Mixed Reviews from First Audience
Nov. 27th, 2008 03:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
errantemberTonight I pulled out my performance setup and plugged it into the home theater system. I wanted to see and hear it big and live as it will be on stage, and also start working bugs out of the system. Although I've ordered a Rocktron MIDI Mate pedalboard, it hasn't arrived yet, so I'm still using my keyboard for triggering.
The dogs were *very* confused.
Overall it worked surprisingly well. It was pretty easy to add loops as I went, and everything mixed well. I did have some trouble with which keys to hit to get a given track, but that's only because I'm working with the keyboard. The pedal will be much more obvious. I was also expecting to have more problems with feedback, but so far I've had no issues. The Shure SM-58 mic seems to ignore noise coming from behind it, as it's supposed to.
The dogs weren't really sure what was happening. Both were initially excited, but after the noise started, Loki beat a retreat to the crate. Louie held on for a little longer, but at about 6 loops, he seemed to decide that he heard something outside and ran out barking at 3 AM. The second time he did this, I decided it was bedtime for puppies. I can't say dogs are my primary target audience, but inspiring confusion and fear in lower life forms could mark the start of either a very good or very bad stage career.
Since learning a bit more about the wiring under the board, I've started listening to Kid Beyond's music more carefully to see if I can figure out how he does things. Although he clearly uses Live's effects, like reverb and time-distortion, every actual audio sample used in each song is generated during the performance while the audience watches. If you listen to something like his version of Wandering Stars carefully, you begin to realize how complex both his setup and his driving must be. He's starting and stopping tracks, recording both the full-speed and half-speed versions of tracks at the same time, recording samples the audience can't hear and then playing them back later, and blending it all so smoothly with his live singing and beatboxing he makes it look easy.
Clearly it is not. :)
Now, it's not really my long-term goal to "be" Kid Beyond. There is, however, a great deal about the *kind* of performance I want to do that I can learn from him and his music. I really dig the simplicity of his setup. It at least *looks* like it's just him and a mic up there, tearing it up. And I also like his recognition that the human voice is vastly more powerful than any other instrument, not to mention easier to learn and play. And I find reverse engineering other music I like and then seeing if I can put it back together again is a really penetrating way to to learn.
The dogs were *very* confused.
Overall it worked surprisingly well. It was pretty easy to add loops as I went, and everything mixed well. I did have some trouble with which keys to hit to get a given track, but that's only because I'm working with the keyboard. The pedal will be much more obvious. I was also expecting to have more problems with feedback, but so far I've had no issues. The Shure SM-58 mic seems to ignore noise coming from behind it, as it's supposed to.
The dogs weren't really sure what was happening. Both were initially excited, but after the noise started, Loki beat a retreat to the crate. Louie held on for a little longer, but at about 6 loops, he seemed to decide that he heard something outside and ran out barking at 3 AM. The second time he did this, I decided it was bedtime for puppies. I can't say dogs are my primary target audience, but inspiring confusion and fear in lower life forms could mark the start of either a very good or very bad stage career.
Since learning a bit more about the wiring under the board, I've started listening to Kid Beyond's music more carefully to see if I can figure out how he does things. Although he clearly uses Live's effects, like reverb and time-distortion, every actual audio sample used in each song is generated during the performance while the audience watches. If you listen to something like his version of Wandering Stars carefully, you begin to realize how complex both his setup and his driving must be. He's starting and stopping tracks, recording both the full-speed and half-speed versions of tracks at the same time, recording samples the audience can't hear and then playing them back later, and blending it all so smoothly with his live singing and beatboxing he makes it look easy.
Clearly it is not. :)
Now, it's not really my long-term goal to "be" Kid Beyond. There is, however, a great deal about the *kind* of performance I want to do that I can learn from him and his music. I really dig the simplicity of his setup. It at least *looks* like it's just him and a mic up there, tearing it up. And I also like his recognition that the human voice is vastly more powerful than any other instrument, not to mention easier to learn and play. And I find reverse engineering other music I like and then seeing if I can put it back together again is a really penetrating way to to learn.
