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

PETER GABRIEL TOUR 2007

Summer 2007: Peter Gabriel is back on the road this summer. Thank you to those of you who have emailed about the tour. Yes, Peter's new tour set is predominantly the same material we recorded and toured with Peter in the 1970s and 1980s when Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta and I were the core of Peter's band. Peter has chosen to have only Tony rejoin him for this return to his past. I was emailed by the production people at Real World who had a lot of questions about what instruments I had used and how I created the synthesizer patches and parts. Any of you who have seen the Tony Levin Band on the road since 2000 know that I have recreated many of my signature Moog sounds in newer digital instruments

The last I heard from Real World they were attempting to sample my parts to use in the show from the Peter Gabriel albums studio tapes done all those years ago. If that's the case, I guess in some remote sense, I will be on the road for this tour. Seems like way too much work, though.