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Andrew's Collection

Tim Hecker   04/28/2013

Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Source Factory-matched pair of Schoeps CCM 41V microphones (DINa mounted) -> Marantz PMD661 recorder with Oade Concert Mod (-18 dB gain/44.1 kHz/24 bit WAV) -> Audacity 2.0.3 -> * Normalised to 0 dB. -> * Attenuated audience applause. -> * Added fades. -> * Converted to 16 bit. -> FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917]
Media Flac   1 disc
Tech Notes "NOTES:

Tim Hecker and me, it's been a case of never the twain shall meet. Every time
he comes to the Netherlands, something happens to cause me to miss him.

He came to the Bimhuis, a primarily jazz-oriented venue whose listings I
didn't track at the time, so the gig took place without my knowledge.

He came to a festival in Utrecht, but he played the one weekend that my wife
had planned a trip to Florence with her friends. I had to stay at home with
the children.

This time, too, I was set to miss him. He was due to play a couple of days
after we were supposed to have left on holiday.

As luck would have it, however, we had to postpone our holiday for a few days,
due to our 7 year old daughter having been given the opportunity to sing at
the coronation of the new Dutch king on 30th April.

Now, I personally think the royal family should be decommissioned and made
responsible for finding their own income, rather than perpetuate their
parasitic reliance on the likes of me to involuntarily supply their tax-free
mega-income from our tax-most-certainly-not-free income.

The very notion of an elite monarchy is at odds with a truly democratic state,
but that doesn't mean I'm going to saddle my little girl with my politics and
deny her the chance of a lifetime to be present and sing at an occasion
attended by heads of state and dignitaries from all over the world. That's
something she'll remember for the rest of her life and who am I to stand in
her way?

Anyway, that's the background. The positive side for me, at least, is that I
now get to finally see Tim Hecker live. The negative side (and there always is
one, of course), is that I'll now have to miss Ólafur Arnalds at the other end
of the holiday, because we won't arrive back in time.

Oh well; those are the breaks.

And so I bike up to the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ for Hecker's concert, taking
place as part of the loosely organised 'The Rest Is Noise' series.

The concert was due to take place on the 29th, but has been brought forward a
day, presumably to escape the logistical madness surrounding Koninginnedag
(the final queen's day) and the coronation.

When they say 'kleine zaal' (small hall), they really mean it. There's barely
enough space to squeeze it all in. With a capacity of just 100 people, there
are only three rows of chairs, a fourth partial row, a makeshift stage with a
table and a couple of chairs, and a small PA. The gig is sold out, but that
seems rather meaningless here.

I've never been to the kleine zaal before. It's located all the way at the top
of the Muziekgebouw. The bar and reception area has a magnificent view over
the city, the setting sun bathing the interior in a golden glow. It really is
a beautiful setting.

It's unassigned seating, so I'm here very early. A curtain separates the hall
from the bar area, but I ease through a gap and sling my jacket over a chair
in the third row, so that I can relax and not worry about being the first one
insde when the curtains are drawn aside.

First up are Raphael Vanoli and Jasper Stadhouders, two young Dutch guitarists
who proceed to torture, as opposed to play their instruments.

One of the men uses a metal rod to whack his guitar, then inserts it between
the strings and the fretboard, flicking it like a ruler over the edge of a
table.

The other guitarist blows his guitar. He almost looks as if he's chewing the
strings. Come to think of it, maybe he _is_ chewing the strings. Anything goes
here.

It takes a long time before the sound coming out of the guitars becomes
satisfyingly loud and visceral. I wouldn't pay money to see just this, but
it's a suitable warm-up for Tim Hecker.

There's now a brief break while Hecker sets up. When he's finished, the table
he'll perform at contains nothing that is readily identifiable as a musical
instrument.

The curtains are now drawn and Hecker sets to work just after 21:30. It's
pitch black in here and I can just make out the outline of Hecker's face in
the dim glow of his laptop.

The sound swells and ebbs, throbs and subsides, rumbles and softens. For the
next forty minutes, we're conveyed on a dark journey through Hecker's psyche,
his mind translated into sound via the knobs, dials and software at his
fingertips.

It's immensely satisfying, but the come-down is too abrupt. Without any
warning, the drone fades into nothingness, Hecker exits the stage and the
lights come on. The spell has been broken. A pity. I could have gone another
fifteen minutes in that state. My surroundings now have an unreal quality
about them.

I chose the best position in the room from which to record, but nowhere seemed
ideal. I couldn't get close enough to the tiny PA to capture the sound from
one speaker, so I sat centre stage in the third and final row, angled the
microphones flat to the PA and hoped for the best.

The result, I must say, is astonishingly good. This has turned out much better
than I had dared hope. I have also done nothing to alter the music, thereby
preserving the full dynamic range of the concert. The music ranges from very
quiet to very loud. Use your volume knob wisely and play this with the dial
turned up to 11.

Any fan of Tim Hecker (or, indeed, of a bloody good racket) would be
well-advised to avail himself of this recording at his earliest opportunity.

Samples are provided to eliminate taper subjectivity and help you determine
whether this is one for you.

One quick word on the tracking: there is none!

This concert ostensibly featured work from 'Ravedeath, 1972' as well as brand
new material, but was performed in typical Hecker fashion as a single
continuous piece. Tracking it is nigh on impossible and I have therefore made
no attempt to do so."
Trades Allowed Yes
Ratings Sound: A/-
Owned by Andrew · Last Updated May 23, 2023