Video of my NAMM live act now online!

[Mats Nermark]

Originally posted by Anderton > Mea culpa! I should have said WINDOWS laptop, even the Pismo PowerBook that powered my live act for many years had a six-pin FireWire port. Anyone know of the new Intel-based Mac laptops have 4- or 6-pin FW connectors?

Hi Craig,

Thanks for the info.

I just got the new MacBook Pro with the 2GHz Intel duo core processor and that has the 6-pin FireWire connector.

As the MacBook is only a "loaner" for a project I'm currently in I don't use it for music so therefore I'm looking for a laptop PC.

Cheers,

Mats N

[alfonso]

Amusing performance...it was tasty and musical, the risk of such situations is to be focused on showing the features only, with a boring effect on the audience...

Regarding the dresses, what to say...I think it was a killer marketing idea (l.o.l.), the common man look with the dj attitude...the product is for everybody, everyone can have fun!

[Anderton]

>

 

Well pat of my "act" is I don't have an "act." When I played with Rei$$dorf Force or Air Liquide over in Europe, I'd wear pretty much my normal clothes and the other guys would be wearing cool shades, camouflage hip-hop type clothers, gold chains...maybe I was comic relief and didn't know it

 

But it's interesting playing a NAMM show, because a couple minutes before I go on I'm hitting up a manufacturer for a press kit and a couple minutes after I come off I'm answering questions about Harmony Central. But during those 20 minutes or so I'm playing, that's all that matters.......

[Anderton]

1) Can you share with us some of what type of things you were modifying in real time. Like, are you swapping between loops, effects, modifying filters, etc?>>

 

Here's the deal. There are between 1 and 16 loops playing simultaneously. Live allows arranging multiple loops as a "scene," and you can call up a scene by clicking on it. So, you can always be one click away from choosing a new collection of loops. For example, during the vocal where there's a chord modulation, you may have noticed my handing reaching down for the mouse - it was triggering a scene with the transposed loops.

 

Within each scene, I have 16 faders and a solo button. So basically, the "act" consists of remixing the loops within each scene, and hitting the solo button for the occasional breakbeat. When I've played out one scene, I move to the next one and carry on from there. From time to time I'll sweep a filter, add delay feedback, or whatever; but most of the time, it revolves around mixing.

 

It's not an easy thing to pull off, actually. There are about 40 scenes in "Girl with the Double Life" and while I try to keep consistent fader assignments, that's not always possible. That's why each set I play is different. The one that was recorded was, I think, the second best of the four days I played at NAMM. It's all improvised, but around a framework. It requires some real split-second timing except for things like the guitar solo, which just plays over a repeating section.

 

Although the scenes remain the same, the order in which they get played, and the remixing that occurs within each one, is always different. I try to do the minimum amount of rehearsal; I'll typically put the set together the week before NAMM (and the pre-production is a whole other story!! In fact I wrote about it for Sound on Sound, it will be published soon). I improvise around what I have until I get a performance I like, and that's pretty much it.

 

One thing I learned from Dr. Walker while playing over in Germany was not to rehearse something like this. Instead, live dangerously When I go up there I have no real idea what's going to happen, and that gets the adrenaline going. Of course the downside is that sometimes the stars are not in alignment, and it sucks. But when it's good, and the muse is happening, and everything is evolving on the spur of the moment, it's exciting for me and the audience...we're both sharing the process. You have to "go with the flow" and let the MUSIC, not a set of instructions you programmed into your brain, move your fingers. If you can surrender yourself completely to the music, and have a decent collection loops as a foundation, it usually ends up okay.

[Anderton]

 

Yes, I did the video effects after the fact using Sony Vegas. I was trying to give a bit more of the "club" vibe where this type of music is usually played. As I was also doing excerpts from the performance, the video effects helped smooth some of the transitions.

 

 

It wasn't really an ad, a couple of the guys from PreSonus had seen me play previously, and one of them uses my Turbulent Filth Monsters sample CD. They basically asked if I wanted to play to draw some attention to the booth. I was one of four acts that played there at NAMM, they wanted to have a more "musical"vibe to the booth than just the usual sell sell sell sell of a NAMM show.

 

They were hoping I'd use Cubase because that's bundled with the FireBox, but I told them the act was based around Live, and that was totally cool with them. I also told them I didn't use the FireBox but they said it would be perfect for what I do. I said "show me" so they sent me a loaner and they were right, it was PERFECT for my act because it had an input for guitar, one for mic, MIDI, and really low latency. So I said sure, I'll play at your booth.

 

Can this be done with other software? Absolutely. This act started with an Ensoniq ASR-X, then two Ensoniq ASR-X, then Mac laptop with Reason, then Mac laptop with Live, then Windows laptop with Live. It could also be done very easily with Cakewalk Project5. I just really like Live, I think it's a brilliant program and it's as if it was designed for the type of music I want to make. But what really makes the act fly is the Peavey PC-1600, which has been the only constant (aside from guitar) throughout the evolution of my live act.

 

The harmonica was new for this set, but it wasn't in the video because I had the mic switch turned off for the first few phrases I basically stole the idea of using harmonica with dance beats from an Underworld CD; for some reason, it works.

 

So....does this answer your question?

 

Any more questions?

[Mr. Botch]

Thanks for posting that, Craig. Because of where I live I've never seen this type of a laptop performance before, I've only read about it. Sure looks like a lot of fun!

[dougsthang]

Touch my Monkey

and now Dieter we dance.........

It's always fun when you see someone you've known for awhile and then you see what they really like to do!

[Rudolf von Hagenwil]

Craig, your video from the show is very nice, i like it a lot.

Good to see our chief once in person... and not everyone can make a live performance out of a laptop, and sing, and dance...

.

[techristian]

Very cool groove Craig!

I have a few questions though. Was that your whole performance, or did you show how you developed the loops before you executed them?
I read that you developed the song over the period of 1 week. Do you think the performance would be more effective if you could write the whole thing right in front of the audience? (More like the Live demo you pointed me to 2 years ago?)

I know that you are executing loops (and a few other things) and I'm wondering about the serious "performance" quality of such a thing.

I noticed that the biggest part of your music was the drums. As a drummer, I would have attempted to layer drum upon drum LIVE in front of the audience. The song would gradually come together over 1/2 hour or so. (I would also like to add that it probably wouldn't be as polished as your production.) That may be more entertaining. Perhaps I'm wrong and you tried that already and the average person isn't patient enough to sit while you "develop" the song.

You MAY HAVE DONE THAT,during this performance , but just BEFORE the video camera started recording. Enquiring minds want to know.

Dan

http://teachmedrums.com

[techristian]

OOPS

Sorry Craig.

I just realized that I only watched the FIRST 2 MINUTES. when the gear list and credits came up I thought it was over !

Dan

[Anderton]

 

That was excerpted from about a 20-25 minute set. It was easy to edit because the tempo was constant...just crossfade between sections, and I was good to go.

 

I didn't explain anything about what I was doing. However, on Saturday, I gave a presentation at the Ableton booth about how I prepare loops for use in Live using Sonar and ReCycle. Mostly it involves doing the stretching with other programs so they can be broght into Live at the project tempo, therefore Live doesn't have to do much "work" and its CPU gets to loaf. That lets me set the latency real low so there's no significant latency with the guitar and voice.

 

I'm not sure I understand this comment: "I know that you are executing loops (and a few other things) and I'm wondering about the serious "performance" quality of such a thing." Please explain a little more so I can reply.

[amplayer]

Originally posted by Anderton I didn't explain anything about what I was doing. However, on Saturday, I gave a presentation at the Ableton booth about how I prepare loops for use in Live using Sonar and ReCycle. Mostly it involves doing the stretching with other programs so they can be broght into Live at the project tempo, therefore Live doesn't have to do much "work" and its CPU gets to loaf. That lets me set the latency real low so there's no significant latency with the guitar and voice.

So then are you putting REX2 files into Live? I assume that's why you are using Recycle, yes?

[MDLMUSIC]

Originally posted by blue2blue I wouldn't want to have to face you down at the Battle of the One Man Bands.

Hey, this sounds like a challenge. What do you think? An HCGF Battle of the One Man Bands?

I'm ready to go Mano a Mano.

[Anderton]

 

I'm ready to go Mano a Mano.>>

 

Hey well if you're that good, screw the one-man-band faceoff. It sounds like forming a duet would be more fun

[techristian]

Originally posted by Anderton I'm not sure I understand this comment: "I know that you are executing loops (and a few other things) and I'm wondering about the serious "performance" quality of such a thing." Please explain a little more so I can reply.

First off , when you pulled out your guitar (after the 2 minute segment) that negated the above comment. Up to that point, to the untrained eye, you could have been any DJ just doing a REMIX. Perhaps I'm mistaken though. Maybe the public IS ready for the one man band and DJ thing. More and more I'm seeing MIDI back tracks being used in the local bar scene here.

When I said "executing loops" I should have said triggering loops. I didn't notice the mixer at first.

Watching you on the guitar I got an idea for you. (I'm sure that it has been done before.)

How much more could you do if you had a multi-switch triggering device on the floor that would mimic keystrokes on the laptop? You could transpose at will while both of your hands are still on the guitar.

MIDI foot device/ controller?

Dan

http://teachmedrums.com/ootw_drums.html

[Anderton]

>

 

Well, it may not be obvious, but using loops isn't at all like backing tracks. It's 16 tracks/volumes/mutes that are always in flux. It's different every time because you play off the audience, and have to make on the fly decisions about when to move on to the next section, or move back to a previous one. Even a small mistake can be a train wreck, like hitting a solo button by accident and then having to find out which one it was

 

Granted, watching someone move faders doesn't have a nifty visual element. The guitar, harmonica, and singing really help in that respect. I think it might be cool if there could be a camera on my hands and mixer, projected along with other video stuff, so people could see what was going on. That happened once at a seminar I did that involved remixing, and a lot of people came up to me afterward and said they never "got" the remixing thing until they saw what I was doing. They were all familiar with mixing and engineering, so it wasn't too much of a leap!

[Anderton]

 

Actually, I use ReCycle to take REX files and generate WAV versions at the project tempo I can then import into Live. The reason why I use Sonar is to do the same sort of thing with Acidized files (Live doesn't recognize the acidization markers).

[soapbox]

My wife and I attended that very performance, and we were both quite impressed!

As good as the edited video is, I liked the complete version of the song even better. There was a satisfying arc to the way its form unfolded live that can only partly be revealed in any abridged edition. Even so, the eclectic and playful nature of Craig's performance is well demonstrated; and it's a great sampling of his creation. (No pun intended! )

Craig, you are indeed a man of many talents. It's always a pleasure to catch your act!

Best,

Geoff

[franknputer]

That was way cool, Craig! :thu:

I wish there was a camera above your hands - I would liked to have seen a bit of that myself.

[Rique]

My crapy Netzero dial up is not going to handle 41 mb download.

I

[Anderton]

>

 

Well thanks very much for that. It's more satisfying from my standpoint to have the performance grow and change over time, but I need to have mercy on peoples' internet connections

 

Maybe it's time to put some of this stuff on CD.......

[soapbox]

Originally posted by Anderton: It's more satisfying from my standpoint to have the performance grow and change over time, but I need to have mercy on peoples' internet connections

Understood.

Originally posted by Anderton: Maybe it's time to put some of this stuff on CD.......

Best,

Geoff

[Throatsinger]

...wow...

[Kevin_FL]

My God! Am I the only one that see's the King has no clothes? This is everything that is wrong with music. A guy in his 50's playing Rave loops on a lap top.
Frank Zappa is stabbing himself in the ears with a fork up there

[Anderton]

>

 

You're right, I should be a 24-year-old blonde girl with mammoth breasts playing rave loops on a lap top! That would be much more in keeping with today's music scene.

 

Anyway, I was wearing clothes. Although I admit they weren't very spiffy. On the plus side, they were clean. Well, pretty much.

 

Also, 50+ year old people like playing music! Some even have sex and do other fun things!

 

And, note that I also play guitar and sing on the video, not just play loops, and all those loops and stuff are being mixed in real time, and each performance is different. It's not easy, try it sometime. And, I created a lot of the loops myself. If I had about 20 arms, I could have played them all live. But I don't have 20 arms. And if I did, then I truly wouldn't be wearing clothes because I haven't seen shirts with 20 arm holes. Or at least, I wouldn't be wearing a shirt.

 

As to Zappa, I played second act to the Mothers twice, each time for week, and hung out with the band. I don't think he would have argued for an arbitrary age or style cutoff for people. Come to think of it, it seemed what ticked him off the most was narrow-minded people.

 

I consider myself fortunate to be able to do different kinds of music, rather than be perpetually stuck in a time warp and talking how great the Beatles or the Eagles (or Zappa) were. Granted what's on the video isn't the only kind of music I do, but it's the type that's closest to my heart these days.

 

Fair warning: I'm putting together a DJ set based on MP3s rather than vinyl. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid...