Downloads
Novi Studio (1996-Present)
The Novi studio was all digital right from the start. It began with a crude
computer setup and early versions of Cakewalk. Later that was replaced by a
Roland VS-1880. Eventually the computer was upgraded to a Mac G4 and the
software of choice became Logic Pro.
121normal Cutting Room Floor (2007)
These tracks were cut from the final release of 121normal. "Boston Blue"
was a remake of a tune first recorded in 1986. It was simply nowhere close to
finished in time and sylistically didn't really fit with the rest of the record.
"Say It Once" was never really intended for the record as the material consisted
mostly of Apple Loops. I added some Stick and audio samples later on but always
considered it more of a trifle than anything else.
Love and Plutonium Soundtrack (2005)
Cuts from the soundtrack of the film Love and Plutonium produced by
local filmmakers Jeff Priskorn and Jackquie Floyd. "Hard Times" was named for
one of the film trailers that the music first appeared in. Both "Hard Times"
and "Lookin Good At Eight" were later enhanced and remixed for inclusion on the
"121normal" CD. The remaining tracks were incidental mood pieces used in short
clips.
Home Improvs (2003)
A practice session with the intention of recording some demo material.
The first piece was simply an untitled soundscape using Stick, MIDI Stick,
and the Echoplex Digital Pro. The piece was later re-recorded and titled
"The Wailing of the Damned" for the "121normal" release. The second piece
was recorded using Stick and loops (no MIDI or rhythm tracks). The recording
was started after the parts were already captured in the looper so you miss
the buildup.
Normal Street and Allen Park (1986-1995)
When the studio returned to its original location in the mid to late 80s and
then later to Allen Park, it was upgraded to four track cassette. The Audio
Technica ATRMX64 was a wonderful sounding 4-track cassette recorder with a
6-channel mixer. Many hours of recording were done on this deck.
On Names and Faces (1987)
The only official tape completed on the 4-track machine. "The Calling" and
"Reflections" were remakes from tunes from the "Fame and Vision" cassette
while "Boston Blue" and "Farrago" were both new. In addition to the usual
synth and guitar tracks, several tracks from this tape also featured some
tenor saxophone work.
Unreleased (1986)
Recorded on electric guitar and Roland Juno-60 synthesizer. The track
was named because, after the music was recorded, there was an audio track
added that consisted of random recordings from an episode of "The Saint"
television show that starred Roger Moore.
Normal and Pearl Street (1984-1985)
The original Normal Street studio (and later the Pearl Street studio) consisted
of two stereo cassette decks where one channel was used for bouncing and the
other for recording new tracks. These downloads are only a very small sampling
of the recordings made in those studios. Most of the others were either
unfinished or of too poor a quality to even consider putting up.
Various News, Olds, and Redos (1985)
The last tape from the dual cassette studio was mostly remakes of older tunes
with a scattering of new pieces. Most of the new pieces were backing tracks
that were supposed to eventually have vocals added and were never finished.
"UTC" was remade from scratch for this tape and turned out sounding just a
bit better overall and also contained some different audio content.
Another Fool (1984)
The third of the 1984 tapes. This tape saw the addition of a real drum
machine as well as vocal tracks (although you won't be hearing any singing
here). "Like Glass" was a simple mix of lush synthesizer and compressed
electric guitar. "UTC" was written around a tape made off a short wave radio
of a continuous announcement of coordinate universal time (or UTC).
Fame and Vision (1984)
The "synth" tape. These tunes were recorded in the Pearl Street studio
after the acquisition of a Roland Juno-60 synthesizer. In addition to the
synth layers, the tunes still contained electric and acoustic guitar tracks.
"Reflections" saw an additional rhythm track created using the noise generator
and arpeggiator on the Juno-60. That was also the first track to see the
addition of audio samples. "After The Fall" also benefited from added audio
in the form of an old Glenn Miller recording at the beginning.
Moods for the Guitar (1984)
The very first tape completed in the original studio consisting of two
stereo cassette recorders. All of the music on this tape was done on heavily
processed electric and acoustic guitars along with some e-bow work.