Kevin Doyle
Two new discs of AMPLE music have just been released by
Hybrid Technology - 'Notes' by Pilgrim Beart and 'Music City' by Ian Guinan.
Pilgrim Beart was the composer/arranger of one of the first two Hybrid music
discs 'Cosmix'. Ian Guinan is the man behind the just launched 'Music City' service
on Microlink (see elsewhere in the News & Reviews section for details).
'Notes' by Pilgrim Beart
Owners of the 'Cosmix' album will not be disappointed by the
'jukebox' program which controls this album. In place of the 'spacephone' used on
'Cosmix' is something called a 'Filosax' containing a page for each of the
pieces of music and which plays an endless 20-bar blues with fluctuating but generally
increasing tempo. You are advised to choose something within a minute or so
since, after that, the frenetic music drives out any keyboard activity as the
BBC struggles to cope.
There are 12 pieces of music on the disc (excluding the
'jukebox' program) and they range in length from four and a half minutes down to
a mere 30 seconds, giving a total of 24 minutes listening. The longer pieces
are the more satisfying, and the two longest ('Jazuru' and 'Qutor' - both over
four minutes) are the high points of the collection. These two pieces have been
structured to give some musical light and shade - a feature that some of the other
pieces lack.
The shorter pieces are often no more than musical ideas, largely
undeveloped, and any melodic interest is lost in an unnecessary rush to overlay
competing sounds and noises.
These faults are offset, however, by the wealth of techniques
and sounds that are contained throughout the disc. For the AMPLE composer this
disc will be a delight to search through, to answer the recurring question 'how
did he do that?'.
The album is, thankfully, almost free of the somewhat self-conscious
messages of 'Cosmix', and appears to be a mixture of material composed in 1986 and
in 1987. The better quality material tends to bear the 1987 mark.
At its best this album surprises and intrigues - at its worst
it annoys with its frenzied complication. The best reason for buying it, unless
you are a fan of the 'Cosmix' material, is for the help it may give you with
your own composition and it is certainly worth it for that alone.
'Music City' by Ian Guinan
Behind the 'Music City' logo and Teletext version of the Liverpool
skyline, this disc contains 12 songs together providing over 35 minutes of AMPLE
music. Four of the songs are Ian Guinan's own compositions, the other eight
being a mixture of, mainly, pop music from the seventies and eighties. Almost everyone
will find something familiar on this disc with music made famous by such people
as Elvis Presley, Grace Jones and Donna Summer.
The AMPLE versions are not meant to be 'soundalike' reproductions
of the original hits, but they often work best when the original material was synthesiser
based. The drum sounds (as usual) sound rather weak, especially as most of the music
has a disco origin, but the most successful pieces (for example Donna Summer's 'I
feel love') transcend this restriction.
One can't help feeling, however, that Ian Guinan's obvious enthusiasm
for the original recordings somewhat narrowed his scope for interpretation of
the music. The value of creating AMPLE copies of well-known music is questionable,
and, despite his notes to the contrary, it sometimes seemed that his
interpretations of the music were more a necessity forced by the absence of sheet
music than a deliberate decision.
Of his own music, the most successful piece is 'The Ice
Breaker' with its driving bass line and sudden shifts in arrangement. In 'Looking
at you' he confesses to being an ex-bassist in a punk band, and, listening to the
opening bars the thrashing guitar seems imminent - but instead a rather softer
string-synth sound whooshes in. Rather a pity that - some AMPLE punk might have
been interesting.
The 'info' notes included with nearly every piece are an
added bonus, adding insight and information whilst transmitting Ian Guinan's obvious
enthusiasm for the music.
In conclusion, everyone should find something in here to
interest them and also something they will want to play again and again.
If you want to choose between the two then you must decide between
the familiarity and musical variety of 'Music City' and the more technically ambitious
but musically narrower 'Notes'.
Both discs cost £4.95 (inclusive of VAT and carriage) and are
available from:
Orders Dept, Hybrid Technology Ltd, Unit 3, Robert Davies Court, Nuffield Road, CAMBRIDGE. CB4 1TP
Orders Dept, Hybrid Technology Ltd, Unit 3, Robert Davies Court, Nuffield Road, CAMBRIDGE. CB4 1TP
Published in AMPLINEX 002, November
1987
