Lanois book "Soul Mining" - anyone else reading it

[leigh]

I've been burning through Daniel Lanois' new(ish) book, "Soul Mining". Surprised not to see any chatter here about it. Anyone else cracked it yet?

There's a healthy mix of technical detail in there, along with autobiographical tales.

I've been thinking about this one method that Daniel and his brother Bob came up with early on, to create a hybrid 6 track system out of a Teac 4 track and a separate 2 track Revox. They would start them at the same time, with a single custom-rigged start button, but they weren't really "synced". They would then just use the Revox for "legato" parts, like strings or backing vocals. So, if there was a bit of drift over the course of a song, you wouldn't notice it, because of the kind of material on the second deck. Pretty clever I think.

cheers,
Leigh

[cgarges]

It's been in my Amazon shopping cart for a while, but haven't completed my stockpile of Amazon stuff recently.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[percussion boy]

I've read that book a couple of times. Kept waiting for it to come up here, then figured maybe Lanois was considered uncool among the Op crowd.

One odd gut reaction to the book -- probably colored by Dylan's book and the interview where a former intern talked about having to polish Lanois' motorcycles (?): I kept feeling as if Lanois was presenting himself as this open, innocent guy, when he's actually a seasoned operator in the music "bidness."

He shares some good war stories and recording strategies, although he never really explains much about how he does what he does, technically--even though Lanois has an aural signature that presumably emerges from certain compressors and reverbs, used a certain way. At one point Lanois specifically declines to talk about equipment on a project, saying he wants to keep his secrets . . . Why else would I buy the fucking book, I don't care what Bono is "really" like . . .

I enjoyed it though. Inspires thought and music-making.

[Marwood Williams]

I've been burning through Daniel Lanois' new(ish) book, "Soul Mining". Surprised not to see any chatter here about it. Anyone else cracked it yet?

I have a copy on hold from the public library. Hopefully, I will have it soon!

[leigh]

One odd gut reaction to the book -- probably colored by Dylan's book and the interview where a former intern talked about having to polish Lanois' motorcycles (?): I kept feeling as if Lanois was presenting himself as this open, innocent guy, when he's actually a seasoned operator in the music "bidness."

I'll have to go look up that story about motorcycle polishing, but Mr. Miyagi comes to mind. Lanois could have his motorcycles polished by a pro if he wanted, right? (I don't know what kind of pro, an automotive detailing pro?) So maybe that's his way of testing an intern, or particularly if it was an intern who was lacking in humility...

I know what you mean though about Lanois being a seasoned operator, and I don't completely buy his wild child soul brother shtick. But I do think it's a challenge to become seasoned, and yet remain open and innocent towards the music. I would hate to think that that *couldn't* be done - otherwise, a career in music would ultimately be a dead end for me. And I do think that that's a struggle that Lanois engages in, based on the choices he's made. He could have taken the easy road a long time ago if not driven by a true love for music.

Leigh

[percussion boy]

I do think it's a challenge to become seasoned, and yet remain open and innocent towards the music. I would hate to think that that *couldn't* be done - otherwise, a career in music would ultimately be a dead end for me. And I do think that that's a struggle that Lanois engages in, based on the choices he's made. He could have taken the easy road a long time ago if not driven by a true love for music.

That's a really good point. Balancing the pragmatic and the creative is one of the big challenges of grownup life. And of course it's easier for me to be critical, since I'm not paying the bills with music right now.

-------
One more thing: It would be great to see the WRECKING BALL documentary mentioned in the book. Doesn't seem to be out as a commercial DVD. I'd love to have been a fly on that particular wall . . .

[leigh]

That's a really good point. Balancing the pragmatic and the creative is one of the big challenges of grownup life. And of course it's easier for me to be critical, since I'm not paying the bills with music right now.
-------
One more thing: It would be great to see the WRECKING BALL documentary mentioned in the book. Doesn't seem to be out as a commercial DVD. I'd love to have been a fly on that particular wall . . .

Thank you. For all of us, there's definitely a balance of the pragmatic and the creative side. For Lanois, and others in his shoes, there's also the "I just made a gazillion dollars from producing The Joshua Tree, now tell me why I should keep putting my heart out there and doing music instead of just holing up and doing coke with Brian Wilson" side. And on that count, considering the insane level of success he's achieved, I'd say Lanois has continued to put himself out there more than 99% of his peers.

As for that Wrecking Ball documentary, my understanding is it was never released. However, I did find this segment from it, which apparently aired on VH-1 at some point. Here's clips of Emmylou Harris and Neil Young singing the track, and shots of a bunch of other folks, cut over the album version of "Sweet Old World":

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2i30u ... weet_music

cheers,
Leigh

[percussion boy]

For Lanois, and others in his shoes, there's also the "I just made a gazillion dollars from producing The Joshua Tree, now tell me why I should keep putting my heart out there and doing music instead of just holing up and doing coke with Brian Wilson" side. And on that count, considering the insane level of success he's achieved, I'd say Lanois has continued to put himself out there more than 99% of his peers.

As for that Wrecking Ball documentary, my understanding is it was never released. However, I did find this segment from it, which apparently aired on VH-1 at some point. Here's clips of Emmylou Harris and Neil Young singing the track, and shots of a bunch of other folks, cut over the album version of "Sweet Old World":

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2i30u ... weet_music

cheers,
Leigh

Thanks! So far I've only seen the clip from a no-sound computer at my intern site -- very cool. Looks like Lanois had Neil Young singing on that old Sony tube mic Lanois likes . . . c-37 I think?

Anyone reading this thread might also be intrigued by Lanois's documentary dvd HERE IS WHAT IS. Fun to watch him at work, rapping with Eno, etc..

[knobtwirler]

Fun to watch him at work, rapping with Eno, etc..

I didn't know they did rap.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I'm reading this right now but I'm not sure what I think. Like all things Lanois it cuts both ways for me. If find some of it quite inspiring but allot of the time I find myself thinking "What the fuck are you on about?". I like a bunch of his work and I have a bit of home town pride in seeing another Canadian doing so well but the whole hippie, soul man shit wears thin pretty quick.
I find the Here Is What Is movie insufferable. There's a great bit were Eno suggest that Lanois make a movie about how all music comes from shit and there's nothing magical or mystical about it. I don't think Lanois was listening.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

double post

[A.David.MacKinnon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We1Cvs44i-Q

[MoreSpaceEcho]

I find the Here Is What Is movie insufferable.

i would really like to know how a savvy, sophisticated guy like lanois could go for SO MUCH of the crap photoshop style filtering in his film. i mean, i don't know much about much, but even i recognize that stuff as pure hackery.

[fossiltooth]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We1Cvs44i-Q

Cheesy visual effects or no, that is a powerful, important statement coming out of Eno. Those could be life-changing-ly true stuff to anyone who takes a few minutes to digest it.

Frankly, I don't hear Eno's statements as being at at odds with Lanois' attitude at all. Anyone who aspires to be more creative than they are now could benefit from watching that clip. Good stuff.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We1Cvs44i-Q

Cheesy visual effects or no, that is a powerful, important statement coming out of Eno. Those could be life-changing-ly true stuff to anyone who takes a few minutes to digest it.

Frankly, I don't hear Eno's statements as being at at odds with Lanois' attitude at all. Anyone who aspires to be more creative than they are now could benefit from watching that clip. Good stuff.

I don't think the statement is out of line with Lanois attitude either but for me the film doesn't address what Eno's talking about. It's too busy with bad filtering effects and pseudo-spiritual mumbo-jumbo.

As much the film made me crazy I did really enjoy the Eno/Lanois segments. Eno is so clinical and Lanois is so touchy-feely it's amazing they can even understand each other. From the outside it looks like something that should never work but clearly they have a very powerful partnership.

Anyway, I shouldn't be so hard on Lanois. I love his work. His persona just rubs me the wrong way. I'm sure I'd feel the same way about tons of people who's work I admire.