Coffee Planet | Music
Coffee Planet Recordings
Live recordings from the Coffee Planet and beyond. All recordings unedited. Not all really bootlegs in the truest sense, but one-of-a-kind recordings of musical events. There is something unique and pleasurable about live un-mastered, un-released, un-studioized recordings. Music hopefully captured close to its purest form, next to being there live.
Drone #1.
Nov 19, 2016 Composed and performed by Howard Barker. Recorded at The Coffee Planet.
Jazz on the Malecon
May 19, 2015 Jazz player on the Malecon in Havana improvising a little tune for an exclusive Coffee Planet recording.
Isabel Bayrakdarian
April 23, 2015 At the TSO. A timely all Armenian program. Tremendous! Here is Isabel Bayrakdarian with Sergey Khachatryan on violin with a very moving version of the culturally significant Groong / The Crane.
Hepner and Cappadoccia Freestyling
March 25, 2015 "I'm Looking for Names for this Guitar" (my title), live from Home Grown Hamilton. Freestyling duet with Darcy Hepner on sax and Rufus Cappadoccia on guitar (he also played cello during the show). Listen for Darcy drifting into a brief Beatles riff past the middle somewhere.
Peter Tigchelaar
Feb 12, 2015 Peter Tigchelaar playing an unusual 10 string ukulele called a Tiple. This is a new song called Messenger Running. Watch a video of the song.
Knockin on Heavens Door
Jan 17, 2015 Live from the Coffee Planet. A little after dinner jam with the two Johns.
Jazz at the Gasworks, Hamilton
Oct 9, 2014 Jazz clip from the Gasworks Hamilton, with Kim Ratcliffe (Guitar), Roberto Occhipinti (bass), Darcy Hepner (sax), and Drummer Andrea Marcelli.
Tigchelaar and Schulte
2013 Peter Tigchelaar composition "Falling Upwards" recorded live at his CD launch. Peter on Uke and Michael on the Violoncello piccolo da spalla.
Tigchelaar and a distorted Uke.
2011 Peter Tigchelaar live at the Coffee Planet playing a distorted Uke.
Hearing Protection
Field Research
In 1981 I was working for the Ministry of Labour and had access to noise measuring equipment. At a Kinks concert at Maple Leaf Gardens I measured noise levels of over 115 db. Occupational health and safety standards recommend only 15 minutes exposure per day at this level before risk of damage starts occuring.
For many years now I have used a pair of custom made musicians ear plugs when attending rock concerts. Well worth the investment. The ear plugs are really filters that reduce the sound by about 15 to 20 db evenly across the frequency range. This is unlike regular foam ear plugs, that just block everything and the sound heard is very muffled.
The advantage of using the musicians earplugs is:
1. no ringing in the ears after concerts.
2. Less risk of hearing damage.
3. the quality of the sound is still very good.
4. they are very inconspicuous.
Here are two types I have.
Left: My custom musicians ear plugs. Right: Over the counter concert ear plugs.
The custom plugs are from Custom Earmold Labs in Hamilton. They make a mold of your inner ear and custom fit the plugs with filters. Around $200. Speak with my friend Jack at the lab. More about the technology here.
The concert plugs are from The Earplug Store . Purchased on line. About $30. They work well too. My kids use them.
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