Tonechaser: Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey with Edward Van Halen

The Tonechaser - Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey with Edward Van Halen audiobook took over eight months to assemble. The audio you will hear in this audiobook was taken directly from the text of the interviews and conversations you read in the actual book. The audio here actually contains additional content, which was not part of the book. The text in the book depicting actual interviews was condensed from what was originally on the tape in order to accomodate the space constraints in various magazines. For that reason, a question or a response from Van Halen would have been cut down, which would have left audio unused. Here in this audiobook, virtually every minute of those edited portions have been included so you can more fully appreciate and understand the exchange between Rosen and Van Halen.

You also need to understand and consider that the audio here dates back to 1978. Those interviews and intimate conversations were recorded on abysmally horrible gear: a cheap tape recorder and a cut-rate Radio Shack microphone. You will hear the sound of a groaning capstan and perhaps some distortion because batteries were dying. Given all of that, think of this audio as a rare and unique opportunity to hear Edward in all his glorious youth as he blew up from local guitar hero to a fully-formed cultural icon who changed the parameters of electric guitar.

At the time, these interviews were recorded for my ears only. They were captured on tape solely for the purpose of then transcribing them in order to write a story. But after long, intensive and personal introspection, I made the decision to open my very private archives and put this audiobook together. 

To that end, every effort has been made to maximize the clarity and sound of the tapes. They have been normalized, EQ'd, remixed, run through distortion filters, sped up, slowed down and just generally run through every type of sonic device that might somehow enhance the quality.

This is a totally unique audiobook inasmuch as all the audio is in Edward Van Halen's own voice and not simply a narrator reading his words.

There are over 30 hours of content, which follows the text of the Tonechaser... book. There has never been an audiobook like this.

So put on your headphones, insert your earphones and listen deeply. You will hear author Steve Rosen narrating the text portions as they appeared in Tonechaser and then you will be immersed in the actual audio conversations and close encounters as they transpired between Rosen and his friend Edward Van Halen.

A portion of the proceeds from each audiobook sale will be donated to The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation (Edward's favorite charity).