"The Craig Anderton Music Tape"

Many of you are familiar with some of Craig Anderton's work. Perhaps you read his monthly column in Guitar Player Magazine. His book, "Electronic Projects for Musicians", was a welcome sight to many frustrated music experimenters. Or it could be that you have run across some of his freelance design/application tutorials which he frequently whips up for the likes of Popular Electronics, Radio-Electronics, Polyphony, Electro Notes, Synapse or Contemporary Keyboard.

Well, I suppose that by now you are wondering what a guy like this does in all his multitudes of spare time. For the last year or so, the answer has been writing another book and recording an album (tape). The two projects are somewhat intertwined, and should be of invaluable assistance to any serious electronic musician. The book, to be published early this fall, is entitled "Home Recording for the Musician". The tape is called "The Craig Anderton Music Tape", and it proves without a doubt that he was the proper guy to write the aforementioned book!

The music on the tape is all original, displaying yet another of Craig's many talents. The flavor of the music varies widely, from the intricately orchestrated patterns of "Dog Dreams" to the Martian reggae of "Roy Herful" to the heavy metal rock underture of "Leave 'em Laughing". Craig's mastery of tape techniques is showcased by the intricate mixing of a dozen or more tracks on most songs, and by the amazing number of hidden subtleties that require a dozen close listenings to discover. Outstanding instrumental performance is rounded out through the use of home made electronic drums and commercial goodies such as the E-Bow to put the proverbial frosting on the cake.

The age of the self-sufficient one-man-band is upon us. Craig has set very high standards for us.

The Craig Anderton Music Tape is available exclusively from PAIA Electronics for $5.95 plus 50£ postage.

"If you would like a taste of the unique sounds on the Craig Anderton Music Tape, give a call to the Paia Demo Line, (Contact Details). Charge card orders or catalog requests can be left after listening to Craig."

XENHARMONIKON

XH (as their readers call it — you don't think I'm going to spend my day typing this review, do you?) is published semi-annually by John H. Chalmers, Jr. , (Contact Details).

The publication is organized primarily as a place to discuss musical ideas which are not commonly accepted or recognized by the general public or musical instrument manufacturers. The primary thrust of XH seems to be the use of tunings and temperaments other than the 12-tone equally tempered scale.

Along these lines, additional material in XH deals with how to construct instruments in new tonalities, how to write down these new breeds of sounds, and quite a bit of discussion of theory and calculation behind new types of tunings.

Sample titles from the two issues I reviewed include:
"An approach to the construction of Micro-Tonal Brass Instruments - The French Horn"
"The Pitches of Meantone Assigned to the 19-Note Generalized Keyboard"
"Cyclic Scales"
"Specifications of the Secor Generalized Keyboard Scalatron."

For those of you interested in the world of microtones, I would highly recommend this magazine. The people who are responsible for XH the musical horizons. They take an active interest in teaching the theory (both musical and mathematical) behind new timings, and how to use that theory to build real world instruments to play the new music.

For more information, write to John Chalmers at the address given above.

Back issues are available for XH#4 and XH #5. Issues #1 thru #3 are temporarily out of print, however they may soon be reprinted as one volume. Issue #6 is to be released by the end of this year, and will cost about $3.