I’m super excited to announce that I’ve just been invited to give a workshop plus perform at the Mountain Skies Electro-Music Festival in Asheville (the home of Moog Synthesizers). Here is a little blurb about the festival.
About the Show
The Mountain Skies electro-music festival brings some of the world's finest electronic and experimental musicians to Asheville, North Carolina. They will be joined by local artists for two days of concerts, workshops, demonstrations and collaborations. Musical styles cover a broad spectrum, guaranteed to be creative and original. Live video art will accompany the concerts, for an immersive multi-media experience. The musicians employ a wide variety of electronic and acoustic instruments, from synthesizers and theremins to found objects and custom controllers. Afternoons will feature hands-on workshops and jam sessions open to everyone.
I’m really honored be included in such a fantastic lineup!
My Events
I will be giving a demo and workshop on AudioCubes on Friday May 11th at 4 PM. I’ll be then be performing my “expressive controllerism” set with keys, grids, cubes, and antennas on Saturday May 12th at 8:20 PM.
Schedule
Tickets
(at the door) one day $20 two days $35
(in advance) one day $20 two days $30 available at Skinny Beats Drum Shop 4 Eagle Street
Just a quick not to wish you all a happy new year.
Looking back at 2011, this is one my favorite photos from 2012 taken by Jeremy DePrisco at Electro-Music 2012 festival. Here is another great shot from Lux Seeker.
On to 2012. This month I’m working on a remix or another band, putting my schedule together for 2012 and working on some new collaborations. More to come…
In addition to composing and producing music, I also do sound design work which I release on the microsite http://patchlab.modulatethis.com. This work can take many forms including creating programs or “patches” for synthesizers which I release in libraries or soundsets. December was a busy month and I release three soundsets.
Outpost:Airlock for U-HE Zebralette Synthesizer
First off is OUTPOST: AIRLOCK - a soundset made up of patches for U-HE's free freeware synthesizer Zebralette. The patches will also load into Zebra 2. This themed soundset picks up where “Sounds from a Distant Outpost” soundset left off (which has been downloaded over 2500 times to date) and again takes place at the fictional dark and distant “outpost”. This outpost exists in the same “signals universe” as my two albums REBOOT and I HEAR YOUR SIGNALS. The 12 patches in this soundset will help artists experience the journey through the airlock which connects the outer ring of the outpost to the first inner chamber. You might hear creatures along the way so stay alert.
Zebra Attack Rack! Part I & Part II for Ableton Live
Next is a set of two soundsets I did in collaboration with NY artist AfroDJMac who's been "crushing it" by releasing an Ableton Live Pack every week for 37 weeks! We collaborated remotely using email, Skype, Dropbox, and sharing content via Ableton Live sets.
I provided original harmonic content waveforms resulting from custom synthesizer programming using U-HE Zebra 2. AfroDJMac then used Ableton Live Sampler to create playable instruments.
I’ve just posted a remix of the song "The Key" by Snowflake who placed the original on CCMixter under creative commons CC-BY-NC.
Listen to Original
Listen to the original song before diving into my track using the embedded player below or streaming the MP3 before you listen to my remix so you can see hear I started.
Composer/Producer Notes on My Remix “The Key (Like a Freight Train Remix)”
When I first heard Snwoflake's "The Key" on CCMixter, I was really moved by the wonderful vocal performance and the powerful lyrics. I came up with an idea for a remix that would add something very different musically and sonically, yet at the same time amplify the emotional tone and power of the original vocal and piano stems.
Give it a first listen. On the second listen, follow along with the notes below.
(00:00) Scene 1: Hate I use only the Vocals from the original stems. The opening line - "Your hate moves like a freight train, steady with a heavy weight Barreling down for many years" is just fantastic and drove me to come up with a way to embody hate as a pulsing relentless driving sound that reacts to the intensity of the narrative. In so doing I take a very beautiful melody and transform and make it haunting. There is intentional harshness and clipping in the elements I composed, synthesized and performed. I use extreme panning and spatial effects on the vox as well.
(1:00) Scene 2: Line in the Sand Beat driven with some swelling pads. The beats set you up for to offer contrast for the next secne.
(1:27) Scene 4: The Innocent Say I let the wonderful vocals carry through this section and only add spatial effects.
(1:45) Scene 3: Maybe You'll Learn Hate raises it’s ugly head again as I return to a variation of my opening motif.
(2:12) Scene 5: Set Yourself Free I use piano and vocals from the original stems. I added some strings and lots of space manipulation to amplify the emotion. You HAVE to use headphones to appreciate all the work :^)
(2:33) Scene 6: Only You Hold the Key I process the piano stems, added some strings, and continue to work the space to offer an emotional conclusion.
(3:56) Scene 7: Epilogue Piano from original stems with space and I added cello for the last word.
Closing Thoughts
Note I finished this remix in June and wasn’t sure I liked it. I felt it might be too sparse and harsh. I decided to let it sit on the shelf and come back with fresh ears. After listening again, I decided to trust my original instinct and release the song as mixed in June. I hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Emily Richards (aka Snowflake) for composing such a wonderful song and sharing on CCMixter so we could remix.
Looking for that perfect gift for that descriminating Electronic/Experimental music fan? I Hear Your Signals and REBOOT are available as Physical Audio CD’s ready to play in any CD player or for import into music software. Each release includes a 4-panel booklet with original artwork and photography including liner notes and credits. CD’s are the same quality as those available in retail outlets with printing in full color directly on disc surfaces, booklets, and tray cards, with professional-grade jewel cases all shrink-wrapped with cellophane.
Please take into account that CD's take 3-5 days to manufacture plus time for shipping. Both discs are available for immediate purhase via my online ReverbNation store here. Note all my music is also available for digital download via almost every major outlet via my music page.
