From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V10 #290 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Saturday, November 26 2005 Volume 10 : Number 290 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [AVALON] Eno the Human Effects Pedal [Stephen Thrower ] [AVALON] Re: More movies [MarlanaK@webtv.net (M.M.K.)] [AVALON] Bad Trader Warning ["Judy Kaufman" ] To leave the list, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon-digest ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 11:48:10 +0000 From: Stephen Thrower Subject: [AVALON] Eno the Human Effects Pedal Hello all, Apologies in advance if this has all been done before! I'm a great admirer of Eno's music, independently of Roxy, but I sometimes feel that his role on the early Roxy albums has been overstated; either by those who dislike Bryan Ferry's change in direction post-FOR YOUR PLEASURE and so claim that Eno was responsible for the 'good stuff'; or by those who don't understand what Eno's "synthesizer and tapes" credit actually means, and thus attribute all manner of weirdness to him alone (Ferry's credit of "vocals and piano" seems so straightforward, unlike Eno's technological listing). As a musician who's learned from some of the techniques to be heard on the early Roxy albums, I thought I'd try to pinpoint Eno's contribution, to the best of my ability. PS: It would be far more interesting to know what went on betwen Ferry and Eno at the theoretical/conceptual level. I'm sure that discussions of an aesthetic nature took place between them, given that they were (relatively) young and full of ideas, but I guess we'll have to wait for a far more candid biography..... ================================ RE-MAKE/RE-MODEL Whether Eno provided the tape of party chatter for the intro has never been stated, and I doubt it was his idea anyway (it's far more likely to have been Ferry's, bearing in mind his personal interest in 'the high life'). But there's no mistaking Eno's chirping, shuddering synth effects as they swirl throughout the instrumental passages. The instruments themselves, though, sound untreated, the 'weirdness' being entirely down to Manzanera's and Mackay's playing style. Manzanera in particular is extremely adept here at providing a sort of mangled train-wreckage of guitar notes, scrambled and torn from the fretboard (you can hear the same playing techniques reoccur on the middle section of SEA BREEZES). One uncertainty is the treatment of the heavily compressed 'rhythm sax' parts (as opposed to the freeform blowing throughout the song). Perhaps Eno had a hand in mutating it, but this tenor-sax riff sounds very similar indeed to the (non-soloing) sax on King Crimson's 21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN. As we know, Pete Sinfield produced both albums, so my guess is that the distinctive sound of the (multi-tracked) rhythm saxes was purely his work. LADYTRON The intro is very hard to tease apart, but I think it comes down to this. The first sound we hear is the VCS3 alone, which is then joined by a Mellotron, the two being very skillfully blended together in the mix. The Mellotron is played using the pitch-bend wheel, which curves the notes smoothly up and down without the player having to change finger positions (the effect is like a glissando on violins). There are several quiet, unidentifiable rhythmic rattling or tapping sounds in there too  my guess (and it is only a guess) is they are generated by tapping the strings of a guitar somewhere on the neck, or rubbing them back and forth on the frets, with the sound then filtered through the VCS3. As the intro progresses, an overall shuddering effect is created by the use of an echo machine. The vocal then comes in, followed by a heavily treated guitar lick. The treatment is a form of modulation (not ring modulation), likely to have been created by playing through a Leslie speaker (a rotating speaker in a cabinet, as used on several Beatles recordings), perhaps adding a wah-wah pedal to give the sound extra squelchiness. And that's it for effects until the outro, where Manzanera's distorted guitar comes smashing in with what *may* be VCS3 white noise added to make it nastier. However, this could also have been created using the EQ on the mixing desk to emphasize the higher frequencies. After Ferry sweeps his fingers up the piano keyboard, Eno's synthesizer begins a sort of 'chuckling' sound that could either be a pure synth sound created in the VCS3, or a VCS3 treatment of Ferry's piano. The piano itself is still audible as the Eno sound begins, but it's possible that's due to multitracking. Of course, the aim may well have been to try and blur the piano into the synthesizer during the mix, to create the impression of a transformation. IF THERE IS SOMETHING There's no audible involvement from Eno in the first segment of the song. The shift comes with the introduction of saxophone, and as the sax solo line develops we hear a slow phase sound that *could* simply be Mackay going through a wah-wah pedal moved up and down very slowly . However, the phasing is very clean and smooth and subtle, so given the 'dirtiness' of many wah-wah pedals at the time, perhaps it's Eno's VCS3 providing a slow filter swoop on the sax sound. Alternatively, Sinfield may be making use of studio phasing. Whichever of these is correct, there's certainly very little Eno input to this song, at least on an aural level. The Mellotron at the end could have been played by anyone with a basic grasp of keyboards (I would nominate Ferry as the likely player.) 2H.B. Ferry's electric piano is studio-phased, and with tremelo provided by the keyboard itself. The sax break makes excellent use of Eno's tape machine experiments. Custom-built studio equipment available at the time was incapable of creating long delays, so the use of long tape loops via two tape machines was essential. For my money, this is the most beautiful conjunction of avant-garde and song-form techniques in Roxy. Side Two follows... ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 11:48:55 +0000 From: Stephen Thrower Subject: [AVALON] Eno, the human effects pedal, cont'd THE BOB (MEDLEY) The intro is entirely Eno's doing. Following the intro, the heavily 'buzzed' bass and sax are another direct 'steal' from the first King Crimson album; however, almost as soon as this registers, we're whisked away to a war zone summoned entirely by Eno's synthesizer and Mackay's echoing old-time sax. (Listen to Pere Ubu's first three albums to hear how this track influenced their entire early output!). The ensuing 'knees-up' instrumental passage has a similar blipping synth sound to THE NUMBERER, played as a keyboard performance alongside Mackay and Manzanera's contributions, but there's no alteration of their sounds by the synth. Although THE BOB may be the most 'far-out' of the songs on the first album, Eno's contribution, at least aurally, is just one man among many (perhaps mirroring the all-hands-to-the-pump ethos of the British war effort?) CHANCE MEETING So delicate, so fragile, and so exquisitely painful! My favorite, partly because the deformations of the familar are so extraordinary that even now, having played with sound in similar ways myself, I'm still amazed by that ghostly groaning of sheering metallic sheets echoing across the stage in the instrumental breaks. It's guitar feedback that provides the initial source material, but guitar feedback played skilfully by Manzanera, not simply left to run out of control. In some way I can't figure out, Eno is treating Manzanera's already freakish performance through the VCS3... It's like Hendrix from the Year 3000! The guitar figure is not simply atonal... it stretches and striates and curves in and out of tune, finding a marvellously unexpected balance between the 'far-out' and the intimate. After all, this is a song about the aching gulf between what is said and what is unsaid (unsayable, even, if you accept the strictures of British manners circa BRIEF ENCOUNTER). WOULD YOU BELIEVE? Eno's backing vocals are the only trace of the balding one on this track... SEA BREEZES People who think Side Two of ROXY MUSIC loses its grip just don't know how to set aside rock and enter a different space. After Eno's slow-moving sea sound has changed the pace of the record, the opening passage of SEA BREEZES is a thing of wonder, a beautiful spider's web of sound. ....of course there's no web without a spider... What follows offers the most overt 'weirdness' of the entire album, an otherworldly presence that not only conveys the hollow misery of Ferry's alienated narrator, but also feels like an alien musical mind entering the album. You could perhaps say that the beautiful, seductive web of the first and third sections is 'love', and the alien aggression that bestrides the centre is 'loneliness'. Although Eno transforms Mackay's oboe with VCS3 ring-modulation around the 5.00 mark, the extremity of this passage is not the result of Eno's synthesizer, but the extraordinary mixing structure, with distant sounds gathering beneath the vocals only to swarm up through the mix and infest the speakers, as Ferry sinks "da-da-down, down, down..." This unique and bizarre musical interlude must surely give pause to those who think that Simon Puxley's sleevenotes for the album ("Span the limits of sensation" indeed!) are too purple and overblown. Imagine walking in off the street in Piccadilly London, 1972, a world of Free's "Alright Now" and Bread's "Baby I'm A Want You", to find this blaring out over giant speakers in the studio control room! BITTERS END Eno's backing vocals are truly 'Bizarre' but that's not what this post is about, so... Eno was 'one of the boys' not some kind of Machiavelli. The song structures, though simple, must take most of the credit if we're looking for a guiding light.... FOR YOUR PLEASURE another day, I hope... ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 17:56:11 -0000 From: "opd" Subject: Re: [AVALON] Eno, the human effects pedal, cont'd Very nice , indeed! Ole - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Thrower" To: Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 11:48 AM Subject: [AVALON] Eno, the human effects pedal, cont'd > THE BOB (MEDLEY) > The intro is entirely Eno's doing. Following the intro, the heavily > 'buzzed' bass and sax are another direct 'steal' from the first King > Crimson album; however, almost as soon as this registers, we're whisked > away to a war zone summoned entirely by Eno's synthesizer and Mackay's > echoing old-time sax. (Listen to Pere Ubu's first three albums to hear how > this track influenced their entire early output!). The ensuing 'knees-up' > instrumental passage has a similar blipping synth sound to THE NUMBERER, > played as a keyboard performance alongside Mackay and Manzanera's > contributions, but there's no alteration of their sounds by the synth. > Although THE BOB may be the most 'far-out' of the songs on the first > album, Eno's contribution, at least aurally, is just one man among many > (perhaps mirroring the all-hands-to-the-pump ethos of the British war > effort?) > > CHANCE MEETING > So delicate, so fragile, and so exquisitely painful! My favorite, partly > because the deformations of the familar are so extraordinary that even > now, having played with sound in similar ways myself, I'm still amazed by > that ghostly groaning of sheering metallic sheets echoing across the stage > in the instrumental breaks. It's guitar feedback that provides the initial > source material, but guitar feedback played skilfully by Manzanera, not > simply left to run out of control. In some way I can't figure out, Eno is > treating Manzanera's already freakish performance through the VCS3... It's > like Hendrix from the Year 3000! The guitar figure is not simply atonal... > it stretches and striates and curves in and out of tune, finding a > marvellously unexpected balance between the 'far-out' and the intimate. > After all, this is a song about the aching gulf between what is said and > what is unsaid (unsayable, even, if you accept the strictures of British > manners circa BRIEF ENCOUNTER). > > WOULD YOU BELIEVE? > Eno's backing vocals are the only trace of the balding one on this > track... > > SEA BREEZES > People who think Side Two of ROXY MUSIC loses its grip just don't know how > to set aside rock and enter a different space. After Eno's slow-moving sea > sound has changed the pace of the record, the opening passage of SEA > BREEZES is a thing of wonder, a beautiful spider's web of sound. ....of > course there's no web without a spider... What follows offers the most > overt 'weirdness' of the entire album, an otherworldly presence that not > only conveys the hollow misery of Ferry's alienated narrator, but also > feels like an alien musical mind entering the album. You could perhaps say > that the beautiful, seductive web of the first and third sections is > 'love', and the alien aggression that bestrides the centre is > 'loneliness'. Although Eno transforms Mackay's oboe with VCS3 > ring-modulation around the 5.00 mark, the extremity of this passage is not > the result of Eno's synthesizer, but the extraordinary mixing structure, > with distant sounds gathering beneath the vocals only to swarm up through > the mix and infest the speakers, as Ferry sinks "da-da-down, down, > down..." This unique and bizarre musical interlude must surely give pause > to those who think that Simon Puxley's sleevenotes for the album ("Span > the limits of sensation" indeed!) are too purple and overblown. Imagine > walking in off the street in Piccadilly London, 1972, a world of Free's > "Alright Now" and Bread's "Baby I'm A Want You", to find this blaring out > over giant speakers in the studio control room! > > BITTERS END > Eno's backing vocals are truly 'Bizarre' but that's not what this post is > about, so... > > Eno was 'one of the boys' not some kind of Machiavelli. The song > structures, though simple, must take most of the credit if we're looking > for a guiding light.... > > FOR YOUR PLEASURE another day, I hope... > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon > > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.13.7/182 - Release Date: 24.11.2005 ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 15:05:33 -0600 From: MarlanaK@webtv.net (M.M.K.) Subject: [AVALON] Re: More movies Don't know if this has ever been mentioned. I was going through old VHS videos & came across one I'd forgotten about. Very easy to forget as not very good. The interesting thing why I bought it in the first place was a company was going out of business & I saw where it said Music by Tina Turner & Bryan Ferry. It's called " House of the Rising Sun" done in 1987. Ferry does "DON'T STOP THE DANCE & BOYS & GIRLS". But Ferry"s name was right on the front of the Video. I had to laugh, HOTRS, takes you to the sordid, dark side of Los Angeles where beautiful women,powerful men play a deadly game.Realistic performances,surperb photography & the SIZZLING MUSIC OF TODAY'S HOTTEST PERFORMERS MAKE THIS AN UPBEAT FILM OF THE 80'S. As usual, Ferry's music suited this film to a tee.The talks these last few days have been one of Ferry's music & the darkness of some of the material. There you have it folks, have you noticed just how much of Ferry's songs because of the context fit into certain movies? Always, Marlana ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 16:45:57 -0600 From: "Judy Kaufman" Subject: [AVALON] Bad Trader Warning Sorry to post this after such excellent exchanges of the past several days. I have made trades with others on this list and have never had problems until recently. In mid August, Roxy Music, Munich, Germany May 7, 1973, was offered to this list. I responded to Daniel Atterbom's offer and we agreed to a trade. I sent him 20+ discs at a cost of $11 postage. He acknowledged receiving the discs I sent and then left this list within two days. After a couple of weeks had passed, he gave me an explanation that he and his wife had been sick but that he had most of his part burned and would mail them in a couple of days. As of today I have gotten nothing in return. I wrote asking him to send just the Munich set. He has not replied to my e-mails since September 15. I would warn anyone considering a trade with Daniel to wait until you have gotten his end of the trade before sending him anything. I hope that anyone in contact with him will convey my sincere belief that he is a rat b*st*rd thief. Judy ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ End of avalon-digest V10 #290 ***************************** ======================================================================== For further info, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info avalon-digest