I recorded this song in DOS ~ LOVE IS A SHIELD / Camouflage

Camouflage was a German new wave band that I liked very much in the 1980s. They've recorded this song "Love is a Shield" in 1989 as part of the "Methods of Silence" album, after a very successful "Voices and Images" debut in 1987.

この曲のアレンジは1992/93年くらいで完成でした✨でもボーカルやギターを録音したことはありません🤔 今、28年後、いよいよ完成です。🤣

I arranged and recorded the MIDI parts of this track in 1992/93 on Voyetra Sequencer PLUS GOLD (SPG) 4.02, a DOS-based program that I heavily depended on for all my MIDI arrangement between 1989 and 1995.

As far as I recall, I've arranged the song originally for a band contest that never happened for reasons I cannot remember anymore. Nevertheless, I've been wanting to record a cover of this song back then but never did so until today. In the summer of 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I added acoustic guitar and vocal parts to the project that has spanned 28 years to complete.

The Voyetra SPG was entirely text-based and one of the few DOS-based sequencers that actively supported multiple MPU-401 interfaces to get all my keyboards and synths connected. It may be hard for one to imagine now why you would need it, but older analog synths were mono, playing one tone at any one time. And most synths of the time were 8/16 polyphony, for playing chords. This means each synth produces only one note, or up to 16 notes at a time. If the sequencer is playing chords on more than 3-4 instruments on one synth, you will not hear all instruments at once.

When I performed in the early 90's, I typically had two keyboards and a couple of sound modules connected to a low-profile x86 computer and a monochrome monitor (like one of those used by the cashier on those days) for portability. The keyboards were hooked up with MIDI cables (essentially 5P-DIN AT keyboard cables), daisy-chained through each instrument. Laptops were not all affordable or batteries weren't as lasting in those days as one would imagine now performing with Ableton Live on a Macbook.

Love is a Shield
Methods of Silence (Metronome - 1989)
Music: Heiko Maile

Words: Oliver Kreyssig

(*)

Love is a shield,

to hide behind,

love is a field

to grow inside,

and when I sometimes close my eyes

my mind starts spinning round.

Love is a baby

in a mother's arms,

love is your breath

which makes me warm,

and when I sometimes close my eyes,

my mind starts spinning round.

There is a feeling

that flows through me,

when you are near

you make it real

and we could live for this ideal.

And all the pictures we run through,

seem to be perfect,

seem to be true.

But nothing is quite forever,

especially staying together.

Repeat (*)

I don't care now

what comes along,

what counts is us,

no matter what will be,

just this naivety.

The changing words we're taking in,

seem to be perfect,

seem to win.

But nothing is quite forever,

especially staying together.

Repeat (*)