I was really surprised my last post didn’t take off. I’m not going to say that I wrote that specifically with getting a larger audience (at least for a short time) in mind, but it was definitely a factor. This may sound selfish and whiny, but having an audience feels good sometimes. That’s the main reason why I’ve severely curtailed my other site. People really dig the record store guides, and that makes me really happy. But damn never everything else I wrote fell on death ears, especially the posts that I enjoyed writing the most.
I’ll be honest (and I think I’ve mentioned this before) but my readership for this blog continues to decline. When I started this up I was quickly getting thousands of hits a day thanks to the attention given to MP3 blogs. Now, thanks to Twitter and Facebook, I get a fraction of that. People don’t want to read about music anymore. And people don’t even want to download it (legally or otherwise) it seems. They’re more than content to give a service 10 bucks a month for the right to borrow poor-sounding streaming music that they don’t even own.
Whatever. I’m an old man. I’m nearly 40 and feel more and more out of touch each year. When my clickwheel iPod finally croaked earlier this year, I really had a difficult time finding a decent replacement. I wondered why, but then it hit me – people don’t buy MP3 players anymore. They just listen to music on their phone because they’re getting most of it via Spotify or a similar service. I would say that made me feel old, but even people my age don’t buy music anymore, so I guess my obliviousness to current trends is more than just a generational divide.
Anyways, rambling. All this to say that I was once again reminded by all of this that I should never ever bother writing posts strictly “for the hits.” The posts will inevitably fail to find a substantial audience and I’ll just get bummed. Best for me to stick to my wheelhouse and write about things that will never find a meaningful audience.
Keep them expectations low.
So yeah, here’s a post about a synthesizer rendition of The Four Seasons by Vivaldi.
Frank W. Becker – Synthesizer Four Seasons
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
This is the second time I’ve shared a rendition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. The first was an interpretation done entirely on the Japanese koto. This time I’m going the opposite route, with one done predominately on synthesizers.
One of the the many things I absolutely adore about Japanese record stores is their tendency to break things up into the most specific genres imaginable. Stores here don’t just have “rock” sections. For example, a rock section is properly segmented to include special sections dedicated to prog, punk, heavy metal, jazz fusion, and so on. It makes it so much easier to find new music. You can go to a sub-genre you like, find an interesting-looking album, and give it a whirl.
And while most record stores in other areas would neglect synthesizer-centric albums to a general “electronic” section, here they get their own placard. I chalk this up to the relative influence that Japanese musicians had on the early synth scene. Even before YMO, many Japanese musicians were embracing the synth craze started by Wendy Carlos. The most notable of these is, of course, Tomita, but there were many more, including new age darlings Kitaro and Fumio Miyashita, who both made a killing with “healing music” in the early 80s.
But a lot of synthesizer albums in Japan weren’t made by Japanese musicians. As I dig through the crates looking for obscure pieces of moog-ephemera, I often find Japanese exclusive synthesizer albums by artists from all over the world. Sometimes the albums are just reworked versions of records already available overseas, with altered tracklistsings or covers. However, on occasion, the album is an entirely new creation made specifically with Japanese audiences in mind.
That’s the case with the work of Frank W. Becker, who released six albums of synthesizer-focused music in just two years, from 1978 to 1979. His work with the instrument runs the gamut. A few are entirely original compositions that he made specifically for the synthesizer. Two are Beatles covers albums (and are quite good).
But the one I come back to the most is his rendition of Four Seasons. Of course, that has a lot to do with the source material. Four Seasons is a classic for a reason, and like I said in my first post where I wrote about it, very few pieces of music calm me down like Four Seasons. I also like it because it doesn’t force itself to be limited to only synthesizer. On the album, Frank’s synth work is accompanied by a violin. Why some who enjoy synthesized renditions of classical music might be let down by this, I find it to be a welcome addition. It gives the record a sense of life that would not have been possible by synthesizer alone in 1978. Also, the violin isn’t used as a crutch to hide imperfections or weaknesses with the synthesizer material. It’s just an accompaniment and nothing more. The crux of the album is still Frank and his amazing synth work.
Frank is still with us and still making music. He has a website. I even tried contacting him (several times) to see if it was okay for me to share his music. He never responded. (Frank, if you do find this and don’t want me sharing this, let me know and I’ll delete it immediately.) His website mentions his electronic work, but only in passing, and this album is absent entirely. Perhaps he only wants to focus on his original material, which I guess makes sense.
I have five of his six albums and cherish them all. His covers are fun, his classical pieces are soothing and well-done, and his original pieces make great use of the synthesizers of the day. I hope to share more of his work in the future.
Frank, if you stumble upon this, just wanted to let you know, your shit rocks and you kick ass.
Dope beard too.
Although I don’t often download from your site, I’d like you to know that I enjoy reading your posts.
And I still buy (2nd hand) CDs, at least once a month, preferably odd stuff which I hadn’t seen before or a favourite album I really like to have in a physical form.
Downloading music I still do almost daily.
But you’re right, our species is about to become extinct, even so I’ll enjoy while it lasts!
FWIW, I love this blog. I don’t always enjoy the disco-ness, but the joy is the discovery, curated by an exceptionally talented blogger.
I agree. The combination with live violin works great. Augmentation is just as good as total reconstruction sometimes.
I feel your pain about losing your cherished click-wheel. Who’d have thought they’d be such relics at this point?
Thanks for yet another excellent album rip.
Letter to the editor:
In response to your recent post about declining hits and a dwindling audience for mp3s, I’d like to add a few comments of my own.
While you make several pertinent points about how people listen to music these days and where they get that music from, I have to point out what I think is the most obvious reason for your decreasing audience: your content.
I’m only speaking for myself (but I highly suspect that many of your original long-time fans would agree), I was drawn here for the treasure trove of rare 12’’ singles and remixes of classic 80’s artists like Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, New Order, Depeche Mode and countless others. In addition to the actual music, we got to read your interesting, informative and often humorous opinions about the music and the artists. Sure, these posts were frequently interspersed with other quirky posts on less-known artists and music, but you clearly knew why we were really here: 80’s nostalgia.
However, not long after re-locating, it seemed like your focus began to shift to obscure video game music, rare Japanese recording artists and other questionable ephemera. You can hardly fault people wanting Madonna or Erasure to be slightly put off by posts on Japanese saxophonists, synthesized Vivaldi and 70’s German trance musicians.
The bottom line is, it’s your blog and you can post about whatever you want, whatever interests you, just don’t be so surprised that your long-time Depeche Mode-loving fans have long since abandoned ship. I, myself, have considered deleting your site from my Favorites tab multiple times over the last couple of years, yet here I am, still hoping that you might ‘return to form’ at some point.
For example, your post on Michael Jackson’s ‘Jam’ was awesome – but it was the first and only time so far this year that I’ve downloaded something you’ve posted. In fact it was the first time I’d read or downloaded anything since your post on Michael Jackson’s ‘Black Or White’ last November. Alas, I just don’t share your enthusiasm for Japanese synthwave and video game music. I’ve tried, trust me, but I just can’t make myself enjoy YMO (or off-shoots/side-projects thereof), no matter how many times you post it.
Again, this is not a criticism of you or your blog, but rather a possible explanation for your declining viewership. Ultimately, you need to post whatever makes you happy and gets you excited about music, no matter how niche your resulting audience may be.
Sincerely,
Steve
My blog shifted focus primarily out of necessity as I posted literally every single rare 80s 12″ mix in existence. Additionally, in the past five or so years labels have gotten their collective heads out of their asses and have started to re-issue those songs. However, even before I moved here (and was still posting “on brand” content) my site’s hits were taking a dive. Think about the number of blogs you visit now vs five or ten years ago? How many have been replaced by Twitter?
You might still visit a lot, but I promise you, most people don’t. They have their social media feeds, their YouTube subscriptions and that’s it. That’s what the internet has become for a lot of people – four or five websites (plus porn).
While I know the stuff I post these days doesn’t have as big an audience, it does have AN audience. But they don’t go to websites anymore or own music.
I agree with both of the comments from April 8. You are a talented writer with an original perspective and voice. I admire your expansive tastes and your wide-ranging curiosity. You are also an outstanding curator who takes care in your research and in the quality of your shares. There are a number of music blogs that I read regularly even when I don’t download the music. I honestly prefer your current “questionable” choices over the “80’s nostalgia” that made your blog popular with Steve and past visitors. Nothing against Steve or the people who share his interests.
You can’t change folks who prefer streaming over music ownership, or tweeting over longform reading and writing.
But I don’t think music blogs will become extinct any more than physical media and the record stores that sell them. Visiting the Lost Turntable is like virtual crate digging: part of the pleasure is in the unexpected finds, as well as soaking up knowledge from the person behind the counter.