Members Cygnus64 Posted February 18, 2011 Members Share Posted February 18, 2011 I had "Snowflakes are Dancing" on vinyl back in the 70's. I played the hell out of it - what an amazing recording! Haven't thought of it in years - now I have to track it down! There's a ton of Tomita on Youtube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tangerine Posted February 18, 2011 Members Share Posted February 18, 2011 If you like Tomita? listen to RALPH LUNDSTEN a little more dreamy but very good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xpander Posted February 18, 2011 Members Share Posted February 18, 2011 just a couple weeks ago i was all up in a tomita youtube-o-rama. that theme used in Star Hustler is completely ingrained in my early childhood (upcoming track is named Star Hustler, btw). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Moogasaur Posted February 18, 2011 Members Share Posted February 18, 2011 Here's a rendition of Tomita's Firebird Intro played on modern synths. This is the Google URL shortener for the MP3 download goo.gl/PDDiC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tspit74 Posted February 18, 2011 Members Share Posted February 18, 2011 I've got all of his albums on vinyl. I think up thru some live album from 1986 (Live in Linz, maybe?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mikael488 Posted February 18, 2011 Members Share Posted February 18, 2011 I used to play Snowflakes very low on my stereo to drift off to sleep every night. His string sounds using nothing more than a Moog modular were astounding. I think he used the mellotron for a lot of the strings on Clair De Lune though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted February 18, 2011 Members Share Posted February 18, 2011 For something that should be so far up my street it's living next door to me, I have to say that I find just about everything he did insispid and lifeless Really i approve of everything about it except the end result, it just doesn;t do it for me. His version of Mars where the opening drums are him going 'bom boo bah' into an envelope folower is perhaps a low point: [video=youtube;5DnaxiQBU4I] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mate_stubb Posted February 18, 2011 Members Share Posted February 18, 2011 I think he used the mellotron for a lot of the strings on Clair De Lune though. I would have to listen to it again, but there are lots of places where he didn't. Somewhere out there is an album where he shows some of his synth secrets, including how to build his strings and the famous talking patch, from scratch. The big secret of his string sounds was the Moog string filters, which were very narrow band filter banks used to impart instrument-like resonances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members joxer96 Posted February 18, 2011 Members Share Posted February 18, 2011 I'm a big fan, my favorite album would have to be The Bermuda Triangle. Overall I find some of his interpretations a little cheesy at times, but damn, could he come up with interesting textures! A couple years ago I bought the Comos of Tomita CD box set for about $180.: http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Tomita/dp/B000J10DVQ/ref=sr_1_17?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1298058559&sr=1-17 I can't believe it's going for $600 now. I'm so glad I pulled the trigger when I did. What the hell happened??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Duffage Posted February 19, 2011 Members Share Posted February 19, 2011 Wow, this thread made me go to my vinyl collection and look. "Kosmos", "Snowflakes are Dancing", "Bermuda Triangle", "Pictures at an Exhibition", "Firebird" and my favorite, "The Planets". Somewhere in the house, there's a "Best Of" CD as well. I used to tape them onto cassette to listen in the car also. Brings back lots of memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted February 21, 2011 Members Share Posted February 21, 2011 Snowflakes Are Dancing is a classic for sure. I used to have Bermuda Triangle on vinyl - the disc was a coral pink color. I don't know if it was a special edition or they were all like that, but a great album. He was definitely an innovator in electronic music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted February 21, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 21, 2011 Snowflakes Are Dancing is a classic for sure. I used to have Bermuda Triangle on vinyl - the disc was a coral pink color. I don't know if it was a special edition or they were all like that, but a great album. He was definitely an innovator in electronic music. Well, MY vinyl of Bermuda is plain ol' black, so you must have some special edition version of SOME kind. I'm almost 100% sure I bought a CD of Snowflakes, but now I can't seem to find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KingVidiot Posted February 21, 2011 Members Share Posted February 21, 2011 I discovered this guy back in 1990, and being a synth freak I was hooked. I have the following: Snowflakes are DancingPictures at an ExhibitionThe PlanetsGreatest HitsFirebird Pictures is the best. I recently heard Pictures live at the symphony, and in comparison Tomita really adds something to it. Even the cheesy, silly sounds are fun not grating. His best cheesy track is the Debussy Arabesque on Snowflakes. The whistle synth is classic cheese. Apparently he was a big part of the Casio CZ-1 (Cosmosynthesizer) design and presets. Several of the presets sound like they're right out of these albums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spleencage Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 Google Robyn Byrd, she a 70's porn star who has her show, lampooned on SNL by Cheri Oteri on 3 diff occasions, that show used Snow Flakes Are Dancing- pretty surreal actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Redhotpoker Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 BOLERO 'Frank' recorded a marvelous version of Ravel's Bolero, on the "The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life" What an awesome recording. Another live one of course. Many of his very best songs were 'only recorded' while being played live in concert. The 1995 CD has a distortion fix on "Heavy Duty Judy". The European version does no longer have "Bolero", for copyright reasons. The original CD cover was cancelled and has been replaced twice. When this CD came out, there was a LOT of trouble with Zappa's "Bolero" cover. Ravel's estate had tons of objections to it, and the result was that Zappa had to remove "Bolero" from the European version, where the estate's copyright was still effective. (Rumour has it that Zappa even had to publish a written apology somewhere, stating that it was never his "intent" to "pervert" the composition, or somesuch.) "Bolero" stayed on American versions. Japanese versions without "Bolero" have been reported. Chas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mikael488 Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 As much as I like Tomita, I prefer Pat Gleeson's version of The Planets wich was recorded on his E-mu modular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mate_stubb Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 As much as I like Tomita, I prefer Pat Gleeson's version of The Planets wich was recorded on his E-mu modular. Great timbres, but absolutely lifeless music. I'm guessing he entered all the notes in his sequencers instead of playing anything. "Mars, Bringer of War" in particular is very stiff. But Pat's atmospherics are second to none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mikael488 Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 I don't agree with you that Gleeson's version of The Planets is totally lifeless, to each his own I guess. And although a substantial part of the music was programmed into his sequencers, he did play many parts on the keyboard. The first 39 bars of "Mars" (1st movement) were played on the keyboard while the rest of that piece was played by the sequencer (that's the most sequencer he used on the album) and he also used the sequencer for the skeloton of "Mercury". I'm not sure about the other pieces. On a side note, Gleeson had his E-mu set up as a 5-voice polyphonic synth during the recording of Beyond the Sun. He later used the E-mu 4060 16-voice polyphonic keyboard/digital sequencer for his solo album "Rainbow Delta" ( rec. late '78). During the recording of that record the big E-mu was joined by the E-mu blue box 16-voice polyphonic synth and two single-keyboard Prophet 10's (SSM version). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 But Pat's atmospherics are second to none. Do you have a link? I can't find anything of his on youtube or amazon.co.uk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mikael488 Posted February 22, 2011 Members Share Posted February 22, 2011 I'd describe Gleeson's synth-work on the Apocalypse Now soundtrack as eerie and atmospheric: [video=youtube;yrNhy5BepKA] [video=youtube;EJJ1sGmITlg] Excellent stuff! I also like his synth-work on Herbie's albums Crossings(1972) and Sextant (1973), Lenny White's Venusian Summer (1975), Eddie Henderson's Realization (1973) and Charles Earland's Leaving This Planet (1973). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members turretg Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Bummage. You may have to settle for vinyl, of which there are a few on Amazon. the vinyl may sound better though, but that's another argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members liliththekitten Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 hehehe... Oh no, Robin Byrd, I didn't know that... a generation of kids in NYC got some of their first peeks @ p0rn from her in those days before eveyone had the internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mate_stubb Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Do you have a link? I can't find anything of his on youtube or amazon.co.uk? Here's another one. This is from the Lenny White album Big City. It has Jerry Goodman on violin, and all the insect noises, bird chirps, water dripping and later on string sections are Patrick and his E-MU. [video=youtube;yLwG4Z8dN5g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLwG4Z8dN5g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Severalist Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 All up in the house? You're off your nut! That's crazy! It's insanity! I'm not surpirsed your mesmerized, you talk like an occultist. You talk like a wise cracking alien voiced by Seth Rogen. All up in the house... Now I've heard it all. What a dark day for democracy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bruto Posted February 23, 2011 Members Share Posted February 23, 2011 Same here. I've been into Tomita since the 70s. I have several of his lps and cds. Snowflakes are Dancing is probably my favorite. I also like his version of Prokofiev's Symphony #5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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