Chris Harris's Music Page
Listening to Music
I've always been fascinated by music. I can remember listening to tapes on my father's mono Ferrograph reel-to-reel tape recorder when I was six or so. My cousin and her friends would discuss the latest releases by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and listen to Radio Caroline in the car. When I was twelve or so, I started buying LP's, and it went downhill from there.
Last update: January 2008
I learnt piano when I was at school, but an upright piano is no substitute for a rack of Moog synthesisers when you're thirteen and dreaming of being the next Rick Wakeman.
Now I have a Moog of my own, as well as a few Rolands and an ARP Odyssey (as played by Ultravox's Billy Currie and as mocked by Douglas Adams). I'd have to say that I'm probably most proficient as a keyboard player, and the only live gigs I've played have been behind a synthesiser. The largest venue I've played? Probably Hemel Hempstead Pavilion in front of a couple of hundred people. Here I am at The Square in Harlow in 1987. That's me on the left in the er, very red trousers. Hey, it was the 80's, Ok?
Somewhere along the way I also developed an addiction to playing the guitar. Electric guitar. Loudly. With distortion. I used to read guitar magazines avidly. I upgraded to a full locking tremelo system. I bought a flanger. I bought a chorus. I bought an Electro-Harmonix "Big Muff pi" - stop sniggering! After seeing people like Robert Fripp or Steve Vai in concert I realised I was never going to achieve stardom as the best guitarist on the planet, but I still occasionally plug in to the Marshall stack and wail away. It's a profoundly satisfying way to unwind, and the Fender Telecaster has to be one of the most seductive pieces of engineering created by humanity.
As well as the guitar, I now also play bass - and Chapman Stick. If someone asked me to help put a band together these days, I'd have to say I'd want to be the bass player.
When I was still at school, I used to record versions of the Goon Show with my friends. All we had was a few pots and pans and a Decca cassette recorder with the cheapest microphone imaginable, but it was enough gear to let us have serious amounts of fun.
Once I got a job, I could afford to buy better equipment. At rehearsals for bands I'd bring along a Philips cassette recorder that had a built in stereo mic. That was good for a while, but then friends started buying four track recorders and writing their own songs, and as I helped out - usually by playing keyboards - I got bitten by the recording bug in a big way. Eventually I got a four track of my own, a little Fostex X-15 which was used for all sorts of things including recording incidental music for video clips in projects at work. It wasn't the most sophisticated of units but it did me proud for over a decade.
I've wanted to do something on a grander scale for years now, so I've taken the plunge and upgraded my setup. I now use a Korg D3200. It's pretty much my dream machine, as it gives me thirty two tracks to play with, it can record up to 16 channels simultaneously, and it has a built in set of effects that makes much of my gear from the 1980s and 1990s look prehistoric in comparison. I've been very impressed by how easy it is to use, and I've been blown away by the results I've got with it.
I've put a page together with some information on the bands which had a great effect on me - you'll find it on my groups page.
Check out my Chapman Stick page.
I also have a Bass page.