Re. Unsettling Ambience + Paul Schutze + Ensoniq ASR-X

[/G=Brian/S=Thomson/OU=0/OU=Unknown/@prudential.co.uk]

Hi There...

David wrote:

"... I think one of the challenges ambient music poses to newbie
listeners is "how to listen" to something that is not fitting into a
known format.  I believe it's the same challenge classical, jazz and
folk music may pose to a typical top-40 trained ear."

I have to agree with that - I had an experience with a friend who was 
staying
over one night. I put on a piece I did that involved re-recording, at a 
higher
tape record speed, a piece on guitar on an answering-machine cassette in a
four-track, mixed through an octave divider, reverb, and Bob knows what 
else.
The result was a bit grainy and stomach-twisting when listened to, but he 
went
to sleep to it when he stopped listening...

Then there's Robert Fripp's experiences at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the
South Bank here in London - not the hall itself, but the foyer! I was 
there,
and Robert described it pretty accurately in the liner notes to his 
November
Suite (*****): some people sat on chairs roughly facing the guitar, 
drinking
beer and espresso, talking, reading, sleeping, babies crying, along with
performers and public wandering into and out of the hall. (There was some 
dance
performance on there that the audience in chairs on the stage and the
performers dancing along the aisles..!)

So, we see what you mean..!

Is anybody here familiar with the work of Paul Schutze*? I have his double 
CD
"Apart" (AMBT6), released on the Virgin Ambient label like their 
compilations.
He's definitley using some form of looping there, but I can't honestly say
whether it's looping in the audio domain or loop-on-record mode on a 
sequencer
linked to a sampler. Does anybody have any more detail that can't be found 
on
the web? I'm fast becoming a fan - "Apart" reminds me of the best bits of
"FFWD" (The Orb + Fripp), with echoes of Sylvian & Czukay, or a bit like 
Mr.
Torn at half-speed!

Lastly,, have any of you seen the Ensoniq ASR-X? Seens to be similar in 
concept
to teh Aki Remix16 mentioned here recently, but might be more "musical". 
20-bit
A/D! Or their DP/Pro, which does have "tap" buttons and a "Loop Recorder"
setting like the Lexicon MPX-1, but under three seconds memory in stereo 
mode?

Reading you guys gives me an attack of GAS - that's Gear Avarice Syndrome 
for
the unwary!

Cheers,

Brian Thomson, London UK
bnt@ibm.net


*  yes, I know about the umlaut! Don't trust the character sets...
***** Five Stars. Stunning!


Hi There...

(oops! hit that loop fade switch!)