4 rolls and a thunder storm

6 Jul

This month I have been thoroughly obsessed with audio, I suppose mixing cover bands on the weekend has made me quite good at audio engineering. Trying to make Robbie Williams, ‘Angels’ and Cher’s , ‘Do You Believe in Life after Love’ sound good; I have had to get quite good at identifying and cutting peaky frequencies in order to provide the best quality of sound for the patronage and indeed my own sanity. As you may know from previous blogs about Cumbernauld I am working on various sound art and music projects and have amassed a really nice bunch of field recording equipment that has upped the quality and class of what I can record. I have basically spent two whole weeks in a mad flow state faffing around with guitars, bass, and synthesisers. I’ve been making drum tracks late at night in the art studio, with filing cabinets, paint tins, boxes, hoovers and cloths. I mean real drums are there too but for some reason I love the subversion of making music from things that are not designed to make it.

I have still been taking photos with the 35mm and will choose some of the best out of the four rolls I have shot recently and lay them out below… I must say that taking so many photos (144) has overwhelmed me a bit and I’ve not known where to start in running down all the various places and stories that the images open up. Often I also have digital and medium format photos that relate back to the subjects and as such the peak light in my brain comes on and I shut down. Undertaking vast amounts of research to put everything in context is like climbing a mountain with your eye on the summit and frankly at the moment I am finding all my hyper focus in sound. When I settled into the routine of having a regular job with regular money I assumed that I would spend my free time painting and drawing but this has not transpired. I’m basically using my art studio as a recording studio, living nocturnally and sifting through what I’ve recorded on the speakers sometimes until the dawn. The hours pass so quickly and I am making great strides into forging a unique, velveteen, rounded analogue sound that I really enjoy. This has also been driven largely by buying a 1991 pair of 8”, dual concentric, Tannoy speakers. I lusted after these speakers in my 20’s and I got a banging deal from a mild mannered, audiophile in Inverkip. Him and his wife were downsizing and he seemed very sad to see them go. I used to work on and off with Tannoy back in 2010’s and he seemed relatively happy that they were going to someone who is a genuine enthusiast. They are by no means the best speakers in the world but their signature sound is tailored by taste, and that taste aligns with my own. Dynamic, 3d, smooth, made in Scotland… Heavily limited modern pop or rock / metal music sounds unbelievably harsh on them. However this harshness is helping me craft a sound which is smooth and thick, the depth and stereo imaging these speakers deliver is ideal for creating dense and immersive sound scapes and frankly I’m besotted with whatever the substance is they produce.

I’m aware that publicly I am known for visual art and that my previous music projects have fallen largely on deaf ears. However I am unperturbed, I’m enjoying myself and making stuff that is unique, deeply rooted in place and capturing my country in a way that not many other people have attempted.

So aye… More on the audio front to come, if you are interested in this line of work my previous release, The Assynt Bone Cave Chillout will give you a flavour of what’s to come. Artistic muse often appears enigmatically and to ignore the natural urge to create in whatever form is folly. It must be said that I consider my art ‘career’ to be largely over and this emancipation from being bound to ideas of what my art is expected to be, or what will sell is a breath of fresh air. Yes at times I still smart with a pain of perceived failure and there’s no doubt I am setting myself for a fall when no one listens to what I’m making currently, but it don’t matter does it?
Ego death is one of my aspirations.

I recorded this thunderstorm from my balcony at home and absolutely love how the storm moves from close in the right ear to distant in left ear. I edited this down from about 20 minutes. I love the intensely low bass that my 1960’s ribbon mic has captured. Most of you will not have speakers to hear or feel this, so I have included some VU meters to give you an idea of how powerful this bass is. The Rain is beautiful and the dawn chorus is music.