Rattlesnakes Cassettes
Just 2 pieces of audio here, for now. If I have time and energy, I may revisit these cassettes and see if there might be more worth sharing.
The Tascam Portastudio
December 29th 2024
In the summer of 1983 Blair and I decided not to go back to university, and being a band became our job. Soon we would sign a publishing contract with April Music (CBS Songs) and we had enough cash in hand to stop signing on for unemployment benefit. With this money we bought a few pieces of musical equipment, including a Yamaha DX7 synth. We also bought a Tascam 4 track Portastudio which we would take turns taking home to record ideas on. Sadly I don’t have those very early recordings, so this will be a short post.
Forest Fire and Perfect Skin were written the same weekend late 1983 when I took the Tascam and the DX7 back to Glasgow Golf Club. The synth brass sound from the final recording was on my original demo. I had no idea about musical theory. The sound had 5ths built into it, so when you played a C, you got a C and a G. So those lovely chords at the end of the chord sequence we completely accidental. I played B minor, D major, and A major, and I got a B minor with a 9th and a 7th added, then a D major 7th with a 9th added, and an A major 7th with a 9th. I can’t help it if I’m lucky.
Once we’d recorded Rattlesnakes we didn’t use demo studios much any more, but we continued to use the Portastudio. Maybe we bought more of them. Not sure. I took a bedsit flat on Great Western Road to use as my work space and the Portastudio lived there for most of 1985. As I port the recordings over from Patreon over the next year or so, you will hear quite a few of my solo demos recorded there. There is still no plaque on the building.
Portastudio Archive Cassette
Originally posted December 3rd, 2020
A collection of dubbed recordings from other cassettes, hence poor audio. Made I don’t know when, but pre DATs, I guess.
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