A happy thought for a morning
Month: October 2010
Revisiting the past
Having spent a lot of time listening to my old material it has made me wonder whether I should re-work some of it. The sad thing is that much of the material was recorded using a fairly beaten up old X15 four track recorder and included multiple tape bounces which never adds much but noise.
I’m sure I could do a better job now, but is it healthy to go backwards like that?
I’m not sure at the moment. It all needs a bit more thought.
Words
You might be seeing a few more like this over the coming days and weeks. Just fun really.
Bro Ar Men at Beyond the Border
I saw this band at Beyond the Border in the summer, and I really enjoyed them a lot. The guy playing the Mbira was a real character and really funny. He was also a great Mbira player amongst other instruments he played.
I wish I’d got their CD now.
More about beyond the border
Here are a few more posts about the Beyond the Border festival if you’re interested.
Beyond the border postponed
The wonderful story telling festival Beyond the Border has been postponed like so many events in 2020.
Not getting to Beyond the Border this year
I am not going to be able to get to Beyond the Border this year
If you have never eaten one of these then you’ve never lived
The last time I went to Beyond the Border I discovered these. That was back in 2014. I’ve waited two years to have the pleasure again, and it was worth the wait. I’d hoped that these would be available again at Beyond the Border, and they were, possibly one of the best foods I’ve ever…
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Old tech
This is what I’ve been using to retrieve my old songs from often crumbling cassettes. Sadly it too is somewhat past it’s best and I’m not sure how much longer it will last.
I’m considering getting an old cassette 8 track. Probably not immediately, but in a while I think.
Some more about old multitracks
If you’re interested in old multitrack stuff then here’s a few more posts on the subject.
I can’t believe I missed Cassette Store Day
It was last weekend and I missed it completely. Which is a real shame for me. So, to make it up to myself I thought I’d post a few of my favourite cassette pictures.
Cassette Store Day 2015: The Awesome Tascam
Thinking about cassettes for me has to include a tape 4-track, or in this case, 8-track. A beautiful and highly functional piece of hardware.
Look what I found
I haven’t seen one of these in ages, but in unearthing loads of old cassettes you can find some real treasures. This is a TDK Metal tape with an aluminum body. A great find, and I think they were pretty expensive when they first came out.
I wonder what else I’ll discover?
A cassette magazine from a long time ago
SFX was a cassette magazine from the 80s. I remember it well and thought it was really innovative back in the day
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Four Track Futures
Since I started going back over my old tapes and retrieving them I’ve been thinking about the process of recording to tape, or if not to tape in a linear way and not wholly sequenced.
I liked that way of doing things in the past. There was more room for error and because of that more room for inspired accidents. I miss that. You just don’t get that so much with sequencing.
So I am giving serious consideration to tape again. I might even consider getting a tape 8 track at some point!
Tascam Cassette Multitrack 
Teac Blue Reel to Reel Cassette 
TDK Metal Cassette 
Teac Black Reel to Reel Cassette 
You won’t see one of these I’ll bet
I checked the tapedeck site to see if they had one of these in the list of cassettes and they don’t, so I sent them some photos.
I have 3 of these Teac cassettes and I can remember that when I bought them that they were pretty hard to get hold of back then. Now, well I doubt that there would be many of them around any more.
I’ve only got one of the blue ones and the other two are black and not in as good condition.
Beautiful though isn’t it?
Finding my first cassette recorder
When I was about 11 or maybe 12 I really desperately wanted a tape recorder, and for Christmas I got one. It was a fergusson and it looked like this. I found it again at a very weird museum a few weeks ago. It took me right back. I used to use it for recording…
Experimenting with little modular things
I’ve been exploring some of my tiny modular devices. Above you can see. I posted this picture a while ago on Instagram. It was a fun thing to play around with, and I think that these devices go very well together. I can see myself doing a lot more little sessions like this. I’ve been…
I love tape, so I love this …
I’m a fan of Deerful’s music so it was good news when she announced a cassette release. It’s a really nice EP too and very well put togeher.
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Listening to myself
I’ve mentioned before that I’m currently going through a process of moving all my old cassettes to digital. It will take a long, long, long, time. I assure you.
But part of the process is listening to music I haven’t heard in years. Mostly things I’ve recorded myself, some great, some terrible, some embarrassing, and all enjoyable in one way or another.
It is a good reminder of why I love music, why I love the creative process. A reminder that software and hardware are just tools for doing something creative and should be looked at as that.
I think it can be really easy to get lost in tools you’re using to the point where you focus so much on what the tool can do and can’t do that you forget what it is you’re trying to achieve. That’s the danger and listening to my old stuff made with simple hardware and usually no software at all made me realise that perhaps I need to think long and hard about where my music is going, or more importantly the fact that it isn’t going anywhere at the moment.
The Wire top 50 albums of 2022
It’s that time again, beginning the process of listening to the Wire’s top albums of 2022
A signed copy of Steve Jansen’s ‘Slope’
I already have this album, I got it when it first came out, but when I heard that Steve Jansen was selling off the last remaining stock and signing them I thought I ought to buy it again. It’s always lovely to have a signed copy of things and this album especially so. I hope…
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The Poetry Library
I spent a very pleasant hour recently in the Poetry Library at the Southbank centre. I’ve been a member of the Poetry Library almost since it first opened, and it is truly a national treasure.
It is such a peaceful place, such a great place to sit and read poetry (of course) and discover new writing.
When I worked full time in London I used to make a lot more use of it, but now I only get to pop in every now and then. Even so, it is a joy to visit it every now and then. I hope to get to use it more.
After Rain by Charlotte Ansell
A collection of poetry, After Rain by Charlotte Ansell. Which is utterly lovely.
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If you want to find the National Poetry Library
Here’s a map to show you where it is. I’d certainly recommend it as a great place to visit
I am Ashley Elsdon 