The liquidation continues......

Yesterday I cleaned out a few boxes at the foot of the stairs. One box was full of recipes I've clipped and saved over the years. Some came from supermarket handouts; others from the newspaper or weekly circulars. I thought I'd get around to using them. But since I haven't, there's no sense in saving them. Usually, I'll try the dish first, and then ask for the recipe. It's rare that I make something starting with the recipe. And so they went into the recycle pile.

Spent an hour in the garage this evening. Collapsed some unused corrugated cardboard boxes, and threw out a large amount of plastic food containers I'd been hoarding. I have enough; I don't need to save these any more. I also threw out some packing foam. I found a few things that can go out onto the freecycle list, such as a cardboard "wishing well" we used for our wedding, and plastic bags that I will probably never use.

If I keep chipping away at this, 1-2 hours a day, eventually, it will get done, right?

The awesome power of overdubbing......

If you've ever heard Basia, or Adiemus (more specifically, Miriam Stockley), it sounds like a multitude of voices singing in perfect harmony and togetherness. (If you're familiar with the Trio Bulgarka, it has that type of sound quality.) If you're wondering "How'd they do that?", the answer is overdubbing. Recording oneself several times to simulate a choral effect.

One of my favorite songs is 10cc's "I'm Not In Love". Even though the song is over 30 years old, I'm still blown away by the ethereal vocal sound in the background. It sounds like articulated strings, achieved way before the age of digital synthesis. According to the Wikipedia article on 10cc, it was acheived by laborious overdubbing of Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme singing a note. With a 16-track tape, they were able to simulate a 256-voice choir. The end result is simply incredible.

Another great overdubbed sound was achieved by Joe Vannelli -- Gino's brother -- on some of Gino's albums, most notably Storm at Sunup and The Gist of the Gemini. Joe simulated a string orchestra which sound much different than those achieved by string synthesizers of the day. Again, a simply incredible sound.

These are the type of sounds I can only dream of realizing. Maybe when I can afford the expense and room of a digital synth workstation, I can do this.