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Iceland
This track was written and recorded a long time ago. I think the song is nice, but the original recording was less then ideal. The purpose of this post is to highlight some of the current technologies that we now have on our iPads. This was recorded on a TEAC 40-4 tape deck. The MIDI software was a DOS application called 'Texture'. It was developed by Roger Powell, Todd Rundgren's keyboard player! The only synth used was a Korg O1/W. I took the original track and cleaned it up with FabFilterPro Q 3 to get rid of some of the tape noise. Then I used BarkFilter and MagicDeathEye.
The song is sort of a tribute to my berserker ancestors. They often get a bad rap, but they were actually pretty decent folks... okay... maybe they were not so nice... but they were fun at parties! They survived on Black Death and rotten shark meat. I'd be pissed, too.
Comments
The Korg 01/W came out in 1991 so this track is edging towards 30 years ago. I'll bet you have made a lot of music and played with a lot of musicians in that time frame.
I'm glad you have access to an iPad to carry over those production skills to IOS and show us
what's possible on these devices.
Lot's of Return to Forever and Weather Report reverberations in this music. The James Bond French Horn riff at 5:12 and 5:41 was a cool touch.
With a 4 track target I'll bet this took days to complete. But the sequencer supported 24 tracks and the 01/W could probably play a lot of parts at once.
https://forum.audiob.us/uploads/editor/ll/pjm8zkphjf7i.png
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Very cool trip back in time.
@McD 30 years... no way! Wait... I guess that's about right. I never made it to Texture v3. I called tech support one day and I actually talked to Roger Powell. He sounded like a nice guy. That program would confuse kids today. It was like WordStar for music. Do you remember WordStar? Ctrl-this, Ctrl-that. Once you got that hang of it, it was a breeze. I'm looking at my O1/W right now. I haven't plugged it in in over 20 years.
Yes, I have had the pleasure of playing with some great people. My favorite band was called 'Mirage' in Chicago. One day, me and Julie and Danny packed up and went to Vegas. I left after 6 months (something to do with money), but they stayed and did quite well. Julie is the pretty girl with blonde hair, and Danny is the bass player with 4 feet of hair (probably all grey by now). This is a shameless plug for my old band, now called 'Heart Alive'. If you are ever in Vegas, tell them Paulie says Hi.
I had a 40-4! Cost a grand in 1980. That was a lot of dough!
And this 2 track for mixdown…
That was a good track. Your new stuff is head and shoulders evolved.
Ahhh...memories! i loved opening a new, virgin box of Ampex 456 and putting it on the deck. We would go out into the 'studio' and start jamming. Our engineer, Mitch Bentz, would go on to become the new product development manager for Shure. Good times.
Those transport buttons were awesome as I recall.
@LinearLineman Yes they were. Like.. butter! Kids these days don't know what they are missing. Setting up mics, hanging baffles of egg crates and blankets, cutting and splicing tape. Everything now is so fucking digital! Oh well...
We found that mattresses worked well too back in the day. I remember my buddy’s drum set between a queen size and a twin lol
Just got off work and going to listen to this track right now in the car. I’ll be back later with thoughts…
edit - I dig it! Nicely arranged, and I loved the outro.
It sounds great now. Interesting to hear the contrast with you newer stuff!
They were pretty horrible. My favourite viking trivia is that the was a guy in Telemark maybe around 700 (he fought at Brávellir, according to Saxo) whose name was Grette the evil. Considering what was considered normal, applaudable behaviour back then, I wonder what he was like.
Sometimes I think it was more fun years ago. It took more time and effort, but the results were something to really be proud of. I like the technology but I can't invite friends over to jam on iPads. I do like the prices, though! I can now buy a Synclavier for $20. Thanks for listening!
Icelandic names are definitely unusual. My grandparents wanted to name me Finnur. My mother put a stop to that, thank goodness! My grandfather's name was Páll. To keep him happy they named me Paul, which is pretty close, and I didn't have to cringe on the first day of school!
Hi @jo92346 This is the one I was talking about. All sounds were from the default library. I think you will recognize a few. Have a creative and productive day!
Awww. I loved that machine. Great piece you made.
Now I want one again.
Thanks for this... really enjoying the tune. I'm recalling a wonderful college class I took back in the 1980s on Icelandic mythology, and the fantastic teacher visiting from Reykjavik who led it. He was so sober and professorial, while the course material he covered was, obviously, supernaturally violent and bloody. The classic university lecture, no digital nothing there either, just 20 or so people in a room, some books, and talking. Another fading ritual...
Thank you so much for that. I don’t usually bump my old stuff, but I wanted Joseph to hear some of the familiar old sounds of the 01/W, for old times sake. Glad you enjoyed it.
My distant relatives were definitely a hearty bunch. I have never been there, but my sister and cousins went a few years ago. I have lots of pictures and stories. My cousin Hofi was Miss Iceland of 1985!
Have a great day!
I have been there once (about 2001 or 2002 I think), and my impression was a place where ancient and modern coexist. Unfortunately it wasn’t for as long as I wanted and I didn’t get the chance to explore or take in any music of any kind.
This definitely makes me think of the place, or at least that I could imagine being there and hearing it played. Definitely has some of the sounds of that era (which isn’t a bad thing!).
Thank you! It’s been a long time since I did that, but I think I was trying to visualize a Viking ship.
When you were there did you get the chance to sample some Brennivin? They call it Black Death! I have been trying to find it for years, but there is not much demand in Chicago. My sister brought me one of those little airline bottles, so I was able to taste it. Another “treat” is Lutefisk! My grandmother visited when I was about twelve, and she brought some. She stayed in my bedroom and kept it in my sock drawer!
No, and I don’t particularly remember what I ate or drank there. I haven’t tried lutefisk, but a Norwegian friend always says he struggles to find it anywhere outside of Europe.
Quite honestly my biggest recollection of being there is waiting in the airport to leave (when the main airport in Reykjavik was shared with the US Air Force) and seeing a bunch of people crowd around the windows. A stealth bomber was on the runway, and everyone wanted to watch it take off - it made a huge noise and took a tiny fraction of the runway to get in the air. It just seemed so at odds with everything else I knew about the country.