sets you on a journey in gloomy light through the corridors of
the foundations of the constructions that brings us light — and firm points of
reference for our journey through life.
*
In ‘The Grain of the Voice’ Roland Barthes reflects on
a lacking parameter of musicology. He calls it the grain that you can find in a performer’s voice. The term is more
elusive than, say, harmony and
perhaps a hard term to discuss with objectivity. But it adds to our terminology
something that studying a score cannot lead us to. Likewise, severity is my Barthesian contribution
to terms that might help us think outside the established vocabulary of musical
understanding.
Perhaps there are stronger examples, and perhaps I should
make a whole playlist to explain more properly, but here is at least one
recording that fits the term.
From the
YouTube community we’ve seen a growing number of drum microphone comparisons,
of both conventional pro-level and affordable microphones. These comparisons
are of great value to new buyers and even to more seasoned engineers. In this article
I will share my own current top three pic for dynamic snare-drum microphones. At
least one of the mics should be familiar to most readers, and they vary in
price from average to high as far as dynamic microphones go.
The three microphones have slightly
different profiles: one is the cleanest and clearest; another is the most
trusted both over and under the snare; and the final has a pleasant high-mid
punch for those snares that really should cut through the mix.
Sennhesiser MD 441
This is
perhaps my all-time favourite to capture the top of a snare-drum. The advantage of this microphone is how it positions the snare-sound in the larger mix. My
ears have always perceived it as more tidy and focused in the mid-range than
the trusted SM57, when recording a whole kit. The micrphone includes
a bass roll-off and a treble boost, but there have been different versions in
the past and at least one I know of without the roll-off. This is an excerpt of
what Sennheiser writes about the MD 441 on their web-page: ‘Dynamic super-cardioid microphone […].
Balanced sound. Precise and distortion-free reproduction even at highest sound
pressure levels.’ Those words are very much in line with my experience.
Home-studio owners might be
hard-pressed to cash out for one of these right off the bat, but since it has
been around for a while there will be a few in circulation in the second hand
market. It is also a well worth microphone to save up for in
the long run. Personally, I would rather start off with getting one of these
for use on snare-drum, and wait with getting a whole line-up of MD 421s for the
toms. The rational is simple: How many times per beat do you hear the snare vs.
how many times do you hear toms?
As much as
I have a soft spot for the MD441, I have never been disappointed with the sound
of an SM57. It is easily the most trusted and predictable snare microphone in
history and it is my personal top pick for a dynamic under the snare-drum. It is also my top pick for deep snare-drum
sounds as it produces a really nice punch in the low mids. In addition to being
a great snare-drum mic, it is one of the most versatile microphones you can own. Its most under-valued use may be on voice as the SM58 steals all the thunder
due to its grille. Custom-made wind-screens exist and pop-filters can be found
in most studios.The SM57
has been a top pick for drums for more than half a
century and I guess my grandchildren will one day inherit my own collection
and keep using them as nothing had changed. Which it hopefully won’t. I'm now in my 30's
with no children, so it's not exactly around the corner. That should put some
perspective on what I think about the future of this microphone.
Audix i5
This is the
only microphone on the list that I have not yet used, but I have heard it in a
number of comparison-reviews and come across it in articles from the industry-press. Sound on Sound did a great
review of this microphone. Their article also tells you about the diversity
of sound-sources this mic can be put to use on. It is intended to compete with
the SM57 and they are closely comparable in price, and certainly not too far
from each other in sound. Perhaps not surprising from Audix, the sound has slightly
more high-end snap than the SM57. It also appears to be a tad clearer and more
open sounding.
For high-pitch drum-sounds and piccolo-snares,
this is the microphone I find most interesting on offer right now. Think about
those haunting, piercing snappy snare-sounds in fast-paced funky grooves that
keeps playing inside your head and prevents you from sleeping at night. This is
what I would capture them with!
That this microphone is not in my own
collection yet is just a temporary deficit. It is irrevocably on the
purchasing-list!
A Pinch of Inspiration
Here’s one of my favourite YouTubers, Rick Russie,
making great sound with a mix of Shure and Audix close-microphones. He has
chosen one SM57 on the snare:
His set-up was a Hammond B3 with
both a short and a tall Leslie. On his left side he had several keyboards
running into a laptop and/ or a synth, and on his right he had drum pads.
Dr. Lonnie was stretching the
envelopes of time and harmony from the very outset of the show. It was hard to
know exactly where you were in time or texture, until it gradually became
revealed to you. I tried to both take in the enjoyment of the sound and listen
for the clues that reveal where the music was headed. One was gratified
instantly, the other as the works unfolded. Dr. Lonnie’s style allows for highly
experimental and very groovy pars to run over and into each other. He can take
the listener back and forth between these two shores like waves — and just as
naturally.
When Lonnie walked on to the stage
with a cane I presumed he needed it (which for all I know, he might). What I
didn’t know was that old men with walking-sticks could play as fast as this. At
one point he rose up and looked a bit like Gandalf — that’s when we found
out that the cane was in fact an instrument! At first it seemed more like a funny
curio, but as he kept playing it started making sense. Seeing him wielding his
cane it was impossible not to think of Gandalf on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm!
I had a chance to speak with him
after the show and told him that the Hammond Organ was one of the really
important sounds of my own childhood. It could literally make me get goosebumps
everywhere! My father had a friend with a Hammond he had re-furbished himself,
and I remember the ground vibrating when I stood next to the Leslie. I went on
to sing a lot of Gospel and Jazz and the sound of the organ stuck with me. Dr.
Lonnie also used to sing Gospel when he was younger, and so did his Mother and
siblings. The organ always stood out to him. When hearing it, he said, it was
like electricity went through his body like a spear! He put a real emphasis on
those words and I believe his experience of the sound goes beyond what most of
us can fully understand. He isn’t just a musical legend who helped define how
we hear this instrument, but the sound of the instrument might have connected
so strongly with something inside of him that he himself might not have had
much of a choice but to pursue it.
The band
Jonathan Kreisberg (Guitar), is a firework
between lyrical passages and rapid breathtaking runs. His tone is incredible,
even through a PA in a concrete room on an old shipyard. It’s not rare to come
across nice guitar tones per se, but at this level it is.
Jonathan Kreisberg
Johnathan Blake (Drums). Blake is often
the rails that Dr. Lonnie’s experimentation rides on top of. But Blake’s triplet-arsenal
and his abstracting of metre also makes him an integral part of the
experimentation. If the word ‘firework’ was to be used for only one of the band-members
it would have to be him.
Johnathan Blake
Till next time!
After the show Dr. Lonnie and his band hung
around on stage. They were clearing cables and packing up, and all were approachable
for conversation and picture-taking. Mark of true gentlemanly down-to-earth-ness!
Dr. Lonnie was last in Trondheim six
years ago. ‘It’s been a while’ he said while stating that he hoped it would not
be as long till next time. Though if Trump became President he promised to be
back earlier. While I don’t think Trump has been even half as bad as the media
wants us to believe — Dr. Lonnie and his band are very welcome to move to
Norway at any time!
On the 30th
of March this year the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU),
held a conference titled: ‘The added value of a PhD –
for all sectors of working life’. The
audience were mainly: PhD candidates, supervisors and alumni, employees from
all sectors including NTNU and other interested parties.
The stated
goals of the conference were
Raise
awareness of the added value of a doctoral degree in all sectors of
working life.
Help
to boost recruitment of PhDs in the job market through increased insight
into the added value of a doctoral degree.
Strengthen
the reputation of our PhDs as highly relevant to society.
Increase
PhDs’ awareness of their own skills, what they can bring to the workplace
and the challenges they can help solve.
Help
PhDs improve their ability to market their expertise and the advantage of
a doctoral degree over a first degree.
The
conference reflected the main focus of the university well. It is a university
with a long technical tradition; hence, engineering and science took centre
stage. For creatives, you had to look under the radar to connect to the relevance.
For me, hearing people’s stories of how their research has influenced the
directions their careers have taken; and mingling with others, were the main outcomes.
Amongst the attendees there were also people who were doing education research.
Mingling was accelerated by dividing the (pretty huge) number of attendees into
groups towards the end of the conference for round table discussions. Different
tables dealt with different questions. The outcome of the discussions was
written down, collected and presented to the whole room towards the end. The tables
I attended were composed both of very seasoned people in the higher part of the
age-bracket, and younger people. This worked particularly well to widen the
perspective of the groups.
What would
I like to see in similar conferences in the future? I would love to see a better
inclusion of arts and humanities. I do not mean to trouble neither artists nor
engineers with the particulars of each other’s interest fields. But people who
study learning have something to teach engineers who manage organisations, historians
have things to teach anyone who digs deep into any matter, and so forth. And
perhaps a final note for a conference in English would be to find a keynote
speaker somewhat more fluent in English? ;-)
At any
rate, a day well spent by the river in Trondheim while meeting old and new friends
over food and round-table discussions.
The conference was held at Royal Garden Hotel Trondheim. (Image Credit)
Here are three new mixtapes for you to dance and party to!
The tracks are a mixture of Funk, Soul, RnB, Hip-Hop and some pop-vibes. For
anyone who heard the DJ-sets I used to do in the UK the blend should be
familiar! I’m at my happiest when I get artists like James Brown, Alicia Keys,
Q-Tip and Lion Babe to fit side by side like they were always meant to be that way.
There’s something magical in crossing the boundaries of generations, style and
time while maintaining an illusion (or a truth?) of musical ‘oneness’. One of
my greatest joys as a DJ was when I managed to sneak one of my own tracks into
a set while the dance-floor and party was ‘business as usual’ — made me feel
like I would belong side by side with my heroes for a moment. My internal
imagery shows pictures of people dancing on Soul Train when I work on these
tapes. I know I sometimes go outside of their repertoire, but I still hope Don
Cornelius would be proud!
Playlists are on the Mixcloud page if you click on the
links. Hope it makes you want to dance and have fun!
High
quality pictures are needed for anyone who is producing music or promoting an
artist. This blog-post shows you the pictures from a recent photo-shoot, and I’ll
share some reflections around the process. I initiated this shoot, and seen from
my angle it had three components: an artist, sourcing a high-end photographer, and
finding a visual expression that fitted the artist. The artist was Oda Kveinå Tonstad, and the photographer was Theodor Haltvik With (both might be
familiar to regular readers).
Planning and process
1. The
pictures from this shoot was for general use rather than for a song or album.
This meant that we didn’t need to analyse any musical material to match with the
visual expression. The pictures were to be used for professional online-use,
and near-future music-releases should they come. The process was initiated with
me compiling pictures of artists and styles that I felt represented Oda as I
knew (and wanted to see) her. If I had produced a specific musical work (album,
iTunes-single, etc.) I would have held on to the central coordinating role
between artist and photographer (some music producers will want to give this process
away; you’ll know for yourself). Theodor compiled my pictures into a mood-board
while he and Oda both worked on their own compilations of images. Creatively
this is where I left the process. Oda felt some of my pictures represented her while
some were discarded. She came up with her own compilation of pictures that
added new influences to what we already had. Theodor received our input and stretched
some of them one step further, since he saw hidden potentials as a
professional.
2. Oda and
Theodor finalised the mood-boards and agreed on clothes, locations and a date. I
believe a contingency plan was hatched in the event that the weather should
turn unsuited for the outdoor-part of the shoot.
3. Photo-shoot.
I rocked up for the studio-shoot; firstly, to make sure the key elements I
wanted on film was captured, but mostly to create general mischief! :-)
Some
thoughts on the process
- Oda is an
accomplished dancer and some of the images are taken to capture this.
- Shots included
both profile pics and whole-figure for different use.
- If you’re
a management, studio or record-company working with an artist for the long-haul,
it is useful to have a portfolio of pictures from the duration of the
collaboration. Ideally, get the first pictures done as soon as you start
working with the artist (perhaps even in the studio, practice room or in
everyday settings).
A selection of headshots for profile-pictures
Behind the Scenes/ 'General Mischief'
Yours truly having some fun with Theodor’s Smartphone :-)
In the 1930’s Oda worked for Walt Disney Company
under another artist name. Some of her old
friends came to visit her at Theodor’s studio :-)
Oda and Theodor at Work
I
really liked the eye-contact between Oda and this dinosaur!
