Sad to learn that saxophanist Elton Dean has died.

In 1971 I bought my first LPs, "Lizard" by King Crimson and "Fourth" by Soft Machine. Compared to the rest of the pop pap that was current at the time these two albums stand as beacons to originlity and rare examples of (imo) good jazz in a rock idiom. As a result, Elton Dean, sax player with Soft Machine played a significant role in my musical development as I subsequently learned much about (the history and nature of) jazz from listening to his playing on this and other albums. The sound of Elton Dean's sax playing was totally unique - his signature sound being a thin, somewhat nasal tone and a preference for the soprano sax.

In 1984 I was a recording engineer at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge when I was booked to engineer a session by a band called "In Cahoots" led by guitarist Phil Miller. The band featured a wonderful collection of musicians - Pip Pyle, Hugh Hopper, Peter Leemer, Barbara Gaskin, Phil Miller himself & Elton Dean. The producer for the session was Dave Stewart. You may imagine that I was absolutely terrified at the prospect of recording (more than one) boyhood hero. How on earth would I recreate THAT classic sax sound? I spent the evening before the session experimenting with different microphones, positions and combinations in the studio, and also tried various compressors and equalisers in a vain attempt to emulate the 'Elton Dean Sound'.

On the morning of the session I still had no idea what equipment I should use. The choice of microphones and their pleacements would be critical so I was ready with a pair of cardioids (Neumanns) for close(ish) work with a third Neumann set to figure-of-eight (for anti-phase and spatial dynamics) as well as ambient mics eleswhere in the room. The band duly arrived and began to unpack and set up their instruments in the studio.

From a battered case Elton unpacked an equally battered  instrument. Resembling nothing so much as a cross between a piece of bizarre plumbing and one of those toy pipes that you use for blowing bubbles, Elton's Saxello was not an object of beauty to behold (see photo above). But the moment he put it to his lips, the sound that emerged was instantly and unmistakeably recognisable!  As I threw open the faders on the mixing desk in the control room and just listened, I knew that I had to do... nothing at all. My task was clearly not to add colouration of any kind, but simply to record what came directly from Elton Dean himself. Gorgeous, fabulous, wonderful music.

And WHAT a sound!


I was absolutely thrilled and delighted to read that Alex van Someren has just sold his company nCipher to SafeNet for £86.1m. I used used to hang out with Alex in Steps Cafe on Cambridge Market Square in the early 80's. We'd drink cappucini, chat up pretty tourists and occasionally discuss prime numbers. Much later, Alex's wife Carol was very helpful to Spaceward Graphics re the creation of support documentation for Satori FilmFX. I've watched nCipher's progress over the past 10 years with admiration, respect and envy in equal degree.