Formed in 2008, the 100th Anniversary of Raymond Scott's birth, this project aims to celebrate the music of one of the great, but not widely recognized musical geniuses of the 20th Century. Scott led an extraordinary double life as a pianist/composer/bandleader, and as an engineer/inventor/ electronic music pioneer. The band will be performing the music of the original 1930s Raymond Scott Quintette and beyond.
The concerts feature an exclusive short documentary on Raymond Scott by Stan Warnow (Raymond Scott’s son), which provides a rare insight in to his life and music.
Irwin Chusid (Raymond Scott archives)
"They sound great! The band is really tight and you've captured the RSQ sound nicely. Really
dig your drumming too, Stu! You've got the spirit of Johnny Williams."
Jeff Winner (Raymond Scott Archives)
"I'm completely knocked-out... For the first few seconds of "Boy Scout," I thought I was hearing the original Quintette! I'm totally blown away -- can't wait to see/hear you guys live!"
Stan Warnow (Raymond Scott's Son)
"Stuart--AMAAAAZING! You guys sound great, especially for a second rehearsal. Very impressive. "
Rob Adams (Glasgow Herald)
"..children of all ages had smiles on their
faces listening to the interval tribute to Raymond Scott's cartoon soundtracks, with their
blend of musical skill and imaginable mishap..."
It was a real nightmare getting the loops to work, because I don't know if you've noticed, but the timing changes completely on the second half of Scott's recording (it seems to 'slip' by several bpm about halfway in) - that's analogue, relay switched electronics for you!
In the end it all got chopped up and the parts individually timestretched until it worked. Not the most nuanced way of approaching the problem, but it did the job. It took a whole week to get this right, and it's still not quite perfect!
I decided to go with the quite dark, atonal mood of the this track, hence the extra 'non musical' atmospherics provided by me (spacey delay FX, ringing percussive sounds etc), but I added the deep sub(liminal) bass to give it some extra 'weight', because for contemporary ears that element is missing from the original recording - a different era, different musical values and production.
There was also a very distinct groove to it, hence why I introduced some 'dancehall' syle percussion, just to bring this element out a little more.
There's some very clever arrangements in your own version, especially the way you build it up towards the end into a wall of sound. I do wonder with Bassline Generator how much much of it was actually written/arranged by Scott, and how much of it was generated on-the-fly by the Electronium - we'll never know, will we..?
I'm considering remix version two of this track, with the drums a little lower in the mix.
Of course, you could argue Bassline Generator is minimalism several years before even Philip Glass thought of doing it - it's pure Techno style, trance inducing riffing.
Wicked gig last night guys! It was magical to hear the music come alive again performed with such brio and loving care. When the muted trumpet came in I laughed aloud with joy! Respect... Jessica x
