Re: Ted's CD

[KILLINFO@aol.com]

Mark,

In a message dated 3/5/02 12:12:34 PM, sine@zerocrossing.net writes:

>but it seems to me that you were going for the immediacy of the moment, 
>rather than a perfect take, or a lot of overdubs. Am I wrong?  

Pretty close. I pretty much walked into the studio, set up my gear and 
played.
The stuff on the CD is all one take -- me doing my thing with no overdubs 
and
very minimal editing or post-processing. It was done in a "pro" studio, 
with 
discreet stereo tracks for each piece of sound producing gear (not in my 
garage as some reviewers have assumed) and the production aesthetics
reflect the producer's (Jeff Kaiser's) own take on what he thought best to 
do with it (harsh hi-end, the "in-your-face" tonal thing, and "his" mix of 
all those
discreet tracks). I hadn't played any of those "pieces" before the 
recording
-- and since then have tried hard to figure out how to approximate at least
their "spirit" in performance (for those who might expect to hear them 
reproduced "live" -- having heard the record). The CD, essentially, IS a 
"live" 
document with no audience and entirely improvised except for a few canned 
loops. I feel really inadequate when it comes to the task of trying to 
replicate 
what was (for me) a once-in-a-lifetime, somewhat inspired moment.

>Anyway, I like it.

Thanks! I do to -- if I may say so without sounding too egoistic. My 
insecurities 
(and lame apologies) come from my lower middle-class, blue-collar 
up-brinning 
-- that offered/offers no particualr support (emotional or otherwise) for 
what I am
as an individual or what I do creatively. I still hear mental tape-loops 
of 
my parents 
voices saying "What do you want to do THAT for? Why don't you get a REAL 
job?
"Why can't you be NORMAL? Why can't you be more like _________?" etc., 
etc. 

>What's that going into your headstock?  My guess was some type of 
>sustaniac like device.  Am I right?

Yup. Sustainiac Model B. Had it for years (mid/late '80s I think). I keep 
pestering 
Alan Hoover to continue producing it (and I think maybe he will someday). 
At 
least I hope so. I hate to have so much of what constitutes my "schtick" 
wrapped up in an out-of-production, hard-to-find piece of kit. :-)

Thanks for your kind words Mark. 

Best,

Ted