From: Level42-request @ worldmachine.com (Level42 Digest) Subject: Level42 Digest V97 #132 _ ____ _ ____ _ _ ___ // //__ // / //__ // /__// __// //__ //__ \\_/ //__ //__ // /__ D I G E S T Level42 Digest Volume 97 : Issue 132 502 subscribers Today's topics: Blow your mind (not your speakers) Steve Robson APP 97 ?? dirk.vael Vegas T-Shirts/Horns Winman42 Modes . . . matthew rice Accents/Miller Jay Tracy CD-R blanks/religion 42 DonZipf More Music Theory matthew rice New e-mail Savage42 Items in E Randall L Collins Re: Level42 Digest V97 #131 Donald Vanpraag ------------------------------ Subject: Blow your mind (not your speakers) From: steve @ redac.co.uk (Steve Robson) Date: Mon, 12 May 97 11:23:41 -0100 What ho! Very interesting, all this loudspeaker re-wiring talk. I think I tried it a while ago. All that I did was to run an extra pair of wires. one from each +ve speaker terminal, to a third speaker. That gave you the 'surround' sound (it's just the difference between the L and R channels). I remember it being called a 'Hafler' system. Sounded quite ood though. Until your landlady bangs on the door wittering that the kids are asleep but that's a different story! ..."oh I dream, of wires." (Level) best regards, Steve e-mail: steve_robson @ redac.co.uk Zuken-Redac (UK) Ltd. Tel: 0118 966 9955 (or) 0836 580066 66 Suttons Park Avenue Fax: 0118 935 2899 Reading BERKSHIRE Web: http://www.redac.co.uk RG6 1AZ UK ------------------------------ Subject: APP 97 ?? From: "dirk.vael" Date: 12 May 97 12:58:20 I'm a bit confused about this "new" APP release Since the duration of this disc is 90 minutes, it should be a 2CD, right??? Or is it a late April fool?? Polydor M12666 seems to be a weird catnr. indeedee ! M of Master Series??? If this is really not a joke, but a fine 2CD set... hmmmmm..... Should I really buy it?? Lars Ove will hear I already have a clean'n neat version of those three missing APP trax 19 bucks for something I already have is quite a lot, plus knowing a CDR costs me only $6 ;-) Let's wait for Anne Painter to hear her comments... In the mean time I'll listen to Andromeda Heights by Prefab Sprout Dirkies ------------------------------ Subject: Vegas T-Shirts/Horns From: Winman42 @ aol.com Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 09:49:30 -0400 (EDT) Hey Matt, you are correct on the 'Forever Now' horn lines. very cool. However, I don't know what my 'favorite' is, but the horns on the live version of Mike Lindups' 'The Spirit Is Free' is killer! You know, the one on the 'Guaranteed Live' video tape. I like this arrangement better than the one on the record. Forget who, but someone said that they didn't think that the members of Level 42 are religious. Well, listen to Mike Lindup's 'Changes' and you have to believe Mike does. Most of the songs are spiritual in nature, at least I think so. Speaking of whch, Byrdman did you get that tape I sent you? Dirkies, if it's not to much trouble, please let us know of all the 'house' jams with Level 42 samples. No about the great looking T-shirts that are linked to the Vegas LeveFest hat page. Jerry Rehn designed the Hats AND the T-shirts. I think he did a great job. Unfortunately, the hats could not be embroidered exactly like his original design, but the one on the page is pretty cool. Especially considering that Level 42 never offered hats as a souvenir. (at least to mu knowledge) However, The T-shirts are still awesome. I took up the job on the hats, and Jerry was to do the shirts. He became VERY busy at work, and is not able to find the time to get the shirts produced. I know a bunch of people have expressed interest in them, but unless someone else volunteers to get them made, we'll have to do without them. Any takers for this mission? Tcoy, Winston ------------------------------ Subject: Modes . . . From: matthew rice Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 13:58:39 -0600 This is a quick summary of modal scales and how to construct them. Mode White notes on Piano Scale Steps W=whole h=half Ionian (major) c to c W-W-h-W-W-W-h Dorian d to d W-h-W-W-W-h-W Phrygian e to e h-W-W-W-h-W-W Lydian f to f W-W-W-h-W-W-h Mixolydian g to g W-W-h-W-W-h-W Aeolian (minor) a to a W-h-W-W-h-W-W Locrian b to b h-W-W-h-W-W-W Locrian is seldom used, and sounds a bit weird. Rob Kadel's comments about L42 using Mixolydian mode are good. You can easily identify the mixolydian mode by listening for resolution from a major triad one-whole step below the tonic, i.e., an F-major triad (F,A,C) resolves to a G-major triad (G,B,D) instead of the more common dominant/dominant7th to tonic resolution. Kansas City Milkman is a good example of a L42 song that has this kind of resolution. ______________________________________________________________ | Matthew T. Rice | | | Graduate Research Assistant | || | | Mail Stop D462 | || | | Los Alamos National Laboratory | |||| | | Los Alamos, NM 87545 | ----/ \---- | | | -------| @ @ |------- | | phone: 505-665-3610 | -------| \__/ |------- | | fax: 505-665-3285 | ----\ /---- | | organization: EES-13 | |||| | | location: TA-3 Bldg 1516 Room 106 | || | | e-mail: mrice @ lanl.gov | || | |_____________________________________|________________________| ------------------------------ Subject: Accents/Miller From: "Jay Tracy" Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 16:41:52 -0400 (EDT) > (And Tori Amos is another one - a Carolina gal who speaks with a phony > Engish accent. Must be something in the water here!) Ummmmmm, guess again. 1) Tori is from Baltimore 2) she *doesn't* speak with a fake "Engish", or English accent. This I get form the time I met her, the times I've seen her live, and the numerous hours I have of her taped. > "There For You" on Marcus Miller's new CD (at least on the Japanese > version--is this song on the American version?)? On the Japanese version there *is* a bonus track (as with "The Sun Don't Lie"), but couldn't tell you which track it is, being that the 'other' version hasn't come out yet. "Soon to follow" was the latest date I've heard. ..jay ------------------------------ Subject: CD-R blanks/religion 42 From: DonZipf @ aol.com Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 16:50:44 -0400 (EDT) > - CD blanks went down again over here! Only $6 for a blank disc (any > brand, but I prefer Maxells now, since these are totally gold (front & > back) and do not have those ugly white stripes on the front like TDK has.) > MDs are priced just the same now. Ole TDK CD-R74 blanks are available in four different label configurations, denoted by a suffix letter. the 'totally gold' ones with no labeling whatsoever are CD-R74B (for 'blank'). >It is true that the band are not believers? This is very interesting, >I would really like to know more about this.... :/ Is the song >intended to "religiously influence" fans in any way? (some sort of a >"hidden message") ? >Also, in "Take a Look", Mark sings, "You will surely know... man made >heaven and man made hell...". Does this sustain the possibility that >Mark and co doesn't believe in heaven? That was an assumption on my part, but the vibe I've always gotten from the band is that they're from the secular, scientific, big-bang-cosmology community (as am I). That's part of their appeal to me. No, I don't think that FN is an anthem intended to recruit atheists, but it's definitely a secular cosmologist's philosophy being expressed: "I just heard the world will come to an end/in twenty thousand million years/I just heard the Big Bang with my own ears!" and "People sit and worry about the future/live your life, 'COS THE NOW IS ALL THERE IS" I think that's pretty plain. But even so, folks with devout religious beliefs, shouldn't be put off. I'm an atheist and I enjoy attending the occasional gospel concert, because IT'S GOOD MUSIC. The fact that I don't share their beliefs (in fact, many of the performers don't share those beliefs) doesn't mean that the music can't bring us together. Level 42 is good, honorable stuff - it's for everyone. Don Z. ------------------------------ Subject: More Music Theory From: matthew rice Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 15:12:58 -0600 matt rice said: >>Go back and listen to 'The Chinese Way' [ I hear many digesters >>yelling and screaming NO!!!!!!!!!!]. >> . . . >>Perhaps it was just a coincidence that their choice of musical >>scale/form matched perfectly with the theme of the song. Randall, this was meant to be sarcastic. It should be crystal clear to anyone that Mike & Boon (and even Mark for that matter) consciously included 'asian-sounding' scales & chords in this tune. If you go back and read my post again and listen to the tune carefully you will see. If you still think it's a coincidence perhaps we should talk about probability theory and randomness instead of music theory [I have a BS in statistics along with my degree in Music]. Of course Mike knows what a pentatonic scale is, and that it has an asian sound to it. randall said: >I personally don't know if the boys have had any musical training >or not. If they haven't, which is what you more or less conclude, >then it's coincidence that what they wrote out happens to fit many >musical theories. You did not read my original post very closely. I did not conclude that the members of Level 42 have not had any musical training. Go to Vince's L42 home page and read the bios for a little info on this subject (http://kumo.swcp.com/synth/level42/bios.html) Mark and Phil both have extensive formal musical training - at the Guildhall School of Music, which I believe is a special post- secondary music college of sorts in England. Mark and Boon are not formally trained. If you can, buy a copy of the definitive Level 42 biography from LOZ and read about it. I hypothesized that the music Mike wrote would probably contain more complex modulations due to his formal theory training, and that the music Mark wrote would contain fewer complex modulations. The reason I love L42 (and have for ~12 years) is that they are musically sophisticated and have built their success on superb musicianship and musical knowledge. Many of the most clever elements included in their songs are symbolic scales, chords, rhythms and other such things derived from music theory. My favorite is probably 'Hot Water' which in general is meant to sound somewhat like a train or railroad engine. Mike uses several minor 7th triads which are (not by coincidence) the same as a train whistle. Phil uses several clever 'back beats' on his snare and hi-hat which correspond to the sound of the trains wheels-- CHOO choo choo choo CHOO choo choo choo . This is clever stuff, and I don't buy the notion these ideas came from out of the air. They came from a knowledge of music and good musical training, acquired through years of practice, performance, and formal instruction. ______________________________________________________________ | Matthew T. Rice | | | Graduate Research Assistant | || | | Mail Stop D462 | || | | Los Alamos National Laboratory | |||| | | Los Alamos, NM 87545 | ----/ \---- | | | -------| @ @ |------- | | phone: 505-665-3610 | -------| \__/ |------- | | fax: 505-665-3285 | ----\ /---- | | organization: EES-13 | |||| | | location: TA-3 Bldg 1516 Room 106 | || | | e-mail: mrice @ lanl.gov | || | |_____________________________________|________________________| ------------------------------ Subject: New e-mail From: Savage42 @ aol.com Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 20:07:11 -0400 (EDT) Heh, this is dan del savio. TWIM concern, this is my new e-mail address. Heaven in my Hands ROCKS!! Got my Rush tickets today, they're playing at Garden State arts center on June 19 dan ------------------------------ Subject: Items in E From: rcol @ ix.netcom.com (Randall L Collins) Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 21:55:55 -0500 (CDT) Jason writes: >A lot of the early 42 material was in E, mainly because (my >theory here) it's easier to slap a bass in E, instead of any other >key. I can attest to that. When I had my band in England, I had a bass player who played everything in E, especially on jam sessions. I was a little bothered by this from time to time because he couldn't play (jam) in other keys well. He was a MK fan and was able to play Love Games, Mr Pink, and Dune Tune, all in E. Is it difficult to play the bass in other than E? >Stan Clarke got to slap in all keys because Chick Corea was writing in >G#Minor etc etc. Chick Corea makes good musicians better with those technically challenging compositions he writes! Zap writes: >PS- I graduated yesterday! Now all I need is a job! Congratulations, Zap! What did you get your degree in and what kind of job are you looking for? Oh, and have a nice trip. Jonathan writes: After reading your sad story, it reminded me of my sad story. I won't go into any great detail but I was divorced after getting out of the Air Force in 1987 and sold a lot of things including my stereo system and 300+ CD's, some of which were all of my L42 CD's and albums. I made sure I would sell all but my L42 CD's but it got to a point where I would say, "Well, do I keep my Level CD's without a stereo to play them on, or.... ...oh...let's say....eat?" Selling my beloved collection was one of the hardest things I had to do! I'm over all of that mess but I admit, in front of all of you digesters, that I've been VERY lazy in my pursuit of collecting all of their CD's again. Once my cash flow is flowing, I will hit a major CD outlet on the net and get everything I don't have. I'm glad your life is back on track, Jon. Do you think your girlfriend will use her bonus from next year to buy me all of the L42 CD's I need? "Go slam dunk yourself, Randall!!" Uh...ok... :) A brief note about wiring speakers out of phase. I have a strange habit of breaking down and reconnecting my stereo system once a year for no other reason than to "reinvigorate" it (don't even try to understand that logic). Anyway, on one of those occassions, I accidentally wired one of my speakers out of phase. I really thought I had done something "unique" because suddently the sound was more open, perhaps a little too open. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I figured there was something wrong with the receiver. Anyway, this went on for a few weeks and I then decided to play one of my Stereophile Test CD's. On one of the CD's, they record a dog barking in-phase and the same barking out of phase. Well, the out of phase barking sounded in-phase and the in-phase barking sounded out of phase. I knew then that one of the speakers were wired incorrectly. What an unusual effect, nonetheless. OK, everyone! Wakey, wakey! Right, then! Randall "Luckily I didn't tell him about the dirty knife!" ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V97 #131 From: Donald Vanpraag Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 20:59:56 -0700 Can anyone let me know about the details for the Vegas Levelfest? I live in driving distance of Vegas, and I'm also celebrating my third anniversary on June 21st! My wife shares my love of the band, and wants to go too. Donald Ramakers Dscout @ concentric.net