peeriebryan

To clarify some apparent misconceptions regarding the second screen (to call it a second cinema is a misnomer) It will be relatively small, seating around 35 Including a second screen was a key requirement to secure the £2.12 million from the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund. Their reason is to ensure films with less mass appeal can be shown concurrently with more popular "blockbusters" It will serve as a lecture theatre for the multitude of community education courses planned by various local agencies It will allow film students to view their work on screens larger than those in the multi media production room Additionally, and as with all Mareel's facilities, it will be available for private hire. Some uses that spring to mind are watching home/wedding movies, computer game tournaments, sporting events etc etc And as Carlos stated, it will be possible to use the second screen for "overspill" for particularly popular films being shown in the main cinema

Everyone that went to the Shetland Arts Christmas party paid their own way. And the grub at the Scalloway Hotel was ace

All fair points GR And I agree that there are too many variables to compare Mareel and the North Star on a simple like for like basis

Fair enough, if the source is primarily acoustic.... Let's stick to the facts. As Bullet-in-the-mailman mentioned, KT Tunstall was brought to the public's attention in the UK after appearing on Jools Holland. The only Number 1 she has achieved was in the US Billboard Adult Top 40 with "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree". This chart position is largely attributed to a contestant on American Idol singing a cover version of the song. I don't think that referring to a £12m council investment is a fair point as half of the funding for Mareel is external investment, it's a multi use building of which the studio is one aspect and Mareel will benefit a large number of musicians. And KT Tunstall has received huge amounts of financial support from her record label.... I don't understand this point. Are you saying only untalented musicians need good quality recording facilities? From my understanding of the equipment in two of the Orkney studios, the specs will be similar to Mareel's studio. Again, £12m is for a multi use venue. Not just a studio. Mareel is an educational space I agree. The value of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts due to the synergies between the complimentary uses and facilities. The cost of the equipment is a key factor. Digital projectors are far less costly to buy, operate and maintain than the huge opto-mechanical devices of the past. Digital distribution methods have brought the price down too as physical film prints don't have to be manufactured and distributed. This also means that cinemas can show films on national release dates instead of waiting to license one of the limited number of physical prints which do the rounds. Furthermore, Mareel will be open for a variety of uses at all times of day so costs will be shared over a range of services Such as?

Preserving archive analogue recordings is different from remastering for commercial release. The aim of archiving is to preserve recordings, warts and all, to prevent further deterioration. (Re)mastering is the creative decisions taken to subjectively improve the sound of recordings. I can't comment on the sound quality that Karl and mastering engineer Andrew Rose first encountered on the tapes, but I suspect there would have been a number of creative decisions made to improve clarity and sound quality and ensure consistency between tracks on the albums. There's quite a bit of information regarding Fraser's recording techniques and the transfer process on the Thomas Fraser website - http://www.thomasfraser.com/technical.htm

Local musicians Steven Spence and Gary Peterson will be on ITV1 at 11.40 tonight (Monday 22nd December) on the "Ceol Special" There's more info and links on the Shetland Music website - Spence and Peterson on the box with Colvadale

Can I request that the Mareel debate is kept to the Mareel thread Whilst you seem to have been offended by the Baron's (now retracted) opinion, I'd like to point out that statements such as yours could be construed in a similar way. Let's try to avoid the insults. That's a good point roadslave. There's a huge amount of Shetlanders, particularly of the older generation, who are musically gifted but aren't comfortable with the idea of performing in public or drawing attention to themselves. I wonder what Thomas Fraser would have made of the acclaim, releasing four CDs, being the focus of a BBC documentary and having a festival in his honour! Quite a compliment!

Bear in mind that reel to reel recording and the techniques Thomas Fraser employed to great effect (such as sound on sound overdubs) were pioneering at the time, and he embraced technology. Additionally, Karl Simpson used modern restorative and mastering technology to prepare the recordings for release, some of which Karl had previously believed were 'virtually unusable'. So it's not 'just' a reel to reel in terms of the 4 Thomas Fraser CDs. Whilst some people apparently think that Shetland musicians should still be recording in their bathrooms on reel to reel tape recorders, things have moved on greatly since then, particularly in terms of equipment and the expectations of the market. It's very different to record a live band, produce electronic music or work with mulimedia than it is to record a vocal with acoustic guitar. Also, it's worth pointing out that many recordings of Shetland musicians are made outwith Shetland, principally because of a lack of facilities. For example, of recent releases, Brian Gear & Violet Tulloch; May, Mackie & Rhonda and Maggie & Brian's CDs was recorded in Orkney or on the mainland. I hope it's not these musicians that Auld Rasmie is being disparaging about in the Thomas Fraser thread for aspiring towards better sound quality or making use of Mareel's facilities in future. I'm by no means saying that good quality recordings can't be made with modest equipment, but to state that an acoustically treated work space equipped for a variety of modern sound, multimedia production and education uses, and available to the whole community, should be 'cancelled' because people have previously used a reel to reel to record songs in their house is, I humbly suggest, missing the point.

^ Completely agree Baron. As the producers acknowledge, it was the help and support of the community that made the film possible It bodes well for the future of film making in Shetland

A reminder to everybody that the life story of Shetland country singer Thomas Fraser is on TV at 10pm on BBC2 tomorrow (Friday 19th December) It's an excellent documentary, really well put together with recordings of Thomas, archive footage, photographs, interviews with his friends and family interspersed with portrayals of Thomas' life featuring local actors The story is handled very sensitively by the producers with a healthy dose of humour. Thoroughly recommended! There's more info on the Shetland Music website with links to stories from the national media - Thomas Fraser film premiere The producers plan to release a DVD of the film next year featuring footage of performers at this years Thomas Fraser Festival

Is there just going to be the one venue for this in '09 or is it split with Islesburgh? Just the Garrison this year

There's the 'Fiery Sessions' in the Garrison Theatre, Lerwick, at 2 - 4.30pm on Tuesday 27th (Up Helly Aa day) It's a concert featuring local traditional musicians. The line-up so far includes Maggie Adamson & Brian Nicolson; Jillian Isbister (singing dialect songs); Kaela Jamieson, Astryd Jamieson & Mary Rutherford and the Cullivoe Fiddlers. The Junior Jarl squad also visit at about 3.30 (the line-up might change as it's a very busy day for local musicians, but I'll keep you posted) There's also a stand up comedy night planned (Stand Up Helly Aa!) for the evening at the Garrison. I'll let you know when the line-up for that is confirmed. Watch this space... Tickets for these events will be available from the Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh Community Centre (01595 745555) (I'll merge this thread to the existing Up Helly Aa thread in the Shetland News section when I get a chance)

The nominees and winners are published here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/music/trad_awards/nominations/index.shtml Unfortunately none of the Shetland related acts won but Orkney did well with Kris Drever and (as Mhari says) The Chair picking up awards

Mareel hits Euro jackpot from the Shetland News website

European Regional Development Fund press release Final part of Mareel funding jigsaw in place from the Shetland Times website

Peerie Pong is ace! Here's a fish with a ball stuck in its mooth - www.jeffbridges.com/fish.html

...and cheers again for the case of beer EM

http://www.vaiavanti.com/

I'm sitting here listening to the Adam & Joe podcast from BBC 6 music. Them boys are a hoot The BBC produce some excellent podcasts. Have a swatch at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/directory/

Have you tried searching through the podcast section on the iTunes music store. There's tons of stuff along the lines of what you're after available for free Also try searching Google for 'free audio books'

You can read more about the CD / Christmas card here

Standup@Sound is now sold out

^ I believe the show is scheduled to finish around 10 with the six graduates of Sandy Nelson's nightclass, as soljey mentioned, and Sandy performing a longer set. Should be a good laugh

Article on Stand Up @ Sound I'm very much looking forward to Friday (doors open at 8pm - Tickets £7 from Shetland Box Office - 01595 745555), and there are plans to make local stand up nights a regular occurrence, as well as having locals support visiting comedians. There's certainly plenty of comical types around Shetland! Any suggestions folks?

New roundabout a hazard