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Old 12-01-2020, 03:57 PM
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nicola nicola is offline
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Re: Intelligent-Quozient

Curiosity of the IQ components extracted from
an interview published on their website official ,
some of which are not easily understood.




FIRST ALBUM BOUGHT:


MICHAEL HOLMES

The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The genius of that album is that The Beatles were breaking
all sorts of boundaries with the music (wildly varying styles,
different modes, experimental arrangements and instrumentation)
and at the same time the songs were soooo catchy – enough to
please an eight year old kid (me) and the most seasoned muso.
But even when they strayed towards cheese it was done in
such a quality,accessible way. And the melodies…



PETER NICHOLLS


‘Up To Date’ by The Partridge Family, in 1971. Having played
‘I Think I Love You’ to within an inch of its life, it was time to
take the big step into the madly exhilarating world of the LP.
‘Up To Date’ was the first record I bought with my own money,
after saving up for several weeks. What a moment, finally handing
over my £2.15, again downstairs in the rock & pop department but
this time at Forsyth’s on Deansgate (still there) and then clutching
my very first LP. My Dad was with me, bless him. He was always
there at these pivotal moments in my early life.



TIM ESAU

Can’t exactly remember but…. I always got an LP for Christmas
as a kid, the likes of ‘Slayed?’ – Slade (1972) and
‘Kimono My House’ – Sparks (1974). I really think that my formative
interests in music were given a massive boost by Sparks, particularly
when I picked up their two early US ‘pre-UK success’ releases
(produced by Todd Rundgren on the Bearsville label) a short time later.


PAUL COOK

I think this would be a Slade album, not sure which one though.
Followed by some more Slade albums which were roughly the same.
I liked the straight ahead style of their music with the incredibly
powerful vocals from Noddy… that's the singer, not the very popular
puppet... perhaps we should have favourite puppet listed.



NEIL DURANT


"Selling England By The Pound" by Genesis. Some would describe it as
one of the best Genesis albums, and possibly one of the most
influential albums in the world of progressive rock. It has so
many great moments, especially for a budding keyboard player
to cut their teeth on learning;the challenging piano intro of
"Firth of Fifth", the timeless synth solos in "Cinema Show",the many
changes in time and mood of "The Battle of Epping Forest".
I played it to death, and learnt a fair amount of
my early keyboard technique from analysing it.






LAST ALBUM BOUGHT:



MICHAEL HOLMES

Thomas Newman - 1917 Original Soundtrack. Love Thomas Newman
compositions, particularly his piano stuff (with that amazing sound)
but this is a little different for him – really helps to elevate the film
IMHO. The first track ‘1917’ is over far too quickly.


PETER NICHOLLS

I just ordered the new Psychedelic Furs album ‘Made of Rain’, their
first studio album in almost 30 years. I’ve seen them live a couple
of times recently and their back catalogue is brilliant: ‘Love My Way’,
‘Pretty In Pink’, Heaven’, ‘The Ghost In You’. Fantastic songs.
When we were recording ‘Fascination’ on our first cassette album
‘Seven Stories Into Eight’, I tried to emulate Richard Butler’s
gravelly voice. Needless to say, I failed!


TIM ESAU

Hopefully I haven’t bought the last one yet! Can’t exactly remember
the most recent because…. In these days of streaming it’s been so
long since I actually ‘bought an album’ in the ‘old’ way. It may well
have been ‘We Like it Here’ by Snarky Puppy. I streamed loads of
their stuff but for some reason bought this one. I still prefer watching
them live though - saw them a couple of years back - amazing!


PAUL COOK


Well that would be “Giants Of All Sizes” by Elbow. The band I still
haven't seen, even though I love them deeply. This is in part because
I'm too lazy to get myself out of Scotland most of the time due to
it being so bleedin' far north. But also, we have missed two concerts
in Scotland, one due to the “Beast from the East” and another because
of some nasty pandemic.


NEIL DURANT

"The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions" by The Miles Davis Quintet.
Ok, it took me a while to get round to buying this one, as the songs
date back to 1958, but it's a beauty. A collection of great pieces
from one of the finest jazz lineups - Miles Davis (trumpet),
John Coltrane (tenor sax), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass)
and Philly Joe Jones (drums). I've always loved the dusky feel of
Miles Davis, and the colourful fireworks of Coltrane,
and they contrast beautifully together.




FAVOURITE ALBUM:


MICHAEL HOLMES

Come on, that’s a horrible thing to ask – how can you pick just one?
At this point in time (i.e. 13:05 on a Tuesday afternoon) I’m gonna go
with Steely Dan (duh!) – The Royal Scam. A band in transition is
always an interesting prospect and this was their ‘from rock to jazz’
midway point, at the same time infused with huge amounts of funk.
It was the perfect precursor to ‘Aja’ which set new standards for cool
and is wonderful of course, but for me The Royal Scam has such a
great ‘analogue-type’ feel and, more importantly, groove! Check out
Larry Carlton’s brilliant, uplifting solo on Kid Charlemagne – and it’s
not even my favourite solo on the album!


PETER NICHOLLS

It will always be ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ by Genesis,
for many reasons. The music and lyrics, obviously - flawless, in
my opinion. The vision and courage of the whole piece, songs
joined together by interlinking musical passages, the recorded
performances, just the sound of the album, the intriguing
photographic artwork. And then the live show. Seeing the album
performed live in April 1975 had a profound impact on me.
The show was the most exciting and inspirational experience
I’d had and is still my favourite concert of all time.


TIM ESAU

Depends very much on what I’m listening to at the time the
question is asked and how much red wine has been consumed in
the run up to that point. I also think that my favourite albums
are intrinsically tied to sentimental memories of the times and
events that surrounded me when I first heard them. Around the
time I passed my driving test (July 1979) and managed to buy an
old rusty Ford Escort van (with a cassette player - whooop!)
I listened to the few tapes I had over & over again, such as
‘Heavy Weather - Weather Report’, ‘Breakfast in America -
Supertramp’, ‘After the Gold Rush - Neil Young’ and ‘Hejira -
Joni Mitchell’ but above all, one by a band with whom I was
obsessed at the time and remain a fanboy today - ‘The Tubes -
Young and Rich’ (1976).


PAUL COOK

Well this is a tricky one as you can imagine... lets go with “Very Tall”
by Oscar Peterson. It's the most played album for me over the years.
Lovely vibe playing by Milt Jackson.


NEIL DURANT

Pete beat me to choosing "The Lamb", so for the sake of variety
I'd have to go with "Master Strokes" by Bruford. Such a great
record of a band in their prime, obviously enjoying what they do
immensely. Bill Bruford teeters on that fine line between prog and
jazz/fusion, combining great jazzy grooves with a whole swathe
of different feels and time signatures. It's such a colourful, intricate
and varied set of songs, and has been a persistent favourite of mine
for decades.A great showcase also for Jeff Berlin, Alan Holdsworth,
Dave Stewart,and the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5.





FAVOURITE MUSICIAN (YOUR INSTRUMENT):



MICHAEL HOLMES

That’s gonna have to be Neil Young! I know he’s not the fastest
or the most technically ‘gifted’ musician in the world but really,
who cares about technique? I want to be moved by the guitar and
that’s the effect Neil Young’s playing has on me.


PETER NICHOLLS

What I love in a singer is someone who makes it look effortless.
They open their mouth and this beautiful, unique sound comes out.
I can’t pick one favourite male singer, it has to be the two Davids,
Cassidy and Bowie. Female singer, the sublime Kristina Train, whom
I adore.


TIM ESAU

I must admit I really do like to listen to and watch a lot of technically
whizzy masters of bass guitar simply for their sheer ‘cleverness’
and individual techniques including playing way too many notes
in too short a space of time in weird and wonderful ways. Mostly
Jazz Rock stalwarts such as Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius, Jeff Berlin,
Victor Wooten, Pino Palladino, Percy Jones and Michael League
of the aforementioned Snarky Puppy etc. etc.
But if I narrow it down to favourite bass players from within the same
general genre as the one inhabited by IQ, I would say that
Mike Rutherford’s playing in early Genesis is very melodic
and ‘classically’ supportive as is
Ray Schulman’s of Gentle Giant. Number one though is Tony Levin -
the right notes, in the right quantity, in all the right places and he
has that ‘bald head and Musicman 5 string bass’ look about him –
he’s so cool - ahhhemmm!


PAUL COOK

This is really easy for me. The magnificent Buddy Rich all the way.
Biggest influence for me as I was growing up listening to my father’s
choice of music, mostly. The problem I had was I could never be as
good as Buddy... but then who could?


NEIL DURANT

So many to choose from, across multiple genres, but I think I might
have to opt for Bill Evans. To me, he defined how to play jazz piano
in the most tasteful way. A master of choosing the most interesting
or expressive notes, and the most fascinating of chord structures,
but never in a showy way, and always with the song as the main
focus.One could spend a lifetime studying his work and never run
out of things to learn and inspiration to be had.





FIRST CONCERT ATTENDED:



MICHAEL HOLMES

Led Zeppelin, Southampton Gaumont, January ’73.
I took the morning off school (with my form tutor’s permission!)
to queue for tickets at the princely sum of £1! I remember it being
veeery loud!


PETER NICHOLLS

David Cassidy at Belle Vue, Manchester, in March 1973. I couldn’t
hear too much because of the incessant screaming (some of the girls
were even louder!) but it was utterly thrilling and has stayed with
me forever. I attended the concert alone but my Dad drove me
there and collected me afterwards. There were concerns at the
time because one of the balconies started to loosen under the
weight of all those excited stamping feet. When I was lucky enough
to meet DC a few years later, he remembered that. What an amazing man.


TIM ESAU


Richie Blackmores Rainbow, September 1976, Southampton Gaumont
Theatre. I was 15. Apparently Cozy Powell's car broke down on the
way to this gig and he had to thumb a lift. I, on the other hand, just
got the bus.


PAUL COOK

I’m really not sure I can remember so far
back in time... but it’s probably the Buddy Rich Big Band at Fairfield
Hall Croydon, early 70’s.


NEIL DURANT

Genesis, on the "Mama" tour in 1984.
Perhaps not their greatest album,but to see such a favourite band
of mine at the time, along with tens of thousands of other fans,
as a first gig, was breathtaking. The high point was possibly "In
That Quiet Earth". I remember the two points in the track where
the band stop silent for a few beats, and you could just hear the
sound of the band reverberating around the venue for
those silent moments; it sounded huge!




LAST CONCERT ATTENDED:


MICHAEL HOLMES

I tend to go to the theatre more these days and I’m finding it quite
difficult to remember the last gig I went to! It would have been
Manuel Gottsching performing ‘New Age of Earth’ at the Barbican on
4th April this year, but as we all know all live stuff was put on hold for
a while… I guess it’s *probably* Nearly Dan, the Steely Dan tribute
act, at the Jazz Café. Do tribute bands count? BTW the last musical
I saw was ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ which was mildly disappointing after all
the hype.


PETER NICHOLLS

‘A Bowie Celebration’, a show put together by Mike Garson, DB’s
piano player and featuring a band comprised of musicians who had
worked with the great man at various times. They played the whole
of ‘Diamond Dogs’, my favourite Bowie album, and a galaxy of hits and
rare tracks. A splendid time was had by all.


TIM ESAU

Imogen Heap, The Sage Gateshead.
I really like Imogen Heap and in particular her technical
performance innovations (check out her MiMU gloves).
However,at this gig I fell foul of the modern scourge
of thinking I’d bagged us great seats near the front
and centre only to be blasted by a very ‘drum heavy’
mix all night due to lack of decent PA distribution.
I complained most sternly to myself!


PAUL COOK


Shooglenifty at the Universal Hall, Findhorn, early 2020.
A wonderful folk-rock band with some almost proggy edges to them.


NEIL DURANT

"The Musical Box", at the London Palladium. A fantastic gig, played
with great power and authenticity, focusing on tracks from
"Seconds Out", along with some surprises from Genesis' very
early days. Great to see bands play at the legendary home of
acts like Cliff Richard, Bruce Forsyth, and Tommy Cooper!




TECH CORNER


MICHAEL HOLMES

Guitars

Fender custom Stratocaster
Fernandes Monterey Pro with Fernandes Sustainer
Takamine nylon string acoustic
6 string acoustic
12 string acoustic
Fender Banjo!

Guitar effects

Line 6 Helix

Keyboard

Er, can’t remember what I’ve got now...

On stage monitoring

ACS custom in ears
iPad Pro/Midas M-32 Mix software
Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G3 wireless system

Favourite studio software

ProTools DAW
Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2.6 (my go to synth for most sounds - great stuff!)
Spectrasonics Trilian
Spectrasonics Stylus RMX
SampleTank 3
M-Tron Pro
Blue3
Xpand!2
Steven Slate SSDSampler5 drum samples


PETER NICHOLLS



Microphone: Shure SM-58
Tambourine: Ludwig

Ontstage Monitoring:

Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G3 wireless system
Hearwave - Triple driver In Ear Monitors


TIM ESAU


Basses

All strung with D’Addario EXL170 Nickel Wound Strings

Musicman Stingray 5 string Bass Guitar. Maple neck - main live bass
Musicman Stingray Classic 5 string Bass Guitar. Rosewood neck
Musicman Stingray 4 string Bass Guitar. Maple neck (1980 - pre-Ernie Ball)
Musicman Stingray 4 string fretless Bass Guitar. 20th Anniversary. Pau Ferro board
OLP Stingray 5 string fretless Bass Guitar. Rosewood neck.
(Upgraded with John East Pre-amp and Nordstrand pick up).

Bass Pedals

Roland PK-5A Dynamic Midi Foot Controller
Moog Minitaur Analog Bass Synth Module
Palmer PAN04 Dual Passive DI box
Pedals - depending on the set

Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver Deluxe - Pre-Amp
Keeley Bassist compressor
Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus
EBS Octabass
Digitech Hardwire DL-8 Delay/Looper
Boss TU-2 Chromatic tuner

Monitor

Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G3 wireless system
Hearwave - Triple driver In Ear Monitors



PAUL COOK


Tama Granstar
Very, very old now - probably getting on for 35 years

8" 10" 12" 13" 16" toms
5" maple snare
22" kick
Power Tower rack

Zildjian cymbals
14" New Beat hi-hats
18" Dark Crash
14" Thin Crash
8" Splash
17" Dark Crash
20" Earth Ride
16" Crash
16" China Boy High

Rack
Mostly full of cables for the monitor system
Tascam backing machine
Mixer
Various DI boxes
Transmitter
In-ears
And most importantly - stick wax


NEIL DURANT

Live Rig:
Hardware:

Kurzweil PC3x controller keyboard
Sequential Prophet 6
Nord G2 Modular Engine
RME Fireface 802 60-channel USB audio interface
MOTU MicroLite 5-port MIDI interface
Behringer DI800 8-channel DI
Akai LPD8 MIDI controller
MIDI Expression Quattro pedal interface
Gigabyte Brix BXi7-4770R Computers
Boss FS-5U footswitch for patch changes / effects
Boss FV-500L expression pedal

Hearwave monitoring

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 (monitor control)
König & Meyer Spider Pro stand
Telescopic Squirrel Modulator (with assorted nut adapters)

Software:

Cantabile Performer
Arturia CS-80, Jupiter-8, Matrix-12, Prophet V3, Solina V2
Korg M1, Wavestation
Sonic Projects OP-X Pro-II
Roland Cloud - D-50, Jupiter 8, JV-1080, SRX Orchestra
SONiVOX Solina Redux
u-he Diva, Repro 1, Repro 5
GSi VB3 and VB3-II
Native Instruments - Kontakt, Guitar Rig, Massive, FM8
IK Multimedia B3-X, AmpliTube Leslie
GForce M-Tron Pro, ImpOSCar2, Oddity, Minimonsta
Memorymoon ME-80
Applied Acoustics Lounge Lizard EP-4
Air Music Technology Xpand!2
Xfer Records Serum
Modartt Pianoteq
Spectrasonics Omnisphere
discoDSP OB-Xd

Additional home studio equipment:

Hardware:

Mellotron M400
Moog Voyager Select
Logan String Melody
Kurzweil PC3x, PC361
Korg MS-10
Roland D-50, JV-1080
Yamaha TG-500, Motif Rack ES

Software:

Pro Tools
Cockos Reaper
Plogue Bidule
Cherry Audio Voltage Modular
Jet Set Willy

Last edited by nicola : 12-02-2020 at 02:11 AM.
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