Gid

Review of "Saturnine"

2011-01-20T15:44:00.001Z

An Italian webzine called Il Pozzo dei Dannatti have posted a review up of Saturnine at http://thepitofthedamned.blogspot.com/2010/12/gid-saturnine.html

Translation:

..Reviewing a 3 tracks album is never that easy, least of all, finding news on Gid, but at the end I made it.
Gid is nothing but a Solo project of Michael Ball, that (forgive my words) in terms of Balls, is well-endowed, and you can hear it in his EP.
3 tracks for a total of 12 mins, dark and full of atmopshere.
Influenced by the latest doom and ambient sounds, our good Michael, mixes the whole thing not too bad.
After all, Mich himself, confessed in his blog Isis and Novembre influences .
Simple but personal guitars, clear sound, rich of echoes and delays, powerful distortions, in some ways delicate and gloomy.
The rest is all well accompanied. Infact the bass in " The Aching Dark" drives the song all way long....sublime!!!!!!
My favourite track is the last one " A Burning Star". Its slow but immediately touches that side of the brain that ackowledges the shades of dark and gothic.
Small detail: its purely a solo project.
Normally I dont appreciate this kind of works but I must say " Saturnine" has dug a small cave , deep into the heart of a purist like me.
Maybe cause while I was listening to the track I was imagining a voice like Steven Wilson echoing into my ears.

Promo release available free to download

2010-04-04T15:25:00.001+01:00

A three-track promo released entitled "Saturnine" has just been released in anticipation of the forthcoming EP. It can be downloaded for free here: http://gidmusic.bandcamp.com/album/saturnine.

First release almost ready

2009-12-30T16:35:00.002Z

Well, the first release is very nearly finished. There are only two more pieces to be recorded in their entirety, and then I can work on finalising the mix and getting them mastered. Today the main parts for Eternity were completed, and it's sounding better than ever. Pale and A Burning Star are both finished, which means that just Leaves Fall Across Our Path, one new piece called The Aching Dark and perhaps one final instrumental need completing, and the EP is done.

I feel very proud of this project: it's been a long time in the making, but the pieces still send shivers down my spine, even after all these years. I've worked on the songs over and over again, refining them, changing parts, crafting them into pieces where if I took anything away it would miss something, yet if I added anything more it would be too much. I'm very happy with them, and it's getting to the part where I can finally say "these are done".

Joining Oceanus

2009-03-25T15:48:00.002Z

I've recently joined Oceanus as a keyboard player/random atmosphere creator. I'm really excited about this: I've known of them for a while and they're great guys. The music is... well, imagine what the lovechild of Oceanic-era Isis and Novembre would sound like, and you've got a good idea. Go and check them out.

Currently new music is being written and there are plans for some gigs, so watch this space.

Copyright extension in the UK

2008-12-12T21:08:00.000Z

The following post contains political content. If you don't care about politics, you probably won't find this interesting. If you do get through this post and have any thoughts on the situation, please comment. Especially if you disagree with me.

I read in the news today that culture minister in the UK is backing a 20-year extension to musical copyrights. This pushes the term from 50 years to 70 years, and is being backed by various artists, perhaps most vocally by Cliff Richards. Earlier this year he called for the extension when it became clear his 1958 hit "Move It!" was due to enter the public domain. The argument: it's morally wrong that he should no longer earn royalties for the recording he made 50 years ago. Note: this is only relevant to the 1958 recording of the song. If anybody covers it, he is still entitled to royalties, and other later recordings of his song are still protected by the current term of copyright.

I am firmly opposed to this extension, for a number of reasons. The extension is completely unnatural and at odds with any other profession. To use the example of Sir Cliff's recording: the original recording engineers certainly aren't being paid continuously for every use of the song. Consider other professions: builders do not make money every time somebody buys a house they have built. I am not being continuously paid for work I did even a year ago. And why should I be? What incentive do I have to work further if I am constantly being paid for something I did in the past?

The issue here isn't that artists shouldn't be rewarded for their work. They should. But to be rewarded continuously, over such a long period, is purely excessive and only benefits a few select people rather than culture as a whole. The whole point of copyright was that it would protect an artist's interests for a short while so that they would have a continuous incentive to create works, after which the work would become part of the public domain so it would benefit society as a whole. Now it has been turned completely about-face. It should come as no surprise that the main organisations backing this copyright extension are the major music labels: after all, they are the ones who stand to gain most from this.

Why am I so opposed to this? Well, primarily it is because I consider music a cultural asset. There is no value in music if there is nobody to listen to it. A piece of music could be one of the most beautiful pieces created, but without anyone to listen to it, spread the word and share it with others, it has no effect. It may as well have not existed. So for me, the most important aspect of music is its cultural impact. You cannot separate music from culture: without culture, music would not exist. What's more, once a piece of music becomes a cultural asset, it inspires others, who create new music, which then becomes a culture asset and inspires more. This cycle is why we have such diverse, beautiful music in the first place. Now, people are willing to reward artists who create something that touches them: either through seeing that artist perform, or through buying recordings and other merchandise. I definitely am. However, without the benefit of this musical culture, we would never have come to the situation where people are exposed to music that touches them, and inspires them to create their own or to reward artists for their contribution. So in order to benefit from music, whether you want it to be something that enriches your life, or simply a financial tool, you need to give back to society and culture.

The current situation with musical copyrights does exactly the opposite. It concentrates on music as a business in its own right, rather than music as a cultural asset that can be monetised. There's a difference between these two. Treating music simply as a commodity will ultimately lead to the stagnation of music.

At this point, I feel I should stress that I am not opposed to people making money from music. Not at all. I am, however, opposed to music as a commodity, because this is directly detrimental to musical culture as a whole. Music is one of the most important things in my life, and for countless other people too. But whether you treat music as an enjoyable pasttime, as something that colours and adds something fulfilling to your life, or simply as a form of revenue, the stagnation of musical culture affects us all.

It is clear that the current business model for music is unsustainable. This is evident from witnessing the explosion of music being shared on the Internet. People are now questioning why they need to pay £12 for an album when they have only heard 2 of the songs on the radio, when they have no idea what the rest of the album is like, and when there is a strong chance that the album contains 3 good songs and 9 fillers. Now, with the existence of file sharing or Internet stores like iTunes, people are able to decide what music they want, and would like to support. But the vast majority of music created is still marginalised in favour of the mass-produced, instantly accessible pap that is considered commercially viable. For too long, music written purely for financial gain has been encouraged by those seeking to mass-market it. Extending copyrights simply rewards this faulty model and becomes a detriment to music as a whole.

Music is one of the biggest parts of my life. I love it. I will continue to create music regardless of my financial status. Earning money from my music would be wonderful, but whether I do or not, I will still create it with the same love for this art form as I always have.

To that end, all my music will be released under a Creative Commons licence. I don't wish to bore you with the legal details of it, so I will summarise what you are allowed to do under this licence: anything. You can use it for videos, commercials, on compilations. You can play it in public, on the radio, whatever purpose you can think of. You can charge for anything using the work, or release it for free. You can remix my work, or use it to create your own. All this you can do for free. The only condition is that you tell people about Gid and if possible make some reference to the original piece. A simple credit or link to this page would do. For more information on the Creative Commons licence, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/.

When I release 'The Saturnine EP' I will also be making the separate tracks available for any of you who wish to remix or rework it. In fact, I would love it if people did. So if you do remix/rework any of my music, drop me a message and let me know, because I'd love to hear it. Let's keep the spirit of creating music as a cultural artefact alive.

Recording 'The Saturnine EP' - update

2008-10-21T11:15:00.005+01:00

I've had to buy some new equipment in order to complete the recording process for the first EP. It's all finally arrived, so all that needs to be done is get it all set up and then I'll be able to finish off the recordings. I can't put an exact date on when it will be finished; that said, now I've got the new equipment I'm able to increase the time spent on the recordings and I plan on dedicating the next few months to getting it done as quickly as possible. The minute it's done, it will be available to download.

Demo EP almost finished

2008-05-15T07:11:00.004+01:00

The recording process for the demo EP has almost finished. I've been stealing time over the past couple of months to re-record older songs and I've also had some time to write and record new pieces. All that is left to do is finish recording some final parts, and to complete the mixing and mastering. Once it's finished, it'll be available to download for free from here.

State of the demo recordings

2007-07-11T15:50:00.001+01:00

A couple of days ago one of the hard drives crashed on the computer with which I record music. This meant all the previously recorded material is now lost and will need to be re-recorded. I cannot say how long it will take, but what I will do is use this as an opportunity to re-record the material in better quality, with better production.

I cannot describe fully what it felt like to lose all those recordings. Some dated back over years and were merely improvisations I would struggle to remember now. However, I also feel like this gives me a chance to recreate those pieces in a more consistent manner, focusing on continuity and making each piece fit better into the plan I had for the whole recording. I will miss the old pieces because I know that however many times I will re-record them, they will never be the same. But I will remember them fondly, because they will always remind me of the magic I felt when I first created them.