Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    I just got my copy too.  WOW!  
    	
    "Money Talks" (side one) is incredible.  The two zappa-like pieces
    on side two (forget the names) are great too!  Maybe Zappa isn't
    quite right- maybe "cyber-punk rap" is closer.  But they're great!
                                                                    
    There are some pieces where my Dolby is clearly mistracking; and
    some where the original recording/miking probably wasn't the best.
    But hey, that's life.
    
    I'd say at least a fifth of these pieces are "ready for prime
    time"!  That's pretty durn good for a bunch of amateurs like us!
                           
    Suggestion: on COMMUSIC IV, can we have a spoken "slate" of each
    title just before the music starts?  I realize liner notes will
    help this; but counting tunes can be a real drag.  Maybe get a DECtalk
    to speak the slate (or just integers referenced back to the liner
    notes).

    
    I've been listening to my copy of COMMUSIC III and I'm really enjoying
    it.  Like I expected, hearing my songs next to the other contributors
    makes me realize I have some work to do on the quality of my recording.
    Primarily, I think I just need to spend more time recording and mixing
    my songs once I have them down pat.  Because my recording time is
    limited, I tend to rush things too much.  
    
    I like all the songs on the tape.  Two that stand out are
    Richard Machin's untitled instrumental, and Andrew Norton's
    "Infatuation."  I was really impressed with the drum machine
    programming in both songs.   Especially where Richard's instrumental
    changes beat--that was really effective!
    
    I see in reading the liner notes that Andrew used a TR505, which
    I'm in the market for.  How much time did you spend programming
    the 505 for that song?  
    
    Richard: What drum machine did you use?  Your liner notes don't say.
    
    Both songs were remarkable in the way they remained interesting
    throughout.  There was always a change in the arrangement or a change
    of beat that kept you listening.  I thought Andrew's wife had a
    great voice for the song.  I'm trying to get my wife to help out
    on my songs--she's just beginning to consider it.
    
    Like I said, I liked all the other songs on the tape, but I don't have
    specific comments on the others yet.  Don't think that because I didn't
    mention the others that they were any less enjoyable.  As I spend more
    time listening to the tape, I'll be sure to enter questions and
    comments about the others.
    
    Thanks for letting me contribute and thanks especially to Dave
    Blickstein for mastering the tape.
    
    Peter
    

    RE .-1:
    
    The equipment I used is as per Andrew's contribution -- I 
    supplied the DX (and wrote the tune), and Andrew supplied
    the equipment and the technical expertise. The drum box is a
    505, programmed by Andrew. The rest is DX7 lead/bass, and ESQ1.
    
    Richard.
    

    General Impressions
    
    COMMUSIC III struck me as more consistent in terms of content and
    quality than the earlier tapes, but also less daring.  There are 
    only a few things that I really feel compelled to fast forward 
    over.  I was surprised by the number of contributors that don't
    say much to the conference - there must be a substantial community
    of "read only" COMMUSIC noters out there.

    And remember - There's no accounting for taste.  These are my 
    personal opinions.  You'll get your chance to roast me someday
    (I've got a bunch of stuff in the queue for COMMUSIC IV, 
    including a vocal!).
    
        
    Specific Comments
    
    Peter LaQuerre - Very James Taylor-ish.  These songs all seem 
    very personal, but not embarrassingly so.  I thought the mix 
    sounded kind of muffled.  I thought "My Name's Matthew" was a 
    little gem; I don't have kids but I have younger siblings so 
    even I can relate to the sentiments here.  It's in my "top 5 on 
    the tape".  The CZ brass on "Everything Would Be All Right" was
    instantly recognizable.  This tune has a little too much bend
    wheel on it for me; while well executed, the bends left me with
    a kind of aural whiplash.  Good stuff, Peter, welcome to COMMUSIC.
    I commend Sheryl for her support of your efforts and admonish you
    to cherish her therefor.  And speak up in the conference!
    
    Steve Sherman - "Night Shade" starts promisingly but wanders off 
    aimlessly (I've got an even better example of this that I 
    suppressed from COMMUSIC II after a scathing private attack by one
    of our fellow noters; I even called it "Meander").  No ending as such, 
    it just stops.  "Tantara" from side 2 works better, kind of New 
    Age pseudo-Baroque.  Not exactly what I'd call "cruising music",
    but still enjoyable.  Nice clean production on both tunes;  what 
    kind of recording gear did you use?  Welcome to COMMUSIC, Steve,
    and glad to see you participating.

    Richard Machin - This would probably work better as two distinct 
    tunes.  With the multitude of patch changes and abrupt changes 
    of style, this sounded like one of those flexidisk synth demos 
    you occasionally see in Keyboard magazine.  All the segues were 
    nicely handled, but I longed for some large scale unity.  The 
    formula ending didn't work for me.  Overall, nice, but...
    I particularly liked the percussion programming.  Nice production.
    Technical details?  Welcome to COMMUSIC, don't be afraid to 
    speak up.

    Andrew Norton - This tune left me asking a lot of questions, 
    mulling over its cryptic lyrics.  Who's Brian?  What did he say 
    that was so strange?  Who (or what) is he (?) infatuated with?
    What's an OAP?  O-something American Princess?  Office Automation
    Protocol?  Nice bass line.  Don't see why you regret the guitar 
    part.  Nice use of the ESQ1.  Welcome to COMMUSIC, don't be 
    afraid to speak up.
    
    Dan Eaton - ah finally, a familiar name.  Already discussed 
    noise vs. distortion issues elsewhere.  Sorry, but I did not enjoy
    "Is it Love". (This was the first "fast forward tune" for me.)  I'm
    an "out of the closet" agnostic and I resent being evangelised.
    Nothing against you personally Dan, but just like I don't have 
    to read pornography or listen to heavy metal satanism, I don't 
    have to listen to this sort of thing either.  Nice string 
    patches on the Juno, though.  I thought the mix was a little on 
    the shrill side.  The bass had no bottom.  OK, enough said.  I 
    really liked "Out in the Desert".  This was another "top 5 on 
    the tape" for me despite the levels being too high, giving the oboe
    a "spitty" quality that's somewhat distracting.  The drums are nicely
    distant.  Not bad for 15 years old! (I will pass up the opportunity
    to make some snide remarks about youthful composers.)  Shades of
    "The Little Drummer Boy"?
    
    Karl Moeller - Sorry Karl, this is a typically good Moeller 
    tune that's annoyingly cluttered with emulated junk.  Take that 
    Emax sample you seem so proud of and stuff it where the sun 
    don't shine (115 in the shade indeed).  This did not make me 
    want to dance.  Didn't reach the fast forward threshold, but came
    perilously close.
    
    Dave Bottom - All right, let's boogie!  Top notch stuff, Dave.  
    This didn't make me wanna dance, it made me wanna play!  I 
    couldn't help but play air drums to "Payday".  I love Dave's 
    style, and he seems to have gotten his recording technique down 
    pat now.  I'm not nuts about the guitar sound (see Rik Sawyer 
    or Dave Dreher for my ideals in this regard) but who cares.  I'd 
    love to jam to this tune sometime.  Then "Tried So Hard".  Wow!
    Best integration of a delay/echo I have ever heard, even 
    including Don Ellis's stuff from the '60s.  This is a *GREAT* 
    tune.  I keep wondering what it would sound like with the 
    lead/echo part played on my Rickenbacker electric 12 string.  
    Dave, you've got an open invitation to rerecord this tune on my 
    8 track.  Two more of the top 5 for me.
    
    Rik Sawyer - "Comfortable Slaves" was a bummer.  The drums were
    an interesting 2 bar pattern rendered monotonous by repetition.
    What was the purpose of the hole in the middle?  The overall 
    ambience was depressing and the lyrics a sociopolitical cliche.
    I know how Rik feels about this subject, we've discussed it many 
    times, and we agree about many things and disagree about many 
    others.  I love him anyway.  "Spags" was a good tune, though I 
    can't make the connection to the Shrewsbury emporium of the 
    title.  Nice guitar noodling.  This time the two bar drum 
    pattern gets occasionally broken up by a two bar fill.  Better, 
    but...  Finally "Periwinkle".  Another top 5er.  This reminded 
    me of Sandy Bull's "Inventions" from the '60s era, a sort of 
    "cheap western raga imitation cliche" if you'll pardon the implied
    pejoratives and just accept the fact that I love this sort of 
    thing when it's well done, as it is here.  Is that Tem Noon on 
    tabla?  Thought the high synth drone (the same note for 7 minutes,
    34 seconds!) was wicked neat.  Would have done more with the bass,
    used a different sound?  A case where monotony works spectacularly
    well.  Great stuff, Rik. 

    Tom Benson - another new name.  Welcome to the mutual admiration 
    society (oops, that one got away from me; bad boy, len).  "Bad Dog"
    is suitably bizarre (that's meant as a compliment).  I hope none 
    of the perpetrators is owned by a dog.  "Boingers" is cute.  
    Good crowd noises, but I was confused by the beginning.  Loved 
    the Boingers chant at the end.  Having heard the winner of the 
    contest, I wonder just what critical faculties the judges were 
    using.  Well, we all know contests are rigged anyway.  You 
    probably could have done a tuba with the CZ-1000.
    
    Synergy - sorry gang, another fast forward for me.  This is 
    a catchy tune whose production just doesn't work for me.  I
    thought the chime keyboard patch was obnoxious.  The drum 
    machine programming was good, but despite the ubiquity of 
    drum machines on this tape, this was the most obviously a machine.
    Tasty lead break, but again I'm not nuts about that particular style 
    of distortion/overdrive.  Uhm, I don't want to sound too negative,
    but the female vocalist is not really lead quality.  Neither am I,
    that's just life.  Fine for backup/harmony vocals.  I thought the
    line "I'm gonna, baby, love you forever" was clumsy.  I would have
    rearranged it as "I'm gonna love you, baby, forever".  Or maybe
    "baby love" is a verb?  This would only be a nit if the phrase 
    weren't repeated so many times.
    
    Anonymous - These observations are based on the experience of
    sequencing and recording this piece for its composer (whose 
    identity I am sworn to protect).  I had no idea what this thing 
    was going to sound like until it had all been programmed and 
    recorded.  Because of the way the synths were reused, we 
    couldn't hear the whole thing anyway without multitracking.
    I verified the correctness of my programming by inspection, as 
    listening didn't tell me anything useful except for really 
    egregious screwups, of which I made none.  I was surprised by 
    how few even subtle mistakes I made (having sequenced George 
    Chaltas wind quintet must have helped).  The time signature 
    changes were a pain in the butt to program.  Everything was done 
    in step time. The marimba canon was possible only by copying,
    transposing and rechannelizing data.  Each marimba voice had its 
    own channel, so that by using the MKS-80 and JX-10 each in dual 
    mode I could get 4 marimbas, each panned to its own position in 
    the stereo field.  We made three stereo takes - strings and flute, 
    marimbas and gong, brass.  The gong was struck as an 8 note 
    chromatic tone cluster.  Originally the unison thing at the end 
    called for tympani, but my MIDIBass tympani sample sounded so 
    lousy I talked the composer into the current unison orchestration.
    After programming a fair amount of this thing, I discovered an
    omission in the row - it has only 11 notes!  Inspection of the 
    sequencer data disclosed the missing note to be A, if anyone cares.
    The composer declined to "repair" the row, given the time already
    invested.  The tempo is 60 quarter notes per minute.
    
    Alright, alright, enough facts, how about some opinions.  Having 
    lived with this thing for some time, I've grown to kind of like 
    it.  It's stereotypically early 20th century modern/neoromantic.
    Parts of it are at the ragged edge of lyrical, and I was tempted to 
    "smooth off" some of its rough edges and make it prettier, but I 
    held my tongue and deferred to the composer's desires.  The only 
    suggestions I made had to do with orchestration rather than 
    structure.  It's clearly a toy composition.  The composer's 
    numerological observations are just so much BS as far as I'm 
    concerned.  I'm quite happy with the quality of the engineering.
    
    Tom Janzen - I have heard many things by Tom that I rather 
    enjoyed, but this was a terrible disappointment.  Sorry Tom, but 
    this is too derivative given the poor execution.  The ending is 
    an atrocious cop of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life".  The 
    engineering is abominable.  Is there a score?  Tom's the best 
    example I know of someone who can exploit equipment that a 
    technology fetishist would consign to the junk heap, but this 
    just doesn't make it.  This is a fast forward.
    
    Event Horizon - I have no idea how to characterize this. It 
    develops too slowly.  Compare the monotony of this to the 
    monotony of Rik Sawyer's "Periwinkle".  Given the resources 
    available, this was a real disappointment.  At least the real 
    flutes sound like real flutes.  Either the timing in places is off
    a bit, or too sophisticated for my rock and roll ears.  The 
    liner notes were clever. 

    
    len (who reminds you, they're only my opinions and I really do like
    you all and respect the effort put into these pieces).
    
    

    Having heard (and enjoyed) the tape, thanks to Bill Yerazunis, I
    think it is time to start a topic for guessing the identitity of
    "Anonymous."  I'd have started a new topic, but someone may have
    a good reason for us to not play guessing games.
                
    Some review, to justify posting this here...
    
    Anonymous: I love density and structure.  It seems funny to say
    this, but this piece spoke to me.
    
    Rik Sawyer: Just love your guitar playing.  If I played that well,
    I probably wouldn't have your restraint!
    
    Event Horizon: I, too, encounter a problem with the timing.  I like
    the atmosphere of this piece, I like the drones and slides.
    Funny.  I hate Kitaro's drones and slides.
                                                    
    Tom Janzen:  I couldn't enjoy this because of the engineering problems.
    I think there's a problem taking the performance art-quality
    engineering and electronics onto a recording.  Too much gets lost.
    I've enjoyed your stuff live, where the piano sound is direct. 
    I love the use of the odd equipment, but I think the miking and
    mixing should be top-notch in order to convey everything.
    
    Others: Time for another listen, with the liner notes in front of
    me.  Omission here doesn't mean I didn't ejoy your contribution.
    
    	Eirikur
    
    

	Due to a tendancy to echo other's sentiments, I wanted to get this 
review in before I ready many other people's.  Excuse me if it becomes obvious 
that I am 'parroting' previous reviews (really just Len's) in any of my 
statements.  Sometimes I just can't help it, especially in the absence of 
personal opinion on particular pieces.

	This is my first review of any commusic tape.  I tried to give as
fair and exhaustive a review of each piece as I could, since I know I appreciate
as much for myself.  But I also tried to be only say something when I had 
something to say.  I tried to draw on my own experience as a composer and
arranger to give helpful hints where I could.  As always, these are nothing 
more than personal opinions, to be used or disposed of at the readers 
discretion.  If anyone has questions regarding these, please feel free to ask
me, either in the review note or by personal correspondence.  

	I'd have to say that each COMMUSIC tape only seems to get better!

	Well, here goes


	1) Peter LaQuerre

	As I've said before, very effective use of the X15.  It makes me want to
keep it a little longer, knowing it can do better in experienced hands than it 
has in mine.  I also like the freshness of your music.  I've been finding myself
growing weary of over-produced material and appreciated the bare-bones down-home
approach (even if it may have been out of necessity).

	I thoroughly enjoyed the opening piece.  Very well done vocals (I like 
vocals).  It was undetectable to my ears that they were overdubs; they were 
tight!  I liked the guitar work as well.  Good, clean, well-executed.  A very
enjoyable piece.

	I second Len's vote on 'My Name's Matthew'.  Charming.  I'm the father
of 3, and it conjured up nice images (can't yet call them memories, since none
of mine are over 5 yrs!).  Your music has a nice homey (not homely!) feel to it.
These two are probably my favorites of the tape.

	I would say my comments regarding the music were pretty much the same on
'Antenna Man Like Me'.  Yet, it was a bit less interesting to me.  I found my 
mind wandering...  Not sure why.

	'Everything Would Be All Right'.  I guess I didn't care much for the use
of synth in this piece.  It lacked something.  It was well executed - don't get
me wrong.  I guess I just didn't care for the arrangement.  The CZ brass is,
as Len said, unmistakeable.  It's hard for me, though to listen to it for a 
whole song.  But, I can tell that you are creative in your music and I have no
doubt you will come out with other 'synth-based' pieces that will be more
enjoyable to my ears.

	One note on the use of bass guitar throughout - not sure how, but it 
could use some cleaning up (my opinion).  It just seemed a bit too boomy to my
ears.

	2) Steve Sherman

	I liked, as I said in the technical discussion, the clean-ness 
(cleanliness?) of these recordings.  As far as instrumentation, there's a lot of
great stuff there - I loved the pitch-bent bell sound, The bass was well-done, 
if a slight bit monotonous, and the drums were equally well-thought-out.  

	My only criticisms were in the seeming lack of direction in the piece 
and the abrupt ending.  In some places I felt like it was being improvised on
the spot.  I like the change of pace section in the middle, though.

	A look at your equipment shows you've picked some of the best 'bang-
for-the-buck' equipment available.  I'd be interested in seeing how an
analog synth added in would enhance an already good setup.Richard Machin

	3) Richard Machin

	Like Steve's piece reviewed above, I though this one used the equipment
very thoughtfully.  Nice use of drums.  I really liked the rythm change.  It
was a pleasant surprise.  Is that a clav sound in there?

	The section using long sustained 'strings' in the middle seemed a bit 
aukward (sp?).  It seemed to be just thrown in.  Perhaps seeing the dance that
the piece was written for may have helped.  The ending, like the previous piece,
seemed abrupt.

	I liked this piece, but it wasn't extremely memorable for me.  I think
I'll always refer to this one as the 'rythm-change' piece.

	4) Andrew Norton

	I can't say I understand this piece all that much.  It appears well-
arranged, instrumentally.  For my tastes, the 'wavery' synth sounds (wide
vibrato and pitch bending) were the least attractive parts of it.  Next on the
list would be the vocals.  Just not my style, I guess.

	The plusses on this piece, for me, were the excellent use of the various
instruments, and the mix.  Well-executed and well thought-out.

	5) Dan Eaton, (me)

	I entered the first piece well realizing some people may not appreciate
the lyrical content.  That's o.k. by me.  Since the contributions should be fair
representations of each contributor's material, I would have been unfaithful to
that purpose had I left this one out (besides, I've only recorded two songs so
far, anyway! 8^).  Music, for the most part, is one vehicle for me to express 
what's most important in my life, as I believe is true with most everyone in 
this conference.  Considering the wide variety of thematic content in these
contributions, political, humorous, partying, relationships, etc.  I consider
myself in fair company.

	So, as I said, I expected some to react negatively (as the subject of
religion is bound to do to some), some to react with indignance, and some to not
react at all.  I will go on record (or is it 'tape'? disk?) as saying that this 
entry was not submitted to force-feed anything upon anyone.  The song speaks a 
lot to me, but has no 'hidden agenda' - such as to look down my 'self-righteous 
nose' at anyone.  I know no-one has said this, but I just wanted to clear the 
air right from the beginning.  I am, as well as being a Christian, a musician 
and, gradually, a recording enthusiast.  Please feel free to review the piece at
whatever level you feel comfortable with.  And thanks, Len, for the honesty.

	By the time you all get to my second piece you'll probably be thinking 
'That is about all the CZ brass I can take'!  8^)

	6) Karl Moeller

	I think I'm biased.  Ever since I first heard Karl's stuff, I've always
liked it.  I like it by default.  Even when his material comes under criticism
I have found that, while the dissenting comments may have validity, I still
'just like' what this guy puts out.  

	I appreciate the high level of musical and technical expertise in this
piece (and from all I've heard from Karl).  I can listen to it at home on my
stereo (lo fi) or at work on my walkman (also very lo-budget).  There's a lot
going on in this piece musically, sometimes bordering on excess.  But again, 
it's likeable!  

	Funny, when I hear the water, I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to think
of a running brook or someone pouring a drink.  My inclination is the latter.
Nice use of delay, subtle.  The airy windchimes 'overhead' was a nice addition, 
as well.  A highlight of the tape for me.

	7) Dave Bottom

	While I'm not a constant enthusiast of this kind of straight-out rock
and roll, I did enjoy the arrangement to Dave's 'Payday'.  It brought back good
memories of the last band I was in (which, at times, I regret leaving).  Dave's
got a good voice for this kind of music, although at times I felt it was drawn 
out just a bit too much.  But he always recovered to my satisfaction.

	One thing I didn't care for, musically, was the 'timesharing' between
rythm and lead during the verses.  It would seem to me that even on four tracks
one should be able to keep both going simultaneously.  Also, the drums were a
bit monotonous.  But hey, I wish I could record as much in 4 hours!  Oh, one 
other thing.  I have this hazy feeling that the 'room size' given to all the
instruments tended to isolate them.  I may be wrong in this, but I picked this
up when listening to it on walkman.  The voice sounded like someone having a 
good time playing a local club.  The instruments sounded like they were 
rehearsing in the basement.  Just my opinion.

	I liked 'Tried so Hard' a lot more.  No more of the 'room size' 
discrepancy demonstrated here (most likely due to the addition of the delay).
The delay trick worked *real* well in most every place.  Once in a while it
got caught up in whatever was happening next, but not enough to bother me.  Good
lead, good vocals.

________________________________________________________________________________
    Side 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
	8) Rik Sawyer

	While it would seem our world views are as far apart as two people's 
could be, I can approach Rik's music with the appreciation that he has no
hidden agendas.  As he says in his song - 'listen to me, I've got something to
say'.

	I liked the arrangement to 'comfortable slaves' on the most part.  The 
only recommendation I would have is to balance out the musical load.  What I 
mean is this; when one thing is up doing something, don't distract it by having 
something else vying for the listener's attention.  For example, during much of 
the singing, there is a lead track going on behind it that periodically causes 
me to forget what is being sung about.  Use leads and vocals to complement one 
another, not challenge.  I liked the guitar tones, both lead and rythm.  Also 
the break toward the end sounded like a technical error.  If it was done with 
production intent, it needs some rethinking.

	'Spags' was nice, but didn't do much for me.  I guess, by nature, I
get bored by long rock instrumentals.  It was just too repeticious for my taste.
'Periwinkle', on the other hand caught my attention more.  Very nice use of
inexpensive equipment.  The guitar, at times, overdrove my earphones.  Was this
an open tuning on the guitar?  I have a piece I wrote on open g tuning on guitar
that sounds similar to this.

	9) Steve Sherman

	Another nice piece from Steve.  I liked this one more than the first.
I like the inter-movement of the piece.  I brought it home to turn it up on
my home system, but didn't feel the bass as much as the liner notes lead me to 
expect.  Could this be due to generation-fidelidy loss?  I really liked the echo
on the brass in the beginning!  Or was that a distant reverb setting?  That
MV2 is worth its weight in your favorite precious metal.  Is that a CZ string 
patch or is it from the TX?  Either way, it goes to show that non-anaologs can
be affective for that kind of thing, too.  Drums were well done, too.  I had
my wife come into the room to hear this one (her tastes are considerably more
selctive than mine - that's meant as a compliment).

	10) Tom Benson 

	Another winner in the area of good clean technology.  Voices were 
perfect, instrumentation was, too.  Only one thing on the vocals - If I 
didn't have liner notes, I may not have known that they were singing 'Bad dog'.
It was just a bit too muddy.  This piece made me smile and wish there were
more.  Apart from the backup vocal thing mentioned above, I couldn't think of
a single way I'd change it!  (Also, this appears to me to be one place where
I *prefer* a spring reverb - it gave the various parts just the right amount
of 'bounce' Now you're going to tell me you used a Lexicon or something, 
right?).

	BOINGERS was another piece that kept me smiling.  I loved it, especially
the trombone solo work (I played trombone throughout my school years).  I don't
think a synth patch would have come even close to giving the same effect (that
of being played 'badly').  Great guitar work!  Great crowd and chorus backups!
The female lead seemed just a bit contrived.  Without reading the liner notes
I could only have guessed that she may have been the girl Opus was dating for a 
while (can't remember her name - the artist).  But everthing else was finely
executed.  The crowd noise mixed with the chant was perfection.  Keep it up!

	11) Synergy (Daryl Gleason/Dave Blickstein)

	I appreciated most all of this except for the vocals.  Perhaps reverb 
might help to smooth off the rougher edges.  Lyrically, I'd have to reserve 
comments until I could hear someone else sing them.  Everything else was fine.  
More specifics, though.  I think that I would have tried to balance the styles 
of the keyboard with the guitar.  The guitar may need to be more 'clean' to do 
this.  But the synth parts were good, the backup guitar was very tasteful.  A
little more attention to the overall arrangement, in my opinion, would make
this a lot more listenable of a pop song.

	12) Anonymous

	I keep wondering if we're supposed to start making guesses on the 
composer's identity.  I'll reserve mine until someone says it's time to start
the game.

	I liked all the instruments and their parts of this piece.  Overall, I
guess through lack of 'culture', I just don't tend to catch on to the concept
of this kind of thing.  I guess years of pop and country music does that to a
person.  I guess all that's left for me to do is say that it was well-recorded
and that the obvious attention to orchestration shows someone with a penchant
for that kind of thing.

	13) Tom Janzen

	Due to production deficiencies discussed earlier, I was unable to
gather any appreciation for this piece.  Again, I'm an illiterate when it comes
to 'concept' pieces.  It's my turn to <Fast Forward>.

	14) Event Horizon (Bill Yerazunis)

	Last but not least...  Whew!  What a list of equipment!  Did you use all
of it in this piece??  Sounds like a veritable 'candy shop' for synthesists!

	I'm the least able to give any comment on this piece.  I just didn't 
'catch on'.  It seemed a bit to me like a children's piece - repeticious, 
smooth, soothing...  My step-father used to play music like this for children
when he would photograph them for portraits.  It was so droning that I could
only listen to it while doing something else.

	Regarding arrangement, it was surprisingly 'open', especially in view
of the long list of equipment.  I think I'd like to hear more from the composer 
and associates as to whether it achieved the goal it set out to do.  There's not
much more I can say.


********************************************************************************
	END OF REVIEW
********************************************************************************

    Nice review Dan.  Where we agree, that just means great minds wallow
    in the same gutters, right?  No "parroting" apparent anywhere.
    
    I've spent some more time with the tape, and sometimes wonder if
    I wasn't a little too hard with some of my comments.
    
    For example, I have no problems with sappy lyrics in a "traditional"
    love song, but if the song is about loving God or Jesus that gets
    my dander up.  That's really not fair or reasonable.  Maybe it reflects
    my "unconversion" (I was very religious in my youth and abandoned
    my beliefs as I grew older), sort of like a reformed alcoholic or
    smoker (sorry for the negative analogies; I really *don't* believe
    that religious believers are "sick" in any way; they've just chosen
    a different way of dealing with the world than I have) who won't
    tolerate his former behaviour in others.  I guess it's hard to get
    enthusiastic about songs about loving something you don't believe
    in.
    
    I actually *liked* both Karl's and Synergy's tunes - I just differed
    with the production values.  That may not have been clear from my
    comments.  To Synergy, a suggestion; consider doubling the vocals,
    as well as use of reverb, as a way of using a backup-quality voice
    in the lead role.  That's what I do with my own, and it does help.
    To Karl, learn restraint with your new toys.                     
    
    I reacted to Richard Machin's "Untitled" before I read his notes.
    Now I understand better the constraints it was written within. 
    I could not hear the lead delays he mentioned.  Without seeing the
    dance it was written for, it's hard to judge its success.  As
    "absolute" music, my comments still stand - it still sounds like
    a synth advertisement to me.
    
    The more I listen to Steve Sherman's Tantara, the more I like it.
    I think I'll have to move it into the top 5 (can I have 6 pieces
    in the top 5?).
    
    I spent some time wondering how the monotony of Event Horizon differed
    from the monotony of Periwinkle, and why I preferred one to the
    other.  The only thing I've come up with so far is that there's
    one arpeggiation in Event Horizon that rubs me the wrong way and
    persists throughout the piece, at least to the point where I want
    to run away from it.  Not very helpful is it?  Ah well, I said there's
    no accounting for taste, not even mine.
    
    Regarding the anonymous contribution, I note with interest that
    the banner for my review contains three (!) prime numbers, and would
    have had two more if I'd posted it 2 minutes later - 199 (the number
    of lines) is prime, as is 17 (the day of the month) and 1987 (the
    year).  1247 (the time, less the colon) is not prime, but 1249 is!
    Even niftier, 12:49 is 769 minutes after midnight, and 769 is prime!
    BFD, right?
                      
    Ah, the life of a critic is rough.  I think I'll be a composer instead.
    
    len.
    

	Well, folks, where are all the reviews?  At least the contributors 
should have had some time to think about the material.

    Mine's a comin'.  I've just been spending lots of wee hours doing
    work of late.  However, I have been listening to the tape and have
    heard it all the way through...
    
    Steve_who_needs_*time*

How time has flown. The COMMUSIC compilations are now an institution.

If there is one sound that I'm left with after hearing this tape, 
it's drum machines... the byproducts of the democratization of recording. 
In several of the pieces on this tape, the drum machine parts are the most 
expertly-played and professional-sounding parts of the arrangement. 

There's a bit of schizoid behavior here.. I admire pieces that are 
outside of known idioms.. but if a piece is firmly IN an idiom, I evaluate 
it in terms of that idiom.

I'm about to lose my good-guy, supportive image and say that I'm 
looking for creativity and excellence here, and rarely finding it. 
This has nothing to do with each studio's budget, but how it is used.

karl moeller
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter LaQuerre
    1	 Oh and It Seems Like a Long Time
James Taylor harmonies. Valid attempt to avoid clich�d folky chord changes.
Not my style but very well done.

    2	 My Name's Matthew
Uh, fun, I guess. Don't know why this was included.

    3	 Antenna Man Like Me
Neat premise for a song. Reverts to standard I-IVmaj7 folk/jazz changes.
Warm and human lyrics.

    4	 Everything Would Be All Right
Too much repetition of title/chorus. Liked tine piano on top. Good 'B'
section change but a bit awkward coming back to chorus. Synth solo
section a bit labored. Good attempt to expand the arrangement. The
warm, human lyrics celebrate a new family member. 

Steve Sherman
    Night Shade 
Bass pitch-bend clashes with chord changes. I like the 1/2 time drum part-
not rushed feeling. No melody, only chord/rhythm ideas until 3/4 thru the
piece, and then the melody doesn't always work over the changes. Been 
listening to a bit of Weather Report ? ... what ending ? easy rock/jazz.

Richard Machin
	o Untitled
Good ideas. The transitions from section to section are somewhat disjointed.
The 'swing' section is somewhat of a nonsequitur, sandwiched between upbeat
Latin sections. Bandaid analog synth, back to the swing section for a 
second, and, oops, Latin again. LOTS of potential here but it feels 
awkwardly arranged. 

Andrew Norton
    Infatuation
I can forgive anything but out-of-tune guitar, voice, and synths.
The bass/drums hold this together.. I found myself listening past the
midrange instruments in the first half of the piece. After the spoken
section the instruments magically tighten up, but, sorry, the piece is
over. The composition is pretty good, but the production values get
in the way. 

Dan Eaton
	Song #1		'Is It Love' by Kelly Willard 
Barry Manilow dons a cross. Perfectly good ballad writing and GOOD 
home-production values. I call this 'wedge' production; start with one
instrument and keep adding. Has MOR radio potential... with completely
different lyrics. However I understand that the music might not even
exist without the current lyrics, so whaddya gonna do ?

	Song #2		'Out in the Desert' by Dan Eaton 
Liked 'Bolero' percussion idea. Moves up nicely from I-IV-I-IV-V pattern.
Develops simple idea very well. Good, uh, production values.

Karl Moeller
        "Agua Calient�" 
What's with this guy ? Tape I, we get neoclassical piano and speed-cranked 
clavinet neobaroque rock. Tape II, we get a straight rocker with vocals 
(with dubbed-in 'crowd' noises), along with a New Age piano piece backed 
with real violins. Now on Tape III we have a piano/flute/percussion
LATIN piece, complete with... sampled water sounds. Could this person
be: ..trans-stylistic ? ..a deviant cross-player ? .. having fun ?

Dave Bottom
	Payday:
As always, I enjoy Dave's blues guitar. This piece, a '50's sounding
R&B 'jump' tune, seems an excuse for some burning solos. The lyrics
are somewhat ambiguous.."I got something to say..", except he lets
his guitar do the talking..

	Tried so Hard:
Two guitar intro, 1 mono, 1 left, delayed right, perfectly timed to the
meter of the piece. Nice. Middle needs work. The electric lead section
doesn't work as well for me as the luscious intro/verse guitars. Lyrics
didn't grab me here. Dave, your instrumentals work better for me than
your songs... ..what ending ?
    
Rik Sawyer
	o Comfortable Slaves
Indifferent drop progression laden with 'message' lyrics. Leaves me as
cold as any other religious treatise.. a valid subject for a song, I
suppose, but it doesn't necessarily make for good music.

	o Spags
Heavy.. Tull-like riffing (a compliment!) Good change-up. Piece works
well within its harmonic/rhythmic structure, like all good rock.

	o Periwinkle
Great ! Probably my favorite on the tape. Too short, though. 12-string
ragas rule ! Uh, 'minimalist' synth part. Percussion tala completely 
appropriate. Somebody with a pro-quality studio wanna help Rik rerecord 
this and spawn a 'new acoustic' hit ???

Steve Sherman
	Tantara 
A bit heavy on the delay for the trumpet intro. NICE fugue development,
appropriate timbres. 1/4 time drum part works fine. Some awkward moments
in the 'B' section. 'C' section a bit tentative up to punches. Back to
fugue. I LIKE IT and wish I'd written it. #2 on the tape for me.

Tom Benson 
	BAD DOG
Clean, good production values. Tight. Very cartoon-y. 

	BOINGERS
Syntho-crowd, huh? You'll get beat up for that (not by me!). Very tight
instruments/chorus. GOOD guitarist, conscious/humorous use of metal
clich�s. Surprised it didn't win !

Synergy (Daryl Gleason/Dave Blickstein)
	"I'll Love You Forever"
Pop-music clich�s abound, musically and lyrically. Chorded 'piano' keeps
this earthbound somehow. Wakes up nicely at the guitar solo, and then
descends again. The 'duet' is unconvincing. Harmonies at end work okay.
Bland at best. 

Anonymous
	"GetSiriusNoah"
While the production is luscious, the theme seems to have been designed
by computer, or abacus. Big analog backing chords work behind the melody,
both rightside up and upside down. I like the short stereo vibes section.
Overall, completely lacking in, uh, soul. Reprises the theme in case we
missed it the first three times thru. 

I hate to slag off on what is apparently a 'serious' modern piece, but
my views on Serialism and atonality are well known.

Tom Janzen
	"Interpretation III: LvB 2nd"
Fortunately, Ludwig went deaf prior to his death or he'd be coming after
you. However, some of his composer buddies might have told him, and he
might be WAITING for you. Though you attempt to legitimize this by 
dragging up another composer working in the idiom, the 'concept' doesn't 
BEGIN to rescue this as music.

Event Horizon (Bill Yerazunis)
	Last Moonlight 
It's nice to have a hobby. However, when you talk blithely of record 
contracts, you set up an expectation that the music is going to have 
something special. Even though 'live-to-tape', this three-chord wonder
isn't complex enough to justify missed notes and fluffed rhythms. 
There is no drum machine in this piece, but it might have tightened
up the ensemble (you can always erase it, or record listening to it).
Laudably, this piece avoids all folk/jazz/rock/(and most) new age musical 
clich�s. However, the amateur-hour writing, playing, and indifferent 
production render your dream somewhat, uh, distant, in my opinion.
.. unless you're holding out on us and this was an outtake ..

karl moeller

    
    cheeze! What do you mean by *that*?
    
    What *do* you mean *by* that?
    
    etc..
    
    we here at "S 'n' M Music Productions" were gonna sign em...

    yo. karl baby. lets do lunch. your place. my Lear needs some
    more business deductible miles...
    
    chow.
    
        
    

    I never read COMMUSIC notes until Dave Blickstein offered me
    a copy of the tape at a price I couldn't refuse.  I've listened
    to it about 3 times now.
    
    If I had to pick one piece, and only one piece, to listen to
    from this collection, it's no contest - "Comfortable Slaves"
    by Rik Sawyer wins.  Other favorites include the contributions
    of Tom Benson, Tom Janzen, Karl Moeller, and Rik's other pieces.
    
    The rest range from OK-but-not-my-style through OK to why-bother.  I
    feel uncomfortable getting much more specific than that in this
    conference (at least until I see how people respond to the other
    negative criticisms here, mostly done by people who have contributed
    to this effort and have earned more of a right to criticize).
    
    Somehow, though, this doesn't remind me of "computer music" that
    I know and love and used to create (in small bits) at the MIT
    Experimental Music Studio.  I mean, these are synthesizers and stuff.
    When I think of computer music, I think of creating the music with
    a PDP-11 running Unix V7 and waiting a long time for the computer
    to finish for a few seconds of material...
    
    Michael

>    Somehow, though, this doesn't remind me of "computer music" that
>    I know and love and used to create (in small bits) at the MIT
>    Experimental Music Studio.  I mean, these are synthesizers and stuff.
>    When I think of computer music, I think of creating the music with
>    a PDP-11 running Unix V7 and waiting a long time for the computer
>    to finish for a few seconds of material...

Exactly the point this file inherently conveys.  Computer music ain't like 
it used to be.  It is now less technical, more accessable, and more 
structured, and is thus less experimental than it used to be.

Todd.

    Computer music is too what it used to be; it's just that the
    h/w developed for making experimental music was merchandized for
    you amatuer rockers.  Avant-garde/experimental computer music
    is alive/well.  In fact, I'm getting some new computer music from
    Opus One soon.
    Tom  I hate this indented editor that just now popped up for the
    first time.  Real programmers don't need indentations, ever.
    8-)
    	Thanks mike good for being the only person who like Interpretation.
    Tom

    
    I just got the tape in the mail at lunch and played some of it in
    the car on the way back.....
    
    Already had quite a few surprises...full report on Monday, stay
    tuned.

As promised, here's my review.  First, this tape was *good*.  I have nice things
to say about almost every piece.  Please forgive me if I step on some feelings
every once in a while.  I realize that there isn't a single piece here that
*somebody* doesn't like.  Thanks is due to all, especially because there is
much to be learned in these submissions.  I believe this tape sets a standard
against which following tapes will be compared.  I appreciate all submissions
and feel I have learned something from each.  I've also appreciated the prior
reviews.  I'm happy to be part of the 'club'.  Now, on with the roast ... ;-)


________________________________________________________________________________
    	Side 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peter LaQuerre

	 Oh and It Seems Like a Long Time - the chorus was a nice hook.
	 Melody wasn't bad.

    	 My Name's Matthew - This was cute.  Reminds me of my little boy.
	 It seems a little rough at the very end, like the parts didn't really
	 know where to go.

    	 Antenna Man Like Me - Very nice.  Thoughtful and the music fit.

    	 Everything Would Be All Right - I wasn't real fond of the keyboard
	 solo at the beginning.  Seemed like the attack was just a bit weak.
	 Probably just preference.  But it seemed to fit okay later in the
	 piece.  It was interesting to hear portamento used in the break, but
	 it got pretty tiring hearing the "you told me everything would be 
	 alright" hook so many times.


********************************************************************************
Steve Sherman

Night Shade - My own criticism here is that I wish I had done more with the
drum velocities and that I could have used the MV 2.  The bass carried the 
melody during the chorus and should maybe have been embellished and emphasized.
The ending was intentional.  I wanted the thing to hang on the dischord, or
whatever.  But, hey, it was fun to do.


********************************************************************************
Richard Machin

I didn't mind the synth piano so much.  If anything, the almost disco-cymbals
in places kind of bothered me.  No big deal, though.  The string break was
a little awskward.  Not bad.


********************************************************************************
Andrew Norton

Infatuation
-----------

I liked the intro.  Created a nice atmosphere.  I liked the wide variety of
sounds here and there.  Your wife did a nice job.  The rap needed a little
more punch, but it was still cool.

********************************************************************************
Dan Eaton


	'Is It Love' by Kelly Willard - was looking for a little more fulness
	when you went to the second verse.  I imagine that was more of a 
	recording problem.  The vocal was good.  


	'Out in the Desert' by Dan Eaton - I like the simple melody.  Nice
	horns and strings.  This would make a nice soundtrack.  The oboe
	patch was, however a bit unnatural.  Might have tried a little more
	phrasing.



********************************************************************************
Karl Moeller

"Agua Calient�" ('Hot Water') by Karl SALSA::Moeller - I liked the water
sample in this.  Nice touch.  After a while I found myself not listening, 
though.  But, for dancing, that's probably no biggie.  Guess I was looking for 
something to catch my attention later on in the piece. 

********************************************************************************From:
Dave Bottom

Payday - Not bad.  Captured the style.  Sounded fun.  Were you wearing jeans
and a T-shirt when you did this one? ;-)

Tried so Hard - VERY nice use of the delay with this piece.  I really liked
what you did with the guitar on the left and the in-time repeat on the
right.  Seemed to express the feelings well.

________________________________________________________________________________
    Side 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
Rik Sawyer

Comfortable Slaves - The drum and guitar hooks were interesting at the 
beginning.  But, kind of dragged after a while.  The guitar solo was okay.  
I wasn't really nuts about the vocals.

Spags - Reminded me of "Iron Man" from way back when.  I would have enjoyed
a few more chord changes.  But, the break was welcome in the middle.  Got
tired of vamp after a while.

Periwinkle - I liked this.  Very soothing.  Fun diddling.  The hand slaps
should have been a little tighter.

    
********************************************************************************
Steve Sherman

Tantara - Minor flaws.  I should have layered some bass at the end.  Yeah,
the transistion at the middle was awkward.  And, I should have brought the low 
brass on the right out a bit more in the middle.

********************************************************************************
Tom Benson 

BAD DOG - Needed to enunciate "Bad Dog" more.  But, this was great.  The
laughing at the end was kind of off, but maybe that was intended.  Makes me
want to see the cartoon!

BOINGERS - Probably the *worst* abuse of a trombone I've ever heard.  
Great stuff!  I think it fit the script.  Where did you grab the crowd
sounds?  Quite effective.  The guest vocalist and other vocals fit well, too.


********************************************************************************    
Synergy (Daryl Gleason/Dave Blickstein)

"I'll Love You Forever" - I like the clearness of the recording.  Nice punch
and good use of synths.  Nice male vocal.  The female vocal was just about
out of her range.  She needed to *push* from the gut a little more, and she'd
probably feel more comfortable in the range.  Thought the guitar solo would
have been really cool if it could have had a little more distance or something.
But, it was good.  It was a nice duet.  Nice instrument support.

********************************************************************************
Anonymous

I actually enjoyed this piece.  It was an interesting progression and had
a neat feel to it.
    
********************************************************************************
Tom Janzen

"Interpretation III: LvB 2nd" - This was probably fun to do, but a real
struggle to listen to.  I haven't really been in the mood for it, yet.
My wife said, "I don't understand...", and she's a music major.  However,
the speeding up of the piano tracks and occasional 'laser blast' were 
entertaining.  Actually, Spike Jones would have been proud...;-)
Kind of a funny ending.

********************************************************************************
Event Horizon (Bill Yerazunis)

Last Moonlight - Peter Antoniou, Event Horizon Music - I appreciate the 
effort, but this was a drag to listen to.  It wasn't tight.  The bass was
too heavy and didn't fit.  The flutes were okay, but the vamp and 3
chords got very tired, very quickly.  Seemed trite, sometimes out of tune.

>This led to some extremely innovative hand and facial gestures.

Wish I could have been there to see it!  I'm *certain* you've done better,
but thanks for entering the submission.  

Oh well, so long as I'm saying nasty things about this one, I might as well 
say it ... it should have been shorter!

Hey, don't give up.  Give it another shot (I mean, with a different piece).  
There's obviously some talent there ready to blossom...

I've broken my review into two parts.  First, I'll talk about the music, 
then I'll talk about technical stuff.  

There it was. in my mailbox, buried underneath a pile of threats from 
various creditors amid numerous notices of the various motor vehicles I may 
have won...I opened up the envelope, hopped into my car and popped the tape 
into the tape player.  Suddenly, the sound of Nils Lofgren filled the car.  
Wait, did Dave send the right tape???  Yes, it says Commusic III on the 
label.

No, it wasn't the missing third side of "1+1", it was Peter LaQuerre I was 
hearing.  The first tune was a good combination of melodic pop with average 
lyrics.  Extra points for it not being a love song.  Then, as if to keep us 
guessing, along comes "My Name's Matthew".  This song should be required 
listening for the members of Yes, ELP, etc. about exactly how simple a good 
song can be.  The third entry slips up as the music and vocals of "Antenna 
Man" are fine, but the song is deep-sixed by the lyric.  Finally, entering 
on a wave of synthesizers, Peter explores a theme common to all first-time 
fathers.  As far as the lyric on this one, I kept thinking of the movie 
"Marathon Man" where Lawrence Olivier keeps asking Dustin Hoffman "Is it 
safe?".

Along comes Steve Sherman with a synth piece which is well executed but 
didn't do anything much for me, an example of how this type of music can 
seem generic.

Richard Machin's untitled piece is supposedly meant to accompany a dance 
which I would like to see.  The segues from funk to swing were suprising.
The piano solos were simple but tasty.  If I hadn't read the liner notes, I 
would think it was a theme song for a detective movie.

Andrew Norton's "Infatuation" went by and made no impression.  Maybe it 
needs some more listens, but it didn't grab my attention at all.

Two songs coming from different directions from Dan Eaton follow.  "Is it 
Love" is an example of good music which is window dressing for a lyric.  I 
liked the arrangement very much, a very good example of contemporary 
Christian pop.  "Out in the Desert" also shows a well crafted arrangement, 
this time in service of a slight but attractive melody.  I especially liked 
the oboe parts.

My first exposure to Karl Moeller finds the jury out.  KM has said this is 
a "fun" piece.  He also says it is White Boy Salsa...make sure the W and B 
are capitalized.  This is another clever arrangement but the melody slipped 
from my head as soon as the tune was over.

Suddenly, it's that lil' ole band from...where, did you say Maine?  
"Payday" is straight out of that boggie blooz rock genre and a decent 
example.  Dave's voice is a lot better after the solo where he decides to 
do a little shouting.  If only he had sung that way throughout.  Then, it's 
time to break out the hash pipe and hunker down with the headphones. "Tried So 
Hard" is a real gem.  This is far and away the best rock song on 
this tape.  The arrangement is so ingenious with its use of delay (I think) 
that the cliched descending chord pattern takes on new life.  This is the 
sort of thing that makes me feel that there is still some life in 
mainstream rock.  Good job, Dave!

Wait, don't put the pipe away yet, here comes Rik Sawyer.  The only 
complaint I have with "Comfortable Slaves" is, in the immortal words of the 
Godfather of Soul, "Take me to the bridge."  Rik's second entry doesn't 
particularly remind me of shopping in beautiful downtown Shrewsbury, but it 
does have the best recorded guitar sound on the tape.  OK, what's your 
secret?  I gotta admit I'm a sucker for those Moroccan blues scales....
I think anyone who has ever played an acoustic guitar has come up with a 
tune like "Periwinkle".  Like most, it has a hypnotic quality that is 
really quite appealing.  The dreaminess is somewhat marred by a boomy 
guitar sound.

Well, Steve Sherman  is back and "Tantara" is more baroque sounding than 
"Night Shade" but is still rather anonymous sounding.

Welcome Mr. Tom Benson, for whom I have the question, what does your usual 
music sound like?  These two are novelty pieces and both are well done.  
"Bad Dog" certainly achieves its goal of sounding like the B52s.  
"Boingers" is brilliant!  The guitar/tuba duel is magnificent, and the vocal 
is a ringer for vintage Alice Cooper.  Like much parody heavy metal it's 
not quite heavy enough but its so funny, who cares?  As far as traditional 
commercial values go, this track has the most polished and professional 
performance on the tape.  Has anybody heard the winning entry yet?

Synergy is the only contibutor whom I have heard prior to this tape, and in 
fact I heard this original at Summerjam and liked it then, too.  This type 
of pop ballad is not my cup of tea, but this one could easily slide in 
between Dan Hill and Whitney Houston on the radio.  This version does have 
the drawback that it sounds stiff and forced, but the song itself is not 
bad.  It also perpetuates that cliche of putting heavy metal guitar solos 
into treacly songs.  Whatever happened to the tenor saxophone?  The biggest 
surprise is that a band that likes to do progressive rock would put together 
such a sweet pop tune. 

Here's where I lose all my credibility with COMMUSIC noters.  The Anonymous
piece is hands down the finest piece on the tape, bar none. I can't really
put my reasons down in words, but when this piece came on, I was
enthralled. It may help that I like modern "serious" music (I hesitate to
call it classical).  For all I know, the composer may think this stuff is a
joke and wrote it just to prove that any monkey with a piano could come up
with this.  On the other hand, it is crafted so well, it seems that the
composer must have some affection for it.  The engineering is also the best
of the tape. Interstingly, this piece is closest to the spirit of 
experimental music that COMMUSIC was originally all about.  OK, fess
up, who is this? 

Tom Janzen is in a similar mode to our anonymous contributor, but he is 
saddled with the worst sound of the tape.  I like this kind of stuff, too, 
and I think that Tom has done a good job of "recomposition" as it were.  
I'm not on intimate terms with the Beethoven so I'll have to pass on 
whether this version is a step forward or back from the original.  But Tom 
has his craft down pat.  Now he justs needs to buy a decent tape deck.

The last piece was probably the biggest disappointment to me of the entire 
tape.  Event Horizon on paper sounded like a sure thing.  On tape they 
sound muddy and muddled.  The melodies were so thin that they were almost 
not there.  The arrangements, despite all the instrumentation were 
maddeningly sparse.  And finally, for a digital recording, either somebody 
screwed up big time or it's time to trade in that F1 for a Fostex X15.  
With minimal music, often the important part of the music is not the 
individual lines, but the intermodulation of them that is important.  For 
example, in many pieces by Steve Reich, it seems as if all the musicians are 
playing in unison.  Slowly, however, the *differences* between the parts 
begin to manifest themselves and as that pattern begins to emerge the music 
takes on a strange new beauty.  That doesn't happen here and as a result we 
have a good example of minimal music that goes nowhere.

I hope I haven't insulted anyone here, and I want to say that everything 
on this tape makes me glad that I haven't thought of contributing anything 
of my own!


Now for the technical.

Peter LaQuerre

Most of my technical complaints probably stem from the primitive mixing 
capabilities of the X15.  In general, the guitars sounded faraway and 
muffled and the bass was boomy.  The synth tracks, not unexpectedly, 
sounded pretty good.  The vocal mix was considerably better than the 
instruments.

Steve Sherman

Very well engineered considering you had no mixer.  Good job on both 
tracks.

Richard Machin

Another nice job.  I especially liked the piano sound.

Andrew Norton

I don't remember much but it sounded OK to me.  

Dan Eaton

A nice bright mix with almost no bass.  I guess that's better than being 
muddy and boomy.  The digital synth patches cut through very well.  I 
really like the oboe patch.

Karl Moeller

All around good engineering.  Good sequencer work as well, it is not at all 
machine-like.

Dave Bottom

The drums and bass could be more prominent in the mix.  The whole thing 
sounded kind of closed in, boxy.

Rik Sawyer

Hey, Rik it says you used bass on two songs.  I couldn't hear it!  The 
guitar sound on "Spag's" was killer, great engineering job.  You should 
tweak the EQ on the guitar on "Periwinkle" to get rid of that boom.  That's 
what you get for close miking!

Tom Benson

Very good home studio job.  "Boingers" sounded a bit thin for a metal tune 
but the clarity was outstanding, very good mix.  The trombone was played 
close enough that if I hadn't known, I would have guessed it was a tuba.  I 
particularly enjoyed the crowd effects. 

Synergy

The keyboards and vocals were well recorded.  The drums were the most 
mechanical sounding of the tape.  Where is the rhythm guitar???  The 
engineering of the lead break was well done.

Anonymous

Not suprisingly, considering the equipment used, the best recording here.  
Kudos to Len for the sequencing, it sounded very human.

Tom Janzen

You need a new tape deck, pal.

Event Horizon

For a digital recording, this sounded quite muffled and dead.  Since you 
are cutting directto the master, you need to work on your mixing skills.  I 
assume the equipment is capable of better than this.

    
    
    I have just returned from holiday and am wading through 432 new
    notes. Sorry if this reply is a little out of date.
                                                    
    Burning Question.                               
                                                    
    What are "production values" ?                   
                                                    
    						Paul

    You know, things like $10000, $100000, $1000000, etc.
    
    ;^)
    
    len.
    

    AH!!! I got him!!!
    
    Dear Mr Syntax and Spelling,
    
                Can you say *$10,000*, *$100,000* and *$1,000,000*???
    
    You missed your commas!!!!
    
    Edd

    Great :^(
    
    He skipped his commas and I missed my period.
    
    That should read "Dear Mr*.* Syntax and Spelling,"
    
    I feel such the fool....
    
    Edd

Back to the topic ...

   After listening to the first side of the tape, thought I would post
   some 1st impressions.  Those not mentioned did not stick out (in my
   mind, at least).  Will hopefully post a full review later.

   Peter (LaQuerre, is it?) - starts off sounding like JT, but harmonies
   and textures remind me more of Crosby/Stills/Nash. 

   Dan Eaton - Barry Manilow?  Hardly.  Don't have the nose.  &*} 

   Karl Moeller - as usual, I like it.  Can't help but wish it would have
   "taken off" as the thing developed, though.  Good work (again). 

   Dave Bottom - I would like to spend a few hours jamming with this guy.
   The quality of recording wasn't too hot (wasn't this the dbx that
   didn't get decoded?), but the slide more than made up for it.  8-) 

   Rik Sawyer - only line I can remember is "if I have to I'll hit my
   knees"?  Have you? 

More later.

	Well, I'm glad *someone* has added some comments.  This note (and
this conference, for that matter) was beginning to feel like a graveyard.

	Dan

	I have counted 5 complete reviews and a number of promises to add more
later.  

* * * * time passes ... * * * * 

	Where did everybody go?  Surely more people have gotten the tape than 
have responded here?  

	I, for one, would like to get down to the bottom of identifying the 
anonymous contributor.  I have a guess, and I'm doing my best to hold it in!
Can we get on with the reviews and open the secret envelope, as well?

	Dan

    
    I, too want to know who the mystery contributor is.
    
    

    re: .23
    
    Part of the reason why this note has been like a graveyard is that
    recent demand for copies has been underwhelming.
    
    So far only 27 copies have been made.  12 went to contributors,
    but two contributors have yet to make arrangements to obtain
    their copies.
    
    15 went to non-contributors.  Some of these 15 are friends of mine
    who have a strong interest in music but have no connection to this
    conference.
    
    I'm somewhat surprised by the number of Commusic regulars who haven't
    asked for a copy.  I would have thought that most folks were real
    anxious to check out what other noters are doing.  It's the major
    reason why I volunteered to coordinate it.
    
    Note however that not everyone who listens to it feels the need
    or inclination to review it.  Some folks just wanna check it all
    out and that's fine.

    	db

RE: -1  db

I was in no rush and seeing as you expected a rush I figured I would hold
off ordering until the rush died down.  So, I'll put my order in, as soon
as I find the right note/reply for ordering.

Dan

Ditto.  Plus I'm lazy.  Maybe I can get a copy from one of the LEDS BIMmers
and save db the trouble...

Todd.

    
    
    
    
    
    Herewith the thoughts of the Northern England Reviewer. All 
    previous disclaimers should be held as still valid. (In other 
    words don't blame me I'me just the listener)
    
    
    Peter Laquerre
    
    Sounds like a very early Neil Young. I think to get away with 
    these sort of songs you have to be very clever with the Lyrics and 
    this wasn't quite clever enough (too much repetition of the 
    previous line and not very good meter). I liked the Guitar playing 
    and have to say that Mathew made me smile as well. I thought the 
    throat clearing at the beginning of Mathew spoiled the piece in 
    that it added to the overall feeling of amateurism which pervaded 
    the set. I also think that contributions should be limited to a 
    max of 10 minutes to give the other contributers a chance. Liked 
    the harmonies though.
    
    Steve Sherman Night Shade
    
    Loved the Bass Patch (what was it ?) If it was the CZ could you 
    post it?  In fact I quite liked the whole piece as you said it 
    would benefit from more production and cooler drum programming.
    
    I have my sunglasses on at the moment !
    
    
    Richard Machin.
    
    I have heard this before and am therefore getting quite familiar 
    with it. I think that despite the requirement for the Strict 
    Rhythm changes, they could have been handled more smoothly. Len 
    was right when he said it sounded like a kurzweil demo piece. 
    
    I liked the bass line especially, and concur with the previous 
    views re: the Rhythm programming.
    
    But good stuff.
    
    
    Andrew Norton Infatuation.
    
    
    Despite the fact that I know Andrew well and he has reviewed my 
    material favourably in the past, I say quite  quite unashamedly 
    that this was my favourite piece on the tape and that with the 
    right production it would be as good as anything I have heard 
    professionally for a while. Andrew has obviously listened to all 
    the Pop and Electro music that's going around at the moment and 
    has produced a fairly stylish and up to date piece which moves 
    along well with the occasional surprise. The wife would sound 
    better with some reverb on the voice to give it a lift. But this 
    really has some context with the current music scene in the U.K. 
    
    
    
    Great !
    
    
    Dan Eaton. Is it love.
    
    
    Hated the song. The voice is good. 
    
    
    		Out In the Dessert.
    
    
    Shades of Ravel. I liked the atmosphere of this. A piece which is 
    capable of developing a mood as quickly as this has to be good. 
    And it had a nice tune and a great build up to the middle eight 
    and second progression of the theme. I could just picture the 
    Cowboy/Soldiers/Sailors despairing into the distance at the end.
    
    
    Karl Moeller. Agua Caliente.
    
    When I first heard this I thought that you had a studio in the 
    loft like mine. One of my biggest problems is that the hot water 
    tank is just on the other side of a piece of hardboard from my 
    mixing desk. I often listen to a final mix to discover the sound 
    of running water behind the vocals. I certainly preferred this to 
    some of the previous Moeller ramblings although it still never 
    seemed to acheive any level of personal;satisfaction. It sort of 
    started and ended without getting anywhere. 
    
    
    Dave Bottom. Pay Day.
    
    Now I liked this, although it's a bit of a hackneyed approach it 
    boogied and moved and the Guitar playing was good and the slide 
    lead break was terrific. Reminded me a lot of Chicken Shack, ever 
    hear of them ? I could listen to this sort of stuff all night and 
    often do. Who cares is we've heard it all before its fun and thats 
    what its all about innit ?
    
                 Tried so Hard.
    
    Also good but not as much fun as the boogie.
    
    
    Rik Sawyer Comfortable Slaves
    
    Interesting. Sounds a bit Neil Youngish again. Liked the Lyrics. 
    In fact I quite liked the song.
    
    		spags
    
    What was this all about? Somebody with a fuzz boxx and a drum 
    machine playing a bit. Thats All.
    
    		Periwinkle
    
    Liked this one a lot more. The drum sounds were very nice what 
    were they? At least this one developed a bit and was going 
    somewhere. Probably India. 
    
    Steve Sherman  Tantara
    
    Lovely tune, sounds like it should be a Christmas song. The MV2 
    makes a big difference to the listenability of the piece. I liked 
    this one. The section in the middle with just a pad and the drum 
    machine was really nice.
    
    Tom Benson  Bad Dog
    
    
    This was great. Originality again. I find it hard to talk about 
    songs I like other than to say I liked it. 
    
    
    		Boingers.
    
    This was terrific and rivals Andrew's entry for my favourite 
    track. It had it all. It was fun. It was charging along and the 
    trombone playing was superb. How come you didn't win the 
    competition. I thought the quality of the production was about the 
    best on the tape considering the amount going on and the kit used.
    
    I wish I had a star struck fan that sounded like that.
    
    
    
    Synergy. I'll love you forever.
    
    Nice production not to keen on the song. It's worth trying to 
    analyse the difference between this and the previous entry. The 
    whole thing seemed to be to contrived as though we were just going 
    through some set process. The Guitar solo was an example it seemed 
    to be there because it was obligatory and certainly wasn't in 
    anyway in context with the rest of the song. Listen to the 
    trombone on the previous track and compare the playing with the 
    relevance. The recording was good for a first effort though.
    
    Anonymous. 
    
    Amazing what you can do with computers and a budget these days.
    
    
    Tom Janzen.
    
    Now this was fantastic. The quality of the recording and the 
    subtlety of the playing were a real turn on. One of these days 
    with a bit of luck and lots of hard work I may aspire to these 
    heights. Hang on to the Copyright Tom ! I have to admit to being 
    incapable of understanding this. But this is probably no surprise 
    to anybody.
    
    Event Horizon.
    
    Seems like a lot of fuss (according to the liner's) for not much 
    result. 
    
    
    
    Oh S**t what a nasty person I am. However I have to say that the 
    quality of the recordings was generally good and the copy I had, 
    which was a copy of the one sent to Andrew was better than the I 
    and II tapes which were lower numbered generations. So 
    congratulations to Dave for a quality product. Also if you enjoyed 
    doing it then It doesn't matter what other people think does it?
    
    
    
    
    
               

    re -.1: Nice review!  You can *bet* we'll be nice to you on your
    Commusic IV submission ... well, maybe! ;-)  Thanks!
    
    Steve

    RE .-2
    
    I haven't heard much of your stuff, Paul, but I think I can speak
    for the entire population of the world when I say it sounds like
    a bucket of dung.
    
    (And I cleaned that review up considerably).
    
    Oh - sorry - 8^}.
    
    See you for a beer and a punchup next week.

 
    
    Herewith the thoughts of a Southern England Reviewer.

    Peter Laquerre
    
    I liked all of Peter's songs. I thought the vocals and harmonies
    were excellent. I always like songs that can stand up by themselves
    when played using just a guitar and voice or piano and voice. I 
    don't personally listen to words much, but they all seemed to be well 
    thought out and quite personal, which gave the songs a warm feel.
    I think I like the one with the synth in best but I don't know why.
    I thought the songs all sounded fairly professional considering the
    equipment used. I was quite impressed. I agree with Paul Kent
    concerning the time limit on the contributions. Even though I really
    liked Peter's contributions, I would rather have a chance to listen to
    more people one one tape.
    
    Steve Sherman Night Shade
    
    I like this quite alot. It's not the sort of thing I'd buy, but I found
    it grew on me with repeated listenings. I thought the drum programming
    was excellent. Did you program it using the keyboard or the TR505 'pads' ?
    I liked the variety in the song and thought it was really well done.
    Hearing the difference between this track and the later contribution
    makes me realise how badly I need a reverb. One of my favourites.
    
    
    Richard Machin.
    
    I am somewhat biased on this one since I helped Richard record it and
    did the drum programming. I don't think it sounds like a Kurzweil demo
    piece and I like it. It's not how it would have turned out had we been
    doing it for ourselves without the restrictions imposed by the person who
    'commisioned' it. The only change I would make to the bit's I was 
    responsable for, would be to put some more strings in a different sterio
    position over the 'pad in the middle' - just to fill it out a bit more.
    We ran out of time.    
    
    Andrew Norton Infatuation.
    
    I still like this. It needs some reverb. It's exactly how I wanted it -
    except the guitar is crap at the beginning and too loud during the first
    verse. This is due to me being a crap guitarist! The keyboards are not
    out of tune and it is all quantised so it is not 'sloppy'. I'm not sure
    what Karl was reffering to when he mentioned my production values. 
    
    The piece is not experimental and is not meant to be. It's meant to be
    a simple piece of danceable/disposeable pop. The lyrics are serious,
    meaningful and kryptic. They are not meant to be understood by anyone
    but me. I'm not a preacher.

    Paul Kent

    Even though Paul hasn't got a track on this tape, I'm sure I would like
    it best.
    Thats because I'm a creep :-]

    
    Dan Eaton. Is it love.
    
    I think this is the best song on the tape. Did you write it ? I hated the
    lyrics because I hate religion - but then I don't listen to lyrics anyway.
    Even though I hate religion I thought it was quite a moving song. Well
    performed and tastefull. I didn't like the mix in places and thought the
    sound was too thin and 'trebly' - but then I have bad production values :-}
    I wish I could write a song like this.


               Out In the Dessert.
    
    
    I didn't really like the style of this, but it is quite catchy. I thought
    it was very well done. One of those tunes you hate but like. I thought it
    built up the mood a treat.

    Karl Moeller. Agua Caliente.

    I sort of like this. It all sounds very professional but still a bit
    self indulgant for my tastes. 
    
    Dave Bottom. Pay Day.

    I didn't like this much due to the song. I just don't like the 3 chord
    boogie sort of song. I liked the guitar leads and the recording was fine.
    just not my style of song
    
                 Tried so Hard.
    
    I liked this one better. It sounded a bit free-bird ish to me. It went
    on a bit too long for me and I didn't like the link bit. I just like the
    lead guitar bits really.

    Rik Sawyer Comfortable Slaves
    
    I liked this. I liked the lyrics and the voice and the simplicity.
    You ought to by your own drum machine though.
   
    		spags
    
    Nothing special. I liked it, but it's just a jam really.

    		Periwinkle
    
    I didn't like this one much at first, but it grew on me quite a bit. I think
    the atmosphere is great. The percussion is great. The monotone drone is
    good. I liked the simplicity, but the guitar just gets boring after the
    first four or five minutes.

    Steve Sherman  Tantara
    
    I liked this one for the same reasons as I liked night shade. The MV2
    makes ALL the difference. I thought the drum programming was excellent
    again. Another one of my favourites. I didn't care for the shades of
    Genesis much.
    
    Tom Benson  Bad Dog
    
    Superb quality recording. I didn't like it much as a song but I did
    think it was generally excellent. The production of both this and boingers
    has to be the best on the tape considering the equipment used. I like 
    short songs.    
  
    
    		Boingers.
    
    I didn't like the song much, but thought the components were excellent.
    I liked the fun side of it and thought the soloing in the middle was
    excellent. The whole song was really tight and well done.
    
    
    Synergy. I'll love you forever.

    I hated this but found myself singing it to myself. I think it's really
    corny ( is that a UK ism ?), a bit calculated - especially the lead guitar
    ( I did like the lead but thought it was abit clinical compared to say
    Rik Sawyer ). I didn't like the style of the female vocal much BUT -
    I can't fault it really. My wife liked this one and once it get's in 
    your head then AHGGGGGGHHHH.
    
    Anonymous. 
    
    Actually, this is my favouite to listen to. The production is of course
    superb, but no less than I'd expect given the facilities. I thought I'd
    hate it beacuse it's so pretentious the way it was calculated. But there
    you go ! So will the masked person reveal themselves or was it just a
    power surge in somebodys computer ?   
    
    Tom Janzen.
    
    This is where I switch the tape off. I find this unlistenable. I supose
    I'm just un-cultured.
    
    Event Horizon.
    
    I've listened to this twice, and just find it boring. I think it's
    unfair to critisize it due to an expectation from the liner notes.
    would people have said the same if the liner notes had said DX7, Casio CZ1 ?
    I find the three note progression a bit unemaginative, the textures of
    the layered synths not very exciting, the timing inaccurate and the song
    too long. Apart from that it's OK.

    Thanks to Dave B. for the tape
    
    
    Bring on the next reviewer.    
               

    

    Chicken Shack??? My I thought I was the only person alive that
    remembered them! I used to have an album that was called "Ok Ken"
    I think....good band....my old high school roots and all that...
    Christie McVie's roots too...

    
    
    Dave this is where I make you really sick. I once spent a
    summer  playing Baritone for a blues soul band  and we
    did a gig at Halifax town hall supporting Chicken Shack and 
    Christine Perfect as she was called then was still with them at this stage. 
                      
    And Guess what she was playing a Farfisa !!! and remember that
    miniskirts were the fashion of the day and that Farfisa's dont have  
    a front and she was sitting down and       !�!!!```\\\               
                                                                         
    						Paul.                    
                                                                         
    			I don't remember any forks in the Farfisa though.                                                 
    
    
    
      
       

Finally -

   Here are my comments on the tape after all these years.  I have tried
   to create categories for each individual aspect of the recording.
   Each category is rated with a number, as follows:

     5 - Excellent
     4 - Good
     3 - Okay (aka average)
     2 - Passable, but ...
     1 - GAK!
     0 - Not applicable

   General commentary follows each rating table. 

   I have tried to be as objective as possible, but of course we all know
   this is not entirely possible.  It seems that in a number of cases, I
   have attempted to tell people how to rewrite or re-perform their
   music.  This is equivalent to the blind leading the blind (or in some
   cases, the sighted!), so please take no offense. 

With that, here goes ... 

GENERAL COMMENTARY

   Like most others who have experienced earlier COMMUSIC offerings, I
   found the recording quality of this tape to be a pleasant change
   (i.e., overall noise levels are quite tolerable for a change).  Good
   job, Mr. Blickstein. 

   Musically, submissions seemed to be a bit more eclectic that former
   tapes, which was surprising (to me, at least).  I keep waiting for the
   next piece that will come along (after Alphaville and Burning Passion)
   and really knock me out of my seat - it's not on this tape. 

   Looking back on it, if I would have written these tunes, I'm sure I
   would not have been as critical about them as I have been about these.

   Now, for the individual roas - er, comments. 


PETER LAQUERRE

   RECORDING
	Mix: 3	  EQ: 3	  FX: 0	  Noise: 2

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 2.5   Rhythm: 0	FX: 0

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	3  Synth: 2  Piano: 0  Percussion: 0  Vocal: 4.5

   PERSONAL
	Style: 3  Lyrics: 4


   This is normally not the style of music I like, but it is very easy to
   listen to.  I can't quite figure out why you chose the subject matter
   that you did for the tunes, but at least the lyrics were something to
   ponder, if nothing else. 

   Musically, the pieces remind me of earlier Crosby, Stills (etc)
   pieces, with a twist of James Taylor thrown in for grins.  I enjoyed
   the acoustic guitar, which was not overdone in the least.  The synth
   stuff could have used some work.  You did a nice job with the
   equipment you had. 

   I really enjoyed the vocal work.  The delivery was tight, and the
   harmonies and intonation were very well done - among the best on this
   tape. 

   Per song commentary follows: 

   OH AND IT SEEMS LIKE A LONG TIME

     Nice - shades of CSN & JT.

   MY NAME'S MATTHEW

     I would like to have seen this song develop a bit more and
     have a definite cycle and ending.  (Now I'm telling you how to
     write your music, right?)  A definite chorus /verse structure
     is what I expected. Nevertheless, very enjoyable. 

   ANTENNA MAN LIKE ME

     The subject is certainly different, as are the chord
     progressions used in this song.  I would try to make the lead
     guitar line flow a bit more - it seemed a bit choppy to me. 

   EVERYTHING WOULD BE ALL RIGHT

     Again, the chord progressions were an interesting divergence
     from what I expected.  Timing was a bit strange at the
     beginning of the piece.  The synth lead was a basically nice,
     but I found it to be a bit tense, in that phrasing was
     strained (ie, not smooth).  The pitch bends and portamento
     were (opinion here - no flames) awful. 

     Of course, I remember when I got my 1st ARP, and realized what
     great fun pitch bend and portamento were ... gee, I guess your
     stuff wasn't really THAT bad.  8-) 

   Equipment Suggestions: FX unit, better multi-track tape, drum box
   (which you have already, correct?). 


STEVE SHERMAN

   RECORDING
	Mix: 3   EQ: 3	  FX: 0	  Noise: 3

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 3+  Rhythm: 3	FX: 0

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	0  Synth: 3  Piano: 0  Percussion: 0  Vocal: 0

   PERSONAL
	Style: 3-  Lyrics: 0


   This was basically a very listenable piece.  Given the mixer (or lack
   thereof), I suppose that my mix rating is a bit harsh.  There were a
   few obvious timing errors in the lead that I thought should not have
   been there, especially if you sequenced the entire piece. Quantization
   is a wonderful thing... 

   Enough nit picking.  The synth textures went together very well.  I,
   too, would like to hear this redone with a MIDIverb - especially for
   the chromatic progression ... use a  B I G  wet room for that one. The
   drum programming was repetetive, but the superimposed 3 stuff was
   nice. 

   Equipment suggestions: use the MIDIverb next time !!!!! 


RICHARD MACHIN

   RECORDING
	Mix: 3.5  EQ: 3	  FX: 0	  Noise: 3

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 3   Rhythm: 3	FX: 0

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	0  Synth: 3  Piano: 4  Percussion: 0  Vocal: 0

   PERSONAL
	Style: 3  Lyrics: 0


   Again, the darn synth leads seem strained to me - like they don't feel
   comfortable yet.  I like the piano musing.  The drum programming is
   interesting as well, although a few variations on the basic beat in a
   section would make the rhythm come alive (eg, an open hihat every
   other phrase or a double bass beat). 

   Upon hearing the opening percussion, I was hoping that the piece would
   develop a bit more - but since it was an accompaniment to a dance, I
   suppose you wouldn't want to wind the dancer right off the bat.  8-) 

   I guess I really don't have a lot to say about it other than that.  It
   was not my favorite piece on the tape, but it certainly was not a
   fast-forward. 

   Equipment Suggestions: as always, use some reverb!


ANDREW NORTON

   RECORDING
	Mix: 3	  EQ: 3	  FX: 0	  Noise: 3

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 2.5   Rhythm: 3-  FX: 0

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	3  Synth: 3+  Piano: 0  Percussion: 0  Vocal: 2-

   PERSONAL
	Style: 2  Lyrics: 1

   There certainly is a lot of "intricate" (for lack of a better word)
   synth stuff going on in the background.  This made this piece at least
   listenable for me.  I don't care much for funky tunes. 

   I liked the way the low blats were "answered" by the higher pitch-bent
   stuff after the vocals were complete.  The bass line and the
   percussion fit well together.  The "chunka-chunka" guitar at the end
   of the piece was standard for this kind of tune, and fit in like I
   expected it to.  It's evident that you're a pretty good programmer. I
   can't comment on your chops since I really don't know what was
   sequenced and what was not. 

   Lyrics?  Vocals?  I'm not into "rag on the government" topics.  I've
   just about heard all I can stomach of that school.  The vocal
   intonation, I'm sorry to say, was just not very good.  If the singer
   would have at least remained on pitch, it would have helped. 

   Equipment Suggestions: I wish you had a reverb, too.


DAN EATON

   RECORDING
	Mix: 2	  EQ: 2	  FX: 0	  Noise: 2

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 3  Rhythm: 0	FX: 0

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	0  Synth: 3  Piano: 3  Percussion: 0  Vocal: 4.5

   PERSONAL
	Style: 4  Lyrics: 5 (surprise)


   I have to watch it here, or I may lose a good friend.  8-)  Since we
   are of the same philosophical persuasion, I will leave the lyrical
   content alone.

   Given the goals of the recording, I think it was pretty decent,
   although I do have a few negative comments (don't I always?). The mix
   definitely needs some rework.  The vocals, while very well done, were
   much too heavy for the music.  The percussion and bass lines need to
   have more presence.  EQ-wise, the submission was quite tinny.  I
   assume that you have figured out why by now. 

   It is obvious that these pieces were well rehearsed, as the different
   movements within the two pieces fit together well.  I would like to
   have seen "Out In The Desert" develop even more musically, both in
   terms of melody/counter-melody/counter-counter-melody and in texture
   layering.  I suppose that was not possible given the equipment on
   hand, but it would have been nice to hear a full "orchestra" at the
   end of the piece, with hi strings/woodwinds carrying the melody, and
   lo strings/French horns carrying the counter-melody.

   Once again, I find myself telling someone how to write their music.
   Pardon my indiscretion. 

   Equipment Suggestions: find something you like and stick with it long
   enough to become proficient with it.  8-) 


KARL MOELLER

   RECORDING
	Mix: 5	  EQ: 5	  FX: 0	  Noise: 5

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 4  Rhythm: 4	FX: 0

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	0  Synth: 5  Piano: 5  Percussion: 4  Vocal: 0

   PERSONAL
	Style: 4  Lyrics: 0

   This was one of my favorite pieces on the album.  Since I have heard
   Karl's stuff before, and since we (electronically) kind of know each
   other, I will be a bit more open with my comments on this piece. 

   Generally, I thought the piece was very well done.  The one thing that
   did annoy me was that it spun me up, but gave me no place to go - it
   never fully developed (in my opinion, anyway).  I kept waiting for a
   monster Larry Carlton type lead line that never came; I expected the
   middle of the piece to really open up and fly (which it never quite
   did). 

   As you can tell from my "ratings", I really like your style, Karl. But
   there were a few OBVIOUS thumb stubs that stuck out, which surprised
   me.  The other pieces I've heard you do were so squeaky clean that
   these nits caught me off guard.  ("Alphaville" comes to mind here.)  I
   hope you're not getting caught up in the "too busy programming to be
   concerned about chops" rathole. You're much too good a player to get
   stuck there. 

   Try using just a bit more dynamics in your percussion tracks, too.  I
   was looking for a nice big bridge during a phrase end and never found
   one.  (Again, telling people how to write ...)  Do you have some
   decent cymbal samples for the EMax? 

   Equipment Suggestions: you have too many toys.  Mail the EMax to me. 
   My mailstop is @DYO.  Still breathing ...  &*}


DAVE BOTTOM

   RECORDING
	Mix: 2	  EQ: 2	  FX: 3	  Noise: 3

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 0  Rhythm: 3	FX: 3

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	4  Synth: 0  Piano: 0  Percussion: 3  Vocal: 0

   PERSONAL
	Style: 3  Lyrics: 1+


   If I remember right, there were some problems with this submission. It
   sounds like the thing was dbx'd and never got undone. 

   I don't know how hard you tried (pun intended) on these songs, but
   neither approaches the quality or tightness (for lack of a better
   word) of "Just For Kicks". 

   In general, I enjoy this stuff musically, since it's what I used to
   play and listen to most of the time.  There are very few players who
   can play decent blues any more.  Per song commentary follows:

   PAYDAY

     I can't stand the lyrics or the song (I think we used to do
     this one years ago?), but I thought that you did ok singing it.
     A few intonation problems towards the end, but given the tune,
     who cares?  

     I'm a sucker for a hot slide guitar, and this song was no
     exception.  Drum programming was just about right for this
     piece.  For a 4 hour jam, it's pretty tight.  One gripe,
     though - the sustained octave in the dual guitar stuff during
     the end of the song is kinda nasty - I would have gone down to
     the third.

   TRIED SO HARD

     Again, the lyrics just don't do much for me.

     I liked the delay on the guitar, even if it was unintentional.
     Seems like the best stuff always is, right?  Other than that,
     I don't think I would have enjoyed this piece too much. 


    
RIK SAWYER

   RECORDING
	Mix: 3	  EQ: 2+  FX: 2	  Noise: 3-

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 0  Rhythm: 2+	FX: 0

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	3+  Synth: 0  Piano: 0  Percussion: 3  Vocal: 3-

   PERSONAL
	Style: 2+  Lyrics: 1


   This series was perhaps my least favorite on the tape.  Perhaps my
   point of view was a bit slanted because I really disliked the first
   selection - I don't know. 

   Musically, they remind me of head music that we used to listen to when
   we were burning out.  Not pleasant memories.  Well, on to the per song
   commentary. 

   COMFORTABLE SLAVES

     Lyrically, I can't think of anything I'd rather NOT listen to.

     Musically, the mix was pretty muddled.  I'm just guessing, but
     I'll bet you sing a lot better straight.  After relistening to
     the piece, I guess that it achieves what you intended it to. 

   SPAGS

     The guitar tone on this one was very good.  (But, hey - even
     *I* sound good thru a Marshall ...;-)  The lead was a bit on
     the restrained side - I guess I was looking for a virtuoso
     flurry again.  Although the stuff fit together well, the bass
     was pretty boring, and even disappeared at one point; I
     couldn't tell if this was a (re)mix problem or not. 

     Drum pattern was initially interesting, but got old real fast.

   PERIWINKLE

     This was the best of the 3 pieces.  Acoustic work was nice,
     and the "ad lib" percussion was probably as well done as
     anything I've ever heard.  There was a point (twoard the end
     of the song) that the guitar began to rush and got just a bit
     ahead of the machine - not enough to really gripe about, but
     enough to make the thing sound rushed. 

     Since it doesn't take a whole lot of technique to sustain one
     note, I rated the synth/piano sections 0.  Obviously, this
     single sustained note was done very well.  After listening to
     the piece more than a few times, though, I found myself
     wanting to take a deep breath every so often. 

     I would have liked to hear the additional picking/improv that
     was on the older piece. 

     One more gripe - the low G/A tones on the guitar really
     boomed. 

   Equipment Suggestions: replace the cheeze kurl can and socks with a
   decent digital facsimile. 

    
STEVE SHERMAN

   RECORDING
	Mix: 3	  EQ: 3  FX: 3	  Noise: 3

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 3+  Rhythm: 3+	FX: 3

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	0  Synth: 3+  Piano: 0  Percussion: 3  Vocal: 0

   PERSONAL
	Style: 4  Lyrics: 0


   I really liked this piece.  Another of my favorites on the tape.  The
   counter/melodies really played well against each other.  Patch
   selection was pretty decent, and the rhythmic variation was a VERY
   pleasant surprise. 

   The initial countermelody was a bit heavy - ie, I would have liked to
   have heard it a bit more in the background, but given the mixer, that
   is/was obviously not possible.  There was one point in the middle of
   the song where the flow becomes hard to follow, and the melody (aka
   horn patch) seemed to miss the beat by just a fraction of a second. 

   BTW - it *IS* nice to play while crusing ... 


TOM BENSON 

   RECORDING
	Mix: 3+	  EQ: 3   FX: 3	  Noise: 3+

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 0  Rhythm: 2	FX: 0

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	3+  Synth: 0  Piano: 0  Percussion: 3  Vocal: 2

   PERSONAL
	Style: 2+  Lyrics: 1


   The production of these pieces was quite clean - perhaps as clean as
   anything on the tape.  There just seemed to be something missing that
   I can't put my finger on. 

   Per song commentary:

   BAD DOG

     This was certainly different than anything else on the tape.
     If the tune itself is an indicator of the cartoon's content, I
     can't see myself letting my daughter watch it.  The laughter
     at the end of the piece was a bit too sinister for little kids
     to take.  Can't speak for older kids. 

   BOINGERS

     Personally, I didn't care much for this piece. 

     Technically, the piece was well done.  The mix/EQ/what not
     were pretty tight.  The trombone was pretty lousy (opinion,
     not flame) - it just didn't add anything to the song, Bloom
     County orchestra notwithstanding.  I thought the guitar work
     was pretty hot - a little dirty, but pretty hot. 

     I don't know how to say this nicely, so I'll just say it.  The
     lead vocals were tolerable - at least they were mostly on
     pitch.  The supporting vocal (term used loosely) was real
     weak.  Poor intonation just doesn't get it. The quality of the
     supporting voice wasn't too bad, though.  Listen more closely
     to what is being sung - ie, discipline makes a big difference.

     It also seemed that the drum programming was not up to what
     could have been done (probably due to rush mode).  Some good
     reverb would make the box itself sound much better. Patterns
     seemed pretty standard, like they were punched in without much
     attention to detail. 


SYNERGY (Daryl Gleason/Dave Blickstein)

   RECORDING
	Mix: 2+	  EQ: 2+  FX: 0	  Noise: 5

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 2+  Rhythm: 2+	FX: 0

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	4  Synth: 3-  Piano: 0  Percussion: 3  Vocal: 2+

   PERSONAL
	Style: 3-  Lyrics: 1


   This piece has some pretty good points - and some pretty bad ones as
   well.  I am being intentionally harsh on the mix/EQ ratings, since
   this was direct to Beta.  The song was acoustically very flat.  The
   keyboard programming would have sounded very different if patch
   layering would have been utilized.  A reverb would have helped some,
   too. 

   Lyrically, the piece is contrived and forced.  A personal pet peeve is
   words/rhymes that are unnatural.  Better flow for the entire vocal
   delivery would be most helpful.  Enunciation was ok, but could have
   been better.  Daryl's intonation was ok, as was the harmony section
   intonation - but Kristy's really broke down.  I guess this was due to
   the learning experience.  I'll say it again - use your ear and LISTEN.
   Vocal phrasing (aka, breathing) was really strained as well. 

   The guitar rhythm/lead was the strongest part of the piece.  Some very
   nice hot licks were played.  It really didn't seem to fit with the
   rest of the piece, though.  It kind of came in, jammed, and then
   totally disappeared.  Another reason for the mix rating.  Anyway, nice
   guitar work, Dave. 

   I didn't really care for the drum programming in this piece. I guess
   I'm not very impressed with the sound of the RZ-1.

   Equipment Suggestions: reverb/FX unit ASAP 


ANONYMOUS (but we now know who)

   RECORDING
	Mix: 5	  EQ: 5  FX: 5	  Noise: 5

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 4   Rhythm: 4	FX: 4

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	0  Synth: 0  Piano: 0  Percussion: 0  Vocal: 0

   PERSONAL
	Style: 3+  Lyrics: 0

   Before my commentary, let me say that since this piece was entirely
   sequenced, and was written in a somewhat unorthodox fashion, all
   proficieny ratings are 0.  I have no idea how this person plays, as I
   have never heard any previous works. 

   I have to say that the synth work in the piece is exquisite.  The
   combinations of textures and rhythms are very, very nice. I did not
   find the piece as interesting musically as I did technically, but
   still think it is quite unique.  Since I have forgotten most of my
   classical composition techniques, the technical reasoning behind
   the piece is way over my head. 

   My only gripe about the piece is that the horns at the end seemed
   "pasted on" - kind of as an afterthought.  The rest of the piece had
   some sort of flow to it, but the horns just kind of showed up. A
   smoother transition would have been more effective. 

   The ending of the piece was rather abrupt, and left me hanging (as a
   listener).  Perhaps there is some algorithmic way to arrive back
   somewhere close to where you started.  Otherwise, the poor listener is
   lost in the Mirkwood forest (oh no! not the Orcs again) ... 

   This is also a very good example of how to properly use effects.  Good
   show, old man. 


TOM JANZEN

   I realize that some may consider this blasphemy, but I really liked
   this piece.  I refuse to even try to rate it like the others, since it
   is quite unorthodox. 

   The recording itself is very noisy - this is my only major complaint
   about the whole piece.  A good quality recording would have been
   highly preferable to all the "sssssssssss".  Placement on the tape may
   have contributed to some of this, since the previous selection was
   squeaky clean. 

   My only other gripe (and this may have been intentional on Tom's part,
   as I don't begin to admit to understanding the piece yet) is that the
   piano was insufferably out of tune.  I don't mind strange tonality, as
   long as there is some order to it. 

   I think would like to hear another submission of this kind on a future
   tape, as long as the recording is clean. 

   And, while I'm asking, I would like to hear Tom do a traditional
   rendering of this piece on a well-tuned Steinway grand, so we can all
   see how good he really is. 


EVENT HORIZON (Bill Yerazunis)

   RECORDING
	Mix: 2	  EQ: 2  FX: 0	  Noise: 2

   PROGRAMMING
	Synth: 2-  Rhythm: 3-	FX: 0

   PROFICIENCY
	Guitar:	0  Synth: 2  Piano: 0  Percussion: 0  Vocal: 0

   PERSONAL
	Style: 2  Lyrics: 0


   This piece seemed to be an aimless instrumental, not really starting
   anywhere and not really stopping anywhere.  Its repetitive nature
   became annoying the longer I listened to it.  Since there was really
   no goal stated for the piece, it's hard for me to determine what is
   being said. 

   The patch layering is ok, but that's about it.  There were no textures
   that I considered striking or unusual. 

   The one thing that did seem to jump out at me is that these are a
   bunch of fellows who are very much into sequencing and programming,
   and have forgotten about their chops and ear training along the way.
   Some of the timing errors in this piece really glare, and seem to be
   due simply to a neglected technique. 

   An ESQ WAS used, though - so I guess the piece can't be all bad. 

    re: .35 re: Payday...last I knew I wrote it so you probably didn't perform
    it years ago.. :-)

    re: slide...I'm considering submitting a new version of it done with a
    real band in an 8 track studio that blows this away (for CMIV). Words
    were reworked, dual leads taken out completely, rhythm is fixed, slide
    is constant :-) ie: played throught the entire song (another band that
    can't play their stuff live!), harmonica added...etc. Vocals are
    better. Since my 707 doesn't have a Ray Corliss mode, the drums on this
    are vastly superior. 
    
    No this doesn't have the dbx problem CMII did...I think that
    eventually got fixed. However, I've been having problems with the
    last two tapes as both are excessively dominated by high end...is
    this a failure mode for cassette decks?...my pioneer is a bit old...this
    tape sounded fine on my deck but once copied seemed to be a bit
    overly bright...
                           
    RE: echo...yeah it just sort of happened but once it did it was very
    intentional...this may be redone in Len's studio for a high-fi version
    and drums with that drummer's touch...if I ever get to Mass for
    a session...it may be redone by the band I used for the rework of
    Payday..The LA East R&B band..catch us at winterjam if everything
    works out ok.
                            
    dave
    
    ps: is there a Commusic IV?

    re: .36
    
>   Is there a Commusic IV?
    
    So far I have one submission.  Which is actually just something
    that got accidentally left out of Commusic III.
    
    There will be a Commusic IV only if you guys send me the material
    for it.  So unless you want Commusic IV to be "The Collected Works
    of Dave Blickstein", better start sending me some stuff.
    
    	db
    
    p.s. .36 really should've gone in the "artists strike back note"