On his latest album ‘Industrial Zen” legendary guitarist and composer John McLaughlin features Spectrasonics sound libraries Distorted Reality, Metamorphosis and Vocal Planet as well John playing guitar controlling our virtual instrument Atmosphere.
John told us, “The ideas behind my new CD ‘Industrial Zen’ had been brewing for some time prior to recording the CD. The first idea was the title. The word ‘Zen’ is a Japanese word derived from the Chinese word ‘Chan’. This word in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Dhyana’ which basically means ‘meditation’. I live in the industrial world like the majority of westerners today, and live on a daily basis with the ‘noise’ of this world. Trucks, busses, trains, planes, phones, the list is endless. My idea was to view this ‘noise’ of everyday differently, and try to see/hear it as a form of music, and incorporate this ‘music’ into my own music.”
John has been a long-time Spectrasonics user and has performed using Atmosphere on past tours, triggered via MIDI Guitar. John told us, “If you listen closely to this recording, you’ll also hear Atmosphere which has to be one of the best instruments for pads etc. It’s on this recording, and in addition I use it extensively in live performances.”
On the new album, he has added other Spectrasonics sounds. “The answers to a lot of my research into ‘noise’ were found in the great work found in the classic Spectrasonics library Distorted Reality. Not only are the sounds great, but I have the impression the sound-designers at Spectrasonics hear sound just like I do. It is a wonderful source for new ‘sound’, said John.” “When looking to create new rhythms, I found the solutions to a number of questions in the Metamorphosis SAGE Xpander which is really a monumental work from the Spectrasonics sound-designers. The sequences are made with great imagination and are, of course, very precise. By now it’s easy to see how this combination of the words ‘Industrial’ and ‘Zen’ came together in the title.”
And vocals add to the mix too. John continued, “There is singing on this CD from the great Indian singer Shankar Mahadevan, and in two of the pieces I wanted to mix his voice, which is one of the most beautiful in India, with the harmonies of the west, and in particular with the sound of ‘western’ voices. For these voices I went to Vocal Planet again from Spectrasonics, and the range of voices available on these CD’s is really amazing. I found exactly what I was looking for, and with a little effort, the results were just outstanding.”
John McLaughlin’s “Industrial Zen” includes a world-wide cast of musicians: Shankar Mahadevan (vocals); Eric Johnson (guitar); Ada Rovatti, Bill Evans (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Gary Husband (keyboards, drums); Otmaro Ruiz (synthesizer); Hadrien Faraud, Tony Gray, Matthew Garrison (bass guitar); Mark Mondasir, Dennis Chambers, Vinnie Colaiuta (drums); Zakir Hussain (tabla); Marcus Wippersberg (drum programming).
