Carl Finlow Midi Archeology

 Carl Finlow - Midi Archeology

Limited Edition 235 Units

Fundamental Records 019

•  4x12" High Quality Vinyl Records with tracks by Carl Finlow

•  2x12" High Quality Vinyl Records with remixes by The Exaltics, Cygnus, Radioactive Man, ADJ, Jensen Interceptor, Morphology & Sync24, Mr. Velcro Fastener, Hardfloor 

•  1x12" Extra Record from Carl Finlow Remix Contest by Brice Kelly, Relaxant, Varaz, Dibu-Z, N-Ter and Acédie.

•  Electro Music T-Shirt

•  Info-sheet about the project silkscreen printed, personally signed by Carl Finlow

•  Direct access to midi data, including Ableton Live project files and individual samples

•  Limited Edition Wooden Box 235 units

•  Certified Limited Edition Hand Numbered

Carl Finlow about Midi Archeology

Greetings programs!

This project all started early in 2017 when I realised that a huge portion of my work from pre-Ableton times was sitting quietly on various dvds I had burnt as the decades passed by. I have always tried to be very meticulous about archiving my music and from my earliest days of burning cd-r’s around 1994 I have slowly gathered a huge amount of song, midi and audio data.

All of this music from the 90’s to early 2000’s was locked away on these ageing dvds, locked into unreadable formats created on long since dead computers. I had a brain wave though and realised I might be able to get some kind of access using Windows XP running on VMWare Fusion on my Mac. I didn’t use PC in the past, but I figured that old Cubase songs saved on the Mac might open up on Cubase on the PC. After some research I discovered that Cubase SX2 was the last version Steinberg made that would allow import of much older Cubase songs. Having owned a legal version of SX2 and also Cubase VST all those years ago, I felt justified in tracking down cracked copies to see if this would work. After searching the depths of the internet I found what i was after and managed to get both up and running - the excitement was building!

Only a hand full of songs would open up using Cubase VST. I’m assuming it’s something to do with mac / pc versions of this software writing their save files differently. The great news though was that Cubase SX2 would open almost everything! I was able to access files dating back to 1996 but no further for some reason, so sadly there are 1994-95 songs that I cannot access. But no matter, this was like Christmas x10 for me! It was all there, the arrangements, the midi parts, even some of the first digital audio I recorded :)

The next step was to try to export this data from SX2. It has an ‘export to midi’ option in the file menu. This exported the entire arrangement as a single .midi file. Would this load up into Ableton? YES! I literally almost cried at this point. The pleasure of having access to all of this music again was overwhelming. And so began an intense month of transferring every track I could, one by one, from SX2 into Ableton Live. I ended up with about 100 of my released electro tracks, all now back in the land of the living.

Once that was done, I started to create my own, new versions of these tracks, narrowing it down to just 16.

I decided I needed to find someone who would be up for helping me release this and after speaking with Andy Barton from Bass Agenda, he suggested Alek at Fundamental Records could be a good man to speak to. Sure enough, Alek was immediately positive about the project and we soon agreed it would be a great idea to pursue. We decided that it would be amazing to have 8 other talented artists to get involved and for them to contribute 8 unique remixes of 8 of these racks.

The remixers have all done a tremendous job at reinterpreting these old tracks and their enthusiasm for the project has been really fantastic. They have all added their own personal flavours to each piece and given all the music a totally new lease of life for a new generation and for older fans alike.
And so to the fans. Many of you have been on this long and wild journey together with me, crossing a quarter of a century of electro, through the good times and the bad. Your continued support for my music is as important as the music itself, the two intertwined and inter-dependant. When you come to see me play or even drop me messages and you tell me about the records of mine you own, and you tell me how the music means so much to you, those moments make it all so worth while for me. It’s quite something to know that this music can have such a deep and far reaching effect on people all around the world. 
I thank you all !

Carl Finlow 
 

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 
CARL FINLOW - MIDI ARCHEOLOGY
Written and Produced by Carl Finlow
Remixes by Radioactive Man  |  The Exaltics  |  Cygnus  |  Morphology & Sync24
Jensen Interceptor  |  Mr. Velcro Fastener  |  Hardfloor  |  ADJ
Brice Kelly  |  Relaxant  |  Varaz  |  Dibu-Z  |  N-Ter  |  Acédie

All tracks mastered by Alek Stark

Fundamental Records 019

Artwork by Alek Stark