In actuality, I rarely listen to music. I’m so busy composing, arranging, performing, recording and producing it, there just isn’t enough time in the day. I literally sleep an average between 4 to 6 hours a day and most of that awake time is creating music. That of course is radically different then from my past. Before this life of music creation I was never far from a stereo, radio, record store or stage, attempting to digest as much as my ears could devour. So every once in a while I’ll have a flash back and I listen to something I haven’t heard in years. An Album I’ve been returning to these days is Electric Counter point.
Electric Counterpoint is a minimalist composition written by American composer Steve Reich. The piece consists of three movements, “Fast,” “Slow”, and “Fast”. The composer has offered two versions of the piece: one for electric guitar and tape (the tape part featuring two electric bass guitars and 7 electric guitars), and the other for an ensemble of guitars. It was first recorded by guitarist Pat Metheny in 1987 and released together with Reich’s Different Trains, performed by the Kronos Quartet, on Nonesuch‘s 979 176-2. Metheny recorded the piece by use of extensive overdubbing in the recording studio. Guitarists wishing to perform the piece may use Metheny’s pre-recorded ensemble part or opt to record their own, adding the 13th guitar part in live performance. In 2007, the guitar ensemble Forestare made the first recording of the lesser known second version, on ATMA Classique.
This is the kind of record that after it came out you could hear it’s influence everywhere. It just proved again how the guitar and guitar music just keeps reinventing itself. It’s the perfect musical tool whether it be high art or low. Take some time, kick back and listen deeply.