Hey Ho by Crow44

Sometimes, usually when the horrors arrive, the last thing I want to do is music, but if I can find the will power to overcome them, sometimes there is another quality which comes into the music...more than honesty..another element.

Other than music, I like reading, mainly about Egyptian mythology, photography from the point of view of 'point and shoot' .

I used to like horticulture and plants having spent about fifteen years as a commercial grower.

That has ended because of my back. It gives me hell and am going into hospital soon for more pain-killing injections.

(Bet you wanted to know that!)

In 1982, I started a small 8 track studio in a garage

in the colder climes of North Yorkshire and recorded bands and singer/songwriters.

The first machine was a Fostex A 8 eight track 1/4".

We wore out the head after 1500 hours work. It's nearly always the outer tracks which go first.

The second machine, was a Brennell mini eight eight track

whose recording characteristics were in some respects better than the Fostex, except that it did not have noise reduction and the cooling fan was annoyingly loud.

I had been working and saving and some money so I bought a Studer A 80 8 track 1".

Off I went with my kids in the car to Cheshire where the machine was advertised only to find that he was a dealer

whose stock was held by the owners.

We had a diesal VW and slowly, to conserve fuel set off to London borrowing the money from my son Simon.

The man who owned the machine was a Radio 1 DJ called Adrian Juste.

I had not been close to a Studer before and had not realized its size.

Eventually, whilst Adrian went upstairs to mix his next show (on his new 24 track) we sat looking at it.

We bought it, and hired a van to pick it up.

It was so heavy that we had to put it on its back and tied the end of it to the seats to stop it sliding out of the doors.

So there it was, in my garage this machine, the object of my dreams.

Adrian had new heads and a capstan motor fitted.

Swiss made, it ran like a clock until one day afetr a year or so, one of the cards went wrong so I phoned up the main agents in London.

The cards cost between £250 and £300 each depending on its function. It had ten in total.

Welocome to the big league ! (I was charging £5 an hour.)

That machine was great when at its best.

You could record a guitar, vocal, tambourine, it just sounded great.

I suppose 24 bit and above is as good as or so they say.

Is that why Sony's studios in Japan have 24 track Studers?

It was fun, and all experience.

I had the machine for ten years, the last bill for its repair was over 1000£ which I did not have so put it on my credit card ( evil things, credit cards, especially for crazy musicians).

Oh what the hell, as long as the music comes out good.

I have a new album out which I quite like.

I'm supposed to say it's wonderful and stuff. When its your own, its confusing. Words like 'good' and 'bad' are not appropiate.

No its ok, I've got used to it now, the last 3 pieces and the title track 'Hierophant' are passable!

It should be cdbaby in about ten days.

'Hey ho' is ok, the title track was written for a man called David and the whole thing came into being because of the encouragement from a work friend called beth. Thanks Beth.

She was watching me listen to a piece.

It's a strange business being a composer...

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