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Subject: 02/05/91 - The National Midnight Star #166
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The National Midnight Star, Number 166
Tuesday, 5 February 1991
Today's Topics:
Re: 02/04/91 - The National Midnight Star #165
Jeff Berlin; tape printthrough
Opening acts
Superconductor
Superconductor time signature.
Odd rhythms
Rush and Blue Oyster Cult
Opening Acts
opening acts & Peart w/ Berlin
GOLD DISC PHONE NUMBER
Re: 02/04/91 - The National Midnight Star #165
Various and sundry bits and pieces VI
Yes and Rush
Peart w/ Berlin and opening acts...
Peart w/ Berlin
Attention all tennis fans?!
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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 16:24 EST
From: V120P993@ubvmsc.cc.buffalo.edu
Subject: Re: 02/04/91 - The National Midnight Star #165
I, KEVIN HULME, WOULD LIKE TO clarify some pts. for all the members of this
board. i am friends with the source who spoke to andy macnaughton and the
fact is- rush has completed 7 songs for the new album; this does not at
all mean that there are "only" 7 songs on the album. it is possible, but
due to recent "rush-trends", improbible. thanks to all the people who
put effort into this very enjoyable board- dealing with an even more
enjoyable band. farewell.
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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 13:32:56 PST
From: spike@d31mf0.Stanford.EDU (John T. Fourkas)
Subject: Jeff Berlin; tape printthrough
Jeff Berlin's "Champion" album is really good, but don't expect to
hear a lot of Neil Peartish stuff on it. He's pretty laid back on the whole
thing. As for the style, it varies. It's somewhat similar to Bruford, which
isn't too surprising (the fusion band that Bill Bruford had for a while, not
Bill Bruford in general; speaking of which, they opened one of their albums
with a song in 19 time....), since Berlin was his bass player. Most of the
songs are fusion, with a couple that are more pop-ish. There's one real
show-off song in which he plays Dixie and Yankee Doodle simultaneously. I'd
say the album is a must for bass players, and most Rush fans would be likely
to appreciate it also. Berlin is an *amazing* bass player, and he refuses to
rely on popping, slapping, or fretless basses. This doesn't mean that his song-
writing sense is the best around, but he's not bad. BTW, one of the songs on
his second album ("Pump it") is actually dedicated to Rush--it's called "All
the Greats"....
Re the garbled stuff in between songs on Chronicles tapes, this happens
on all sorts of tape. It's called "printthrough", and it results from the magnetic
field on one layer of wound tape influencing the next layer of tape. The problem
is actually a bit less on metal tape because of a higher coercivity (i.e., it takes
a stronger magnetic field to record something), but it's always present. The best
way to minimize it is to not let any tape stay wound in one position for too long
(that being a few months); even if you don't listen to it, fast forward it all the
way through to get it wound in a different configuration.
--John
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From: bold%astroatc.UUCP@cs.wisc.edu (Jeff Beck)
Subject: Opening acts
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 15:48:38 CDT
In the way of opening acts, I believe that Golden Earring and Sweet opened
for Rush in at least Milwaukee for the Hemispheres tour. I am not sure
which tour it was though. Hope that helps.
--
******************************************************************************
* Jason Bold - Madison,WI= [(rutgers||ames)!uwvax||att!nicmad]!astroatc!bold *
* "A strawberry mind, a body that's built for two" - Michael Hedges *
******************************************************************************
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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 16:21:58 CST
From: lindsey@max.ee.lsu.edu (Lindsey Smith)
Subject: Superconductor
When someone asked if Superconductor contained more time signatures than 4 and
7, I thought it didn't. Well, I was wrong. I listened to it a few times and
sure enough the boyz throw us a curve. Listen to the African rhythm section.
It's in 4, as are the choruses. The verses are in 7. At the end of the
African section you expect to hear ....4+4+7+7+4+4... where the first two
4s are the end of the African section, the two 7s are the fill, and the last
4s are the beginning of the chorus. What you actually get is
....4+4+6+7+4+4....
Someone asked about good examples of odd in Rush. The best one has to be
Jacobs Ladder. It's got 'em all.
Lindsey Smith
lindsey@max.ee.lsu.edu
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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 15:11:24 PST
From: pringle@csr.lbl.gov (gavin pringle)
Subject: Superconductor time signature.
Hi
Well here's my interpretations
Verse 7/8
Chorus 4/4
Verse 7/8
Chorus 4/4
Coda (1 bar) 6/8
Verse/middle 8 7/8
If they've published the music then I guess the discussion if a wee
bit futile.
Gavin.
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From: Dan Dickerman <dickermn@hpcugsya.cup.hp.com>
Subject: Odd rhythms
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 15:22:12 PST
Re:
> > ... 4-4-4-6-6-1-7 instead of 8 straight fours. It has the same number of
> > beats, but the feel is changing through there. Maybe this is some kind
> > of copy protection to keep the Vanilla Ice type from covering or copying
> > this song since they can't dance to it.
>
> "designing to deceive that's entertainment"
> 1:11-1:15 -- ten beats... measure of 8 + measure of 2?
Given the chorus is in a straight 4, with 4-bar phrases, I'm inclined to
believe that the only "odd" measure here is the last of the chorus, in 6,
starting on the end of "deceive" (where the drums stop would be the first
beat). Or, if you prefer, keep the entire chourus in 4 (16 bars), and
add a 2/4 measure tied to the end. That is followed by the 2-bar intro and
rest of the second verse, all in 7/4, just like the beginning of the song.
As for:
> I can't seem to follow Superconductor at all. I tried tapping
> to it, and it seemed like 4/4 to me. I know Neil is playing
> through the 7/8, but is it 7/8 through most of the song? If it
> isn't, what parts are 7/8? What can I listen to to hear it?
> and, just after the bridge... or whatever.
The verses are in 7/4 (if you're in 7/8, slow down about .5), the
bridges and the choruses in 4/4, with the exceptions of a couple bars of 6.
The quarter-note pulse (read "beat") stays at the same tempo throughout.
If you're having trouble finding the 7, note that the main musical phrase
is exactly 1-bar long, and repeats throughout the verses: the 7 is split
into 4+3. Although the drums migrate emphasis throughout the measure, the
bass and guitar are steady, and easier to latch-onto.
> 2.) What songs does Neil wear headphones during, to help him with
> the timing? (Hint...those of you with Chronicles video will
> know one of these.)
I can think of Vital Signs (BTW, note the PZM mic taped to his shirt in
this video -- an experiment to see how the drums sound from the drummer's
perspective), The Weapon, and Red Sector A. Rule of thumb: if there's a
pulsing synthesizer (usually "on autopilot" beating 16th notes), Neil's
wearing headphones to keep in sync.
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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 18:43:09 EDT
From: "tjw3220@bingtjw.bitnet (Paul Kroculick)" <TJW3220%BINGTJW.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: Rush and Blue Oyster Cult
Yo,
I was also at the Power Windows concert in Binghamton, NY (my first concert).
Yes, it was amazing. It's funny that the rush-mgr called it a killer
concert.During the intermission, someone threw an M-80. (For those of
you that don't know, an M-80 is a BIG firecracker.) Well it landed about
four people away from me. It was the loudest thing you ever heard. It
blew the guy up. Well, not exactly. But, he did have powder burns,
and the girl next to him did have blood all over her sweater. When we
asked him if he was OK he only said "....no". Needless to say, he didn't
get to see the Boys.
Just thought I'd add my Rush experience to the Archives.
PDK
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 1991 17:49 CST
From: INDE54Q@jetson.uh.edu
Subject: Opening Acts
I haven't been keeping quite up to date on the newsletter. However,
I've seen alot of the discussion on opening acts for RUSH. Unless
someone has already posted this, if so I apologize for the wasted band width,
Golden Earring (sp?) opened for The Boyz
Houston, TX Signals Tour.
Again, if this is common knowledge, sorry.
Also, "the patster"???, calls us RUSH HEADS. I don't quite like the
way that sounds...
The point of a journey
is not to arrive....
see ya,
dlsantos
----------------------------------------------------------
From: yackob@eeserv.ee.umanitoba.ca
Date: 4 Feb 91 18:27 -0600
Subject: opening acts & Peart w/ Berlin
>X-Mailer: Mail User's Shell (7.2.1 10/31/90)
On the Signals tour I saw "Wrabit" open in Winnipeg,
on the Power Windows tour I saw Coney Hatch in Vancouver. Other
well-known openers were the Steve Morse Band and FM.
Theodore Jay Pederson <case%cs@hub.ucsb.edu> asked about
Peart's appearance on Jeff Berlin's "Champion" album. Peart plays
on two songs (is one of them Champion, the title track?), the
better song being "Marabi", where Steve Smith also drums, and
Berlin, Scott Henderson, and a synth player whiz along. The song is
very very very fast and is taken from a Cannonball Adderly sax solo.
It's extremely difficult to play on bass because of the intervals
involved (they're.....unnatural), as well as the high speed. The
drums are a real endurance test.
The album as a whole is somewhat bombastic, but not in an
overwhelming way - it's pretty amazing what these guys can do. Berlin
does a solo version of "Dixie" that you would swear was double tracked,
but it's one man, one bass, one take. I saw him do it with my own
two eyes and didn't truly believe it until I did. I had the pleasure
of interviewing Jeff Berlin last July, and found him to be one of the
nicest strangers I've met. In his workshop he was extremely patient
with the "beginners", without watering down his content and disappointing
the more experienced attendees. Privately he was quite accomodating
when I asked him the kind of question that he KNEW I knew the answer
to but just wanted to for the interview, and he did his best to make it
sound exciting even though it was probably the tenth time that week
he had gone through the same conversation with a stranger.
If you can find a Jeff Berlin album, buy it, because you're
not likely to get a second chance. I'm pretty certain it'll
be out of print soon if it isn't now, and it's not likely to be
reissued on Passport.
--
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 4 February 1991 18:38:42 CST
Subject: GOLD DISC PHONE NUMBER
From: U24129@UICVM.uic.edu!
WELL, AS PROMISED HERE'S THE NUMBER FOR MOBILE FIDELITY SOUND LAB.
ITS : 1-800-423-5759. LETS HOPE THAT IF ENOUGH PEOPLE CALL, THEY WILL
EVENTUALLY PUT OUT A RUSH ALBUM ON GOLD DISC. OUT OF ALL THE GROUPS IN THIS
UNIVERSE THEIR MUSIC DESERVES TO BE PUT ON GOLD THE MOST!
THE PATSTER
PS: SOME OTHER OPENING ACTS , VOIVOD IN SOME PARTS OF EASTERN CANADA DURING
PRESTO TOUR, STYX DURING 2112 TOUR IN SOME PLACES
[ No need to shout, patster... :-) :rush-mgr ]
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 23:04:29 EST
From: Mike Borella <borellms@clutx.clarkson.edu>
Subject: Re: 02/04/91 - The National Midnight Star #165
A couple more bands that opened for Rush:
Presto - Voivod (in Canada)
Power Windows - Marillion (Nassua Coliseum)
Moving Pictures - FM (Syracuse??)
Nazareth opened for them sometime in the seventies.
*****************************************************************************
** Mike Borella ** Dept. of Math and Comp. Science **
** borellms@clutx.clarkson.edu ** Clarkson University **
*****************************************************************************
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 23:05:24 hst
From: Hinano Akaka <bigtuna!hinano@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>
Subject: Various and sundry bits and pieces VI
Gooooood Morning, Captain Kirk!
Ooops, sorry! Got into my Kevin Pollack routine...
Good day, my fellow RUSHans...!
This is in no way an attempt to squander the present discussion on
albums 'Brought to us by the letter...', but hopefully our age-long
questions will be answered by the Objective One himself. I sent
several questions to Neil a few months ago via the Rush Backstage
Club. One of those questions asked why PoW was brought to us by the
letter 'M' and P brought to us by the letter 'D'. (On a side-note,
why wasn't HYF brought to us by any letter?) So, hopefully, whenever
he finds the time (and motivation) to answer all the questions people
have sent to him over the months, he'll answer that one.
About that Jeff Berlin album, it's quite good. Neil's playing
sounds...well, like Neil's playing (<-- expert music critique). I
haven't listened to it for awhile, but one of the songs he plays
on, Champions of the World, doesn't sound too jazz-y, if I remember
correctly. But it's excellent, anyway. BTW, can anyone else figure
out, on the other song he plays on with Steve Smith, what Steve is
playing and what Neil is playing? Are they playing the same thing
together, or halving the part by each playing certain drums? For the
life of me, I can't figure it out. (Maybe I should have asked him
that, too. Or did I?)
On the subject of odd time signatures, Neil made the classic statement
about odd time in 'A Passage to Bankok'. It took me forever to figure
out what he was saying, and I really wondered if he knew what he had
just said...
"There were moments in the distant past when we first started
experimenting with time signatures where the other guys would
be playing in seven and I'd play in four long enough for four
sets of seven to go by. Actually, I'd play seven sets of four
while they played four sets of seven, and we'd all end up at
the same place. That specific rhythm happens during the
middle section of 'A Passage to Bangkok.'...I discovered by
accident that if I just kept playing I would come around to
where the band was..."
Just my two cents on these little tidbits...
Puanani Akaka WORQ: "As a band we can't pretend that we're black or
from Jamaica any more than we can pretend that
we're wizened little scientists from England."
-- Neil Peart
(a couple of people have asked me what the bloody h*ll a WORQ is!
It's just a little something i made up: Wise Ole Rush Quote)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 5 Feb 91 02:29:34 -0700
From: lrackl@cadesm2.eng.utah.edu (Les Rackl)
Subject: Yes and Rush
I agree pretty much with Scott McD.'s assessment. I don't particularly
see Rush copying Yes, at any time period - but they both obviously stray
into mystical realms, etc.
I would place much emphasis on Yes' keyboardists and music orientation.
Les
----------------------------------------------------------
From: stedmant@LONEX.RADC.AF.MIL (Terrance A. Stedman)
Date: Tue, 5 Feb 91 09:38:22 EST
Subject: Peart w/ Berlin and opening acts...
Dear Rush fans,
Someone asked for a review of Neil's performance on Jeff Berlin's
"Champion" album. Well, if you are a jazz fan like myself you would
like the album regardless of the drummer. Berlin is quite an accomplished
bassist. Anyway, Neil and Steve Smith team up on one track and Neil covers
the drum part by himself on the title cut. That track has a very "rock"
feel and is unlike most of the other tracks on the album in that respect.
Smith is an excellent jazz drummer as can be verified with a few listens
to any of his Vital Information stuff or his work with Steps Ahead. It
was appropriate then for Smith to cover the jazz tracks on the album. It
would have been interesting if Neil played on a few of those tracks though.
All in all, I really like the album, and not surprisingly my favorite tune
on it is "Champion." You can tell it's Neil playing without knowing beforehand
because of the unmistakable fills and speed that are so characteristic of
his playing. The guy's incredible, what else can be said?
As far as opening acts go, here are some others:
John Butcher Axis "Signals"
Fastway "P/G"
Steve Morse "PoW"
Terry
(stedmant@lonex.radc.af.mil)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 5 Feb 1991 9:52:50 EST
From: GORMAN@SCRI1.SCRI.FSU.EDU
Subject: Peart w/ Berlin
Ted Pederson recently posted a question about Neil Peart's work with
Jeff Berlin. Peart appears on Berlin's first (I think) solo effort,
entitled _Champion_. It's difficult to label the music as simply
"jazz" or "rock". It's somewhere in between the two, very different
from anything else I've heard. The music is somewhat reminiscent of
Bill Bruford's work in the late 70s, but the beat is stronger and
more regular. The album contains eight tracks, two of which feature
Peart:
"Marabi" is an instrumental track built around an long, elaborate
melodic pattern. In the first sweep through the pattern, Berlin
matches the guitarist (Scott Henderson (You may know him from the
Chick Corea Elektric Band.)) note for note for a stunning display
of musicianship. In the second sweep, he slows down to add
harmony, giving the piece an upbeat blues feel. All through the
piece, Peart and Steve Smith keep a strong jazz beat that gets
fast and furious at the end of these patterns.
"Champion" is a vocal track featuring some p/g-style drumming with
interesting syncopation. Peart's rhythmic fingerprints are all
over this piece.
Two other tracks worth mentioning:
"20,000 Prayers" is a jazzy instrumental created as a background to
support two bass solos. The first solo warms you up for the
second, and the second blows you away. When listening to this one,
be ready to catch your jaw before it hits the floor.
"Dixie", yes, the traditional piece, played unaccompanied by Berlin.
Here he proves that he is much more than a "two-finger" bassist.
In fact, at one point in the piece he manages to overlay "Yankee
Doodle" on the "Dixie" theme. Very impressive.
Berlin's second solo album, _Pump It!_, does not feature Peart, but it
has the same kind of music. One track, "All the Greats", is dedicated
to the boyz.
-Bryan Gorman
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 5 Feb 91 10:08:48 -0500
From: dchao@ecn.purdue.edu (David H Chao)
Subject: Attention all tennis fans?!
I was looking through the acknowledgements for _Hold Your Fire_ the other
day, and towards the middle of the list, I noticed that the boys thanked "Stade
Roland Garros". If you are a tennis fan, you would recognize that place as the
site of the annual French Open clay court championships. Does anybody know if
if that is just a nickname or something, or if that really is a thanks to the
French tennis club?
-Dave
"From first to last
The peak is never passed
Something always fires the light that gets in your eyes
One moment's high, and glory rolls on by
Like a streak of lightening that flashes and fades
In the summer sky"
-Rush, "Marathon", from the album _Power Windows_
----------------------------------------------------------
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End of The National Midnight Star Number 166
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