Honestly, I’m conflicted to write a “remembrance” post. It seems just a little weird, irreverent, and kind of melodramatic.
But considering the significance of the devices in my life specifically-which were astonishingly a collective work of art that also happened to be revolutionary and powerful machines-something just does not seem right about going along in my day without acknowledging the passing of an icon.
Growing up in my family, we always had Apple computers-never the alternative options, which in those days were pretty much only IBM machines running DOS (Windows had not come around yet). The first computer I ever interacted with as a child was an Apple II. Specifically, I believe it was an Apple IIGS. I played archaic games that had to be loaded from one of those 5.25 inch floppy disks (“Ghostbusters” was my favorite game on this machine).
Sometime in the mid 80s my dad purchased one of the early Macintosh model computers. I know for certain it was the Macintosh SE, but it only had one floppy drive, and a black-and-white screen. This was the computer my dad used as one of the partners in a business he helped start in the late 80s.
Around ages 8-15 or so, my cousin and I were fairly close. We would often spend Saturdays at one another’s houses playing games on the computer. This I remember kind of being my first involvement in the “Mac vs. PC” debate, as his part of the family always used computers of the other platform. Early on, Windows had still not come on the scene, and IBM was pretty much the only alternative to Apple computers. So when I went to Stephen’s house, I was always confused about DOS, and how in the world to use his computer. Once we rolled into the early 90s, I do remember Stephen having some Gateway computers, running early versions of Windows (which I was just as confused by, as from from what I can remember, there was still a lot of DOS involved in these early versions of Windows).
Later on in high school, as I really begin to get into music and recording, Apple computers were obviously a big part of this. At this point, Apple computers may have lost the “Mac vs. PC” debate in the eyes of the public (so much more software had been developed for PC’s than Macs), but the creative community still maintained that those serious about their art had to have a Mac. I remember receiving a full computer recording setup as a gift one Christmas-consisting of an emagic Audiowerk8 card, emagic Logic Audio software (kinda funny/ironic that Apple ended up buying emagic around 2002), a small Mackie mixer, and some Alesis Point Seven monitors. This immersed me whole-heartedly into music and recording, one of the most exciting times I can remember of my teenage years.
In college I continued to explore music and recording, choosing Belmont University because of my attraction towards the school’s music and recording offerings. During these years I owned one of the first iBooks. This was also about the time that Apple computers were finally becoming cool, and anyone who was a hip college student knew that you had to own a Mac. Of course, I had been a Mac user long before it was “cool” ;)
Post college, I got a job a recording studio, and began my career in the music business. Need I even mention that every recording studio in the world has always run Pro Tools on a Mac. So as I began the professional phase of my life, Apple was a key aspect of it.
Once concluding my time an assistant/house engineer at the studio, and deciding to set up my own freelance production and recording business, I of course bought a Mac to run Pro Tools on. To manage my business, I use two Macintosh computers-a Mac Pro as my Pro Tools rig, and a Macbook Pro that I do everything else with (invoicing, accounting, blogging, email, etc). As I think about this now, it’s kind of a neat thing that in essence my dad passed down his practice of using a Mac to run his business to me, as I use a Mac to run my business today.
So while it may seem a bit melodramatic to write a “remembrance” post such as this one, and as I am a bit concerned that publishing this post might come off like I’m taking advantage of the passing away of such a great figure of our time (please know that I’m not. That I am sincere in what Apple represents to me), I simply could not let the day pass without some form of an acknowledgement, as Apple devices have not only been a significant part of my life growing up (I’ve never owned a PC), but also one of the core tools I use today to make money.
It’s kind of weird for me to be saddened by the passing of Steve Jobs. I never knew the man personally. But he has had a remarkable impact on me personally. I’ve drawn a countless amount of inspiration from him throughout my adult life, and aspire to do something that resonates with others-even if it’s just a fraction when compared to him (I’ll be striving for this the rest of my life).
When Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple in the mid 90s, then brought back to revive the company in the late 90s, I began to think about what Apple Computer would be like without him at the helm. And in 2004 when it came into the public awareness that he had been dealing with health-related issues, I began to think about the inevitability of one day Steve Jobs leaving Apple for good. And now that that day has come, it’s kinda hard to accept. A strange and kind of irrational melancholy.
With the passing of such an iconic figure, one can only begin to think about their own life, the inevitability that every single one of us has a day in which we will pass from this earthly existence, and how we spend our time up until then.
Hopefully we each leave a legacy that inspires the world in some small way.
//Jon
Every once in a while, you come across something that has tremendous impact on you, and evolves your way of thinking. We’ve all had those moments when a song or a record has an extraordinary influence on us creatively. And us engineering types have certainly had our moments when someone opens or eyes to something new in the recording arts and sciences field. I’ve had this happen to me a number of times, and each time such a new excitement is breathed into my thrill of recording that it feels as if I’m experiencing the buzz of it for the first time all over again.
Late last week was one of those moments. I hit a link on the Tape Op blog, Tape Log, which took me to a post, called “Sonic Varnish” written by producer, mixer, and engineer Allen Farmelo. What an incredibly articulate post!
Allen’s idea is rooted in the analogy of a high quality varnish, and the concept of different pieces of gear in a recoding chain inducing a tiny amount of harmonic distortion into the signal, bringing each sound to life with a thin layer of sonic varnish.
Allen illustrates this point using examples of recordings from the 60s and 70s. During this time in the field of recording, it was common practice for engineers to bounce tracks down in order to make room for overdubs (due to limited track counts). However, something I had never considered before about this process is the fact that with each bounce, each track was going through the recoding chain multiple times. And each time, a new layer of harmonic distortion was imparted on the signal. The cumulative result was a recorded work with a unique sonic texture.
I’m not going to dissect each idea in Allen’s post here, because you need to read it in it’s entirety for yourself. But I needed to share his post with you, because of how it enlightened me in such an important way. I’ve always been of the variety of engineers that seeks out harmonic distortion as a way to enhance the music I record, but after reading Allen’s post, I have a fresh way of thinking as it applies to analog recording, generational loss, and the multiple back-and-forth of analog, to digital, back to analog, and and back to digital (and so on…) that is so often a part of the process when making a record.
It’s a total travesty if you go another day in your recording career without reading this post right now. Read it on Allen’s blog here: “Sonic Varnish” by Allen Farmelo
//Jon
Website: http://jonstinson.com
Twitter: @stsn
About six or seven years ago I was fortunate, as we sometimes are, to work along side a very talented individual who would end up becoming one of my dearest friends. At the time we were both working as assistant engineers for the same producer, and through this experience we discovered how much we had in common-both personally, and from a music/art standpoint.
Working with Josh on these projects, I came to realize how talented of a musician he was, and later decided to hire him to play drums on a couple projects I produced. All this was around 2007-2009.
And somewhere in the middle of all that Josh put together his own band-o, don piano.
Josh and o, don piano are now embarking on the journey of making their first LP, Hearts from the Songland, and are six days away from concluding a fundraising campaign through Kickstarter. [Update 8/19/11: This campaign only has mere days left at this point, as it ends on Tuesday, August 23rd.]
[Update 8/22/11: I'm happy to announce that o, don piano have reached their fundraising goals for this project. Congrats, guys!]
Crossing paths with Josh those handful of years ago was literally nothing short of a miracle, as he has opened my mind to so many new ways to think about music and production, as well as turned me on to a selection of bands, musicians, and producers that have had significant influence throughout my quest as record maker. It genuinely improved my career.
All this to say that the music Josh has created with o, don piano is the real thing-brilliant-and worth your contribution.
Which is exactly why I’ve written this blog post today. To candidly ask you to consider making a contribution to the realization of Hearts from the Songland.
Yes, I am close friends with Josh, which perhaps does make my credibility subject to a questionable bias. But as someone who works daily in the music business, I inevitably make friends with a lot of people who are in bands. Nevertheless, not everyone I’m friends with makes the same caliber of music Josh does. Which is the caliber of music that needs to be heard, the caliber of music that creates meaning, and the caliber of music that tells an honest story people resonate with.
So please take a few minutes to check out o, don piano, and if you like what you hear, consider contributing a few dollars to help them fund their Hearts from the Songland project.
Lastly, I do want to assure everyone that my motivation is pure. I in no way benefit from the making or promoting of this project. While I may end up working with the band on a future project sometime, my current motivation is to simply see this project succeed, and do my part in helping authentic music resonate with others as it has with me.
Make a contribution to Hearts from the Songland by clicking this link
Yeah, this is brilliant. Really into it. Tastefully gothic, which if you hang around me you know that I’m a wee bit goth.
Many are saying O. Children is like Joy Division. I say no (although I can see why, as I do hear just the tiniest bit of Joy Division on some tracks, like “Radio Waves”).
I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out a more accurate comparison. That baritone timber of lead singer, Tobias, makes me remember another singer. And it’s not Ian Curtis. Thoughts?
Here’s the video for “Ruins”
Their self-titled debut album is out in two days (July 12th) on Deadly People, with a pre-order available on iTunes now.
O. Children Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ochildren
O. Children Myspace page: www.myspace.com/ochildren
Like Sonic Youth meets My Bloody Valentine. Will def put this on my “Fav Bands of 2010″ list at the end of the year. Enjoy this live performance of “Reprobate!”
Official Website: http://serena-maneesh.com/
Myspace page: www.myspace.com/serenamaneesh
I didn’t like the first single they released, “A Drowning” all that much. So when they announced that the full EP was available for download online, I didn’t feel an urgency to check it out. But yesterday a series of links clicked me to the How To Destroy Angles website, where after watching their video for “The Space in Between” (as well as a series of promotional shorts) I was inspired to grab the EP.
Upon complete listen through the EP I did find some tracks, such as “Fur Lined” and “BBB,” that I really liked.
And I think the video for “The Space in Between” is brilliant:
While I can’t say that I’m a full-on fan of this new project (I really don’t like the name How To Destroy Angels. Sounds like some silly mid-90′s hard-goth-rock band), overall I remain inspired by the way that Trent Reznor and his crew distribute and market music (again, I was really inspired by that series of promotional shorts they put together leading up to this release).
It’s not as if this track is brand new on the scene (was released in late 2009), but HEATLH is one of my favorite bands of the moment… which I’m finding much inspiration in right now… Brilliant noisy art rock.
Band website: www.healthnoise.com
Label website: www.lpurecords.com
I’ve been jamming on Janelle Monáe for a bit after a few of my Facebook friends linked to a couple of her videos last week. A modern version of soul with some hip-hop undertones, and a slightly weird twist to it all. Very inspiriting. And the dance moves are brilliant.
“Many Moons” short film
Performing “Tightrope” on Letterman
tightrope letterman live
Uploaded by yardie4lifever2. – More video blogs and vloggers.
Love the guitar line at the top of “Tightrope” – how it stops and starts over, with a sort of funky up and down motion.
A friend suggested I look up the band Wild Beasts. So I did (thanks Adam!). And I’m into them. A couple songs and videos in particular really have an aesthetic that’s exactly my kind of thing:
“The Devil’s Crayon”
Love the plucky pointed-yet-muted guitars, drenched in reverb and performing a layer of scraping riffs throughout this song.
“Hooting & Howling”
The dark, cold water theme really took me in. The general arrangement and instrumentation formed a unique listening experience for me as well. Kind of got tired of the scenery to the video about halfway in though. I did like the fact that they never went to a different set (an idea I’ve had-if I ever direct a video I’ll take this approach). However, would have helped if they did a little more within the set to change some major element about halfway through.
There’s a common semi-subtle detail in both these videos, where at times they focus on dust or small particles – oxygen/debris in the water in “Hooting & Howling” and dust coming off the snare drum at the beginning of “The Devil’s Crayon” – which inspired me. Overall, I love the way Wild Beasts approaches song arrangement/structure, instrumentation, and vocal style.
And here’s a bonus video: “We Still Got The Taste Dancin’ On Our Tongues” This one features the band floating horizontally just slightly above the ground. Again, a concept I had for a video, if I ever end up directing one. Kinda like the band is reading out of my notebook…
Wild Beasts Official Site: http://www.wild-beasts.co.uk
This comes via the Dreamboat Records blog: [http://www.dreamboatrecords.co.uk/news/2010/04/dust-cloud-video/]
Wow! I’m really into the band Bear In Heaven right now. Very creative band, both musically and tactically. They recently had issues being stranded in Madrid because of the volcanic eruptions in Iceland, and in their spare time at the Madrid Airport they created this genius video by placing their camera on the baggage claim, and setting it to their song Dust Cloud. What happened turned out to be brilliant, getting the attention of Pitchfork: [http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/14214-dust-cloud/]
A nice moment during the dust cloud from Bear In Heaven on Vimeo.
The track Dust Cloud is from the Bear In Heaven release Beast Rest Forth Mouth, and is available in vinyl+mp3 and CD formats direct from the Dreamboat Records shop, and at local record stores.
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