TWENTY YEARS WITH NEW EARTH RECORDS
WE MADE A POST OUT OF THIS IN THE CATEGORY ‘MUSIC’
It will soon be my 20th anniversary with New Earth Records and, as they are releasing my first ever compilation CD âLand of the Buddhasâ, I feel it is time to have a glance backwards.
It all began in 1990 (when NER was Tao Music and based in Munich), when Bhikkhu invited a group of friends to record Taoâs first music CD. The six of us assembled in a large room in the country outside the city, and knowing nothing at all about recording and having only the most primitive equipment, proceeded to play each track âliveâ. This involved hiding ourselves behind piles of mattresses (so that sound wouldnât âspillâ from one microphone to another), and recording endless takes until at last no-one had made an obvious mistake. âTerra Incognita âNo Goal But the Pathâ was released the following year, and while no longer available commercially, its innocent vibe and live feel still comes through today for those lucky enough to have a copy.
The following year the Terra Incognita team met up again in Italy to record the follow up âTribal Gatheringâ. Prem Joshua, Ravi and I played a couple of concerts arranged by Tao Music in Munichâs âGasteigâ (including as an opening act for Hariprasad Chaurasia) imbetween sessions, and earned enough to pay for a few additional hours in a real studio, so the record has a more professional feel. It was a hit and miss affair â we were still learning! â but there are a couple of tracks we can still be proud of.
It was over five years before I could offer NER a CD I could feel proud of; five years that I spent exploring, for minor labels in Germany, the East-West combination that would become my trademark. âCeltic Ragasâ came out in 1998, NER riding the Celtic âwaveâ. Recorded in a professional studio in Hamburg, Vidroha Jamie and I were able to take advantage of the first computer software to be able to edit without physically cutting tape âalbeit with the help of our sound engineer! (This CD was picked up by Paul McCartney a couple of years later, which led, thanks to Waduda quickly assuming the role of my agent, to our playing his 2002 wedding in Ireland. Another story, as they say.)
In 1998 in Hawaiâi I finally bit the bullet and got my own studio, a dedicated Roland hard disc recorder with all of eight tracks! I used it to make âFeng Shui â The Eightfold Pathâ (2000), struggling with the technicals (SCASI, Midi sync, a screen the size of a large postage stamp), and with a range of new instruments âharp, santoor, bass â as well as my usual sarod and guitar. Bhikkhu and Waduda encouraged me to create a special Feng Shui meditation for the CD, and went town on cover artwork in support. The result was my best selling release ever.
âYoga on Sacred Groundâ (2001) was my first chance to experiment with a bit of electronica and drum loops, thanks to a tiny mini sequencer (the Yamaha QY70) which had just come out. The CD set a pattern which my next two CDs, âSacred Temples of Indiaâ (2002) and âKarma Circlesâ (2003), would follow: exotic instruments – harmonium, accordion, sitar, bamboo flute etc – recorded in Pune, India; the whole thing put together in a garden in Hawaiâi, where our outdoor kitchen doubled up as a recording studio.
In 2004 I got my first Mac and Logic software, moved to New Zealand, and a whole new world of possibilities opened up. I was able to use video for the first time on âFragrance of the East , including clips showing the live âConcert for Indiaâs Environmentâ in Pune at which the live CD was recorded. (NER took a risk on this, their first live CD, especially as half the tracks had already featured as studio recordings on âKarma Circlesâ. It shows their strong support for environmental causes that they released it at all, and sad to say, it has not been much of a commercial success.)
Without Logic I doubt if I could have made âYoga Loungeâ (2005) or âBuddha Moonâ (2007), both CDs being based on essentially live recordings from top Hindustani Classical artists. The Macs role on the former was to enable tight editing of the hip-hop grooves, electronics etc that provide the background to Niladri Kumars outstanding sitar playing; and for Buddha Moon to allow me to see on screen the variable tempo of the instrumentalists as I added my guitar and effects. (Guitarists might spot that all the guitar playing on the whole CD is done with harmonics, and will be able to imagine the tuning and retuning and broken strings involved!)
So this brings us up to the present, with Bhikkhu and Waduda continuing their 19 years of support by releasing âLand of the Buddhasâ, a collection they chose that turns out to include all my favourite pieces. Theyâve done their usual amazing job on the cover, and hopefully by the time our 20th anniversary comes around next summer there will be thousands of people all over the world enjoying it!
WE MADE A POST OUT OF THIS IN THE CATEGORY âMUSICâ
It will soon be my 20th anniversary with New Earth Records and, as they are releasing my first ever compilation CD âLand of the Buddhasâ, I feel it is time to have a glance backwards.
It all began in 1990 (when NER was Tao Music and based in Munich), when Bhikkhu invited a group of friends to record Taoâs first music CD. The six of us assembled in a large room in the country outside the city, and knowing nothing at all about recording and having only the most primitive equipment, proceeded to play each track âliveâ. This involved hiding ourselves behind piles of mattresses (so that sound wouldnât âspillâ from one microphone to another), and recording endless takes until at last no-one had made an obvious mistake. âTerra Incognita âNo Goal But the Pathâ was released the following year, and while no longer available commercially, its innocent vibe and live feel still comes through today for those lucky enough to have a copy.
The following year the Terra Incognita team met up again in Italy to record the follow up âTribal Gatheringâ. Prem Joshua, Ravi and I played a couple of concerts arranged by Tao Music in Munichâs âGasteigâ (including as an opening act for Hariprasad Chaurasia) imbetween sessions, and earned enough to pay for a few additional hours in a real studio, so the record has a more professional feel. It was a hit and miss affair â we were still learning! â but there are a couple of tracks we can still be proud of.
It was over five years before I could offer NER a CD I could feel proud of; five years that I spent exploring, for minor labels in Germany, the East-West combination that would become my trademark. âCeltic Ragasâ came out in 1998, NER riding the Celtic âwaveâ. Recorded in a professional studio in Hamburg, Vidroha Jamie and I were able to take advantage of the first computer software to be able to edit without physically cutting tape âalbeit with the help of our sound engineer! (This CD was picked up by Paul McCartney a couple of years later, which led, thanks to Waduda quickly assuming the role of my agent, to our playing his 2002 wedding in Ireland. Another story, as they say.)
In 1998 in Hawaiâi I finally bit the bullet and got my own studio, a dedicated Roland hard disc recorder with all of eight tracks! I used it to make âFeng Shui â The Eightfold Pathâ (2000), struggling with the technicals (SCASI, Midi sync, a screen the size of a large postage stamp), and with a range of new instruments âharp, santoor, bass â as well as my usual sarod and guitar. Bhikkhu and Waduda encouraged me to create a special Feng Shui meditation for the CD, and went town on cover artwork in support. The result was my best selling release ever.
âYoga on Sacred Groundâ (2001) was my first chance to experiment with a bit of electronica and drum loops, thanks to a tiny mini sequencer (the Yamaha QY70) which had just come out. The CD set a pattern which my next two CDs, âSacred Temples of Indiaâ (2002) and âKarma Circlesâ (2003), would follow: exotic instruments â harmonium, accordion, sitar, bamboo flute etc â recorded in Pune, India; the whole thing put together in a garden in Hawaiâi, where our outdoor kitchen doubled up as a recording studio.
In 2004 I got my first Mac and Logic software, moved to New Zealand, and a whole new world of possibilities opened up. I was able to use video for the first time on âFragrance of the East , including clips showing the live âConcert for Indiaâs Environmentâ in Pune at which the live CD was recorded. (NER took a risk on this, their first live CD, especially as half the tracks had already featured as studio recordings on âKarma Circlesâ. It shows their strong support for environmental causes that they released it at all, and sad to say, it has not been much of a commercial success.)
Without Logic I doubt if I could have made âYoga Loungeâ (2005) or âBuddha Moonâ (2007), both CDs being based on essentially live recordings from top Hindustani Classical artists. The Macs role on the former was to enable tight editing of the hip-hop grooves, electronics etc that provide the background to Niladri Kumars outstanding sitar playing; and for Buddha Moon to allow me to see on screen the variable tempo of the instrumentalists as I added my guitar and effects. (Guitarists might spot that all the guitar playing on the whole CD is done with harmonics, and will be able to imagine the tuning and retuning and broken strings involved!)
So this brings us up to the present, with Bhikkhu and Waduda continuing their 19 years of support by releasing âLand of the Buddhasâ, a collection they chose that turns out to include all my favourite pieces. Theyâve done their usual amazing job on the cover, and hopefully by the time our 20th anniversary comes around next summer there will be thousands of people all over the world enjoying it!