Who said records were dead? My latest purchase is this excellent new Audio Technica turntable which has USB functionality, line out, a built in pre-amp so that I can sample from it as well as enjoy some classic records. The idea behind going back to the old analogue world of music listening came about whilst talking to my Dad about the enjoyment of vinyl, the moment you pop a record on the deck and drop the needle on it's surface, is magical and the sound quality has an aesthetic all of it's own. The other source of inspiration came from reading about "Musique Concrete" and following Malo Beats on Youtube who is amongst a growing number of people who enjoy sampling from old records to create new beats, a process known as "flipping samples".
The other day I ventured into a record store in nearby Reading called "Sound Machine" who are located in a lovely old shopping arcade. It brought back a flood of memories, sifting through the stock of crates, something known as "Crate Digging" in the sampling world! I didn't buy anything but I will go back soon to buy a random batch of records, just to see what I can find.
"Sampling corner" as I call it, is where the music exploration takes place with two samplers hooked up at the current time. I originally purchased the AKAI MPC and later bought the Roland SP404 mkII with a view to using the two together, something I haven't yet figured out. I will probably sell some stuff soon and may or may not keep both. I blame YouTube for giving me these ideas at times!
You have probably heard of GAS before, Gear Aquisition Syndrome, is a real problem!!!! Thankfully so far my purchases have all proven to be useful and I get a lot out of them.
I mentioned "Musique Concrete" earlier and this is something I will write about in subsequent posts alongside talk about sampling, and how the craft has evolved over the years. Pierre Schaeffer was the first artist to develop Musique Concrète, which is a form of music composition that utilized recorded sounds, manipulating them through various techniques such as speeding up, slowing down, and looping. Schaeffer's work laid the foundation for electronic music and influenced countless artists and composers in the years to come. Nowadays we use samplers of various forms but originally the process would have involved the use of tape.
Jean-Michel Jarre released his album "Oxymore" last year and has just released a special edition based on a collaboration with many other artists and their remixes. Jarre was infuuenced by artist, Pierre Henry and was due to work with him for a track on his award winning project Electronica. Sadly Pierre died not long before the recording was due to take place and Jarre decided to work on a separate project as a dedication to him, hence "Oxymore". Jarre wanted to pay homage not just to the late composer Henry but the concept of Musique Concrète, using many of the techniques in the process of the recording stages.
I am gradually breaking away from the laptop for music composition to branch off into the DAWless world but ironically the MPC One+ is something of a DAW in a box! It's an amazing tool and over the Christmas break I composed a track or two, will share these via Soundcloud when I get a chance.
The newer item in the Studio and more portable and battery powered. When linked with the AKAI MPC, it can be used as an effects box with close to 40 different FX.
Nice! Now you just need 1 more and a mixer ;)
I like the red MPC, gives it a cool look vs just the regular gray color. Would love to see some videos of you using it on BlockTunes... Just sayin, haha.
That’s a great suggestion and one I’ll be happy to do some walkthroughs on. I’ll go back to that shop and buy a set of singles, chop up some samples and create some new beats out of them. Video the lot and post to the blocktunes community fairly soon.
Wow! I totally forgot about >>>
Thanks for sharing the video! I want to buy the original album too. Yes I’ve got it on Spotify but…. Buying music properly benefits the artist in the correct way!
I guess sampling gives you limitless sounds. It's not something I've played with.
I attended an interview with Jarre a few years ago. I've enjoyed his music for a long time and he's had an amazing career. I expect he had to invent instruments to get the results he wanted in the early days.
I may have mentioned before that I photographed him in concert about a decade ago. The interview must have been really interesting. I know he has worked a lot with Roland in the past but back in the early days used Fairlight, ARP, Sequential and of course Moog to name but a few. When I saw him in concert at Docklands (1987 I think and not the time I photographed him, I was at Sixth Form in 87) he had a custom arc shaped keyboard with massive keys that lit up!
I've not seen him in concert, but I know his shows are spectacular. He was talking in the interview about playing to millions of people in Moscow! When you are just playing a keyboard you need to add something to make it visually interesting.
I was just reading about the Docklands gig. I think I was in Germany then.
That's the thing, singers, guitarists and drummers... for starters, other musicians are available... have plenty of tools at their disposal to appear more charismatic and entertaining, whereas a guy behind a keyboard stack, computer or huge analog modular synth might be a bit hidden from view... or have their back to the audience, which is somewhat awkward!
Not dead at all!
Some of my friends started using their old records again to get an organic feeling again like in the old days
That’s brilliant to hear!
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