Actually, did the DVD come with a CD?Originally Posted by Reid
Actually, did the DVD come with a CD?
Was just listening to Sixteen Men of Tain. Those Synth-Axe sounds seem to be sourced from a $50 Radio Shack toy. A shame, as the compositions seem to have promise. What was he thinking??! One of the great tragedies of music, Allan's adoption of this thing.
No, first there was the DVD, later came the CD and LP.
Still available at https://www.burningshed.com/store/bi...duct/472/1986/
Wikipedia currently saying Holdsworth died today, but there's nothing else on the Internet to confirm it.
Last edited by Harbottle; 04-16-2017 at 01:38 PM. Reason: It's true
I bought Atavachron when it came out, and that's what I thought too. Between that sound and the StarTrek cover I never listened to it again. But some people like it. The Synth-Axe LOOKS like a Radio Shack toy too.
https://m.facebook.com/groups/361803...18760204913621
"Henry Cow always wanted to push itself, so sometimes we would write music that we couldn't actually play – I found that very encouraging." - Lindsay Cooper, 1998
"I have nothing to do with Endless River. Phew! This is not rocket science people, get a grip." - Roger Waters, 2014
"I'm a collector. And I've always just seemed to collect personalities." - David Bowie, 1973
RIP thread already up.
His daughter Louise reported it on his Facebook page. It's legit.
Just posted this on the RIP thread, but wanted to post it here as well:
BTW, I asked one of the guys who knew Allan best and has posted the info about the GoFundMe on FB if Allan was receiving a good portion of the proceeds from the big boxed set that is covered in another thread on PE. He said yes, Allan (and now his beneficiaries) receives a very healthy percentage. He said the guy who runs the label the set is on is a very good guy. Just wanted to pass that on for anyone who was, like me, thinking of buying the set, or who already bought it.
Well, you know how I'd feel about co-buying/sharing.....😬😬😬😬 🙄🙄🙄
That said, if it's high res it's absolutely worth the $$. Every single Holdsworth album in this box sounds better at 24/96 resolution. So before you dismiss, hear; if you've heard Blu Ray audio you'll know quality you might be looking at (like any media, hard or soft, it depends on the mastering job)....if it's well mastered and you've a decent system, youll very possibly feel and hear things you've not heard before.
High res hard media is usually priced more than CDs, so you have to decide whether or not it's worth it to you.
For me, it most certainly is....
But digital versions are NOT intended for sharing, any more than any other format...so not sure why you'd suggest it. It's no better than any file sharing. You don't want to pay a premium? Totally fine. But sharing? Please don't. Artists have a hard enough time as it is....
As for the AH box? Manifesto is on the up and up, so you can be sure that proper compensation is happening....
What I'm curious about is, you say it costs more to produce those 24/96 resolution files, and the full set of JUST those files costs $120.98. Does it cost more to produce one 24/96 digital copy of "The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever" than it does to produce one physical copy of "The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever?" Maybe it does, I don't know.
Of course, I see that Amazon charges $95.88 for MP3s of the full set, and $98.59 for a physical copy of the box set. So they are saying the cost for the customer of the PHYSICAL components of the box set alone is $2.71. Not sure I believe that -- I believe some segments of the music industry overprice digital files.
That's basically my beef, but it's not with you, it's with SOME retailers that sell digital files.
I bought the digital download of Road Games with Jack Bruce on vocals the day before I heard the bad news.
Yes, I rue the day Holdsworth discovered the Synthaxe, too. For me, it almost entirely eviscerated his music, rendering it little more than extraordinarily harmonically-sophisticated muzak. I was glad when he largely abandoned it and took up the guitar again.
That's good to know, but it's truly tragic that one of the most extraordinarily gifted musicians ever to pick up an instrument seems to have died in virtual penury. Sadly, it appears in Holdsworth's case that many of the reasons for this seem to have been self-inflicted.
Did anyone else besides Allan play the Synth Axe? It looks like a complicated beast to master. I know he was dismayed that there were so few instruments in good repair.
Lee Ritenour (soft-jazz), Gary Moore (even in some videos) - it's true that there are few examples where it appeals to a contemporary aesthetic (or modern taste period), to put it mildly.
But this also depends on the sonic choices of the times and in that style of music. It's hard (well nigh impossible actually) to find and mold a synth timbre that really lends itself to extended soloing. In old interviews, Allan emphasized that he loved the ability to shape the tone and dynamic in a way that he couldn't on guitar (he played the SynthAxe with a breath-controller), because of course, as boring or sterile we might find the (often) Oberheim lead tone that he used, it was much easier to tame and control, especially the sustain, than an electric distorted lead guitar.
Allan said once that his favorite album of all times was Cityscapes by Michael Brecker, featuring lavish string arrangements by Claus Ogerman. And, in fact, it makes sense when one likens his lead playing to the very controlled sax approach of Brecker (who later also played Oberheim synth solos with his EWI saxophone controller, btw) and the chord swells with the complex harmonies to the strings on that album.
One of the nicer and more expressive SynthAxe pieces is this one from the album Sand:
PS.: Regarding the scarcity of the instrument, it was always absurdly expensive, looked controversial to say the least even then, and had many technical problems - quite a few similarities to the (also) British manufacturer of electronic drums, Simmons.
Sometime in the 90s, the guitarist from Stone Temple Pilots found one in a pawn shop or similar and bought it for Allan to use, because he was a fan and Allan even then hadn't have enough spare money to spend for a backup one.
^^ Interesting. Thanks!
I was never bothered by the Synthaxe. While I'd always prefer to hear Allan playing an actual guitar, I thought he still came up with a ton of beautiful music regardless of the instrument he used. His solo catalog is an embarrassment of riches, as far as I'm concerned.
Right on! It's the content that matters to my ears, not the hardware.
well went ahead and grabbed the set on amazon yesterday following the news. always loved his contributions to UK and Bruford and I thankfully got to see him live a few years back in Sacramento he signed my uk album afterwards and was very cordial even though I imagine he would have preferred if I brought a solo album.
looking forward to exploring his solo work now.
You won't regret it. There's so much interesting and beautiful music there to discover. Enjoy!
Also, very cool you got him to autograph the UK album.
Glad to know I'm not alone in that regard.And actually, I thought he came up with some interesting sounds with the Synthaxe -- stuff that I thought was being done on a keyboard at first. That solo about halfway through the title track from Sand is just lovely IMO.
I thought his personal expression was greater on the guitar than the Synthaxe; more personality seemed to come through. Although I enjoyed his synth explorations, I thought the guitar was more expressive for him.
Gnish-gnosh borble wiff, shlauuffin oople tirk.
Timbre matters to me a great deal, but I was never put off by the SynthAxe sounds.
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Not such a bad tone on that track from Sand. It's a little Tomita or like a maudlin, French cafe, but it's not as bad as the Pan flute sound Klaus Schultze used in the 90s for a while.
FYI, you can buy the digital version of the box (high rez, 24/96) at the Canadian high res store ProStudioMasters.com, for $63.99. If you're in the USA it's USD; in Canada, CAD (which is odd but a Canadian friend who winters in Florida told me this was the case). So still cheaper than the hard box, if not quite as good as HDTracks, gaff a couple weeks back.
Here's the link.
John Kelman
Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
Freelance writer/photographer
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