Please Spring! – La ballade de Melody Nelson – recorded at Krampnitz

And for our next trick, we put French duo Please Spring! in the abandoned military complex of Krampnitz.  Krampnitz is a huge military complex used by both the Nazi’s in the 30’s and 40’s and then the Soviets during the Cold War.  In the officer’s club building there is a huge hall which I’m sure saw a few swinging parties in it’s time.  The acoustics of the hall are also fantastic and perfect for a field recording.  The musicianship of Paul Audoynaud and Héloïse Lefebvre easily rival the acoustics.  This recording was made with just one stereo microphone and the sound is a testament to this.

Please Spring! consist of two first rate musicians, originally from France but now resident in Berlin.  In their music they blend many different styles of music with composition and improvisation.  The song they chose to play here is La ballade de Melody Nelson originally by Serge Gainsbough, but drastically rearranged for guitar and violin.

http://www.pleasespring.com/

Many people have written things about Krampnitz so, to save us all from a poor recapitulation from me, here are some other links about the place:

Abandoned Berlin

Wikipedia

This project is an artistic project, it is non-commercial and no money changed hands.  For more information on the project go to about.  

Here is the obligatory facebook site

 

The Dictator’s Waltz – Douglas MacGregor – Krampnitz

The Dictator’s Waltz – a concept waltz by Douglas MacGregor

This recording was made at the abandoned Krampnitz military base near Potsdam in Germany.  Krampnitz is a huge abandoned military complex.  It was originally used by the Nazis to train cavalry officers and after the war was taken over and used as a military base by the Soviets.  The camp was abandoned in 1992 after the collapse of the USSR
This recording was made in what appears to be the ballroom of the officers ‘club’.  The room is in remarkably good condition and sounds amazing.
The Dictator’s Waltz is a piece of music directed at dictators and other such people, hence the ballroom of a Nazi military camp seemed like the perfect location for a field recording.   You can even see two crumbling stone eagles in the background.

For more info/photos about/of Krampnitz and other interesting places around Berlin here is a great wee blog: Abandoned Berlin

For more info/music about/by me go here: www.soundcloud.com/dougmacgregor or www.douglasmacgregormusic.com

Anew Named One – Douglas MacGregor – Krampnitz

Krampnitz is an abandoned military base near Potsdam, Germany.  It was originally built by the Nazi’s and used as a training camp for cavalry officers.  The Soviets took over the base after the second World War and used it as a military base throughout the Cold War until it was abandoned after the collapse of the USSR.
In the middle of this camp is an old theatre where this recording was made.  It was a bit of a surprise to find a theatre in the middle of a military camp and you can only imagine what used to go on here, who came and what sort of performances they had.

www.soundcloud.com/dougmacgregor

www.douglasmacgregormusic.com

The Ostensible Walz – Douglas MacGregor – Recorded at Krampnitz

Krampnitz is an abandoned military base near Potsdam, Germany.  It was originally built by the Nazi’s and used as a training camp for cavalry officers.  The Soviets took over the base after the second World War and used it as a military base throughout the Cold War until it was abandoned after the collapse of the USSR.  Click here or here to find some nice blogs where people have written a bit more about Krampnitz and taken some nice pictures.

This recording was made in what appears to be the ballroom of the officers ‘club’.  The room is in remarkably good condition and sounds amazing.
The Ostensible Waltz is a piece of music that is unhappy with the way things seem at first and tries to delve beneath the ‘ostensible’ layers to find out what really lies under the surface.  It inevitably fails and finds itself back where it began, but with the knowledge of where it has been.
From a technical point of view, the left hand fingering in this piece is about as challenging as it gets.

www.soundcloud.com/dougmacgregormusic

www.douglasmacgregormusic.com