The Beat Generation

seraph · Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2003 2:57 pm Post subject: The Beat Generation

jbenzola · Joined: Dec 11, 2003 Posts: 77 Location: NY

Ha!!! My music has been very much influenced by "The Beats". I have been reading the works of Burroughs, Kerouac, Gysin, Ginsburg, Snyder, Leroi Jones (Amira Baraka), Phillip Whalen, Lawrence Ferlinghetti,etc for many years. Their words and ideas never cease to amaze me. My newest "Portrait of the Dead" series deals with Burroughs, Gysin, and Kerouac and can be found at www.electronicscene.com A Tragedy is also (text wise) deeply indebebted to the rhythm and music of beat prosody.

Michael Chocholak · Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2003 1:41 pm Post subject:

I always saw Gyson as the light, Burroughs as the lens and Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti as shattering the glass. As much as I've tried to 'make it so', Kerouac doesn't do much for me. I owe something of a debt to Ferlinghetti although ironically I really don't like much of his work. I guess I boil it down to Burroughs and Ginsberg... and some local beats like Mel Buffington. But when I was a tabula rasa middle class kid I came across a folio of Ferlinghetti's work. His raw portrayal of a bare light bulb, cracked porcelin world blew me away. Not because of my life in the 'burbs, but because it showed me that poetry didn't have to be like Wordsworth. Walls came down. Cool

I listen to Portraits of the Dead and dug it. I think they would have too. REALLY liked your Meditations track. Cool

jbenzola · Joined: Dec 11, 2003 Posts: 77 Location: NY

I love Kerouac's work especially when he reads it! It really has quite an amazing rhythmic quality to it. That is one of the main reasons why I choose him as the main voice for the piece. I like playing the three voices off one another, much like the interplay between three horns in a band of collective improvisation. Glad you liked Meditations. That dates back to 1992-1993 and was recorded with a Emu Vintage Keys and a Brother standalone sequencer into a 4 track Portastudio...analog of course! The sounds are not stock and the tuning is in a microtone scale of I think 19. When I get a chance, I am going to reupload the entire Portrait of the Dead series, which was begun in 1993. Besides for the Kerouac/Gysin/Burroughs piece,the others are:

Kurt and Jaco are Dancing in Heaven (For Kurt Cobain and Jaco Pastorius)
Frank Zappa
Miles Davis
John Cage
Edgard Varese
Ayler Weeps in Blackwells Soul (For Albert Ayler & Ed Blackwell)
Tony Williams
Lester Bowie
Sun Ra

There is also a pre POB piece entitled For John Coltrane which I might post as well.

-JB-

elektro80 · Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 1:05 pm Post subject:

OT: I thought the Emu Vintage keys thingie was a new device. Didn´t I just recently see a review of it in SOS?

jbenzola · Joined: Dec 11, 2003 Posts: 77 Location: NY

Definetly not new! I believe that I bought the VK in 1991 or 1992! It certainly helped kick off the retro gear rage of the mid to late 1990's. Most of the sounds were acutally pretty damm good for a digital sample!

-JB-

elektro80 · Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 1:15 pm Post subject:

Ohh... then I guess Emu has issued a new version . They now have both a rack module and a keyboard version. I have been thinking of that one and the Nord Electro.. dunno.. I guess i have to test them extensively. I need a few devices that can do a decent replacement for the Pianet, Clavinet, a Rhodes and a Mellotron.. you know.. that kind of gear.. A lot let messy to have some modern device perform those tasks. And a lot cheaper too.

seraph · Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 4:17 pm Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 7:59 am Post subject:

Oh... yes... that is the one they reviewed!!!