I last reviewed my archive of my archive of cassette recordings in 2004, which resulted in a dozen or so limited edition CD releases of (all of which are currently available on my Bandcamp page). Spurred on by requests for streaming access to more of the archive, towards the end of 2019 I reviewed over 200 cassettes, and will be releasing 10-12 new collections on Bandcamp over the next few months. Most are spontaneous jam sessions recorded between 1972 and 1980 in San Francisco, Modesto, Oakland, Compton and Los Angeles. In 1980 I purchased my first four track cassette, a Tascam 144, and the world of overdubbing changed my home recordings forever.
My documentation of my cassette archive was thorough. Each tape was assigned a number, and at some point I took the time to transcribe my recording and personnel notes in brown felt pen in a uniform format on book-keeping paper in a faded blue 3-ring binder with typed ENCHANTED HILLS RANCH ACCOUNTS stickers that I found in a thrift store. Other pages of the binder have lists of musical equipment that I have owned, and hand-drawn Oberheim TVS-1 and Mini-Korg patch settings.
Tape number 44 is a continuation of the concept of Magnifications that was embodied in tape #43, and insect photograph cassette cover work. My aim was to capture what the world “sounds” like to an insect sitting on a plant leaf, incorporating continuous ambience, random sounds and higher volume noises that are meant to replicate interaction with larger beings of all types - insects, animals and humans. My efforts to work up a commercial cassette and liner notes/publicity materials are in the images accompanying tracks 5 & 6.
This posting uses all of side 1 of the tape, and part of side 2. The session was recorded at our home at 420 Diamond St., SF, on an Advent cassette deck on Saturday, August 18, 1979. I played my Oberheim TVS-1 throughout, with Mike Allison on electric bass on the first three tracks, my vintage Danelectro Vinnie Bell Belzouki 12-string electric guitar on track 4, and my Fender Rhodes suitcase model on tracks 5 & 6. All of these pieces were spontaneously “composed” via improvisation. We didn’t talk about keys or any other musical terms, and just hit the record button and went for it. Mike and I had performed in this manner for over a year by the time this recording was made, and we were very comfortable creating together.
These are all 2019 transfers from the original cassette tapes to my Roland VS2400CD digital recorder in order to achieve the highest quality recordings my studio is capable of. No post-production effects were added, but some equalization was used to lessen extreme volume changes in the original recordings.