RE: The Curse of Knob-Twiddling

["Bailey, Jim" <JBailey@corporate.southam.ca>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Biffle [mailto:Mbiffle@svg.com]
> Sent: Friday, December 08, 2000 7:12 PM
> 
> I think antique furniture and tea cosies set a very nice 
> mood... Just come out, sit down in an easy chair, and act 
> like you're in your living room. (Of course your living room 
> may be bristling with hi-tech gear, but hey... it'll blend 
> with the homey atmosphere plus you'll have some nice tea to 
> sooth your jangled nerves.)

I've actually done something along these lines. Earlier this year I did a
solo performance as part of a now deceased improviser's series. The
furniture was more vintage than antique, both dating from about the 
thirties
or forties, and included a small armchair (that, nonetheless, weighed a
ton!), a large-ish table lamp, and an old console radio/phono (78 r.p.m.!)
that I used as an amplifier - the turntable connected to the amp with a
phono plug, so I just ran everything through a mixer and into that.
Naturally it was all in mono. Not really any looping, unless you include an
analogue delay in that category, but I was hoping that the cracked copy of
Elvis' "Love Me Tender" would skip, providing a sort of loop (but of course
it didn't).

It wasn't a totally original idea, though. I was inspired by the photo
inside Henry Cow's "Concerts" LP. I really enjoyed the experience, and 
would
recommend trying it if you want something different.

Jim Bailey