MYSTERY DISGUISE

So here I go with the release of my new album: 'Genetically Electronic'. I've made it available through the usual digital distribution channels.

I've also made the album available on CD. I have to admit I detest the 'CD format'. In these times it is so antiquated, clumsy, and as out of date as a 1970s’ boxed valve television set. I think us musicians and fans are looking for a physical format replacement for the CD. Maybe it could be vinyl, because vinyl contains so much nostalgia for a lot of people. But apart from vinyl I cannot see an alternative coming through in the foreseeable future to rival it, which is hugely disappointing to me.

Meanwhile, with the making of my album, the culmination of twenty-years of work - its been a colourful and somewhat tortuous process. A couple of the tracks were recorded around 1990 in a traditional recording studio - based in the City Of London. In that time the cost of recording production had been reduced from its peak in the 1970s and 1980s, but still it was costly if you were a synth, electronic inspired artist like myself.

I recently saw a documentary about the infamous Sound City recording studios based in Los Angeles. Its had all the greatest names in rock and pop amble through its doors. From Fleetwood Mac to Nirvana and others to numerous to mention. One of the production guys on the documentary lamented about how times had changed and people don't get to experience the thrill of using a traditional, good old-fashioned studio anymore. He did have a point, but if like me and you didn’t have EMI, RCA, or some other Toss Pot record company bankrolling the studio-time, it never was a pleasant experience.

When I used a professional recording studio in them early days it could be expensive and time consuming. I'd have eight hours to try and get a track layered, mixed, and produced. Ultimately the finished product would not end up in the way I would’ve liked it to, but I had to accept the completed mix - or stump up six hundred pounds or so for another day in the studio.

Nevertheless, in these present times, us Indie electronic musicians have a recording studio (DAW) available on a laptop. Its been a remarkable transformation, financially and creatively for all of us. The software (DAW) I have on my laptop is an excellent invention called Mixcraft. It's simple and very acceptable to my needs.

Apart from Mixcraft, there was another electronic instrument that came into my possession many years ago. It’s one of the most significant keyboards to hit the streets since the Fairlight CMI. Its name: 'The Yamaha DJX'. When I purchased it in 1998, it cost three hundred pounds and it literally blew me away with the quirks, sounds, and magical extras crammed into it. At the time I did not have much money - but luckily I had this keyboard to channel my artistic exploits into - in addition to my ingenuity and a Sony Minidisc player. All of these gadgets were used in combination to create a few tracks that have gone on my album.

And so consequently, with my reflective notes petering away I'll bring this little piece of writing to a close.