Holdsworth Radio Interview (1990): Difference between revisions

          [Music]   for internal records in Steinberger   guitars   this is feign tyranny with allan   holdsworth in his home studio and   beautiful Tustin California on a   sweltering hot day in the middle of July   we're going to talk with him a little   bit about his new internet album secrets   which will be coming out here shortly   and talked about his playing and some of   his techniques and recording methods and   I guess you mix the album right in here   yeah I him right over there at that   console that no one can see yeah earlier   when we were talking he said that this   time you were able to do some things in   terms of mixing that you hadn't been   able to do on your earlier albums just   exactly what did you do well usually   it's a money problem if you're going to   the studio and you're mixing an album   you know you have a set amount of time   to do it and you usually try and do it   as quickly as you can and quite often   I've made a lot of mistakes so then we   finished up having to remix a song or   then you run out many or every week out   okay so you try often don't get exactly   what you want but nobody ever does but   this time doing it at home or well I   don't have the same equipment is a lot   of the you know like a really awesome   studio the thing is that I can make up   for it by the amount of time that I can   take on the mixing for example if I   started mixing one song instead of just   getting it ready to look so then putting   it down onto the to track I'd spend more   time listening to it I get a rough mix   up or a pretty good mix and make adapter   for it make cassettes play in the car   playing with my friends house play it   with a lot of different systems   therefore you know being able to go back   to the board in and make the necessary   changes   is that they give was a big thing for me   on this working as a result you probably   must feel pretty good about it having   heard it both on the studio monitors and   as you said in a variety of environments   I think it turned out good with regard   to that that you can listen to it all a   lot of different you know in a lot of   different environments in it sounds   pretty good I was quite pleased as   pleased as you can be with anything that   you can feel speaking of that I mean   with each successive album it seems that   critics and fans alike are always racing   to the dictionary for new adjectives try   and find one more superlative that they   can say about your playing how do you   feel about the way you play well I'll   ever I'll ever a hundred percent happy   with anything that I do but I think   that's normal   and I just try and do the best I can at   any point in time you know what the   thing that keeps me going is that if I   look back to an older album that I can   hear some progress which up till now   thankfully I can and that's enough   inspiration for me and keep going if I   listen to an album to always be going   for all boy and that's about how much   other improvement from them that I'd   maybe take up engineering full-time and   put the guitar away but let's take a   listen to the first track from your new   album secrets   it's called Joshua   I just heard a little bit of Joshua from   Allan Holdsworth new album on intimate   records called secrets let's talk a   little bit about the actual guitars   the stuff that you're playing on that   and as a musician I'm kind of interested   in how you go about getting the sound   that you do and what kind of equipment   and and just your mental approach in   order to get the kind of the kind of   sounds and what you do both on leads and   during the rest of the time I think most   people have a kind of like a sound in   their head you know like that's what I   like to think of is that as and for me   like with the guitar or anything else   it's just like a quest to try and get   closer to that and for this particular   track it was pretty straight forward in   terms of equipment I used a steinberger   guitar which I pretty well in fact I use   it exclusively now it's like you can   have a wood guitar anymore and I use the   50 caliber boogie and that was it that's   it it's pretty pretty simple setup for   this particular track I usually record   guitar like that that way sometimes I   record the processing if it was   important to the sounds like it has been   on some of the last recordings   but with the lead guitar thing or solo   sound usually that I like to try and get   as good as good as sad as I can and then   move on the mental approach to going   into a studio and recording as opposed   to playing live how do you select   yourself up to get that that one perfect   solo or get as close to that it's   because you can't feed off the energy of   the audience that you can when you're   when you're on a stage and that's true   always really hard I mean the recording   poses totally different problems for me   that like I especially if it was done in   inovative situation if you play a things   like live like some of the tracks that   we did and in the past between live and   somehow they're always easier than when   you start to go in and over them   something because it's really difficult   to make to make it sound like it was   part of the the thing you know the whole   event but I've really so I really listen   to the if it's an overdub situation I   really usually listen to them basic   track a lot until I actually know   exactly what everybody else is doing   that way I find it easier to place all   over the same line understand where all   the look where all the little things are   going to be and I try and make it sound   as natural as possible   [Music]   we just heard a little bit of spokes   from Allan Holdsworth no intima album   secrets this time you wrote about half   of the compositions on the album before   you were the primary composer that mean   you're getting out of the composing   business and more into the playing or   this is really calling sort of two   different sets of skills that are   complementary well one for the first   question I think I just liked a few some   of the tunes that some of the guys had   written and I always like to experiment   and with those things in the particular   pieces of music that I did like and felt   that they would be they would sound a   lot incorrect from the album just   because of the personnel you know I   figured out these come out with you know   like a uniformity which it had   [Music]   is basically because I I like the pieces   that the other guys had written in and I   wanted to give the guys an opportunity   to write things so it it didn't style as   a deliberate thing like saying well this   time I'm not going to write everything   it was just that Gary played me a tune   and I really liked that which was   sitting nice and then Steve had two   tunes one of which made Mary and we'd   done live in Joshua we actually didn't   do that tune in life and I liked both of   those tunes and then Chad would written   the piece which I really like that piece   too so it was just more or less that I   liked them rather than saying well I   couldn't be bothered to write any   musical I felt that I didn't have enough   music and when it comes to playing a   little bit about playing with synthetics   I mean how is it different than playing   other guitars for what what how it was a   hard to learn   well it's completely different and   that's one of the things I really like   about it because I guess I mentioned it   a few times in magazines and things I've   done before that I never really I never   really wanted to play guitar in the   first place it just kind of happened and   when I first started playing the syntax   it was a real big emotional experience   it felt better to me than the new   account it felt like that I could   develop a   a relationship with the instrument has   allowed me to express myself more than I   could with the guitar just because I'd   always wanted to play a wind instrument   and using the breath controller on the   syntax give me that kind of ability to   do that so I really love the thing but   as far as it being like a guitar it's   very much unlike a guitar and I guess   that's why a lot of guitar players don't   like it so I guess now in a sense then   you're you're more of a   multi-instrumentalist and you were a few   years ago well only in only in the only   through Sonics program I'm not I'm   definitely not a multi-instrumentalist   it's just that obviously anything that   you've learned on the guitar being is   that it's a stringed instrument in the   notes on particular frets or whatever   and I can you know I still understand   that on the syntax that part if it   doesn't change which is great but the   way the instrument feels is completely   different let's go back and listen to a   little bit more of the record   this track is called City nights we're   back in the Tustin studio of allan   holdsworth with Helen Howe who's into   muharram secrets is going to be coming   out this August we just heard a little   bit of City nights and you've been at   this for quite some time now haven't you   what sixth album yeah yes six and a   little bit cio you've came first in   nineteen I was recruited I owe you Alvin   was recorded I think in 1980 and I think   it came out in mistakes around 81 or   somewhere around there and then we did   the road games album for another label   that we won't mention hideous record and   then there did the metal fatigue   Saavik roll sound and then see Druz what   do you see   other than of course the band and   yourself as being the sort of common   thread or what is it that ties us all   together if you were to to take say a   day of your life and listen to it all   chronologically what would you say about   the progression that you've made as a   musician and as a composer I don't know   other than the fact that I think I made   some progress but other than that I   wouldn't know exactly specifically what   it was you know because I think each   each individual is an individual and   sometimes that they're not aware of what   makes them self so I think all all that   I try to do is just kind of follow my   heart through the whole thing you know   if I feel like I should do this that's   what I do and if I feel like I should do   that that's what I feel I guess I've   always felt that way about music I just   try to the best of my ability to keep   moving you know keep this changing   moving from the concept of the   individual to the group this last track   that we're about to hear 50 for Duncan   Terrace   doesn't feature you as prominently as   many of the other tunes on on secrets   yeah how come   well it's died out unintentional because   there was basically only one solo   section in the piece and I wrote the   piece for a friend of mine who died a   few years ago he was a really great gala   player his name was Pat's life and all   the pieces that he used to compose were   always very they were always very pretty   or very melodic soft kind of them   pieces so on I wrote this kind of in   memory of him and he was like I said a   piano player and after I started   listening to the basic track when we did   it the studio as I thought then Alan   pasqua was tossing piano Flair and I   just asked him if he'd like to and play   on the track and he did and I just loved   what he did so and he played the bulk of   the soul and then I played this very   short solo section at the end from Allan   Holdsworth album secrets 54 Duncan   terrorists   [Music]   we're back in the Tustin Studio Vallon   holdsworth where we've just heard 50 for   Duncan Terrace from his new album   secrets which is going to be out this   August on intimate tapes and records and   compact discs and gosh probably at some   point we'll have a little computer disk   that we can play play it as well through   your Mac a little ways off we were   talking during the break about guitars   and he said something real interesting   about steinberger so they they had   something very special about them and   I'd like to elaborate on that just a   little bit all right I was a very first   time I played when it was I just got an   incredible feeling from it I just loved   the thing and it made me feel like I   felt when I very first picked up the   very first guitar you know you there's a   kind of like I had a resurgence of   energy that I felt really oh I wanted to   play the guitar again you know after I   got this time barrier which is which was   an interesting thing to happen and also   I loved it because of the creative   aspect of it too because most everybody   else for the last 20 years it's just   being a copy of some form of offender or   a Gibson and I think that the   Steinberger is the only true only truly   significant development electric guitar   for the last 20 years and I think that   they're not only that but the thing just   sounds great to me I mean I love it and   it's the only food I play if you were   going to I I realized this putting you   on the spot a little bit but if you're   going to give some advice to someone who   is currently practicing and playing and   perhaps aspiring someday to gain   professional musician what is it the you   talent   well actually I was talking to Gary   husband about this a few weeks ago and   he made a very keen observation which   was that everybody starts out when they   first start playing with something very   special of their own and what happens is   they're losing and the key is to keep it   and rather than being totally engrossed   in what other people are doing to try   and figure out what it is is it unique   about themselves and nurture that you   know I think it's really great to be   inspired by people and obviously I'm   still inspired by lots of musicians and   what I hear but I try not to like din   from his kind of infiltrate what I   really want to do myself so I try to   absorb the quality aspect of it but not   actually what it is in terms of likely   mimicry and I think that's the best   possible advice I could give to anyone   well thank you very much for your time   on behalf of steinberger guitars and   intima records I'm sayin tyranny we've   been speaking with Allan Holdsworth   his new album secrets will be out of the   stores this August so in addition to   those you're carrying right now if you'd   like to do the entire thing we encourage   you highly to find your way down there   and get a copy for your own self   [Music]   you   you