October 27th – Santana, when they first hit the
scene with their album Abraxas
impressed me a lot. Their use of Latin American instruments and rhythms as well
as standout percussion and guitar work make it, for me, an absolute must in the
collection; if you aint got it, get it.
There’s a predilection by sound engineers (there’s a
modern-day oxymoron) these days to come into a venue armed with a tablet (white-gloves-work
I believe they call it) and enough white/pink/black noise to dislodge fillings
and my question (to myself) is always;
Why?
I mean, what’s wrong with playing music through the system to
get a balance. That’s what it’s going to be used for; the sending of sounds
created on stage by the performers into the audience for their delectation and
enjoyment or the playing of a backing track to augment the performance. Is this
just another branch of the technical trouser rolling that more and more folk in
the entertainment industry are dabbling in these days? A way of saying;
Look at me, I’m a
technical whizz. I can operate all this complicated electronics stuff because
I’ve got a degree in sound…and you? You haven’t, therefore this makes me
indispensible.
Got news for you, pal. The graveyards are FULL of
indispensible people. There was a time when a sound engineer relied on his/her
hearing and feel, not only for the music about to be played but for the musicians
and the room itself. Seems not anymore. Now we rely on technology to do it all
for us (means we can put the blame elsewhere when it all goes tits) much the same
way that lighting has gone. Jesus, I’m a miserable old sod today…sorry. Back to
Santana.
For those in the sound business who still mix and balance
manually/musically for the space’ aural qualities and the music, can I recommend
using the track Se A Cabo off’f the Abraxas album as the definitive rule on
whether you’ve got the dynamics and distribution from desk thro’ speakers just
right? Got it all that track, and it’s a bloody good listen onto the bargain;
so much nicer than fuckin’ pink noise, trust me, and the resident crew will
thank you for it too so, good result all round.
Preceding Santana and helping introduce the West to the joys
of Latin rhythms was a guy who went by the racy name of Xavier Cugat. Got a
sexy ring to it, no? Mr. Cugat, who died this day in 1990, was probably the
foremost bandleader in the gradual infiltration of Latin into mainstream musical
taste and that’s a feat worthy of comment when one considers he was married
five times so it would seem had time for hardly anything else. What is it with
bandleaders? But then, maybe that kind of persona goes with the territory of someone
who started out his performing career with a band called The Gigolos. After fame beckoned he appeared as himself in a number
of movies and his artistic tendencies were well advertised (he was a cartoonist
as well as bandleader and his brother did the original cover work for the book,
The Great Gatsby) and he was
musically linked with Rita Hayworth, Fred Astaire and Esther Williams so,
moving with the great and good. His sense of style was gleaned from the divas
of the day.
I well remember doing a show back in the 90’s with a company
called Gay Sweatshop on a show named Threesomes. One section was a static
piece with three people stood on spheres U/S, beautifully lit, and they told a
story; I know, doesn’t startle the imagination into theatre-gear but trust me
it was superbly done; superb. In the cast (if memory serves) was a lady I’d
heard many times on the radio, Heather Chasen. Now there was a lady who knew
how to use a microphone; outstanding, a master-class in how to use technology
not become its slave; brilliant. The point of me name-dropping Ms. Chasen into
our conversation was that, on the day she arrived at the theatre she was
accompanied by a tanned hunk barely a third of her age who carried her two
dogs. He walked three paces behind her as she swept in all furs and
perfume…pure Hollywood
Well that entrance? This was our chap, Mr. Cugat to a ‘T’. One of his trademarks was to hold a Chihuahua New York
I’ve supplied a clip and, in case you don’t realise it,
that’s him in the white suit supposedly conducting the orchestra although, to
me, it looks like he’s after wife number six…or seven and eight…and no, it’s
not on repeat, this is cheap ‘B’ movie production values. You’ll notice that, at
no time in this clip does he come even close to breaking into sweat…nice work,
Mr. Cugat; save it for the shaggin’…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT04xzKCDus&list=PL465A8E759F860083
No comments:
Post a Comment