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Conversation with Peter Buffett

"I often tell
people that
the studio,
rather than a
guitar or a
piano, is my
instrument."

- Peter Buffett

"...there really
are no rules. Everything is
possible grist
for the musical
mill."

- Peter Buffett

"I feel that with
these tools, if it
doesn't sound the
way you hear it in
your head, it's
your fault!"

- Peter Buffet

"There's a
whole generation
(or two) being
brought up
thinking that
music should
be free. That's
not good."

- Peter Buffett

"Spirit evolved
in a pretty
magical way."

- Peter Buffett

Jamie: Your music is incredibly diverse. One common thread that I hear
on your albums is a sense of forward motion -- the arrangements seem to
be constantly evolving and flowing. How important are the arrangements,
and production in general, to your music?


Peter: Production and arrangement are very important to me. Although
there's no replacing a great melody, I love to incorporate new textures and
sounds into the songs I write - the sounds really help set the mood of each
piece. I often tell people that the studio, rather than a guitar or a piano, is
my instrument. The music and arrangements are constantly evolving right
to the final moment of mixdown.

Also, I think that years of writing music for commercials has had an impact
on how I write. On reflection, I've realized that having to write in 30 or 60
second increments has made me get a little restless if I hear a section
of music sit too long without some sort of evolution.


Jamie: I find it hard not to be influence by the various styles that I've come
into contact with. I'm not always conscious of how I'm being affected, but
years later it all makes sense!

Styles and ways of working completely overlap in my music -- whatever
works is fine with me. Loops, live playing, MIDI programming and pretty
much anything else get used on my recordings and gigs. I've always been
interested in the combination of acoustic and electronic textures. And to
be honest, my wife would say I'm a bit of a tech geek!

You have a very wide palette of sounds in your music. What makes you
choose an acoustic texture over an electronic one (or vice versa)? Is it
the actual sound quality, performance or both that you're interested in?


Peter: Your description of your own approach describes mine very well
(even the geek part!). What I love about technology today (if you choose
to embrace it) is that there really are no rules. Everything is possible grist
for the musical mill. Now that I'm working with the program Reason in
tandem with Nuendo, I feel like anything is truly possible and whatever
I hear in my head I can create within the program. A loop that may at first
appear as a crazy idea makes perfect sense when a slice is removed or
pitched differently or filtered in a unique way. The technology is so
interactive now. Acoustic textures can become electronic sounding and
electronic elements can sound more acoustic than ever. I'm getting dizzy
just thinking about it!

I guess I'd better get back to answering your question. To me, it's like
choosing the right color from a palette. Whether acoustic or electronic,
the sound serves the song. If it adds to the overall arrangement - and
what I want the song to say - it works.


Jamie: I've heard great things about Reason and Nuendo. I can't believe
how powerful the tools have become in the last few years. I switched a
year or so ago from a hardware sampler to a software based one
(Emagic's EXS24) and I can't go back! It's not only that the sound quality
is fantastic, but the fact that all of the minutia has been taken care of --
no more cables, the sound library is easily accessible and you can edit
on your computer screen.

I find that new technology can not only change how I work, but it can also
introduce new ways of thinking about music in general. By adding a
program like Reason to your studio, has your music changed in
any way?


Peter: Yes, no more ground loops! It's true about the cabling etc... And
that actually does change the way the music sounds. Mainly because I
can experiment more easily. I can patch things - plug-ins, LFO's, control
voltages... - and if it doesn't work, undo. If it does work I can tweak to my
heart's delight (or until I fall asleep) and all I have to do is recall the song
in the morning and there it is. The automation power is phenomenal, too.
I feel that with these tools, if it doesn't sound the way you hear it in your
head, it's your fault!

And speaking of falling asleep, that's the only trouble with age. I know
that when I have to finally go to bed, some 17 year old is creating the
next masterpiece until 5 am. It is so inspiring! I think that musically, it's
actually gotten me back to my roots. The sounds I used to sort of be able
to get (and never be able to perfectly recall) are now really possible.

I have an ftp site where I put "beta" music up (I used to say I was a
songwriter - now I'm a content provider). Is it OK to have it show
up here?

ftp://bisonhead.com/outgoing/

There are several folders there. The "Listen To Reason" folder is my first
few months going crazy with Reason (Summer '01). The "7th Fire" folder
is a record I'm just finishing (pre-mastered) that was made entirely within
Reason and Nuendo.

I'd love it if people popped in there now and then if they were interested.


Jamie: I can't see how anybody wouldn't be interested -- I've already visited
the site a few times! The tracks I've listened to so far from "7th Fire" are just
amazing! Will you be adding more MP3's to the site over time?

I've been thinking about downloads (MP3's and other downloadable
formats), and the industry in general, a lot lately. There seems to be no
consensus on the value of all the new technology. On the one hand there's
the view that any downloading of any kind hurts the artist. If there's no
revenue the artist can't continue making records. On the other hand there's
the view that exposure is the most important thing for an artist and that
MP3's help in getting the word out. What's your take on MP3's and
downloading?


Peter: It does seem to be a mixed blessing. To be able to "broadcast"
music for the world to hear is very exciting (and, to answer your earlier
question - I put new projects up on the ftp site as I finish them. There are
usually big lulls followed by a flurry of uploads). However, there's a whole
generation (or two) being brought up thinking that music should be free.
That's not good. There's no question that we're going to see the value of
music diminished. Between the programs like ACID that allow you to cut
and paste your way to a musical composition (which is a lot of fun, by the
way), and the freely accessible music from various sites, the value of music
will never be the same again. How this all shakes out is anyone's guess.
The live musician will certainly gain from this. There will never be a true
alternative to hearing and seeing the live performance. And it seems that
people still enjoy buying an actual product and supporting the artist. I
guess you'll have to put me in the "no consensus" camp as well. Which
is the usual situation with new technology (or old). It can be a good thing
or a bad thing - it just depends on who's using it.


Jamie: In a lot of ways technology can be the catalyst for change. To be
able to economically release a single (or complete album) via your web site
as soon as it's been recorded is incredibly exciting. This changes how I
think about music distribution and the album form. Personally, I still love
the 45-60 minute album format, but there's something really interesting in
letting people hear a new piece hot off the press! In the future I may try
releasing a few singles exclusively via the web in addition to my album
releases. How important is the album format to you?


Peter: I guess it sort of depends (now there's a committed answer). In the
pop song writing format, a single can be great. In fact I would argue that it's
almost better. I loved getting 45's (that's rpm for those born too late) and
checking the latest creation from the Beatles etc... It's not terribly different
from the MP3 approach. I also like the 45-ish minute album format. It just
feels right in terms of attention span. Just like movies have an accepted
running time. It just seems like the right length for most works. The album
format is great for a "body" of work - something that needs to be held
together. Sort of like chapters in a book versus a magazine article. For
most of the styles of music that I do, the album format is the way to go.
It sets a tone that takes you somewhere for a length of time. The other
side of me likes to work in the pop song format. That music can be heard
on an album I put together called Songs From An Eastside Attic. It really
follows the idea of the "single" format. They're just collected together on
one album.


Jamie: In listening to all the different styles that you do, I hear a real
sense of fluidity. Whether the piece is more atmospheric or pop oriented,
there's a cat-like quality to your music. How do you account for the feline
influence?


Peter: That made me laugh out loud! I have a cat on my lap right now.
I've always had a studio cat and I guess it shows. It's actually been
fascinating to watch their behavior while I'm working on music. They
definitely tap into another world. I do like keeping some sort of mystery
and unpredictability alive in my music. It's important to me to have a
listener surprised by something or have it take a few listens to totally
understand a piece.


Jamie: O.k...... I have to come clean on this..... Mary Bartlein let the
"cat" out of the bag and said to be sure to ask you how your cats' influence
your work. I think artists are generally affected by their surroundings so I'm
not surprised to hear that your cats have a role in your music. I don't know
if I could have identified cats as being an influence before Mary mentioned
it, but it makes purrfect sense to me.

I was just listening to Spirit again and I have to say both the quality and
the scope of the project is just amazing! It must have been quite a
challenge recording such a large ensemble and to record it live.
How did you start working on Spirit? Did you always envision
recording the music live?


Peter: I feel better now. I was a little scared that the cats were really
involved in the music in a much deeper way than I had suspected.
Take a look at the last line, first paragraph of your response - I had
to change the spelling of one of the words.

Now to get on with the interview. Spirit evolved in a pretty magical way.
It's hard to put it all down in words. But I'll try to give a short history.

After I used a choir in "(Searching For) A Place Called Home" on
Lost Frontier, I knew I wanted to keep the choir as part of my "sound".
Yonnondio came next and the words were a composite of Walt
Whitman and my own - sort of a "Whitman Sampler" if you will.

After that, I wanted the choir to sing in a unique language - the
combination of hearing the Rundfunkinderchor from Berlin and finding
American Indian songs transcribed in a book written in the mid 1890's
was something akin to the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup phenomenon....
but with music.

There I was, in Berlin, at the Funkhaus (I kid you not) with a conductor
that couldn't speak English and a composer (me) that couldn't speak
German. When they say that music is the universal language, they
aren't kidding. We recorded some great performances, I came back
to mix the songs and got hired to score 500 Nations.

The project was put on hold, but I had an incredible opportunity and
met Chief Hawk Pope in the process. We collaborated on a number
of songs - this led to a performance in Omaha that I videotaped. I
rarely performed and thought I should keep a record of them. This
tape found it's way to William Morris in New York and they thought
that the show could be the Next Big Thing.

A producer was found that was willing to take the risk...we developed
a show for PBS taping...recorded the shows for a live CD...it became
a big pledge break hit (I ran around the country and told people to pick
up their phone and support PBS)...we took it on the road for 11 weeks
doing 8 shows a week...and I'm here to tell the tale. whew. I've got to
take a nap. (but to answer your second question - no, never, not in
my wildest dreams).


Jamie: That's a great story! I bet it was tiring, but it must have been
a lot of fun -- especially working at the Funkhaus. Hopefully, some day
you can get the show up to Toronto so I can get a chance to check it out.

I guess you're getting everything ready for the release of 7th Fire right
now, but do you have anything else on the go? Any chance you'll be
taking the Peter Buffett Experience out on the road?


Peter: Well, due to my slow response time to your questions (I'm
usually much more prompt, but I like to be able to take my time with
this!) - 7th Fire is already out! It was just released a few weeks ago. It's
official title is: Ojibwe - Waasa Inaabidaa: We Look In All Directions.
Yes, I know it's long. We usually just call it Ojibwe. Its name comes
from the PBS series that it is a part of. We also revamped the
BisonHead Records site in time for the release.

I'll be taking a revised Spirit show out on the road next year in conjunction
with the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial - I realize that people in the rest of
the world have no idea who Lewis and Clark were, but 200 years ago they "opened up the West" by exploring the recently purchased Louisiana
Territory (I guess some French folks might remember that). The new
show will be called Spirit - The Seventh Fire and will be performed
in a tent! It's all very exciting, but quite an undertaking.


Jamie: That sounds amazing -- I'm sure it'll be a real success! Let me
know how it goes. Thanks for taking the time to do this conversation.
Good luck and hopefully someday we'll get to meet in person.

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