Financially this makes sense, but the analog and digital worlds of audio differ greatly from one another and thus leads to some sort of compromise on either or both of the releases. However, we recently heard about the label Cavetone Records who only releases vinyl (with no digital component) and who keeps the process 100% analog.

We picked up a copy of The Ex-Bombers “Five Star Night” LP and when we looked inside at the dead wax we were met with the message “100% Analog Madness.” The grooves themselves contain the surprisingly giant sounds of a film noir pop duo, who only use an 8-string bass, drums, and vocals.

We reached out to Scott Walus, the producer of the record and half of The Ex-Bombers, to discuss the analog process, the philosophy of maximum minimalism, and some pieces of gear that made the record.

“The first thing to understand about the analog process, is that music making is a very human experience. There is tension, release, rage, and love, and the only way to get at that is to put the band in a room together and play the song all the way through,” said Walus. All of the tracks on the record were recorded without punch-ins directly to an Otari 8 track deck.

The second element of the analog process, is the importance of capturing every piece of sonic material in a basic track. For example, Walus paired some interesting gear for the signature sound of his Hagstrom HB8 bass. He opted for guitar amps like (Ex: Sound City 50 Plus, Ampeg Gemini II) out of bass cabs with 15s.

“Guitar amps have an excitement and the natural low roll-off is just made for vinyl, but the 15s just move air and sound huge,” said Walus, “I mic’d it up with a vintage Sennheiser, because the vintage ones are lower gain and just magic, into an EF86 preamp, because pentodes are spectacular in the top end, and you’ve got a full bass sound that has chime and presence.”

The other instruments and vocals on the record follow a similar story of analog care, like the calfskin head on the snare drum, the 1953 Hammond M2 organ, or the 1960s Electro-Voice crystal mic through the Sound City Fuzz Wah face heard on “Oh. Wow.” Every track has a lesser-known microphone on it, like the original Audix OM-1 heard on organ overdubs or the Shure 330 unidirectional ribbon throughout.

The 100% analog madness continues into mixing as the mixes are done onto a half-track Tascam deck into mono using a tube mixer loaded with 6DJ8 tubes and a bunch of esoteric EQs (mainly passive White EQs), limiters, and reverb. Several of these units were prototypes, built point to point and with military-grade parts by Lancaster Amplification. “That’s the great thing about Dave (Lancaster Amplification), if you can dream it up, you can call him and he’ll have a schematic for it in his head from 30 years ago. He even mated a Fairchild and a Urei for me in a 4 tube pre channel peak limiter,” said Walus.

Thinking monaurally has two purposes for Walus. “Records sound best in mono. Stereo is actually an afterthought and a trick to keep up with tape, but record grooves are at their best in mono. Second, mono really hits and tells a singular story, where if you’re pulling from hot jazz and 60s rock/pop like we were, it’s the story that you want to tell,” said Walus.

The record is an intriguing and enjoyable listening experience with multiple layers. We seem to catch something new every time we spin it. The Ex-Bombers are hitting the road this summer in support of the record and touring with many of the same instruments from the album. They have also recently released a 60 second sound sampler video to provide a taste of the sounds of the album here: https://youtu.be/-jRcWYEh_vI

Instagram has become increasingly popular over the past few years. If you are in a band, you’d be missing a great opportunity if you chose not to set up an account. The following tips will help you get more attention for your band through Instagram.

Captions

Captions can help viewers figure out what is happening in your picture. You don’t have to worry that much about being clever or writing a full paragraph. You simply have to jot down something about your picture that helps others to understand it a little more. It’s fine if you are funny in your text, but make sure that people understand the humor and it is not some inside joke. Basically, you want to write something that is interesting and informative.

Hashtags

If you have an Instagram account, you need to use hashtags. Hashtags are a short and simple way of letting others know what is going on in your picture. You can put a series of words together (no spaces) that describe the picture or make a statement about what is happening. When you use a hashtag, you want people to understand what your words mean even if they were not looking at your picture.

That said, you need to make sure that you don’t have too many hashtags going on. They all need to make sense for your picture and/or your band. If you put up a bunch of unrelated hashtags, you are likely going to turn people off. Try and be a little funny or witty with your words, but ultimately, as long as the hashtag has to do with your band or your picture, you are fine.

Finally, keep in mind that recurring hashtags are currently a huge trend. That could end one day, but for now, you need to get in on the action. For example, “#tbt” means “throwback Thursday.” Pick the day of the week that you want to focus on, and make sure you put up a picture on that day with the corresponding hashtag. Your followers will start to look forward to your posts and will search for your images at least once a week.

Another good way to get followers is to make posts look popular by buying Instagram likes for your account or a specific pic. It will have a positive psychological impact on people and is very beneficial.

Mix It Up

Don’t put up the same type of pictures all the time. Get creative and be unique! You don’t just have to put up images of the band posing. You can do some action shots of you in concert or post a picture of the group brainstorming. You’ll keep interest going if you mix it up.

Clarity

The images that you put up on your account should be clear and bright. Dark images that are hard to decipher won’t get you very far. Your followers probably will not take the time to figure out what is happening in them. Not only that, but dark pictures aren’t very uplifting. Make sure you also take advantage of some of Instagram’s filters!

Earlier this year the Berlin based music label Mancha Recordings brought up its first release after 6 years. From the past we were already used to hear very solid house gems from artists like Luvless, M.ono, Rik Elmont and Martin Hayes on Mancha. With their actual release named „hello again“ the Mancha guys have released great music again that is a bit more oldschool Electro and New Wave focused. In our opinion this is a good development as the music sounds very individual and unusual but you can still hear Mancha´s house music roots, especially in the tracks „Back for Good – 727“ and in the one with the nice long name „Wer hat sich denn da wieder schmutzig gemacht?“ which means something like „Who has made themselves dirty again?“. This is a warm, individual and unique sounding oldschool house track with dirty, bit crushed drum elements. In my opinion it is the best one on the EP. „Back For Good“ is by the way a side project of Matthias Speck from Berlin who has released his first Album „Zehn“ two years ago. His album got very good international feedback from Stacey Pullen from Transmat Records and GROOVE magazine founder Thomas Koch. So it’s very desirable and also expectable that we will hear more from Back For Good and the Mancha Recordings guys in the near future.

Back For Good – Hello Again EP on soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/mancha-recordings/sets/back-for-good-hello-again-ep-mancha8

Back For Good Website: http://backforgood.eu/

Back For Good on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/back-for-good-1

Firstdub is an online music library for buying and selling instrumental music.
Using the latest technology, Firstdub provides musicians and producers with a personalised music store to sell their music almost anywhere online.

Johnny Walker, one of the founders of the company says; “Firstdub was launched in early 2016 out of a passion to develop a platform for musicians to control and earn an income from their music, whilst at the same time, creating a large and diverse library of instrumental music for film projects, video games, vocalists and songwriters”.

Subscribers are able to share their music across the internet via their own music store, which is compatible with smart phones, iPads and Tablets.

The Firstdub platform also maintains high-encryption security, providing musicians with detailed sales statistics, a profile page and instant payments on every sale.

Subscription is free and musicians retain all their creative rights, making this a great opportunity to expand their audience, interact with music buyers and generate an income from their musical endeavours.

The website houses a detailed FAQ which is helpful in answering common questions.

To learn more about Firstdub, visit Firstdub.com

Good luck! You might need a little patience until understanding exactly how to work with it – at least the selection and recovery process of the files it finds is a little confusing, but there’s a high chance it will succeed.

On another note: this blog isn’t dead, ok?! You might think that because of no new posts for the last months, but it’s just been complicated to find time to write anything on here, between being a father, a husband, my full-time job, my music and everything else…. I promise I will try to post a bit more often from now on…

Step 1: ANALYSIS

Divide the piece first into main sections, and then subdivide these sections into phrases. The phrase is the basic musical and expressive unit of any piece, and therefore should also be used as the basic learning unit.

Step 2: FINGERING

Mark all of the fingerings for both hands. Since left hand fingering is included in most editions (but should, nonetheless, be carefully examined for possible improvements), this will entail more work on right hand fingering. Careful consideration should be given to finding the easiest possible fingering with the best musical effect. It is important to practice a given passage with the same fingering each time in order to learn more quickly and to produce an accurate, consistent performance.

Step 3: PRACTICE

Begin practice, starting with the first phrase only, carefully avoiding any mistakes. Study should begin by using the metronome set at approximately one half the future performance tempo (this initial speed will depend greatly on the difficulty of the composition). When playing at this speed is mastered with appropriate dynamics, articulations, and timbre, the metronome should be moved up one notch. After this speed is mastered, then one more notch, etc.

When the player has achieved three fourths of the performance tempo, he should go on to the next phrase in the same manner, and so on. After a section has been learned with this method, the whole section should be practiced with three metronome speeds: slow, medium, and fast (the performance tempo). This is the way the section will be studied from now on in order to maintain and perfect it.

Step 4: MEMORIZATION

Using the above method, memorization can quickly take place, again using this phrase by phrase approach.

Step 5: PRACTICE PHRASES OUT OF CONTEXT

After the entire work has been learned thoroughly and memorized, phrases should be practised out of the context of the piece (this is especially useful for compositions that do not lend themselves to easy division into phrases, e.g., fugal writing). Practice the last phrase of the piece (or of a major section) by memory, then the next to the last, and so on, moving from the end forward. Practice similar phrases together so that there will be no confusion under the pressure of public performance.

Step 6: ADDITIONAL TECHNIQUES

Practice without looking at the fingerboard.

Study away from the instrument by mentally recalling all movements of the hands (left hand positions, bar chords, fingerings; and right hand strokes, fingerings, string changes).

So, let’s talk a little more about this John Surman. He actually is from the same generation as my mother (little coincidence hehe), so has been a musician for a long time and achieved great things, another reason I’m so “upset” about not having heard of him before. I mean, how is it possible, some south korean girls band launches a video that you can’t even listen to until the end for being so impossibly bad (this didn’t even happen to me with Lady Gaga, so go figure…), but it has 16 million views in a week and everyone talks about it. And who talks about real great musicians like John Surman? Anyway, back to focus: he especially plays saxophone and bass clarinet and has been playing in lots of different projects with many other great musicians (just to name a few: Dave Holland, Richard Galliano, John McLaughlin, John Taylor, Jack DeJohnette) and although his main genre is located somewhere between Jazz and Ambient / Fusion, he does not limit himself to this, his compositions and performances cover a large spectrum of inspiration, from English folk music, Choral and church music to songs of John Dowland. He also has written music for quite a few movies and dance performances.

But well, if you want to know more about his biography, read on over here.

Wait, while you’re reading, have a listen to some of his tracks:

Winter Wish

Portrait of Romantic!

Whistman’s Wood

Enjoy!

About this series:

One of the ideas I have for this blog is to start periodic post series about a few interesting topics. Like one post a week or a month, about the same topic but always bringing you new (or classic but little known) musical discoveries.

This series that I gave the name “The Alternative Music Lounge” is about presenting you bands and projects that I like a lot or respect much because of the quality of their music although they haven’t made it into the so called “main stream” and therefore probably will remain unknown for many people.

Whatever might be the reasons for this (sometimes their creations are just too good, too unique, lacking any “commercial characteristics”, othertimes it’s just another case of being disregarded by the music industry, we all know what’s usual to happen…), I think the’re more people out there who might like their music but just didn’t have a chance to discover it yet, so I hope these publications of mine might be helpful.

By the way, if you’re a musician and think I might like your music and would like to propose your creations for being featured in a post of this series, you’re welcome to comment this post or any other future post of this series, stating your project’s name, a link to where I can listen to some tracks and a way to contact you.

I promise to try and listen to everyone’s tracks and respond, even if I happen to not accept the proposal.

He was born perfectly healthy and beautiful, eyes wide open and crying on the first second, with 3205 g and 49.2 cm, we called him Pedro Jacinto and immediately fell in love with him.

Now it’s been one week that we left the Hospital and it has been a great adventure, absolutely fantastic, and everything is going well, despite all the little moments of tension / worries and lack of sleep.

I know this is not really adequate on here, but it is such a special and unique moment in your life, it simply has to be shared.

Becoming a father definitely changes you for the better and makes you more complete.

P.S.: I don’t publish a foto of him, because for several reasons I believe it is a bad idea, afterall you never know who is around on the internet…

P.S.2: the title of this post was borrowed from the name of a song by Bezegol, that I have known for some time and really like the lyrics, here they are:

Still remember like it was today,
On my nerves till the nurse came and say:
“your baby’s born everything is o.k.,
Momma’s good you will see them right away.”
Standing next to the door i wait,
Any second its a minute late,
And i wait, and i wait, always wait for you,
To give you my love, and my love is true.
Letting you know i’m always on your side,
No matter the loops that my life goes by.
You know sometimes don’t go like we planned,
But what i need is you to understand,
That dad is doing all the best he can,
So you may grow and be proud of him.
There’s no god in the sky’s above,
Coz for you i have forever love.

What may come in your life for you to conquer…
The quest is to remain stronger.
Watch your steps, don’t get mislead.
The everyday battles are the ones you make your own bed,
Son! i never wanna see you on the run.
From times we together please pay attention.
And listen to the story of my life,
I know its hard past but from me you know it right. aight!
Forever love, keeping our relation tight,
Life struggle. you can count on me on to fight.
Whenever you may need me son, you know that ll be there,
Whatever may be the problem son, you know that i don’t care.
More then a shinning star,your are the light that i see,
I want you to know that you are everything to me.
No mountain high enough, no god up above.
Sincerely yours your father, son.
Forever love.

Moby – Porcelain

Massive Attack – Teardrop

Zero7 – In the Waiting Line

Air – Universal Traveler

Nightmares On Wax – Passion

Chris Coco – Starlight

St. Germain – Rose Rouge

Mr Scruff – Music Takes Me Up  (Ft. Alice Russel)

Triangle Sun – Buddha

Groove Armada – At The River

About this series:

One of the ideas I have for this blog is to start periodic post series about a few interesting topics. Like one post a week or a month, about the same topic but always bringing you new (or classic but little known) musical discoveries.

This series that I gave the name “The Alternative Music Lounge” is about presenting you bands and projects that I like a lot or respect much because of the quality of their music although they haven’t made it into the so called “main stream” and therefore probably will remain unknown for many people.

Whatever might be the reasons for this (sometimes their creations are just too good, too unique, lacking any “commercial characteristics”, othertimes it’s just another case of being disregarded by the music industry, we all know what’s usual to happen…), I think the’re more people out there who might like their music but just didn’t have a chance to discover it yet, so I hope these publications of mine might be helpful.

By the way, if you’re a musician and think I might like your music and would like to propose your creations for being featured in a post of this series, you’re welcome to comment this post or any other future post of this series, stating your project’s name, a link to where I can listen to some tracks and a way to contact you.

I promise to try and listen to everyone’s tracks and respond, even if I happen to not accept the proposal.