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Q. What is it? A . A new collection of recordings made in January and February, 2002 of classic, older Synergy pieces from the 1970s and 1980s, newly performed on digital synthesizers and recorded digitally. (see below for the titles). These are completely new recordings and performances, not repackaging or remastering of the original recordings from up to 29 years ago. Q. How did this come about? Why even bother at this late date? A. This collection happened as a byproduct of preparations for a live Synergy appearance at the Alfa-Centauri Electronic Music Festival, Bussum, the Netherlands in March, 2002. After reconstructing the original analog patches on turn of the 21st century digital hardware and software synthesizers and relearning the arrangements, it became obvious that making recordings of the completed pieces would be a logical next step. At first I thought that I might make new recordings in very limited numbers for friends and associates who had been involved with the first recordings. Then the possibility of recording the live performance at Alfa-Centauri was explored. But the uncertainties of making a complete collection from a single live show is asking for trouble. Instead, this collection was recorded under somewhat more controlled conditions in the studio in the weeks before the festival. Enough people expressed interest that it made sense to put it into at least limited release. Q. Where can I get a copy? A. The best way to get a copy right now, or hear some online excerpts of the music, is to go straight to the Artist Shop or CD Baby in North America or Voiceprint Recordings for Europe, Asia and elsewhere. Copies will be available at any Tony Levin Band shows and Nektar shows where I am playing. more info... (The first copies were sold at the Alfa Centauri festival in Europe, March 2002. Copies are available at all of the Tony Levin Band shows and were sold at the NEARfest and other Nektar reunion shows in 2002 and 2003). Q. Does it still sound like Synergy? A. I think so. We'll have some soundclips available in the near future. You'll have to be the judge. I can say that I got to fix a couple of arrangement things that I never liked; the sounds are a lot more 'present' because that scrim of hiss and non-linearity that analog tape has is eliminated; and the richness of the newer instrument voices make some of the old patches sound mighty primitive. That even goes for the tracks from Metropolitan Suite which had some early digital synths (some with only 8 bit resolution!) and a very early Sony digital 3324 multitrack recording and F1 mixdown machine. Those were the early days of digital recording with inadequate converters and huge amounts of error concealment that gave digital a bad name back then. These new tapeless recordings with much improved converters and some direct from digital sounds are dramatically different from what was available 15 years ago. I did my best to adhere to the general feel of the original recordings of each piece and not go nuts with a complete re-arrangement. If I was going to spend the time doing that, I might as well use the time for writing new material.
Artist: Larry
Fast/SYNERGY Description: New
performances, new recordings of classic Synergy electronic
music pieces. Digital synthesizers, digital recordings. Titles: [1] RELAY
BREAKDOWN (6:50) [2] WARRIORS
(12:43) [3] S-SCAPE
(6:10) [4] ORBIT 5
(0:58) [6] FLIGHT OF
THE LOOKING GLASS (3:36) Metropolitan Suite
(abridged) [10] INTO THE
ABYSS (8:16) total time 56:14 Production & Engineering, Performance and Programming by Larry Fast for SYNERGY® Electronic Music, Inc. All compositions written by Larry Fast and published by Semiconductor Music Publishing (ASCAP) Most tracks were recorded January 2 through February 12, 2002 at the Synergy Studio on the edge of the Great Swamp, Morris County, New Jersey. "Flight of the Looking Glass" was recorded live on tour, May 2000.
Antique Edison voltmeter and early 20th Century electrical catalog images from Larry Fast's technology artifacts collection. Digital photography, photo manipulations and design by LF. Additional information about Synergy is available at http://synergy-emusic.com
THIRD CONTACT, PO Box
425, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07933, USA ® & © 2002 Synergy® Electronic Music, Inc. SYNERGY® is a
registered US trademark used by permission of Synergy®
Electronic Music, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized
duplication is a violation of applicable laws. |
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©2002-2003 Synergy® Electronic Music, Inc. This page was last updated on December 7, 2003 |
