Jeff Wayne : A real Gentleman

They always say never meet you hero's..... well last week I did and he was a real gentleman.
Ive been working flat out ( along side Magenta) doing the music for 2 tv shows.One being Rhydian ,the guy with the white hair from X factor.
Rhydian had done War Of The Worlds tour last year, so Jeff Wayne was a guest on the show.
I sat through 3 hours of him running through Eve Of The War, with Jeff keeping cool as it went wrong around him...screens,track and orchestra..It was all OK in the end.
So after his run though I plucked up enough courage to have a chat...something I dont do easily>!
He was great and after a few looks of him thinking I was a nutter, he welcomed me into his dressing room and we spoke for over an hour.
Loads of insight into the making of the CD and the disastrous follow up Spartacus.
He was interested in my new project Kompendium and gave me lots of encouragement and advice.
He graciously took a copy to listen to....
So all in all a top chap..... you always find that the ones with the most talent and completely at ease with themselves and dont have to put a front .

Just finished Chameleon....
You always go through the last minute feelings of "its all crap"....I have real trouble signing off the mix and mastering....but thankfully the deadline forced the issue. I usually cant play the latest CD for months, because all I can hear are its faults.....

So what to do next !?????  
I have a list.... ............??????

More Vinyl and plenty of WS.....

Well just took delivery of my 1st vinyl purchase...
Tears for fears :Seeds of love  ( Possibly the best sounding album EVER !!!!!!)
Out Of The Blue :ELO ( Hit after hit...Jeff Lynne is the master)
Yes : Tormato... This reminds me on being young..My 1st Yes Lp...I LIKE IT!!!!!!!
Still blown by the dynamic range and bottom end..vinyl rules
BUT ...Clicks and scratches ...arghhh!!!!... BUT a price well worth playing!...Im loving it !!!!

Up to my cravat at the mo with the day job...
Only Men Aloud and Rhydian Tv series back to back !!!!... ALL massive productions..
Working "Barcellona " today... I love a challenge ....
+ a million of other TV jobs....all balancing like plates....
Then there is lady prog .....
The Chameleon Project...just doing the finishing touches to the tracks......
The album is really shaping up to be a great collection of tunes....Ive just re worked what I thought was the weakest track...Its now one of the best...a real Mini Epic...

Its going to be interesting to see what everybody makes of it.....I think it really leads on from Metamorphosis that created a really individual "Magenta " sound ....

So there you are ......... lots to do....
Bye

Turn The Tide :Eclipse in disguise

Well just sorted out the latest track for TCP.Turn The Tide... this was written ages ago ( well 2 years ago)
I have a great version of me howling it when I wrote it.I called it Floyd Eclipse for ages,I think the mix is called that on my Mac.
Its always great to hear Tina sing it properly.You never know if its going to work as a song till that point.
I like the over all vocal sound, a huge reverb. Still not sure if the mix is finished, added some compressed guitars in the 2nd verse...they may or not stay.
I also used my OLD Roland S202 on it...its the same synth that Oldfield uses on all his early work including the Blue Peter theme....no sure if its a great sound or if I like it cos of all the tunes Ive heard it on.
I bought the synth when I last went through my "tonight Mathew Im gonna be Mike Oldfield"....this usually means I will go out and buy something that the master uses.....
So here I am ...dug out all my old vinyl and currently listening to a scratched version of Oldfield "Platinum" from 1979...BUT it sounds soooooo good...like an old friend...With all the technology advances..we still have 16bit CD or worse Mp3..ARGHH!!!!!!!
So for the moment Im still convinced...

Just finished a promo video for somebody who we have just signed to our White Knight Records.... this guy who Im still keeping under wraps is bloody awesome.... he sent me his Cd and I almost started posting all my gear for sale on EBAY...!!!!!!!

Vinyl : What a treat !!!!

Well I just bought a turntable.....!!!!
A good friend of mine, told me recently about a "moment" he had when he bought turntable, and played
ELO "Out Of The Blue".....he was gobsmacked !!!
So I to had this experience last week...and it just blew me away...
The sound !!! was amazing...so much DYNAMIC and depth.....
So being a gadget freak....I had to get one.....
I also have a lot of new vinyl that I have bought as part of special editions (new YES and OLDFIELD re issues)...
I am listening to Fly From Here... perhaps not the best sonic example, but ....
what a bizarre ritual...
Pulling out the LP ...the weight... the cover !!!!!..inner sleeve...
Then placing the disc, lifting the arm..... the disc revolving and judging the beginning of the disc,brining the stylus down, the click as it touches, and the little flutters...then its in !!!!....a completely different sound... ITS like meeting a old friend...the bottom end..NO COMPRESSION !!!!  arhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

So here we go again... re-buying all the records on vinyl..the ones we binned to buy on CD,>>>!!!!!

P>S
great rehearsal....got a new song from chameleon...thats 2 now.

Hello and welcome

Welcome.Lets see how this goes.

Rehearsal with Magenta today, everybody full of colds...so its should be fun.Nearly up to speed with set length.Also working hard to fine tune new keyboard set up...ONE KEYBOARD !! ....

So lets see.

Bye for now