A SMALL REMEMBRANCE OF LES PAUL

So much has been written about Les Paul since he died last week that there isn’t anything I can add about his legacy. I’m in debt to him for the groundbreaking work he contributed to recording techniques and technology which migrated from his guitar world to electronic music.

I’d met Les numerous times through mutual friends. He was always gracious and friendly though I was never completely sure that he knew exactly what I did. But I always looked forward to a friendly handshake and a short chat at the Audio Engineering Society conventions. I’ll miss that this year.

I do have one little chapter to share. On Sunday afternoon, August 21, 1994 Les came to the Thomas A. Edison National Historic Site in West Orange, New Jersey. That site is about 10 minutes from House of Music Studios where the Synergy albums were all recorded. The Edison Laboratories were where the recording industry was born. Les, accompanied by Lou Pallo, was recorded that afternoon by cylinder recordist Peter N. Dilg into an 1890s vintage horn-pickup acoustic wax cylinder recording machine. I thoroughly enjoyed the convergence of the oldest recording technology being used to record one of the men who advanced the art so significantly, playing his signature electric guitar into a Fender Twin Reverb, with a 100 year old acoustic horn shoved up against the guitar amp speakers. The perfect blend of art and technology.

APPEARANCE AT THE LEGACY OF MOOG

No, it's not a concert appearance by me. It the kickoff of a months-long exhibit at the Museum of Making Music about the Legacy of Moog. I'll be part of the weekend activities on Sunday afternoon August 30, 2009 in in Carlsbad, California having a discussion about my use of Moog and other synthesizers over the years on tour and in the studio. It should be a special weekend starting on the evening of August 28, 2008 with the opening of the Moog exhibit. Other guests include Keith Emerson, Erik Norlander, Brian Kehew and Michelle Moog-Koussa, head of the Bob Moog Foundation and the Moogseum. More about the program is at the webiste of the Museum of Making Music.

More about the Bob Moog Foundation:

SYNERGY CATALOG CDs AT CD BABY

In response to many requests, we've made some of the Synergy albums available at CD Baby. You can order physical CDs directly from them. Not all of the Synergy catalog is available from this source, but for now you can get:

Electronic Realizations

Sequencer

Cords

Reconstructed Artifacts

iTUNES STORE PROBLEMS

At the changeover to non-DRM files, according to Apple there was a problem with the files provided by Voiceprint Recordings. Temporarily, many Synergy titles are not available at the iTunes Store. We're working with Apple to get this fixed as soon as possible.

In the meantime, Electronic Realizations, Cords, and Reconstructed Artifacts remain available as electronic downloads.

Watch here for status updates.

UPDATE MARCH-APRIL 2009

March-April 2009: I've been making slow progress on some new Synergy material--very slow. No date for release of anything yet. I'll post that when it's more of a reality. It'll be a while.

WGN AMERICA

More immediate is some work that I've been creating for WGN America TV which you probably have if you subscribe to cable or satellite TV. WGN America is based in Chicago but has a national reach. Here's a YouTube clip that shows off some of the new audio logos I created for them and a few incidental underscore pieces.

INTERVIEW WITH JAMSBIO

There's an interview that I did with Jamsbio Magazine. It answers some of the same questions that I'm emailed about from time to time.

SYNERGY STUDIO UPDATE 2009

Synergy Studio update: I've added Spectrasonics Omnisphere to the soft synth collection, and ironically SampleLogic's "Synergy" software. (Though I don't have any connection to the creation of that software package, Samplelogic now has a license to use the trademark). I've also added an updated version of Apple's Final Cut so I can keep up with the audio for video projects.

UPDATES JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2009

January-February 2009: Though there are some recording and broadcast projects brewing, this has been the first block of time in over a decade when I have been able to explore what will become the next Synergy recordings. I'm not foolish enough to go out on a limb and predict an end date for a release, but some new things are finally happening. I've amassed a lot of new thematic material, and some old, old pieces that I'd like to explore (old, like around 200 years old...). I find that I'm beginning to lean rather heavily on software synthesis instead of the parade of hardware that I've been using for over 35 years. This might be the tipping point for me. I'm also beginning to review the concert video shot (in HD) at last summer's NEARfest. If that looks as good as the few bits I've checked so far, I'm planning on moving ahead with a concert DVD from that show.

THE END OF XM AS WE KNEW IT

November 2008: After a nice 10 year run, XM Satellite Radio has all but ceased to exist following the merger with Sirius. My favorite XM channels, many programmed and helmed by people who have become my friends, have disappeared. The XM staff has been decimated. I can't even begin to go into the intrigue and market forces that have once again intruded into the creative arts. My audio logos which had been heard across the 170 XM channels since the operation went live in 2001, and circulated as the service was being built since late 1998, have been taken off the air by the new SiriusXM management. It was nice while it lasted.

UPDATES LATE 2008

September-October 2008: The last few months have been spent working on various projects, both technical and those not even related to Synergy music. My broadcast roots have been evident with work widely heard creating music logos and sonic beds for a major superstation carried on most cable systems, and as small as helping to set up a fully-digital community broadcast TV station in the town where I live. My new studio Macintosh has been handling the workload, including digital video editing, very nicely. It has gone so smoothly that while I once thought that I would keep my readers posted about the troubles of a major studio update, that just hasn't happened. Every software install, like the latest Waves® plug-ins, have been completely uneventful.

Next up, some producing work on two album projects for other artists. Too soon to give the particulars, but watch this space.

As some of you know, my volunteer work in historic preservation (something completely outside of my music career) has taken more of my time and attention as I have been appointed to some positions of regional responsibility by different levels of government here in New Jersey. That, and my work with technology for the hearing disabled, has conspired to push my own Synergy composing projects lower on my priority list. But, I'm hopeful that some of those other projects will wrap up later this fall and there will be enough time to get back to the Synergy projects.

SYNERGY AT NEARFEST X 2008 AND ON XM

June 2008: NEARfest X (2008) The show has happened. We recorded video of the show in hi def. If it looks worthwhile, a DVD will eventually be issued.

On June 30, 2008 I repeated the performance at the XM Satellite Radio studios in Washington DC. Watch the XM broadcast schedule for the times when it will air, possibly on XM Live Channel 120.

SYNERGY on iTUNES

May 2008: All the rest of the Synergy albums are now available on iTunes. We have to get a listing glitch straightened out, but for now search for "Synergy" to find all of the albums and titles with the exception 'Reconstructed Artifacts' which for some reason is found under "Larry Fast". We are aware of the other "synergys" that are listed. Some are beyond our reach outside of the US trademark jurisdiction, and some are not.

INTERVIEW ON GEARWIRE

March 2008: Interview on Gearwire. There's a nice audio interview that I did with Gearwire's Bill Holland. It's called "From Memorymoog to MOTU: The Electronic Journey of Larry Fast." Click the link to listen.

SYNERGY AT NEARFEST X JUNE, 2008

NEARfest X (2008) I'll be opening the tenth NEARfest with a solo performance of Synergy music on Friday night June 20, 2008. Just me, the Macintosh and a couple of synthesizers and modules. It will be a set of classic Synergy pieces, some dating back to the mid-1970s. I'm in the process of making sure that the equipment, music, MIDI files and other devices will be ready for the show. Keep checking the NEARfest site and we'll have more here as it develops.

IN MEMORY OF MIKE SMITH

February 2008: Mike Smith from the Dave Clark Five died this month. What's the connection? Even though I was a big (huge) fan of the guitars and drum Beatles back in 1964, Mike played a keyboard, a Vox Continental organ in the DC5. I could do that, I thought. I already played piano. And from that inspiration, seeing electronic keyboards in a rock band, it wasn't that big a leap to Moogs and Mellotrons for me a few years later. I got to meet and work with Mike in the mid 1980s on some American Airlines commercial tracks in New York for Radio Kings Productions. He was gracious even as I peppered him with questions about the Ed Sullivan show and the British Invasion of 1964. We exchanged Christmas cards for years until his accident made it so difficult for him to manage in 2003. He inspired me to do what I do and I'll miss him. (watch YouTube video)

SYNERGY STUDIO UPDATE 2008

January 2008: No particular projects to report on right now (at least that I can say anything about). The latest Synergy Studio news is that the new MacPro computer arrived at the end of December 2007 along with a whole slew of software, both new and updates. There's also a little bit of new I/O hardware from Mark of the Unicorn for higher sample rates and word length than I've had before. Already in are MOTU's latest versions of Digital Performer, MachFive 2 and Unisyn; and Key To Sound's NextSyn. Coming are the latest BIAS Peak and IK Multimedia's SampleMoog. Old friends like the Kurzweils remain in the arsenal. Though I haven't been an Apple Logic user, the new live-performance MainStage module looks very attractive for using virtual synthesis on the road. I'm kicking around the idea of doing a blog about the upgrades and what I'm doing with them. Watch for more . . .

MENTION IN WIRED ONLINE

There's an interesting piece from Wired online (October 2007) http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2007/10/gabrielstudio

Ironic...at the fall 2007 Audio Engineering Society convention in New York, my wife Phyllis and I were waiting to visit with my old collegue Peter Gabriel outside the shed demo. Peter's personal studio concept grew from my experience with one at home in 1975 which itself was somewhat copied from Wendy Carlo's 1966-67 Switched on Bach studio. The reporter saw Phyllis, one of the few women at the AES convention, spoke to her and took our names. I don't think he had any idea about my 30 year connection with Peter. And I didn't know he was from Wired.

TONY LEVIN BAND UPDATE 2007-2008

No Tony Levin Band fall tour in 2007 or Winter 2008. Tony's out promoting his new Stick Man CD and gearing up for a King Crimson reunion, and Jesse's out with Todd Rundgren.

NEW LEGACY NEKTAR WEBSITE

There's a new Nektar website about the legacy of the classic lineup. I hope to contribute some media memorabilia one of these days. www.theNektarProject.com