ADDENDUM
The story is simple enough.Hoffmann is wailing for a lady (SteUa)in a tavern, and while he wait, he enter-tains the other patrons with stories ofthe three loves of his life; Olympia,
The Music of the Gearsr .' '" 1 •
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t should be obvious by now thatgears are more than just mechani-cal components. We have broughtyou movies with gears and
Shakespeare with gears, jewelry madeout of gears and so on. Now we, thehumble staff at Addendum, are proud topresent gears in the world of music.
"Music?" we hear you cry. "Sure,there are gears in a music box, butbeyond that what else could a musician,or a musically-inclined engineer for thatmatter, hope to do with gears? Playthem like drums? Bang them togetherlike cymbals?" No. Gears form themotifs behind some of the most intrigu-ing music and musical staging in thepast thirty years.
In 1967, the British band Creamcame out with the album "DisraeliGears," which was their first big steptoward mega-stardom because they, asone reviewer put it, "stopped coveringAmerican Blues musicians and startedwriting their own psychedelic blues-based hybrids" including "Sunshine ofyour love" and "Tales of BraveUlysses." While the album was 11 stepforward for the band, the only gear ref-erence came from the album tide,
Ed WeUe.rsbyAssembly line worker who puts the
bugs in new automobiles
6D GEAR TECHNOLOGY
In the mid-1980s, "Spam Town"(a.k.a, Austin, Minnesota-th.e borne ofHormel) gave rise to another union ofgears and music. this time in the form ofthe Gear Daddies, a group led by gui-tarist Martin Zellar. Famous, at least inand
dreams of everyone who works. sweats,and quietly lives a life of unrequited loveand broken dreams in this mechanisticsociety. Gear manufacturers everywhereshould recognize this lifestyle. In spiteof their local, and later regional, suc-cesses, the Gear Daddies couldn't breakalit of the shadow of their harder-edgedpeers such as Soul Asylllm and theReplacements.
By 1993 the idea of gears in musichad defiairely been taken down a roughroad with a new genre in rock called"Grindcore/Indus trial -inflnnced/DeathMetal." Los Angeles was the center andTurning of the Gears waslhe band.Founded on the notion of doing some-thing brutal 3J'1doriginal, Turning of the
readers everyw erecharacter Olympia and the way the SanFrancisco Opera's Lighting Designer,Thomas Munn, handled her scenes.
Olympia is simply a wind-upmechanical doll, run alii fine gears andclock-workings, made real to Hoffmannonly when he dons a pair of rose-col-ored glasses given to him by one ofOlympia's makers. When he wears theglasses, the stage is flooded in pink lightand Olympia i as reatas any otherwoman in Hoffmann.'s world. However,when he removes the gJassesthe lightbecomes harsh and white, and projectedupon the stage and background are theshadows of huge, moving gears thatnever once allow you to forget who andwhat Olympia is. This addition of thegears to Olympia's already mechanicalmovements played a pivotal role in the
Gears (whose very name implies the success of the first act and is one of thethings audience members walk awaytalking about.
Gears in music. They tinkle out asweet melody for us from music boxes,give personality to bands obsessed withthe darker side of our industrial, techno-logical culture, and make the opera amemorable experience as they helpHoffmann tell his tale of love nevershared. So what's next? Gears as fineart and, culpture? YOII bet! Stay tuned.I .. ,--. ~ ., I' -- ~
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relentlessness of a mechanical grinder)was a quick success in spite of numer-ous personnel problems (the band losttheir lead singer and two bass players inthree years). They have just. releasedtheir second CD.
Now, it's not all ugliness and painwhen you think of gears in music,though that seems to be the trend in"industrial rock." No, gears also appearin gentler pieces as well, and the 1997San Francisco Opera production of LesCentes D'Hoffman (The Story ofHoffman) by Jacques Offenbach is aprime example.
