public thoughts

Spiegel Online mentions some interesting numbers about the record business. I have heard before that the numbers that need to be fulfilled for a silver, gold or platin record have been reduced significantly. With a bit of support from the blogosphere, it should be possible to publish a hit single next summer ;-).

Of course, it would be forgotten as quickly as most other „hits“.

Maybe the whole music business hasn't become so much more short-lived at all. Maybe there is not much less good music that stays than earlier. Maybe the only difference to earlier times is that we just give too much attention to bad music without being patient and seeing whether it will stay or not.

Verfasst von crenz um 07:53 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack

26.10.06

Emagic EXSP24 / EVP73 Updates

A while after Apple took over Emagic, they closed down the original website and integrated the products into their own portfolio. Since I recently had to reinstall Logic 6, I had to refer to the Emagic legacy software download site Apple set up to download the software updates. Apple, however, forgot to include two rather important updates on this site that are only available on Emagic's FTP server: EXSP24 1.1 and EVP73 1.1.

And while searching for these URLs, I found a very interesting hint on how to create your own EXS instruments using EXSP24. That should tide me over until I buy the Logic 7 upgrade.

Verfasst von crenz um 23:14 | Kommentare (1) | TrackBack

12.10.06

Dorfdisko

For the premiere of the Chorios musical project last Saturday, a loop was needed to create some disco atmosphere for one scene. Which made me ask myself: What does disco music actually sound like? I decided that four-on-the-floor plus some synthesizer lines should remind everyone of a disco.

I added some of Apple's nice matrix reverb to make it sound like the couple talking in the scene is sitting at a table outside the dance floor.

It sounds a bit cheesy if you listen to it by yourself, but it worked surprisingly well in the context of the show.

Instruments: Stylus RMX, Bass + distortion plugin, Cheese Machine

Verfasst von crenz um 08:05 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack

05.10.06

Current gigs

A few days ago, I added a list of upcoming gigs I'm playing on the right-hand side. Currently, there are a few nice concerts coming up.

Verfasst von crenz um 07:20 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack

27.09.06

Song finder

While preparing lead sheets for an upcoming service, I found a useful web site called the worship index that allows you to research songs that were published in German song books.

Quite useful when searching for music in this style.

Verfasst von crenz um 23:29 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack

22.09.06

Upcoming concerts 2

Tuesday, November 28th, 2006, Theater im Spitalhof (Altstadt), Leonberg, 7.30pm
Michael Schlierf, facing
Admission: €12 (€10 reduced fee)

I already wrote about „facing“, the inspiring new CD by Michael Schlierf. Now they'll be playing the set live! I haven't yet found out whether tickets are available in advance, but I definitely will be there. Here's the official blurb (translated to English):

A journey through different styles of music – affectionate and spontaneous, warm and clear. A singular experience of sound with Michael Schlief (piano) and Johannes Killinger (Bass).
From the Söhne Mannheims: Ralf Gustke (drums) and Michael Koschorreck (guitar).

Organised by the cultural department of the city of Leonberg

Mit Michael Schlierf werde ich übrigens am Sonntag (24.09) beim i.com spielen sowie (wie im letzten Jahr) auch bei der Messias Celebration von Treffpunkt Leben am 17. Dezember. Herzliche Einladung dazu!

Verfasst von crenz um 08:20 | Kommentare (1) | TrackBack

Upcoming concerts 1

Saturday, October 7th, 2006, Festhalle Mönsheim, 8pm
menschen - premiere and CD presentation
Admission: €5

Menschen is the new musical created by the choir Chorios. I've been busy with this project several times throughout the year. In January, I spent a few days in the studio to play bass for their production, added a few drum tracks later and kept on meddling with the production :-). In October, they will present the musical in Mönsheim.

Verfasst von crenz um 08:12 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack

28.01.06

Saturday Night Jam

A little improvisation piece.

Verfasst von crenz um 02:20 | Kommentare (1) | TrackBack

07.12.05

Music for Christmas

On Sunday, I will be playing for the Messias Celebration at Treffpunkt Leben, together with Michael Schlierf, Matthias Gassert and a small choir. There will be some classical music and a few dances as well, so it should really be an inspiring morning. If you happen to be free on Sunday, I'd be glad to meet you there.

More information

Verfasst von crenz um 02:27 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack

Michael Schlierf: »facing«

Since very recently, the new CD of Michael Schlierf is available. Unlike his last album (inspirations), he now performs together with a band. Michael describes the CD as a musical journey; on the whole, I find the mixture between arranged and improvised elements very fascinating. Especially impressive is the complex array of sounds that the musicians manage to achieve using their instruments. It is hard to believe that much of this is not pre-arranged.

You can listen to the album on the Homepage of Michael Schlierf (see Audio » Facing). For those from Switzerland the album should be available at c|works shortly.

Verfasst von crenz um 01:10 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack

12.09.05

Back from the Gospel News tour

We are back from the tour with Gospel News, but still quite tired... The first press reports are already online:

• Treuchtlingen
• Bergische Morgenpost
• Remscheider Generalanzeiger (Scheditz? Two electric guitars? Singalese? Oh well..)

Verfasst von crenz um 23:47 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack

21.08.05

Update on the new old bass

In the meantime, I disassembled the bass. The guy who "improved" on the bass glued a piece of thick aluminium foil over the electronics cavity. When opening it up, the whole circuit fell into pieces. After that, I didn't get to looking at it for a week.

Yesterday, I spent an afternoon with a friend and tried to realize a circuit (with the aid of the schematics on the Seymour Duncan website). No matter what we tried, we still kept getting a hum (even when directly connecting the pickups to the socket, without any potentiometers). It sounds like there's a grounding problem.

So now I'll have to remove the complete pickguard and check the pickups. *sigh*

Verfasst von crenz um 22:07 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack

01.08.05

My “new” bass

I found this at a flea market yesterday:

Features:

• 4 strings (one missing)
• Possibly Höfner tuners (one missing), two Höfner pickups, Höfner bridge
• Body covered with brown vinyl (!?)

It took me a while to decide whether I should get it, especially since I couldn't try it out there. In the end, I decided to just take it and sell it off if it doesn't work. I judged the bass to be from the sixties and it's not in very good condition: Somebody messed with the pick guard, covering it with what seems to be aluminium foil and drawing lines with a felt pen. Also, in addition to the 5-pin DIN connector, there's a “hand made” phone plug attached to it, and the electronics seems to have been messed with as well.

Rather suprisingly, it (somewhat) works. There seems to be a loose connection inside, but I can still get sound of it. And what I hear convinces me that it was worth the €40 I paid.

Even though there's no logo on the headstock, it could still be a Höfner bass: It looks similar to the Höfner Model 182 (also compare the Model 185).

To do:

• Contact Höfner and ask them about the bass
• Clean neck
• Change strings (I probably will get Flatwounds)
• Find missing tuner (probably replace all four)
• Change some or all frets
• Remove pick guard, fix electronics, find new pick guard
• Remove phone plug, install a socket

Verfasst von crenz um 14:05 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack

27.06.05

Stop the music pirates!

These days, I heard a lot of times that “One in three CDs is ‘illegal’” (in German, in English). It is very en vogue to blame the bad, bad music industry and I'm a bit hesitant to join the ranks. I'm not a friend of those that are only in favour of file sharing to justify their own thriftyness. However, since the reality is so much distorted by this kind of articles, it is important to present some arguments against the IFPI's reasoning.

Firstly, I am very disturbed by the monopolization of cultural assets by a small number of companies. Copyright duration was extended in the US several times during the last few decades. Now, quite a number of works are not available anymore because they are under copyright, but the copyright holder does not publish them anymore (often not quite in line with the wishes of the author). Unfortunately, the copyright holders seem to have only rights and no duties.

Secondly, when mentioning the billions of dollars in damages, the IFPI claims to also act for the artists. But it cannot be emphasized stronly enough: The money does not reach the artists. Independant musicians like Steve Lawson obviously think rather differently about music piracy, but even artists contracted by major labels don't necessarily agree with the IFPI. Courtney Love's article for Salon.com in 2000 is still a worthy read, and I'd love to cite the whole article. However, here's just a few choice quotes to demonstrate that the current debate only has one goal: To secure the benefices of the current system.

When you look at the legal line on a CD, it says copyright 1976 Atlantic Records or copyright 1996 RCA Records. When you look at a book, though, it'll say something like copyright 1999 Susan Faludi, or David Foster Wallace. Authors own their books and license them to publishers. When the contract runs out, writers gets their books back. But record companies own our copyrights forever.

(…)

Last November, a Congressional aide named Mitch Glazier, with the support of the RIAA, added a "technical amendment" to a bill that defined recorded music as "works for hire" under the 1978 Copyright Act.
(…)
Writing and recording "Hey Jude" is now the same thing as writing an English textbook, writing standardized tests, translating a novel from one language to another or making a map. These are the types of things addressed in the "work for hire" act.

(...)

TLC declared bankruptcy after they received less than 2 percent of the $175 million earned by their CD sales. That was about 40 times less than the profit that was divided among their management, production and record companies.

Toni Braxton also declared bankruptcy in 1998. She sold $188 million worth of CDs, but she was broke because of a terrible recording contract that paid her less than 35 cents per album.

(…)

Story after story gets told about artists -- some of them in their 60s and 70s, some of them authors of huge successful songs that we all enjoy, use and sing -- living in total poverty, never having been paid anything. Not even having access to a union or to basic health care. Artists who have generated billions of dollars for an industry die broke and un-cared for.

No wonder Courtney Love thinks (and I agree) that the real music pirates are somewhere else:

What is piracy? Piracy is the act of stealing an artist's work without any intention of paying for it. I'm not talking about Napster-type software. I'm talking about major label recording contracts.

Verfasst von crenz um 20:10 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack

06.06.05

Contacting your fans via AudioScrobbler

Steve Lawson is one of a newer generation of artists who actively uses the Internet for self-marketing. He also happens to be an AudioScrobbler aficionado. Last time I met him, he knew I held one of the top spots in his fan list :-) (I reset my statistics since).

A few days ago, I had another interesting experience with AudioScrobbler: I found an entry by Yassine Dahbi in my guestbook who was glad to see that people are still listening to his CD. Funnily enough, I don't really know much about him – I just happened to buy his CD at a store in Brussels because it caught my attention. (It is a really nice CD, by the way.)

Unfortunately, he didn't leave any contact information so I'll have to invoke the powers of Google..…

Verfasst von crenz um 11:28 | TrackBack