Korgscrew
Group: Super Admins
Posts: 3511
Joined: Dec. 1999 |
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Posted: Oct. 08 2002, 14:07 |
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The impact on Virgin is quite obvious (and I think you've already got the answer to that part yourself) - it took the company from a small concern to a large, eventually global business (not all just because of Tubular Bells, of course, but it was what really got Virgin off the ground).
I think that his playing everything himself was more out of a desire to have control (and indeed just a desire to play the instruments) than out of cost cutting, though reduced costs were a convenient side-effect of that. The disadvantage of one person doing everything is that it takes more time, of course, and when time is money, as it is in a commercial recording studio, it might not always end up as a cheap option...
Mike has certainly always been a fan of recording at home, with it being something he's been doing since he recorded the demos for Tubular Bells in his flat. How much he influenced the path of home recording is more open to debate...
For what influence it had on the industry, I'd be looking at what things were like before Tubular Bells, and what things were like afterwards, and then seeing if anything presents itself which conclusions can be drawn from. The way I see it is that Tubular Bells was ground breaking, but nothing much followed in its path, aside from Mike Oldfield's own albums. The concept of one man playing everything wasn't totally new - I believe that one of the things which influenced Mike's decision to try it was that Paul McCartney had been doing some one man recordings at Abbey Road while Mike was there. There are some artists who draw influence from Mike Oldfield and Tubular Bells - taking a look at what they've done (or are doing) might present some further clues (and sorry...I'd not be able to name any, I just have the vague memory that some exist).
It might be better to look at what answers are available and base your questions around those, rather than the other way around - that way you don't get stuck for answers...
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