Over the years I have spent building a life in music, I am frequently asked about production values, and the importance of the latest technology.
As important as these questions may be, what lies at the heart of a great record for me is a great song.
Production values changed rapidly through the heady days of the seventies & eighties as the scope of taping to 8 track, then 16 & 24 track upped the ante of possibilities.
Soon to follow was the compact disc & the first steps to digital recording to follow.
Each of these mini - periods captured their own atmosphere of the times dictated by the recording techniques. (eg; mid – 70’s heavy compression, mid – 80’s gated snares) But what truly leaps out of those grooves and across the decades to the new millennium? Songs that speak to the human spirit, resonating truth, in the moment, captivating then as now.
In recent times I found myself revisiting my old vinyl collection and it hit me like a whole new experience. The world has certainly changed in unimaginable ways since the days when 45 revolutions-per-minute ruled the turntables. And for us as individuals our lives evolve so to immerse myself again in the music that shaped my own youth, I could appreciate the impact it made in a whole new light.
Skill and great production are wonderful things to support the song.
How does the viewer understand the full picture without the right frame?
Great records speak to us outside of time.
Think of Songs In The Key of Life, “Heroes”, Blue, Rumours, Histoire de Melody Nelson, Transformer, Exodus. Forty years old and counting.
And from Australian shores bringing our voices to the world; Living In The Seventies, Born Sandy Devotional, Desperate, Circus Animals, Place Without A Postcard, Woodface, Listen Like Thieves. We’re still listening, finding new meaning and will undoubtably be tuning in for generations to come.
Finding myself diving into deeper grooves got me reflecting on how certain records that affected me in the formative years of life can take on another personal meaning at a later stage of life. And through that experience I started to put those thoughts down in song almost like an old conversation picked up again to be continued. The dialogue pushed out further with the inclusion of some of the key musicians I have connected with over the years.
I have been very fortunate to work with a broad range of incredible artists all up and down the ladder of the music industry to find a connection through a shared love of timeless songs and recording.
It has given me the opportunity through hard work to learn how to shape one’s imagination into a shared musical vision.
Amazingly as I presented each new song in the studio, the instant reactions were reaching right into the spirit of where I hoped this music could go.
As tracks started to get laid down quickly, I could hear the dialogue bouncing around the walls.
The result is my new album, The Memory Keys.
I was reading recently an industry article explaining how vinyl sales in the U.K have surpassed downloads for the first time.
This is very encouraging to musicians everywhere that there remains a mass audience out there that understand the inherit value of music. The wheels of time continue to turn, as does the turntable at 33 1/3 RPM.
Dallas Cosmas Links:
WEBSITE: http://prototypemusique.com/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/PrototypeMusiq
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/prototype-musique