Robert Fripp's Diary

Toyah is back safely in

Trey's bass end is vibrating through the wall which separates Fripp Cellars from the studio control room. He is overdubbing to "Light". Rhythm Buddy Pat is in the studio with him, currently shouting out counting cues to tape. Adrian is upstairs Frenzying to a CD of the unapologetic stonker, referred to in yesterday's diary, which Bill has just burnt for him.

My own morning has been gentle. The Reading Period is resumed, followed by mild Pencil Frenzy & practising for recording today's template. My present reading is "The Internet Challenge To Television" by Bruce M. Owen (Harvard University Press 1999). This follows "In The Wake Of Chaos: Unpredictable Order In Dynamical Systems" by Stephen H. Kellert (University of Chicago 1993) and "The Feynman Processor: Quantum Entanglement And The Computing Revolution" by Gerard J. Milburn (Perseus Books 1998).

On Wednesday, to clear my head, I went in search of Nashville eateries recommended on the Guestbook, and found 3 of them. One I entered with a view to becoming a patron (Blackstone's?) but it had a local radio station broadcasting a sports event over a loud pa system in the eating area of my choice. My patronage withdrawn for the moment, I visited a restaurant nearby, introduced to me by Lord Victor the Scribe. For now, this will be a regular haunt. Yesterday I returned there before a mild tumescence at Bookstar further along on West End Avenue.

The "guitars unhinged" part of "The ConstruKction Of Light" is now vibrating through the wall. I appreciate the feelings of Crim enthusiasts who sense a loss that Bill & Tony are not presently Crimsonising the psyches of aberrant, earnest males. B&T are a rhythm section of 18 years' experience and friendship. Neither player, nor the duo, can be replaced or duplicated by any other. For example, you don't get better than Tony Levin - you just get different. But similarly, Rhythm Buddies Pat & Trey are quite themselves, quite their own people & duo, and able to hold their own with anyone. They don't "replace" Bill & Tony, but Bill & Tony don't "replace" P&T. And both are, recognisably, rhythm sections of King Crimson.

King Crimson is a remarkable creature, and a power zone, which confers opportunities upon its players which, very probably, they wouldn't find in many other groups. But the demands & obligations it exerts in return are hard to bear. I guess that's why most former Crimson players really enjoyed being in the band, after they left. But that, as we know, is too late.

I have never worked with a more professional drummer than Pat, nor one more conscientious and hardworking. He sets standards. And Trey has not yet been recognised for the talent he is. The next Crim outing will present a new team that will find its own support. Generally, we like who & what we see & hear first (no-one bettered Sean Connery, for example, although Pierce Brosnan is close. And his birthday is May 16th.). A new generation of Crim listeners (once more, all earnest & male) coming with open ears won't be making comparisons.

E-lettering & Guestbook visiting discharged for the moment. Brief responses:

1. To Paul O'Rear (18 Nov): Apparently, according to an article in New York's Time Out (c.1996) King Crimson "invented" math rock with "Larks' Tongues". Math rock, the article suggests, is a sub-genre of "prog rock". I regard these categories with the same robust good humour I extend to other dopey subjects, and didn't realise until reading the article that this sub-genre was a, well, sub-genre. In 1972 Crim wasn't a "math rock" group. In that, little has actually changed. And good luck to the excellent Kraftwerk.

2. Susan Peck (18 Nov): The music is mainly "between the dots". The construKction of music in Crim is closer in spirit to oral/aural transmission than to literate modes, although we write down outline charts:

to better consider the ideas when we are apart
as a way of engaging a different faculty of consideration
as an aide memoire.

Recorded music in rock is generally considered the definitive "score" of any particular piece.

Do we use "spoken English" to convey musical information? Yes, but it's often highly idiosyncratic. Very famous (& useful) expressions come from the infamous Troggs' tape: "fairy dust" & "split yer hands" are very powerful professional jargon. An example from the current sessions would be (to Pat Mastelotto, encouraging enhanced timbral resonance on his kit): "Every drum should sound like an entire industrial plant producing huge amounts of toxic waste". This albeit in a pretty rocking piece, dudette yo!

16.14
Trey is continuing to push "Light" forward. Stunning bass lines reverberate through the studio wall into the life of this basement dweller. I have taken the opportunity to check DGM diaries. Paul Richards is a welcome addition, and I hope that The CGT will make me very, very rich. It's fascinating to read Trey's take on Crim proceedings.

18.21
Trey & Pat have just had me in to listen to "Light". Exceptional work from Trey.

19.17
They've just had me back to give a view on the part they are creating for the terrifying 15/8 in "Larks' V". Beast! Beast! I say. Pat has cleverly removed the emphasis from bass drum & snare - Big Two of the drummer's Big Three - and replaced the instrumentation with lighter percussion. So, there is all the forward motion & drive required but not a low weight to press down on a lonely guitarist. Trey is snapping, ducking & diving through all of this.