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Awkward rhythms and hard edges (requires EZ Drummer software)
In collaboration with Michael Blair and Sontronics Microphones, Toontrack Music announces the ´´Twisted Kit EZX by Michael Blair´´.
In October of 1985 Tom Waits released the album Rain Dogs. The album was an instant classic and marked a new sound for him. A rough, dirty neo-blues style with awkward rhythms and hard edges.
Part of the band that contributed to that sound was drummer and percussionist Michael Blair. His highly personal instrument set-up which included a mix of regular drums and odd bits and pieces like trashcans, bedroom furniture and rusty bicycle frames fit perfectly with the sound that Waits was looking for. The combination of Michael´s timing, expression, and junkyard sounds created a rich and useful range of musical textures to accent Waits´ intricate storytelling.
Michael Blair also played and toured with Waits on Franks Wild Years, the follow up to Rain Dogs, and later became an integral part of the recordings for Elvis Costello’s Spike (1989) and Lou Reed´s Magic and Loss (1992). Spike became Costello’s most commercially successful and sonically adventurous album to date. Michael also has added his trash-can consciousness to records by the respected producer Hal Willner, in ´´tribute´´ albums celebrating the work of composer Kurt Weill, poet Allen Ginsberg, Walt Disney, Charles Mingus and in collaboration with avant-theatre director Robert Wilson.
In a review of Lou Reed´s poignant Magic And Loss album, David Fricke from Rolling Stone magazine wrote the following about Michael Blair’s work:
“Drummer Michael Blair is an almost invisible presence, combining lithe percussive flourishes with the heartbeat simplicity of Maureen Tucker´s timekeeping with the Velvets.”
So, two rototom frames form a tonal hi-hat, a duck call suggests an alternative cowbell, tack drums from China become rack toms and putting the hubcap of your very first car on top of your snare seems like the right thing to do. Michael Blair crosses over boundaries of industrial, blues, ethnic, orchestral, and replacement percussion to form a unique sound. The Twisted Kit EZX brings you that sound both in the recordings and the MIDI recorded by Michael.
The Twisted Kit EZX by Michael Blair was sampled through the very best of outboard with distortion, reverb, compression and attack effects included in the internal mixer. This enables you to access a large number of mixer presets by Collén & Webb, STS 9, Richard Devine, DJ Amplive, sub-ID and Count Bass D. And you can save your own custom mixer presets (with EZdrummer 1.1).
The Twisted Kit EZX special features
• Sampled through the best of outboard effects with compression, distortion, attack and reverb mics made available in the EZmixer.
• Mixer presets by Webb & Collen, STS 9, Richard Devine, DJ Amp live, SUB-id and Count Bass D.
• The possibility to save your own mixer presets with EZdrummer 1.1 installed.
Credits:
The Twisted Kit EZX was played by Michael Blair at Toontrack Studios, Umea, Sweden.
The Twisted Kit EZX was recorded, engineered and mixed by Michael Blair, Mattias Eklund and Henrik Kjellberg at Toontrack Studios, Umea, Sweden.
The MIDI files for the Twisted Kit EZX were played by Michael Blair at Toontrack Studios, Umea, Sweden.
Sound editing and design; Mattias Eklund
MIDI editing: Henrik Kjellberg, Nils Eriksson.
Graphic designer: Fredrik Ärletun
Head of support, beta testing and configuration manager: Rogue Marechal
Coding: Olof Westman
The mix presets for the Claustrophobic EZX were designed by Collén & Webb, STS 9, Richard Devine,
DJ Amp live, sub-ID and Count Bass D.
The Twisted Kit EZX uses TPC, Toontrack Percussive Compression.
Click the image below to view the video presentation
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