Before
music was put more fully in the hands of the people, 'new music' was
commissioned for specific events, and hence fairly specific
locations. The composer was either already working on the music in
the location itself, or the location for the finished piece was in
mind from the start - there was a relationship between music, and
place.
In
the case of churches: music, emerging from chant, was part of a
calling out to a higher force - a calling in song which would always
receive its response enshrouded with reverb - as architecture and
acoustics play with textures, frequencies and note elongation
mysteriously, and seeming magically, in a special place.
Gaz
has shaped the new arrangements of the songs, the new line-up, and
the way we we will be playing them, with the locations of the four
shows in mind. Salford St Philips, Glasgow Oran Mor, Leeds Holy
Trinity, and London Union Chapel - each place we will find ourselves
in has its own acoustic properties: an 'original shell' of sound
quality unique to the location, which becomes activated when a sound
event occurs. When you record sound, the acoustic properties of the
space define the sound itself. The acoustic space of the Motown
recording live room is as much part of every hit as the instruments
and musicians themselves, (albeit with some compression). Different
spaces create different perspectives of the same music or song. It is
almost as if you are getting a different 'mix' in each place, as it
reveals, highlights, or mutes certain aspects. This is simple science
- certain sound waves or frequencies are favoured or cancelled out
depending on the dimensions or building materials of the room - but
it means that not only do you never really hear the same version
twice, it is almost a new version in each place.
And
it is the transcendental quality of natural reverb that often 'sets
free' the music, the sound, in a way that you might not expect. To
meet deadlines and to feed the industry as a matter of necessity: in
the recording studio sound is kidnapped, bound and gagged,
manipulated by processes, software, by machinery, warped until it
fits the producer's or artist's directives, until it is 'the right
sound'. Then when you take the music out live, you are suddenly at
the mercy of the space itself. Some of the O2 academies that we
played in on the last tour were awful: booming, square, soulless
places - can you really 'hear' music here..? And what of the sense of
occasion? Are we being directed by the sponsors of the venue, who are
more interested in squeezing our 'consumer group' for as much cash as
they can, or are we experiencing something unique with the artist in
a place chosen by them?
There
will be new songs, a new set up, and we will be using very new Allen
& Heath
desk complete with onstage monitors mixers. But even as we make an
inadvertent nod to our nation's musical past, choosing these venues
is not a 'going back', but instead it is a move to the future - a way
to really 'hear' music again after years of saturation - as once
again an 'event' in a 'place'.
You
want to hear something new? Come see us - choose your location!
