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Chris Kimber - Biography continued . . . . |
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there. It was a mammoth task then, we only had four tracks and wanted really complex arrangements. We were pushing our equipment to the limits. I even remember recording the Bass part and melody line on the same track, and used EQ to bring the melody out. We used 1 track of sequenced synths on a Yamaha hardware sequencer, and the rest was all played live. We got some great sounds going, a few memorable sessions involved setting up a drum kit in the Ladies toilet by the studio, the acoustics were fantastic, it's a real shame they've carpeted it now! There was also the time we got a group of people (including staff) jumping up and down on wooden boards with sleigh bells and tambourines for one section - sadly we didn't use it in the end. We were also lucky with the end section played on electric guitar. One of our "A Level" colleagues, who was terrible at reading music, was great at improvising and we got him to do a few solos over our backing and it just sounded great! We wrote out an equipment list which went on for ever." "The piece eventually got finished and mixed a year later onto reel-to-reel tape and Richard did the splicing - a few of the edits suffered a little under the knife but there were too many different sections to make one complete mix. I've got some great photos of the bits (of tape) that didn't make it" As part of the A Level exam Chris had to include a number of compositions, including one "large" piece, which he decided to write for Symphonic Wind Band - "I had been with the Sutton Wind Band for 3 years and loved the sound a band like this created. I had a load of musical ideas and wanted to put them together in a piece." Chris first had a chance to write for wind instruments when he wrote a short piece for a school 20th Century music concert. Titled "Ovis Cum Lana Nigra" this was later developed into the full 15 minute symphony - "The idea had been inspired a little by the great fugue at the end of Britten's "Young Persons' Guide to the Orchestra" the idea being of a very busy accompaniment to a very simple tune. This accompaniment then came the main theme of the piece and also the finale. After sorting out the instrumentation and the ranges of each instrument I literally started with a blank score and worked the whole thing out on a piano. It took ages! It is fair to say that this was probably the only time I could have done this - I couldn't imagine working this way now. I thought about every part individually - I believe it is common practice to score some instruments the same eg Saxes and Horns or whatever, but all the parts in "Ovis" are individual, sometimes even taking into account the ability of particular players at the time. I have always maintained that I can only write for something that is going to be performed, otherwise what is the point? It's just dots on a page." During all this period, Chris was building up a collection of records from chart acts, most specifically Mike Oldfield. "I can't deny that Mike Oldfield has been an enormous influence on my musical style and love of modern instrumental music. My dad gave me a copy of Tubular Bells for Christmas in 1984 as I had heard the famous opening somewhere and asked what it was. At first I didn't listen beyond the first few minutes, but during the following year I gave it another listen and fell in love with it. After this it was only a matter of time until the collection grew and by the time I left school I owned all his albums and even some of the rare singles! What I loved most of all was when there were a million overdubs, really busy music, when you hear something different every time you listen - though to be honest not that much of my music is like that at the moment! I appear to be more like Vangelis." Other influences were - and still are - Vangelis, YES, Early Genesis, Renaissance, ABBA, and a load of "Easy Listening" compilations. |