Tales from the Maze

There is a new blog in town

2011-05-08T01:27:00.002+02:00

Yup, we destined to create more music, good stuff coming your way at our new recording blog - right here, right now!

http://masqueradeshow.blogspot.com/

Stay tuned and tell you friends.

best

alex

Oops, we're at it again!

2008-03-15T23:08:00.003+01:00

Dear friends, fans and relatives,

We're at it again, creating a sequal to Tales with a new effort.
As usual, you can follow the follies on our recording blog, only a
click away at lullabyforheroes.blogspot.com.

We hope to fill you in with the goings on through quotes, pics and clips from
the busy days at Over the Hill.

Best,

Alex

The fat lady sings

2006-12-19T01:08:00.000+01:00

Well, that's it for this blogerama. The album "Tales from the Maze" is out in the open. You can prelisten the end result at CD Baby, and while you're at it - why not support progress(ive) and buy a CD for someone you love. When enough people have chipped in, we can go on and press that vinyl that we've talked so much about, so in the end everybody's a winner :-)

Our deepest gratitude for support, horrays and commentary throughout the events of the last year, and we'll see you in the next chapter of the journey towards truth and happiness when the Mazekeepers once again enter Mike's dungeon in the near future.

Keep Swingin'

/Alex

2006-09-11T23:53:00.000+02:00

Homepage up again! This time we're a little better off, with a little help from our friend Emil, who kindly offered us continuous assistance in our endevour to spread our sound.

New and improved version, can be seen at mazeoftime.com.

And yes, check out missingpiece.net also, great source for that hard-to-find progressive album.

Axl

2006-06-05T00:35:00.000+02:00

Whistling for Willie?

Nope, but The Swingin' Mazers are going to haul ass down to Sweden Rock Festival 8-10 June bright and early Wednesday morning. If you see four, five guys with long hair and black tees on, feel free to come up say hello... no, wait ther're like gonna be ten thousand guys down there that look like that, that's not gonna work... er, we're gonna have to wear our white tees instead.

That's it! See a bunch of guys wearing white in the middle of an herd of fanged, black-as-sin, hairy orch-look-a-likes, that's us. Come right up, and we'll buy you a round.

Pretty good line-up this year, wouldn't want to miss Michael Schenker group, Purple, Tull and many others. Meanwhile, back in the studio, we're cooking. And soon, very soon now, we're out in the open with our album... You're probably gonna like it, even Max the dog.

A.

Nothing like a good ol' wait?

2006-05-20T01:10:00.000+02:00

Happily, we're not the easily excited kind. In fact, we're already planning the continuation of our endevour where each of us would have a go at introducing some
newly written stuff, appropriately tranformed through the Maze of Time "filter".

Johnny, our man in Amsterdam, is hunting for the best deal possible, with the widest distribution radii possible. We've already had some luck, but we have yet to have a break in that department. Release is still sceduled for September, so hang on there. In the meantime, we offer you our new logo for the upcoming release:

Cheers

Alex

Upcoming Saturday

2006-03-07T02:21:00.000+01:00

Finally, finally, finally!

Micke has done an awesome job, and on top of that, he's inviting us all to his home for a group review of the entire masterpiece. JP has come up from A'dam, hopefully to give his approval of the final result. And then, off to Dalarna to the Master of mastering!

Keepin' ya posted - pics from Saturday will follow!

axl

DONE MIXING!

2006-02-24T21:55:00.000+01:00

Yup,

That's pretty much it. Mixmaster Micke has completed the album, the full enchilada.
Intros, extros and bells 'n whistles are all there. As always it's all about compromising, killing darlings and sticking to it.

Like Rob said, it's been a true journey, especially for him with his newborn Emma joining his family but a few weeks ago. Welcome to the baby girl and welcome to "Tales from the Maze" - our first full-length album.

From here, JP is up from Amsterdam to listen to the result of our endevour, after which the package is sent to Dalarna for mastering.

In the meantime, myself and pixel artist Gabriel have been busy with the cover artwork, layout and graphics for tangible and intangeble look of our new release. We'll give some hints here on the blog, but the final result will have to wait for the release (and the corresponding party).

Alex - Keepin' you posted as always!

Mixed, but not shaken

2006-02-19T22:44:00.000+01:00

Janne called me a few days ago, kind of mellow, saying we're just about done.
JP (Art Perf.) is coming up this upcoming week to listen in, mix all done, tracks in order and all we have left is some into and extros, with sounds captured during the summer sessions. Perhaps even that HUGE rainstorm, so loud on the tin roof, it prevented us from recording that night.

So, we're giving birth really soon - our musical offspring, or the Blurb as Robert calls it.

Concurrently, we're working on the eye-candy. With the valuable from Gabriel from Kärrby Creative, the visual aspects of "Tales from the Maze" will reach up, and post probably surpass our expectations - perhaps even your's as well...

After FX add-ons, it's off to Dalarna for mastering for vinyl and CD!

Bombs away!

alx

Techy stuff

2006-01-20T17:34:00.000+01:00

Not only you have to hit the right keys at the right time, ya need to be a tech whizz too. Our website hosting company will discontinue and stuff had to be moved off-site.

Luckily, our good friend Emil was kind enough to allocate some space on one of his servers. For our fans, everything remains the same, but in terms of services a broader range of stuff can be offered, since we now have more control over available software, open ports and so fourth.

Here's a pic of Emil, surfing his cell phone by the San Fransisco bay.

We'll perk up the site as time allows (i.e. when the album cover is finalised).

alex

Mixdown in progress

2006-01-04T01:04:00.000+01:00

Dear All,

It was getting close to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and holiday feasting took its toll. Therefore, it's been kind of quiet on the blogging, with little to share. However, in the still of the night, Micke has been busy along with Robert and Janne, fine-tuning the mix and balancing the various tracks and corresponding sounds.

So, at the moment of this writing, all tracks but one have been mixed down to master files. Yet, in the progress of the last but one song, Micke found an even greater level combination, making us go back on two tracks and redoing them in the new flavor. A bit iterative? Yeay sure, but like in tour golfing - it's the end-result that counts, not the fancy trajectory of a shot of the tee:-)

Therefore, with apology to those who though we'd gone astray, some pics from the audit process for you to enjoy.

Guys who listen together, dance together?

Nothing like a hardcopy!

Soon, everyone can - just like Robert - enjoy Maze of Time's album in the privacy of their own home. Great stuff!

Catch you on the flipside!

A.

Listening in

2005-11-07T11:02:00.000+01:00

Micke has worked hard on the mix. Especially on "Distant Tomorrow", where the sound is startin to get to where we want it. JP of ArtPerformance seemes to like what he hears and might in fact be intrested in a continuation of our collaboration in the near future. But, first thing's first... The ball is in Over the Hill productions and ultimately Micke's corner and the rest of us are at his mercy, begging for pre-listening to again meet and great our baby in its new state of being.

Record lable rep. saying something like "wow, what did I just hear - is that you guys?"

Rob and JP from ArtPerformace, back where it all started in Micke's garden. (refering to archive pic from May)

p.s. Don't forget to sign up for the early bird release!
www.artperformance.nl/html/maze_of_time.html
(then click on pre-order in the menu on the right)

axl

Pre-order for early birds

2005-10-18T11:43:00.000+02:00

Well, with our new album on the way, there are more stuff to do, apart from waiting by the phone for the mixerguru to call telling us there is a first, raw compilation of some of the tracks.

Thomas showing off a raw burn of the first track down.

We are lucky to have an excellent team of supporters, who help us with anwhere from cover design, photography, illustrations, great ideas, lunch - you name it. One of the requests come to us is somewhere to sign up for an album once it's out.

By the way, did I mention that Robert is back in the studio once again this evening? There was this solo that kept Cribba sleepless for a week and a half, and then Robert an entire week on top of that, that needed an extra go. Haven't got the full report yet, but am pretty assured Robert and Micke have set it straight, just like they always do!

Sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite!

Al.

Day 24: DONE - We've just recorded an album!

2005-10-05T22:39:00.000+02:00

After roughly three years, we're there! Hooray!!!!! This twentyfourth day is a day of celebration and rejoice!

The ideas in Robert's head are actually turning irreversibly into an LP (and a CD), nothing less than the first full-length audio experience with the Maze of Time constallation. The Maze of Time goes public!!!!

I left the guys at about 10 PM, and they just kept on going into the night. Asked Rob when he made it to bed. "Late", he replied. "Very late".

So, friends, family, fans and others who have taken part of this blog and our recording session: We say thanks, for all the appriciation, support, patience and good humour that has reached us in person, by mail, phone and otherwise.

For Micke, Anders and JP (our producer and sugerdaddy, remember?) the journey has but begun, and we'll keep you posted on every twitch of a finger, or raised brow from our supporting crew.

JP is on his way from Amsterdam to meet us and check out our endevours. He liked it last time around, we've heard, but he just might like it even more with all the astounding lyrics :-) Anyway, time will tell. Rumour has it ArtPerformace will treat us for dinner in a couple of weeks.

And yes, there will be pictures, just hang on for a bit!

A.

Day 23: Clean-up day

2005-10-04T22:28:00.000+02:00

Whew,

A kind of in-between session today, correcting oddities, erasing some weird stuff. Cribster had to bail early today but we had lot's of stuff to do for tomorrow's grand finally with "Under the Sun". Micke looks steady as we go and will surely last another night, he's been in this game before.

Pics to follow!

A.

Day 22: Caught in the hands of time

2005-10-02T21:59:00.000+02:00

I can smell it, it is near, the mixdown is imminent!

(Webster: Imminent; noun, means impending, as in: "When she heard a storm was imminent, she backed up her work and unplugged the computer").

It was cleanup-time in the studio, not that Micke is doing dirty business in there, more like cleaning up the debris on tape. Janne came by had got a rudimintary scan of just about everything, and uttered a general approval. However, although we didn't get vocals onto that last song today, we're still a happy bunch. Actually, I even got to redo two of the most easily spotted keyboard hick-ups, for which I'm most greatful.

Waiting for some pics by any chance? Well, here they are!

Alex trying to find that third voicing

"Although I'm drifting away", he's not. It's looking good!

Cribba in the making

Wednesday, or maybe even Tuesday, we meet again (with flowers in our hair)!

A.

Day 21: Almost there (Red 5 standing by)

2005-09-28T11:02:00.000+02:00

Lost in thought, he's sitting there....

Six tracks down, one to go. "Under the Sun" is the last track off Robert's string of mighty creations for this album. Micke said that the blog sure would look nice with some more images, so let's go wild with a comprehensive coverage of the last days' action:

Here, drummerboy visiting on Tuesday, maybe this was why he got whezzie and fled?

Micke and Rob having a giggle before the showdown at OK coral

Study of Rob's excellent technique - scare the mike!

Micke is worried that we've run out of channels....

Oh no, it's Terminator 2 coming to get us....

Detail view of analog/digital grand mixer

See the relaxed stance, takes years to get there...

Guys, recording can be great fun. Drummerboy in a good mood today!

Phew, that's that - signing off!

Next session on Sunday - with some more vocals from the dynamic trio!

A.

Day 20: Happy men!

2005-09-27T23:58:00.000+02:00

Yup,

Things are skidding along, but in a good way. El Bongo, a.k.a Drummerboy, came to see the singing trio today, but folded after a while. Hope it wasn't the harmonies that got to him...

Cribba and Rob delivered as ususal, even though I was nagging about infintedecimal impurities in the vocals at hand. Sure, it gets to Mr C occationally, but it's all in good faith. Not to mention the outcome, which is marvelous - of course :-)

The "Happy Man" has never been so content, full of life and wonder. Not to mention, the chaotic ending which is worth fighting for.

Robert, riffing away on ye ol' acoustic

Thomas, happy as a bug in a rug

Cribba, who showed up in a new cut today, looking suave as always

Until tomorrow, then!

Alex

Day 19: Evening of Dreams

2005-09-26T23:53:00.000+02:00

Another day in paradise,

Micke has come down with a cold, but is relentless in his supporting act. Listening,
backing up, preparing another take. "Here we go again", he chuckles.

Cribster did a great session, with tenderness and in half voice he produced the finest of dubs and harmonic overlays on Robert's clear leads.

Ocean of dreams is a monster, that track has so much in it. It's brutal, it's fragile, and has grown much like we have as a band. As the designated blogger of the Maze, I can only smile secretly.

You're gonna like it!

A.

Day 18: Biting down on it

2005-09-25T23:31:00.000+02:00

Friends, fans and other followers,

We are getting there, slowly but surely!
It's like the definition of the gap between what's on our mind, and how things really turn out. We're not Freddy, we're not John Anderson, we're more like, well er, the Maze of Time. But at the end of each session we nod and grin, 'cause the end result of each track is like a victory of its own.

Robert enjoying himself in the heart of the Over the Hill studio.

We could say "that's a wrap" to several tracks during this session. We still have some ways before we're all finished but Cribba and Robert are giving their utmost in every take. Myself, I've made a few contributions as well however small. Singing in a studio gets to you, especially without any digital effects to hide behind.

Will post some more images in due time before we're all done, Micke sends me some crude camerashots every now and then - the above would be one of them. I've been so focused on the job at hand, I forgot to even bring my proper camera. But on Tuesday, I'll bring it for sure so you can share these last memorable moments.

cheers

A.

Day 17: Vocal forerunner

2005-09-18T23:53:00.000+02:00

It's Lady May,

Cribba and Robert are heading right into the storm. Micke has loaded up with two new
Lexicon units and a good mike. It's been a while but things sound pretty good from where I'm standing.

Cribba by the mike, delivering some good stuff

There were som new arrangements, of which most was good but some didn't pass the test. Wonder if it was guru Anders who talked them into it - anyhow, just like famous writers say: There is no good writing, there is only good rewriting.

Song rehersal Sunday 25:th, 2PM at Rob's place

See ya

Day 16: Celebration - instruments on tape!

2005-09-05T18:08:00.000+02:00

A milestone in this production has been reached! Haleluja!

Robert has bent his last D-string for this production, and boy did he deliver!
It's crooked, it's bent, it's weird, but it's all there!

Congrats from the crew to our composer/guitarhero!

We're gonna have a vocal dress rehersal Thursday, which in turn means that we'll have a go at the vocals in about two week's time. After which, we'll celebrate a bit more seriously. From then on, it's up to the sensitive ears and fingertips of Micke, accompanied by JP and Anders.

Don't forget to load our feed into your favourite news reader and you won't miss a thing: http://mazeoftime.blogspot.com/atom.xml

cheers!

Alex

Day 15: O Solo Mio

2005-08-22T23:09:00.000+02:00

This one goes by rumor as well. Rob alone in the studio. Well, not completely alone 'couse Micke was there to assist as usual. Anyhow, the story goes that Micke was standing outside on the porch, wearing his favorite Swedish wooden clogs. Contemplating on the uneveness of the laid stones of the garden path, he discovered that by wiggeling his big toe to and fro in a certain fashion he could produce a distinct sound pair, one low tuned and one with a sligtly higher pitch. Clic-clok-clic-cloc-clic-cloc from the rocking clog. Rob was inside in the mixing room fine tuning the Stratocaster, and heard Micke cry out. "Hey Robert, what song does this sound like?" followed by some more clic-clok-clic-cloc-clic-cloc.

Robert smiles and answers without batting on an eye: "Time"

Well, there you go! And for us - two more songs down from the guitar guru. After completing more elaborate solos on the remaining four tracks and we're down to our last item on the recording roster: Vocals. More to come, alas

Signing off

Keyboard Al

Day 14: Solo!

2005-08-21T23:49:00.000+02:00

This is it!

First of two days of solos - the finals before the vocals and the end of our parts of the recording journey.
after which mixing, mastering and everything else that you'll learn more about in due time.

But first things first: LET IT RIP, DUDE!!!

Go, daddy, go!

In the midst of it, Robert called in an old trustee, the infamous band echo, to give some of that ol' homecooked groove

I like it!

Greateness starts with a single thought...got it somewhere here...er...

Find out for yourself, I promise you'll like it

Day 13: Guitarman goes live

2005-08-14T23:41:00.000+02:00

We've been waiting for this...oh yes! Robert is going in for the grand finale.
But wait, first have to take care of some dubs 'n fills. I wasn't on location but I heard that
the Stratocaster had to rest and enter the Yamaha. Tomorrow, yes today we lock 'n load, next day we rock!

Check out the pictures and tell me if this is a genious we see in the studio, or what...

Pic from Micke's camera phone, works like a charm

Now I know where "pedal to the metal" comes from :-)

A.

Day 12: Secret meeting with Drummerboy

2005-08-10T23:39:00.000+02:00

Well, what happened? How did it go?

We don't know yet - only Micke and Tompa share this secret nocturnal event. Hopefully, we'll get a report in the morning, but it was something involving tamburines, cowbells, and maybe the occational China crash...

But wait, here's the beef. Thomas excelled in his task, although we think he took the "dive into percussion" a bit too seriously, don't ya think! Drummerboy did really, really well and added to the mix in an excellent way!

Happier than a bug in a rug

Oh no, going down

The implements of distruption

Yeah, that's the way I like it

A.

Day 11: Here's a solo for ya!

2005-08-07T23:10:00.000+02:00

Yes, apart from giving these songs a spine from the ol' Laney, this guy also does solos! Classic, crisp and right on the button. This was nearly the second time our pet Tank Commander fell off his shelf. Actually, there are a number of red rockets that fell behind the mixer that will prove hard to retrieve. In the meantime, the Tank Commander has only his mean looks to defend himself with - which he does pretty well, I'd say.

Our guide, composer and fellow musician Robert I Edman joined us today, and changed some minor aspects of yesterday's session, but was untouched for the morepart, which is considered a good evaluation to say the least. And Cribba himself left the building content as well.

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

How about that note, it wasn't off it?

That's about it - over you to Robert...

Singning off!

A.

Day 10: Strumming Man

2005-08-06T22:40:00.000+02:00

Some tan, better stomach, getting hungry - Cribba is on the move, tight as a drum.

Five tracks to go and two days to make it. Micke is his usual wonderful self and no lunch was served today. Luckily, I brought soda, bananas as well as my own secret sandwich - and fortunate was I, since Cribster did it all in one go!

Happy Cribbadude in one of his fav poses.

See y'all in the mornin for the last three tracks of supporting guitar and some Cribsta' solos!

axl

Summer Break

2005-07-20T01:26:00.000+02:00

Time to get some tan on pale studo bodies. Rob and I met down in south of Sweden to pull the lid off a few brewskies. Madly enough, I was in charge of the grill and had some glazed beef coming up pretty good, I' say. Rob's dauther is a dream, while mine was a menace as usual. Anyway, we headed down the next day to Folk & Rock to check out the competition, and found some great albums to bring home for inspiration for future releases.

We'll probably jump back on the recording bandwagon by the end of this month, if recording yokosuna Micke is back in business by then. Some more guitars and then on to vocals and the odd percussion extras. We've spent about seven full days total so far, so we're somewhere midway down the line before final editing and mixdown.
But summer break is good, puts things into perspective and we will listen again with refurbished ears.

Tune in soon, and we'll give you the rest of this story.

Keyboard Al

Day 9: Da guitar cruncher

2005-07-10T22:32:00.000+02:00

On to guitars, with Cribster himself back from the dead (at least from bed). After several sweaty hours and two tracks down the road, the gang decided to change route and start from scratch. Any normal guy would moan and groan but not Dr C, he just came off the blocks as decisive as ever. Myself, I turned up a bit late after washing my cellphone (60 degrees, extra rinse, 1000rpm) and had to go shop for a replacement. But timely enough to hear some of the best guitar crunch in quite a while. Way ya go Cribba Cribsson!

Here El Cribbo having one of his first proper meals for some time now.

Collected, with a keen ear and tight strumming, Cribba listens to one of his licks on "Oceans of Dreams", in a version darker and more intriguing than ever before.

Signing off, longing for more guitars!

A.

Day 8: Keyboard Finally

2005-07-04T00:13:00.000+02:00

Happy 4:th of July!

Whew, 20 something hours of ebony & ivory takes its toll. Rob, Micke and went through somewhat of an ordeal on this one. But, in terms of results, we're all smiling.

Alex relaxing between takes. Behind the cool surface, who knows what lurks within.

Everything just right, Micke hasn't interrupted me for some time now, so I must be doing something extraordinay here.

That's it - all finished. Alex seen in a mound of keyboards and ready to hit the road. Happiness with a twinkle of sorrow for the session being over. You can't tell in this picture though, but I was pretty drained from all that hammering.

Next: Day 9 with Cribba and his flaming guitars and roaring Laney

Day 7: Keyboards + live8live party

2005-07-03T23:34:00.000+02:00

Starting out with some serious sessions on the Clavia Nord Electro II, and the Roland FP that had been previously abanonded for some time due to the enchanting tonal quality from delicate Steinway sampling from the Clavia team. Progress every single hour to everyone's content.

In the evening, Rob and helpers prepared a feast while anticipating the live8live tonite. Look especially at those tasty burgers we have coming. Big Cahoona with just about everything on top.

This was a special day for many reasons, knowing ever since June 12 that pigs will fly before the day was over, meaning of course that whenever pigs do take off and fly Pink Floyd would reunite and play once again. Their dispute, lasting well over 20 years, was concidered petty for the four musketeers in comparison with the poor state of our mutual planet. Below, a tidbit from Wikipedia about the original pig:

"The original Pink Floyd pig was designed by Roger Waters and built in late December 1976 in preparation for shooting the cover of the Animals album. The 40 foot pig balloon was flown around Battersea Power Station on the first day of attempted shooting, with a marksman prepared to shoot the pig down if it broke free. The pig didn't escape, but none of the photos taken that day were considered usable.

The second day of shooting, the marksman wasn't hired; but the pig broke free after a huge gust of wind. It disappeared from sight, and was spotted by airline pilots at 40,000 feet in the air. Flights at Heathrow Airport were cancelled as the huge inflatable pig flew through the path of aeroplanes, eastwards from Britain, over the channel, finally landing on a rural farm in Germany that night."

In any case, the concert was short, but awesome. The kings of progressive were back, but for a day, and showed themselves in full splender. Today's blog picture goes to Nick, Richard, David and Roger for doing what they do.

Day 6: 12-string galore

2005-06-26T22:33:00.000+02:00

He's done it. This time he's really done it. Rob has smashed the all-time high (for us anyway) speed recoding record.

We're talking 66 minutes of 12-string duelling in like half a day. Congrats and way ya' go, dude!
Rest of us, standing in awe, like somany times before!

[Webster: "awe" - an overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration; "he stared over the edge with a feeling of awe"]

Day 5: Enter the B3!

2005-06-16T23:25:00.000+02:00

Yup,

This is gonna be great. Robert is enjoying the drum & base lines together with Micke.

But, something is missing, there needs to be a Moog in there. Not a simulation, but a real one! Fetching one from storage, only to reccon that it's bloody impossible to add a "Auto Trigger" since the drums are already recorded and there's a sligt deviation no matter how we turn the knobs. No problem, Drummerboy to the rescue!

Last but not least, keyboard slave Alex shows off the vintage device that, with lot's of contact spray sounds pretty convincing. Er, Thanks Bob!

Day 4: Keys, keys and keys to please

2005-06-13T21:11:00.000+02:00

Personally, I think this was one of the sweatiest days ever. Laying up that naked piano on top of that solid foundation of rock, turned out to be an ordeal. Luckily, our honorable composer was more than eager to offer his services ;-)

It this it?... well, er, yes, but it goes something like this...

Oh, starting to get the hang of it. Wonder if Rob is pleased of if he's too tired to come back in again... Hey, where did Micke go? Hello! Hello...?

Ahhh, alone at last!

Day 3: Sendin' da rythm section packin'

2005-06-11T23:20:00.000+02:00

Yup, that's pretty much it for Janne & Thomas! What a crew, with finesse, attitude and groove. Three days of hard work, while a wee bit easier for Rob and myself,as we could pretty much play whatever since it wouldn't wind up on tape. Some guitar solos would be worth saving, I tell you - perhaps Micke did press 'record' after all. Even Hendrix would've approved even as no guitars were manhandled or burnt during the course of the events.

Our dedicated, personal photographer stopped by and froze some time in his great b/w shots. He's got a keen eye for catching light, even in the dim conditions of our recording studio in Täby. With any luck, you'll find some pics on the album sleeve.

Mr Henrik Jonsson, Maze of Time's especially appointed photographer.

What about that vinyl?

2005-06-06T22:47:00.000+02:00

Been looking at LP records today, actually at the definitions.
They weren't called vinyl until the 1980-ies, to distinguish the LP from the CD.

The analogue record was first marketed in 1895, overtaking from the engraved cylinder previously used as a recording medium. The first 20 years, rubber dominated and after which the shellac record (secret from the incect Coccus lacca, found in Thailand + cotton fibres) was the most popular substrate for making the 78 rpm disc (Swedish stenkaka, transl. "stonecake")

After the WWII, a number of formats used a vinyl substrate allowing slower speeds with better sound quality, noteworthy the 7" 45 rpm single and the 12" (30.5 cm) LP with 33,3 rpm. Other formats included:
>The 12" 45 rpm Maxi Single
>A 10" version of the LP disc
>A 10" 45 rpm EP format
>Small, 7" 33 rpm discs
>16,7 rpm format for spoken voice only
>Various other 12" and 10" picture discs & shaped discs

One source told me of the usage of vinyl records to capture video for playback using a modified turntable, yup and there is even a patent pending...

Read more on vinyl records

Day 2: A day for heroes

2005-06-05T22:16:00.000+02:00

Guys, gals, friends,
Prowd as I regularly am to be a member of this fine band, today we really outdid ourselves in style and good practice. In addition to being marvelous, we actually signed the final version of the contract, delay courtesy of the Swedish Postal Service that sucks bigtime for not delivering in the first place.

One of the true heroes of this day, and yesterday is Micke, the sound technician/mixer/coffeemaker/friend, so today's blogpic is his! He sure does make those drums show up nicely on tape!

Looking forward to Day 3, which will come around on Saturday. Five tracks down, two to go for the rhythm section. Way ya go, lads!

A

Day 1: We don't do click tracks

2005-06-04T22:35:00.000+02:00

We're on a roll, entering the maze as rugged journeymen of music. After the first day of recording with Micke, we've sorted out the drum sounds, and base sounds great too. Setting up stuff always takes longer than you'd want it to, but Micke knows his stuff and Anders Tibbling (our artistic coach) also has a keen ear for these sort of things. Working with professionals is a real treat.

Labyrinth situated on the island of Norsten

Then there was the issue of the clicks, or er..uh...cowbells, of rimshots from a drummachine. Well, whatever they were they didn't work for us. Thomas had a stressfull time trying to keepå up with the relentless strive of the QY10 and got more sweaty for every take. In the end, we cancelled it out. Relying on drummerboy's inner clock, we set the drum & baselines in for two tracks in the equal amount of hours. Praize for the young man from Heby - great stuff Jan Banan too.

Rob said he had popcorn in his bloodstream today, and the others - myself included - were full of anticipating to get going. So tomorrow Sunday, is another big day where we hope to get as far as setting most of the drums. Sure, it would be great if we could set all the drums in one weekend, but rather get it right than rush it. Unfortunately, we are unable to reviel what is cooking in the Täby studio, 'cause it would spoil the suspension for the result after the final mixdown. But no doubt we got something special here, both with telltales to what we listen to ourselves and yet parts and voicings never heard before, a kind of unique melange based on Robert's creative idea.

Tomorrow, JP from ArtPerformance will come check us out. I can just imagine he too will get all psyked up from what we have in store for this album. It's been two years since we began toying with the embryo for this album, and sometimes you can't see your own brainchild grow, since you deal with it each and every week. Then meeting someone saying 'oh, how she has grown since I last saw her'. Well, there you go - it takes fresh eared stranger to know whether there is something in there or not.

/A

Goodbye Milkyway

2005-06-03T00:52:00.000+02:00

That's it for Sollentuna, someone behind a desk in a gray suit kicked us out, one months notice. Therefore, today's pic serves two purposes. Memorabilia of the last year's rehearsal location, where so much sweat, anguish and joy has stuck to the walls, but also celebrating our last rehearsal before we start our recording sessions. "No more tricks, the time has come. Standing there, naked, under the sun"

Maze of Time home(page) again

2005-06-02T15:43:00.000+02:00

Yes!

After dealing with number of technical issues, in turn easily explained with a number of three-letter abbrivations and permutations thereof, our home page is up again. So we can once again welcome you to [www.mazeoftime.com] where you'll find a brief description of what we are up to can be consumed, along with Maze of Time's custom wallpaper, courtesy of pixeltrixter Bjarne Heuser, and short samples for your cell phone as well as some full tracks from our orignal demotape.

"The Seven Sisters" as seen by Bjarne Heuser.

Interview on Finnish radio (YLE)

2005-06-01T22:36:00.000+02:00

Well, on one sunny afternoon, this reporter guy calls us up and asks all sorts of questions, such as if rock was the last frontiere for us "mature" musicians who just wouldn't quit their adolecent garage band in time, and watch cable instead like everyone else. I kind of answered "Yes, I guess that's pretty much it." But in retrospect, the entire jazz scene is full with old dudes who go on playing better and better for every year that passes..

But he was ok that guy and didn't give us a hard time, said liked progressive himself, even though the network rarely allowed him to play tracks longer than six minutes... Perhaps the 5.38 of Queen's 'Bohemian Rapsody' was the candidate for their all-time long-play record. Anyway, they faded after about 6.30 and missed the twirling ending.

Anyway, you can check out the traces from out visit on their site at yle.fi (more Swedish lessons).

Well, er, it's a crude demo version anyway, with some artifacts, noteworthy the lined-in guitars, midi-triggered drum kit , and the mother all analog band echoes which is generously utilized throughout - all recorded on a state-of-the-art 1'' tape player from the good ol' days. Seems like having the year 1972 calling from afar, seeking us, needing us, wanting, longing - carry on with your dreams, that's what it's all about.

Closing in - four days left

2005-06-01T01:25:00.000+02:00

Having a break, after two stiff hours at Vintergatan (the Milky Way) where the band rehearses. We've just heard that all the bands were given one month's notice to clear out their gear, which sucks, since we were told at first that we had another six months to go. So, after we finished recording we're on the hunt again for somewhere to do our thing. So, if any of you local guys hear of anywhere for us to hang out - we're downright interested in relocating later this summer.

And now a special treat for the fans out there, a close-up on the mastermind himself, Mr Edman smiling cruedly like so many times before. It's actually his birthday today, which he chose to share with his progressive crew.

Rob doesn't look a day older than 25, right?

Then to top things off for this evening, an image from the ferry home to my island. The solitude, fresh air and Swedish archipelago in springtime really gets to you.

A source of inspiration - no doubt - Vaxholm by night.

Thoughts about the Swedish music scene

2005-05-31T12:21:00.000+02:00

Interesting read today that the revenue on NCB/STIM (renvenue stream for performing/recording artists) is on the rize in the Nordic countries, over the last few years. The article ( in Swedish) claimes that people spend more on concert tickets, a Swedish crown roughly seven to one USD. Ok, a rather small market, but a great trend for the live scene, n'est-ce pas?

Revenue stream back to the performing artists (in SEK).

On the other hand, the public is said to pay less money on CDs. This was mirrored by another read (also in Swedish) a few days later, where an adjectant trend reviels that less money is going into recording of new music, studio time et cetera, and fewer groups will get the opportunity to record.

Somewhat troubling, as several industry gurus believe that recording the drums in the studio, while patching up the rest in the basement of the parents house in order to save money, is a downright bad idea. They claim this takes a painstaking toll on upcoming albums in terms of quality, dynamics and brilliance. Meaning, the less money coming in, the lower quality on the offerings - and fewer players. Shouldn't it have been the other way around, with prices on recording software and hardware and falling cheaper studio rates.

I wouldn't blindly agree on the fact that illegal downloading is the sole villian here and that alone would be the reason why the music industry isn't soaring with more new bands than ever. Partly because of the actual enjoyment of owning a physical album for a number of reasons; pictures to look at, lyrics to enjoy, and partly because of the difference in overall sound quality of a CD as compared to a five megabyte download - not to mention what it sound like on vinyl (ah, bliss). I think it's about meeting the demands of the general public in a new media age, and finding new models of revenue which make it worthwile both in a next quarter perspective as well as in the long run. Let's face it, fewer yet more mainstream music may seem as a safe bet at first in the eyes of a media corporation strategist, but who would actually want to go there in the long run? It's in the diversity and multitude of genres, various music traditions and styles the magic lies, right?

On our own part, we will continue to offer a variety of tidbits, oddities and demo tracks for download, typically in destructive compression formats, to share our ideas and thoughts with fans and others. And yes, there will be an album in a box for people to buy, as well as digital formats for the iPod cowboys.

Waiting for that Contract...

2005-05-29T22:48:00.000+02:00

Yup, any day now the legal stuff will land in Rob's mailbox. Since none of us has dug into the innards of a record contract, we think it looks good. But then again - so do we. There it is, written in ink on paper: we're actually going to go vinyl as well as to CD. So all you turntable junkies out there; you have a real treat coming your way!

Two days 'til our next (and second to last!) rehearsal, but we're getting increasingly confident, but there are a whale of details to sort out. Rob is doing a marvelous job keeping stuff together, so lots of kudos goes in his direction.

For you guys with an RSS reader, subscribe to this blog on http://mazeoftime.blogspot.com/atom.xml and you won't miss a thing!

Healing Stomach of Cribster

2005-05-29T08:36:00.000+02:00

Finally the eminent GLP Bender Chris is back with tensioned farts.
During the battle between Clostridium Difficile vs Flagyl, he`s making
progress to do well with backup vocals at the first recordings of drums & bass
next week.

The Blurb

2005-05-29T01:38:00.000+02:00

Third rehersal this week, but we're getting there! Robert ofter speaks of the blurb, an entity created by being together, fueld by us striving towards our common musical goal. Someone is down, the others pick him up. Probably what a band is all about :-)

Janne relaxing, thinking about yesterday's beer-session.

View of a hard-working drummer as seen from the keyboards.

The 15 second intro
Thomas got it in the end, a real fighter. The beat went:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, bash.....bash..bash

Tuesdays end well

2005-05-25T17:30:00.000+02:00

With some poetry reading on the parking lot, we ended our rehersal session tonite.
Lots left to do, looking forward to dig into the old songs. The westcoast version of "The Maze" has been totally rewritten, into something darker and more demanding.

Reflections from Walking in the Maze at Hampton Court
What is this mighty labyrinth - the earth,
But a wild maze the moment of our birth?
Still as we life pursue the maze extends,
Nor find we where each winding purlieu ends;
Crooked and vague each step of life we tread, -
Unseen the danger, we escape the dread!
But with delight we through the labyrinth range,
Confused we turn, and view each artful change -
Bewildered, through each wild meander bend
Our wandering steps, anxious to gain the end;
Unknown and intricate, we still pursue
A certain path, uncertain of the clue;
Like hoodwinked fools, perplex'd we grope our way
And during life's short course we blindly stray,
Puzzled in mazes and perplex'd with fears;
Unknown alike both heaven and earth appears.
Till at the last, to banish our surprise,
Grim death unbinds the napkin from our eyes.
Then shall Gay's truth and wisdom stand confest,
And Death will show us Life was but a jest.

From "British Magazine", A.D 1747

Keyboard jockey Alex in Hampton Court, checking it out...

Two weeks left...

2005-05-24T00:42:00.000+02:00

On June 4:th, we enter the studio once again. The tracks of "Tales from the Maze" are forming and taking their final shape. Follow our endevour in text and images on these pages. Here's our reherals scedule for the upcoming events. Maybe you are passing by Edsberg and can eavesdrop on our evening sessions...

Celebrating the upcoming event with Mr JP from ArtPerformance of Amstedam (far left) and mixmaster Micke from Over the Hill Studio (second to the left) in Täby. This album "Tales from the Maze" will be recorded on location, and mixed my Micke and mastered right here in the Rockholm of Stockholm.
/A