download album: A FOLDING TABLE Benedict Drew

[Benedict Drew]

Hello

I am pleased to offer an album for download which I have been working on for quite some time

A FOLDING TABLE

http://www.benedictdrew.com/afoldingtable.html
a newly released album available for download in 320 kbps MP3 or FLAC formats

This album was first pencilled for release on the label Confront we changed our minds about it and now it is offered free of charge and with out any restrictions what so ever. A new set of works are now being made for Confront . A Folding Table was made in Whitstable, Kent 2006 - 2008.


PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

thanks for your time

Ben

[jon abbey]

nice one, Ben, thanks for putting it up!

curious why you and Mark decided to junk this, how has your approach changed in the interim (as someone who hasn't seen you play live)?

[cheapmachines]

Very nice indeed... well worth a listen.

[Benedict Drew]

sorry i dont know how to quote on this thing.
hi
Jon

i think we decided to "junk" it cause i felt differently about the music. and things for mark had changed a little.

for me a a solo cd is quite a big thing, maybe for other musicians who release a lot of music its not such a big thing.
as they will release something else quickly. After spending so much time working on this material, ( although it might not sound like it ) i felt differently towards it. my practice has changed quite a bit in terms of not wanting to make constructions of sound in this way. not wanting to spend hours in logic and max/msp manipulating sounds. i am not dismissing this way of working but personally feel i have come to some sort plateaux with it or maybe even more excitingly a full stop. i want to crawl down the wires and through the speaker cone and breath some air. ( sorry )

but giving up the computer is like giving up smoking

the work i did with Otomo in Yamaguchi had an effect on this see: http://www.benedictdrew.com/quartets.html
and also with Sachiko see : http://www.benedictdrew.com/sachiko.html

i dont really want to go into to much detail about work i have not made, as that tends to stop me making.
but i think the cd for confront will be more in this vain.

and also i am curious about this download thing, it would seem that over 100 people downloaded this music yesterday
i wonder how long it would take me to sell 100 cd's ? i love the immediacy of downloads .
but there is still stigma attached to it, maybe you need some one else to release something to validate it . im not sure .
i would like it if was reviewed.

sorry i am rambling a bit. it must be the coffee.

thanks for your interest
cheers

Ben

[kangaroo?]

just a small technical note ben,
that, at least the .flac archive i downloaded, is not very PC-friendly. Don't know exactly why, but i had to unpack it on my mac & then copy it on the pc to get it to work. Maybe zip files preserve OSX byte order, something like that could get windows to panic

[Benedict Drew]

thanks for the tip, i am uploading the actual flac files right now so people can get them unziped, as someone else said there was a problem with it. cheers
Ben

[Richard Pinnell]

The files opened fine for me. I suspect it is indeed a Mac/Windows thing.

there is still stigma attached to it, maybe you need some one else to release something to validate it . im not sure .

You are right, but I think some of this stigma is breaking down slow but sure. My main problem with download albums is the way they are played back by the listener. There are very few computers with a decent enough set of speakers attached to play this kind of thing properly at volume. I always burn the FLAC file to an audio CDr and play it on my hi-fi. Often the difference between different soundfiles, lossless or not is minimal to me, but the sound can be significantly different when played through a poor system.

When a download also comes with artwork and notes, like yours does it feels like a much more "complete" piece of work as well, although obviously that is a slightly ridiculous concept.

[faster]

Well, it's pretty simple to run some RCA cables from your computron to your stereo.

[Richard Pinnell]

Hmm, when I've tried that I still don't think I get as good quality a sound. I've also tried using Airport Express to do the same thing via wi-fi and I've not been happy. I'm no expert but I've always thought this was something to do with the soundcard in my Mac. Might be wrong though.

[faster]

Hmm, when I've tried that I still don't think I get as good quality a sound. I've also tried using Airport Express to do the same thing via wi-fi and I've not been happy. I'm no expert but I've always thought this was something to do with the soundcard in my Mac. Might be wrong though.

Sure it's not the mp3s?

Nah, it's true yr soundcard is a limiting factor. Still, though, better than headphones or computer speakers.

[Benedict Drew]

some nice comments about this here : http://www.bagatellen.com/?p=2247 and here: http://www.thewatchfulear.com/?p=583

ok well, sort of the same nice comments but comments all the same !

thanks

[d'incise]

awsome music, full of mouvements, I loved it.

[William Hutson]

i downloaded this a couple of months ago, but just today, inspired by the review in the new issue of PT, i decoded the flacs and had a listen. really good. while i'm happy to have been able to download this for free, i think i would have preferred to buy it.

[Benedict Drew]

while i'm happy to have been able to download this for free, i think i would have preferred to buy it.

how very odd, you are welcome to give me 10 quid if you want .... but i will only spend it on sweets...