700cb Introduction
700 Chilled Brains, 700cb in shorthand,
is a band formed by Anachostic and MacSnide in 1986. The
music created by 700cb has no limitations. It can span
classical, rock, jazz, or any other style you could think
of. Songs are primarily instrumental but have on rare
occasions contained vocals. There are two primary formats
for the songs, either composed for playing live, or composed
as a "sequence." Sequences are multi-track studio
recordings, usually recorded using MIDI.
The songs contained in this collection
span a time period from 1987 to 2002. There are live
recordings, sequences, and a few experimental-type
recordings. Each CD has a full track listing with
performance and recording notes for the sessions and any
relevant commentary on the song itself. Sometimes the story
behind the song is as important as the music.
Hopefully anyone who happens to listen
to this collection will be entertained. Maybe they will
experience a sense of amazement at the sheer volume of
songwriting done in a short time period. Maybe they will be
confused at the structure and format of the songs. Maybe
the arrangement of the songs will be humorous. There are a
lot of "maybe's" on this album. But there is one
"definitely."
700 Chilled Brains music is definitely
unique.
History
700 Chilled Brains was informally
formed in 1987 when Anachostic got his first keyboard, a
Casio PT-1. The PT-1 could play one note at a time
(monophonic), and had four sounds built into it. MacSnide,
a longtime friend of Anachostic’s, had musical training and
was in the high school band as a drummer.
MacSnide was able to take popular
melodies and teach Anachostic to play them on the PT-1.
Some of the earliest songs included The Final Countdown by
Europe, Dreams by Van Halen, Touch and Go by Emerson, Lake
and Powell, and Mancini's Peter Gunn.
The purchase of this one keyboard
started a series of more keyboards, featuring in
chronological order:
- Casio SK-1
- Casio CZ-101
- Ensoniq ESQ-1
- Oberheim Matrix 6R
- Roland Juno-1
- Casio CZ-5000
- Roland Juno-2
- Casio CZ-1
- Roland RD-600
- Emu Proteus
- Ensoniq Mirage
- General Music Equinox
Anachostic began writing original songs
during the Casio CZ-101 era out of a desire to play a song
fully through. It was too difficult to emulate a complete
modern song with only a single keyboard, let alone trying to
learn it. Each song was written as a lesson in a new
technique, building a unique playing and writing style and a
large library of songs to play live with MacSnide.
The Ensoniq ESQ brought in a new song
format: the "sequence". MacSnide and Anachostic were both
able to contribute many sequences to the 700cb library.
Written as multi-track recordings, these songs were recorded
using the ESQ-1's MIDI sequencer. The new sounds and the
ability of the ESQ to play more notes at one time allowed
Anachostic to write much more complex and technical live
songs.
Anachostic continued writing a few
songs to play live on the ESQ-1 through the era of the
Oberheim, Juno-1, CZ-5000, Juno-2, and CZ-1, but the
acquisition of these additional keyboards brought the 700cb
sequences to a much higher level. Many new sounds and the
use of a computer for sequencing provided nearly unlimited
length and timbre changes. Soon the live playing stopped
and sequences became the only recording being done.
Then in 1992 there was an impromptu
live jam, which spawned a new era of live recording. Many
excellent recordings were made during this time. 700cb was
able to utilize much of its prior recording experience plus
additional technical resources to create better music.
Finally, the 700cb team separated to
pursue their careers. Anachostic continues to write songs
for live playing, and MacSnide is currently building a
studio for recording. Hopefully, a second reunion is in the
future.