tisdag 29 december 2009

Great Expectations

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Hi there fellow reformers!

To wish you a happy new year I present you with the Miles Davis tune Great Expectations to put extra emphasis on the importance of always looking forward! This one was also recorded by Reform 2 in 2001. Anders plays the drums and Isak is on percussion.


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As A&R I have published a lost treasure which is now available on Spotify namely Klara Express' recording from Decibel Studio in 1975. It is great!!!

Take care!
Jesper

torsdag 24 december 2009

What If

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Enjoy this recording of Miles Davis' tune What If! Reform 2 2001.


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Live well!
Jesper

söndag 20 december 2009

Rated X

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Hi everyone!

The mix of the Uncle Urri Suite is progressing, which is very good. What I mean to say is that the music is the most important thing. The more I work on the Urri Suite the more I appreciate Uncut & Lo-Fi. It so raw, honest and energetic. The Urri Suite will be great, that's not the problem. the problem is that I want it finished now and this time everything needs a bit of work because of the way it was recorded.

About another recording: Rated X, a Miles Davis tune that we recorded in 2000. It is an 18 min. psychedelic journey. The line-up is Reform 2:

Jesper Bergman: Electric bass
Johan Glasson: Electric guitar
Anders Bergman: Percussion
Mattias Lennestig: Rhodes
Reine Fiske: Electric guitar
Alexander Wiig: Percussion, Sitar
Isak Andersson: Drums


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Enjoy!
Jesper

onsdag 16 december 2009

The SAE recording and Grateful Dead

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Hi there reformers!

Yesterday I went to SAE to get all the files from the recording session. I had brought my hard drive, that I had previously used for file transfer from and to Mac. Of course it did not work this time and finally everything was burnt onto a dvd. Well at home I uploaded everything to my computer and started mixing. There was a lot to do, but finally it was listenable and I must say that I am extremely satisfied. It did not sound at all as I felt when recording! An anecdote about Jerry Garcia on this theme:

When selecting tracks for the album Europe '72 Grateful Dead selected tracks from a concert that Jerry Garcia had been extremely dissatisfied with just after the performance. He had been so annoyed about how bad the concert had turned out that he pushed Phil Lesh down a staircase upon leaving the stage. Anyway, some tracks on the mentioned album are from this particular concert! It is incredible!

What this anecdote means to be, no matter whether it's true or, is that you have to get some distance between you and the recording, concert or whatever in order to get a perspective.

Enjoy this clip with the Grateful Dead performing China Cat Sunflower from Copenhagen '72. They are LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!!!



Live well!
Jesper

lördag 12 december 2009

Some new Wasa Express and new video by Blomqvist

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Hello everyone!

I am currently awaiting some raw material from the SAE session. I have decided that it would be nice to make a mix and see how it differs from the one I will receive from SAE.

Wasa Express' concert from Jarlateatern is now available on Spotify

Also new is that Blomqvist has recorded a new video that you can watch on their Myspace.

Take care!
Jesper

lördag 5 december 2009

Reform's recording session

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Today we had a recording session at SAE. We were very excited and had great expectations. We arrived at studio 2 which had quite a small recording room, but a big control room with a huge mixer. We set up the drums and then we waited for almost two hours while everything was rigged. They used 14 (!!) mikes on the drums, two channels for each guitar, two for the bass and two for the keyboard. After that we had to check everything which took about an hour more and after that we had to try out the sound in our headphones. The last phase took quite a while since there was some trouble getting the guitar and bass volumes up. After that it was finally time to play.

I have recorded a great many times in different studios and in my opinion it is a lot different recording jazz in a digital studio in comparison with a an analogue one. Why? The majority of the studio engineers want to record with the highest in-level possible. In a digital studio you have to be very careful with the peaks and in an analogue studio you don't have to because the only thing that happens if the signal peaks is that there will be some band compression. When you record jazz you want to be able to alter your volume. Another matter is that about recording with headphones to be able to separate everything when you mix; you do not want leakage. But when you play jazz, or any kind of improvisational music, the most important thing is to feel comfortable when you record otherwise you won't be able to be creative. And when you play jazz you seldom think of overdubbing, substituting or erasing. Every time you play the tune it comes out differently.

We recorded our last studio album analogically on tape in a great studio called Real Music Studio. It is run by a guy called Per who knows his studio extremely well. There we recorded an entire album on a weekend, mixing included. There were four mikes on the drums, one each on guitars, bass and keyboard. We used no headphones, we had a great laughable atmosphere and since we were so comfortable playing there everybody played extremely well.

I don't know why but I always get the feeling that a computer is not a genuine "music machine" and that slows the process down and changes the focus from the music to the technology.

Anyway, at SAE they really have everything and the engineers really know their gadgets! Let's see about the result!

Regards
Jesper