Keith Fleetwood - Demos and Studios - My Music from the 1980's

Keith, Brad, Joel, Phill, Rose.

Crüx Änsàta
(pron.: "Krüz   Un-SÄH-tah")

Free Cheese

Keith, Debbie, Lin, Diane.
 

I use the Korg D1600mkII 16-Track digital recorder. Each track has 8 virtual tracks to literally record up to 128 tracks (16 x 8 virtual tracks) for each song.

Features include USB connectivity, a 40 GB hard drive, a CD-RW burner, multi band EQ; Effect processor providing 192 preset and 192 user effect programs; Multiple guitar processor and tuner; phantom power for condenser mics.

Automated mixer settings such as fader, EQ, pan, and effects can be stored in a scene, and up to 100 scenes can be stored for each song. Mixer data, such as fade and pan, can be transmitted and received via MIDI.

I use Cakewalk Pro audio on my computer. It syncs with the Korg D1600. I also use programs like Goldwave, Samplitude, Fruity Loops... I have used ProTools and Logic.

In 2009 I got a ProTools Audio system with the DigiDesign Digi 003 automated mixer. I still use the Korg D1600mkII quite often for lite or portable recording... The digital files can be transferred via USB cable to my PC. For more intense recording or final mixing and mastering, ProTools is just fantanstic.

Mark Of The Unicorn (MOTU) Midi Timepiece connects to a computer via USB port and communicates with up to 8 devices through midi (musical instrument digital interface). It also sends and receives SMPTE time code which is striped to the recorder. Thus everything plays together.

The Alesis D4 is a sound module that holds only drum sounds. It can sync to the recorder via the MOTU Timepiece, and played by computer sequencer.

Korg Triton-Rack is a sound module that is essentially a keyboard in a box. It can hold over 2,000 sounds, including pianos, flutes, brass, strings, and lots of weird noises.

Ensoniq KS-32 Weighted Action Midi Studio is a keyboard with a built-in sequencer. It can be a midi controller or another sound module. I connect it through the MOTU and control it from the computer.

Roland TD-7 Electronic Drum Kit and Module is what I've used for much of my recording. A drummer can record drums tracks  onto the computer sequencer via midi.  Then the TD-7 brains becomes a sound module for playback with the recorder.

The Roland GP-100 is the Guitar Processor Pre-Amp I use live or in the studio. A ton of great guitar sounds, many based on the sound of the guitar greats like Jimi Hendrix or Brian May. I run it through a Mesa Boogie amp, Gallien-Krueger stereo mini twin speakers for the highs, and a Peavey 4x12 cabinet.

Mesa Boogie Simul-Class 2:Ninety Stereo Tube Amp has multiple stereo speaker outs and line outs, and a great warm sound.

EUROPOWER PMP5000 by Behringer. 1200-Watt 20-Channel Powered Mixer with Dual Multi-FX Processor and FBQ Feedback Detection System.
 

Behringer B215XL Eurolive 2-Way PA Speaker (1000 Watts, 1x15 in.) High-power 2-way PA sound reinforcement speaker system
 

Crüx Änsàta - The way we all met is a bit circuitous. In 1976 I had a beginning guitar class at Flint Central HS, and really took to it. This guy named Bill Dillenbeck saw me in the class and befriended me. He was an advanced player who it seemed could play anything note for note; he'd say, "Name any rock group." Then he would accurately play a song from that group. He said he was primarily a bass player, but he could sing and play guitar better than anyone I'd ever met. Now I'd grown up in Guadalajara Mexico from age 6-13, and primarily listened to classical music, so when Bill introduced me to Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa and especially Yes I was into it, appreciating the mixture of classical, jazz and rock.

So Dillenbeck taught me a lot in my first year playing, then I studied classical guitar at FIM and UM-Flint. I was hired to play guitar in the summerstock theatre company orchestra at Crossroads Village in 1978 and 1980. In September 1980, just when I was discovering the punk scene and The Sex Pistols, I moved into a house on Mason St. with Paul Nelson, trombonist in the orchestra, and 3 other UM-Flint theatre students.

Some of my friends were encouraging me to start a band, and Paul Nelson said there was this guy named Brad Morley I should meet, he was sure we'd hit it off. Brad was an opera singer with a punk attitude in the UM-F music department. When Brad and I finally met at a house party, we did vibe immediately and soon were jamming. Brad introduced me to his favourite hardcore punk bands (Dead Kennedys, Black Flag...) By early 1981 we got going when I called in Bill Dillenbeck, who was also impressed with Brad. Bill suggested we bring in Joel Fairman, someone he knew from Central. I asked why we needed another guitar player, and he said Joel was better than both of us combined. Little did I know that my collaboration with Joel would be so long-lasting.

Joel was a fan of bands like King Crimson, Yes and Frank Zappa. Brad brought in Rose Ward into the group - I suppose he knew her from Flushing HS - and it was terrific to have a young punk girl in the group. We were enthusiastic about combining our different musical influences into a form we called "Progressive Punk".

I had a drum set, so Bill and I took turns on the skins. We wrote a bunch of songs and were really moving along, when Bill unexpectedly had a health issue and had to leave the band. We expected him to come back, but soon it became clear that other plans would have to be made. We needed a dedicated drummer.

We needed a hard rockin' core punk attitude drummer, and the name Phill Hines kept coming up. We were on the phone, trying to find this Phill Hines fellow, and were told he would be at the Mikatam, where some punk band would be performing. Brad and I went there and someone pointed out Phill, holding drum sticks and rap-a-tapping on his table. I went up to him, introduced myself and said I wanted him to join our band. He said he heard about us, but there was a problem: he didn't own a drum set. I said that was not a problem.

Phill came and jammed with us, and he took to Brad and Rose, who he said were more hardcore than Joel and me.

Joel and I took turns on bass, brought in different people (Russ Williams - a friend from my gaming group, Bruce Stedron - we knew through Tim Taebel, and Tanya Narhi - probably through Phill.) We rocked out through the summer, and by the beginning of the next school semester in September we had to say goodbye to Crüx Änsàta. I transferred my classes to Lansing, where Brad was moving with Blair and Rose. They introduced me to Mikal Thomas, and asked me to join a really hardcore punk band. I said okay if I could play drums - I expected this band would last a month or two, and I could brush up my drumming skills... Little did I know.