Ministry of Sound refurbishment
Recently refurbished, the main room at the UK’s iconic Ministry of Sound is now home to a KV2 Audio sound system designed by Technical and Production Manager Oscar Zammit and integration specialist, Louis Jemmott.
Get Smart
Feelings were running high around the table. Present were some important voices representing contrasting – and sometimes diametrically opposing – views on education in pro audio. What it was, who needed it, where they should get it, what it should cost.
That was in the early 1990s and I’m not convinced we’ve made progress on answering any of those questions.
Formats Lost: Theorem
There’s a man in Dallas who reckons that a collection of records isn’t complete without eight-track cartridge releases to sit alongside vinyl, cassette, CD, DVD, concert programmes and other music memorabilia. In fact, he’s setting up a museum specifically to celebrate the eight-track format…
And he makes a very a valid point – it’s not the best recordings that get the collectors excited, it’s the rare releases...
Auto Destruct
Some say a wedding isn’t a wedding without a fight. In some communities, it’s the highlight of the day.
I’ve never actually seen a wedding brawl myself, but I had a ringside seat at a wedding reception that saw music producers and musicians quietly alligning themselves against the ‘non musicians’ present. The tension stayed beneath the surface but it was tangible.
Refining Old Gold
London, Paris, New York, Munich; everyone listen to the same pop music.
I remember a television interview with Jeff Beck from a few years ago, when he described a generation of rock guitarists who were ‘trying to play the same guitar solo’. That’s one of the problems that comes with heroes – but heroes set benchmarks and inspire achievement. In contrast, Simon Cowell’s X Factor ‘talent show’ places musical ambition low on its agenda...
Moore’s Law Enforcement
Last week, in the run-up to his sixth birthday, my son asked me an awkward question – what shape is the internet? With a gift for finding the existential fault lines between the conceptual and the tangible, his questions regularly leave me dithering and exasperated. But the question is an intriguing one and deserves thought...
Radioactivity
I absolutely love radio. The Buggles’ wry dismissal aside, radio was never going to be a casualty of the home video recording ‘star’ of the late 1970s.
We could talk about how highstreet video rental subsequently seemed poised to bring down the curtain on cinema. Or how drum machines rattled the death knell of drummers. Or any colour you like being ‘the new black’. But let’s stay tuned to the radio…