Growing Up Gabriel

Posted by: j8hn on 13 March 2004

Very interesting to watch PGs "Growing Up" last night, BBC4 [s'on 2nite 2], as I'd watched it on the Naim stand at the Bristol show in DVD? surround sound. It came out ok at home via 2 chnl tv sound thro' 15yr old W Diamonds. But played loud there was a lot of bass distortionn not all down to me as it sounded like the whole broadcast system was being over-loaded/driven by the very powerful bass.
Not so apparent at home but very clear over the Naim system, was the very clean sound of this recording with no trace,except when intentional, of any live acoustic. Obviously the whole show's been overdubbed. A mayor cheat in my book and why bother? Why not accept a slightly below par but original live sound=tmosphere or just shoot the whole thing on a cinema sound stage? Don't try and pull the wool over our eyes the whole thing comes across like a dubbed over MilliVanilli mimefest.

Tony Leven an amazing Bass player; but I'm reminded, watching last night's show, that I've never got the full lowdown on the finger stick thing. Can anyone fill me in on the exact details or point me in the right direction.
Posted on: 13 March 2004 by scottyhammer
hi john.
its now out on dvd-recommended!
you can also catch gabriel live @ wembley arena in june. can recommend this show also as i went to the earls court show last year!
regards, scotty
Posted on: 13 March 2004 by Andrew L. Weekes
www.stick.com for more stick info.

The videos here are interesting.

Andy.
Posted on: 14 March 2004 by andy c
2nd the DVD - its got DTS on it for those with this capability - in surround its brill. Have the CD of the title (UP) which is a grower.
Wink
Tickets for the NEC 1/6/04 concert booked

PS the greatest hits double cd is well recorded as well... especially the 'miss' CD which has some interesting stuff on it.

andy c!
Posted on: 14 March 2004 by j8hn
22nd the DVD - its got DTS in surround its brill"
Yes but it's not the actual live sound is it it's totally ersatz; ergo what's the point?
Posted on: 14 March 2004 by scottyhammer
the point is... it sounds great on a decent surround system + theres loads of interesting extras including making of and interviews.
everything a gabriel fan will love!!
scotty
Posted on: 14 March 2004 by Steve Hall
Please can we have a decent arena in the North West of England, and the Manchester MEN is bad bad bad - and in my view a death trap.

I went to see PG for UP at the MEN and it was excellent, however not this time around.

Sorry Peter
Posted on: 15 March 2004 by Pete
quote:
Originally posted by j8hn:
Tony Leven an amazing Bass player; but I'm reminded, watching last night's show, that I've never got the full lowdown on the finger stick thing. Can anyone fill me in on the exact details or point me in the right direction.


That's Levin, btw. I presume you mean the wee drumstick extensions he somethimes uses to play the bass to get a more percussive tone? Those are Funk Fingers, and they were originally developed around So. "Big Time" featured Jerry Marotta drumming on the bass strings while TL did the fingering for the studio take, but this wouldn't be practical live. Trying to drum on the strings during rehearsal wasn't going anywhere, and PG asked if Tony could attach sticks to his fingers? Various hacks by Tony's technician later and Funk Fingers were born. They've turned up on a number of recordings since, with probably the nicest demonstration of exactly how they affect the tone of the bass on his own "World Diary" CD.

They were actually produced commercially and sold by Tony's personal label, Papa Bear, but after the initial production sold out he's not found time to make any more. But they may be back on the agenda one day, and something similar shouldn't be too difficult to build yourself.

There's more info on them in Tony's book "Beyond the Bass Clef", available from Papa Bear
here

If you didn't mean these, but meant the Chapman Stick, Andy's already pointed you to the right place...

Pete.