Check out this excellent video for “Stay Home Tonight” by @cainsandabels! #StayHomeTonightVid

Analog vs. Digital : Organic vs. Chemical

I want to share this article on the age-old analog vs. digital synth, containing Jean Michel Jarre’s thoughts on the matter. Predictably, he believes analog synths are ‘better’. JMJ is awesome. I read through all of the comments on the article, and even though I agree that digital synths and instruments have their place in music making - of course they do! - I can’t argue that whenever I play a true analog synth, it feels different. And much better.

I love the computer, and I love digital music making because of how simple it has become, but analog instruments that were made in the 70s feel “real”. They make synth sounds come to life. Part of that may be the build quality - heavy duty, weighted keys can surprisingly make a huge difference. That was mentioned in the comments on this article, along with the “nostalgia” factor. For me, sure, it factors in a little bit, but I’m not on a mission to find some electronic drum kit because I think the huge snare hits of the 80s are ridiculously cool. They are a little bit funny. Same with the late 80s synthesizers - they are really cool, they can sound great, but there is something kind of funny (as in truly comical) about them.

Whenever I sit down at a (polyphonic) keyboard, electronic or analog, I first play an F Major 7. It is a ‘feel good’ chord, and I use it to test the character and sound of the instrument. On a nice piano, it feels amazing. And also nostalgic - which is why I would rule that out as a factor for choosing analog synths over digital. I promise, it’s not the major 7 chord that is giving me the nostalgia - it’s just the piano. I’m sure it differs for everyone. Maybe people who grew up in Hawaii have the same nostalgic feeling when they hear a ukelele? The major 7 on a digital synth feels nostalgic too, but that nostalgia stems primarily from the chord, and it could possibly be related to Miami Vice, but it is not from the quality of sound. But, I digress. The chord sounds better on analog synths to me personally, and this is my entirely unscientific theory on why this might be.

Food. I’m going to assume that you and I have the same thoughts on food. Primarily, the more simple the food, the more healthy it is. Let’s discuss bread. In its most rudimentary form, bread is comprised of flour, water, yeast and sugar. I would argue that it is the healthiest form of bread (of course, we’re using whole grain wheat flour, and you could one-up it by adding some flax or other seeds, but we’re not). Why improve upon this, then? As our society developed foods, we started adding sugar to lots of things, because it usually makes lower quality foods taste better. Then, that turned into corn syrup, because it’s cheaper (because of corn subsidies). We also learned how to preserve things longer, by using chemicals. Next thing you know, they figure out a way to knead the dough by machine! Nowadays, the average loaf of bread at the store contains 20-25 ingredients, with maybe half of those using whole wheat flour (which is almost always ‘enriched’), most of them using some type of bleached or ‘enriched’ flour. Importantly, most of those ingredients were also made in a plant somewhere else, perhaps hundreds or thousands of miles away, shipped in to be a tiny portion of this mega cost-effective, tasty bread. The process of making foods has become so complex and streamlined that we have forgotten that the best tasting foods are fresh and simple, and there are no middle men involved.

So, that’s right. Food is like electronic music equipment. A simple, monophonic, analog synth from the early 70s is going to sound better because there is less inside, there were less middle men involved in the making of ‘parts’, and because it is fundamentally sound in its build quality. Digital synths are built by robots, using microchips and PCB boards and parts made by other robots. And they can sound amazing. A Snickers bar is really good, too. But there is something intangible about the simplistic 2 oscillator synthesizer made by hand and wired up by old army engineers using simple components. You can feel, and hear, the love.

Later in this argument, I discuss why people like me, who love analog and swear by it, primarily use digital equipment and eat fast food despite our knowledge: $.

My brother’s band has a web presence now. CHECK IT OUT!

whistlerchicago:

I saw they guys play at The Burlington the other night and I loved their set. Houtakker is the new-ish project of Joseph Murphy (Pet Lions, occasionally Cains & Abels) and features one of my favorite local players Justin Fernando (Thin Hymns, Distractions) on bass and backing vocals. They have a sound that’s equal parts laid-back ‘60’s pop and present-day Chicago rock, which is a great mix in my book. You can steam their music here.

—Billy

My band Houtakker is playing a show at The Burlington next week on February 8th. Our pals in Cains & Abels made this flyer for the show.

cainsandabels:

Show next Wednesday at Burlington

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs

Hey y’all,

I guess I use my tumblr as a regular blog more so than a dump for all of the random images I find in my tumblr feed, so here goes another post with words in it.

I’m heading up to Madison for Christmas, then going to Pasadena, CA for the Rose Bowl, and then going on tour with Pet Lions. It’s going to be a pretty busy time, which is why I took the time in the past couple of days to make a new website for Houtakker, and also work on some new recordings for a release we’ll be putting out in February. More details on that soon.

Until next time! Be sure to stay in touch.

rchel:

killerpickle:

Pet Lions - Trinidad

tonight! bruar falls!

tomorrownight! pianos!

i will be at both shows!

Yeah NYC come out to the Pet Lions shows tonight at Bruar Falls and tomorrow night at Pianos!

Artist of the Week #8

We’re heading out on tour today! Details can be found here.

substancecompany:

Pet Lions is back with their full-length album, Houses since their previous EP Soft Right which was released back in 2009.
This melodic sound is easy on the ears, but don’t let that fool you.

“It’s a layered guitar-pop album rife with longing, heartache and hope”, says Chicago Redeye.

Pet Lions’ Houses available at Bandcamp!

Visit Pet Lions on their website.

LIKE them on Facebook!

Follow on Twitter!

Famous Laughs / Katrina Stoneheart improv.