preparing for a gig, part 1 


I describe some of the process (specifically around equipment) that I go through when preparing for a show. This is part 1, a month out. 

With Intonarumori, I have a couple self-created rules I like to follow when doing performances. First of all, I like to have each show be very different from the last. While the overall experience will certainly be tapered by my own choices and taste, I like to have my sounds and textures be as different as possible. In this way, each performance is a unique moment in time (and possibly more interesting from an audience's perspective).

I'll be performing in Seattle on Saturday, December 11th at The Living Room in Fremont as part of the Texture Series. I went to the last show of the series to support the venue, the series and inBOIL, which is my favorite Seattle noise artist. The space was new, so I was also doing a bit of reconnaissance. The space is nicely laid out, the audience was respectful and bonus was a super large video screen.

Watching inBOIL, I decided that I need to create a new video reel to play behind me. Luckily, I have a lot of footage around, so it will be more of an edit job than a create an hour-length movie job. It's still some non-musical work that I'll need to do.

At first, I was planning on doing a laptop set, which is my new favorite way of working. While sitting behind a laptop is never an interesting proposition for an audience, avant-garde music is thinking music, not watching music. I do understand the boredom factor. Live music is an interaction between the performer and the audience. I believe that an integral part of this is that the audience can see how the performer creates the music. A guitarist picks a note and while it may sound anything like a guitar, there is a direct visual relationship between the production of the sound and the actual sound. This is lost in the laptop set. I could be reading e-mail up there and playing a CD and the audience would have no clue. Personally, I've been trying to get around this by using more MIDI controllers. In this way, there is some other motion besides hitting keys and clicking the mouse. I decided for this show I'd bring in my AirFX and Kaos Pad to further have something visual and to offload my mac a bit on the effects side. On the plus side of performing with a laptop, you have the ultimate arsenal of sounds, textures and effects at your disposal and you can do things that would take racks of gear otherwise. Plus, I love the idea of showing up with my laptop bag and maybe one other and being ready to play. Much nicer than the old days of spending an hour stringing together pedals, sound modules, a mixer and MIDI connections.

After the inBOIL show, I was talking to the host of the series, Wes Davis, and he suggested that I incorporate my electric cello back into my set. I haven't played out with the electric cello in quite a while, partially because I decided that I really wanted to "go back to the shed" and really come up with some new ideas. I felt like I was getting stuck in a rut with my cello playing in the experimental context. Secondarily, that thing is a monster, a beautiful, custom made monster, but a very heavy beast. At first I resisted, but now I'm really getting into the idea and happy for the request. In my "Random Thoughts" blog, I talked about Laurie Anderson's newest work and how I wanted to incorporate some of those ideas into my own playing. This is the perfect opportunity.

Now that I'd decided that this was going to be a laptop/cello show, I had to iron out which equipment I was going to use. Would I use pedals for processing the cello, or would I offload that into the computer? Do I want a separate mixer or do I want to try to use computer as a mixer. I know which software I'm going to use: Reaktor and Live, but do I want to use Reaktor as a VST in Live or do I want to go back and forth using Reaktor as the main tool and Live as the main tool?

This is where I begin experimenting, trying out different combinations of pedals and setups and see which gives me the most options without giving me too many. Given that I'm improvising, I want a lot of choices on where I can go. Too few options and I'll get stuck. If I have too many options, I'll be constantly at a fork in the road, having too many choices as to new directions. It is a little game I play before every show. Over the years, I've been stuck in both situations. Sometimes that can be inspiring, because it forces you to rethink on your feet. Mostly though it just sucks for me and the audience.

Over the next week, I'll refine my setup for this show and then I'll be ready to start getting comfortable with it.

I'll try and do a part two after thanksgiving. 

Posted: Mon - November 22, 2004 at 02:12 PM          

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