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Quintessentially Californian


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Posting this for selfish reasons, but I also thought it would make for an interesting discussion:

 

What makes music "Californian"? What might you propose would make for a quintessentially Californian musical experience, in a contemporary setting?

 

Of course, some of the more obvious references that come to mind are Beach Boys, surf guitars, farfisa organs, and The Doors.

 

Anything else?

 

- The Ape Man

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You left off the whole "Singer / Songwriter" thing too - from the early - mid 70's. What's funny is that a lot of those people were not even California natives...

 

Modern day stuff? IMO, It's way too varied to really say there's a specific California "sound".

 

 

Phil O'Keefe

Sound Sanctuary Recording

Riverside CA

http://members.aol.com/ssanctuary/index.html

pokeefe777@msn.com

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Come to think of it, what with the rolling blackouts and all, maybe the current quintessentially California sound is acoustic instruments.

 

(Hey - would "The Rolling Blackouts" be a good name for a group? )

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LOL! That's SO true Craig - acoustic music should be really BIG out here right now... now for a non-electrically powereed recording studio solution... wax cylinder? Naah... I appreciate retro but that's a bit TOO much! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif

 

Phil O'Keefe

Sound Sanctuary Recording

Riverside CA

http://members.aol.com/ssanctuary/index.html

pokeefe777@msn.com

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Well, if we're talking '70s to the present, here might be an OK generalization... There are lots of exceptions, of course, and with the ability to easily shuffle master tapes (or data) to anywhere in the world now probably makes the whole "LA sound" moot...

 

Slick, well-crafted music, slightly slower tempos, not dynamically compressed to an extreme, and a little bit laid back compared to the music elsewhere.

 

I'd go so far to say that even rap music on the West Coast shares a lot of the same laid-back qualities as the pop music. At least, I've found that to be true with the rap music that I'm familiar with.

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Originally posted by Anderton:

Come to think of it, what with the rolling blackouts and all, maybe the current quintessentially California sound is acoustic instruments.

 

(Hey - would "The Rolling Blackouts" be a good name for a group? )

 

No joke, I happen to live out here in North Cali 'dude' and I was in the middle of a session and then all of the sudden, (how do you spell the sound of everything shutting down?) not to mention it was 100+ degrees outside. It was hell, but the session had to move on - Acoustic instruments recorded onto a laptop with dynamic mics (no phantom power http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif ). As far as the california sound, I think Phil hit the nail on the head, It's way too varied to differentiate between the LA sound, the Nashville sound, the East Coast sound and all points in between sound. Well, I'll have my people get with your people and we'll do lunch baby!

 

Dude, where's my car?

-nt

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