okay. so my last post was about how i enjoy when musicians have means to play their shows live with the full sound capabilities of their albums. well, here's the opposite to that.
sometime a while back i had the opportunity to see the band, the blow live in concert. here i use the term 'band' lightly. when she played this show in particular it was the blow, the one girl, alone with her music being played through the sound system.
believe you me. at first i was mightily skeptical as to this crazy concoction. when i go to concerts i enjoy picking out the different parts of the music and seeing the musicians play the parts and see the actual kinetic happenings of music. so at first i was let down.
then i was brought back up.
the show was amazing. since the blow doesn't play any instruments during live shows it was essentially a glorified karaoke performance with her singing and dancing to her own music. and i know, it doesn't sound all that great, but it ended up being a memorable performance.
so this brings me to the importance of what i need to see in a live show. i still want to see the musicians doin' their thang, but there is now a realm where that doesn't have to happen. would it be possible for me to go to a show and only see a musician, a drummer perhaps, and cut out everyone else? it doesn't seem like a great show to me, but the possibility now exists for me to still enjoy myself. but where to draw the line? eh?
eh??

le octo p!

check it:
there's this really cool band that has a focus on playing live shows - or at least has the ability to play live shows with all the parts of their music present in the album - while still containing that electric feel that draws so many to the world of electroacoustics.
this band, of course, is the octopus project. http://www.theoctopusproject.com/
finish this later. go to class now.
love, vincent

i'm back.
so. the octopus project. right.
the female singer in the band is known for being a great theremin player. in some parts of their album, hello avalanche, she layers the theremin to create an ethereal sound that is unlike anything else i know of. how she plays this live, i cannot rightly tell. i am unsure if she uses pre-recorded tracks or if perhaps she uses a loop pedal. i would assume the former so that she can have the option of starting with multiple tracks. her sound textures with the theremin give the band a unique feel, and when combined with heavily distorted guitars and live drums, their music is positively infectious.

horray music.

so, new direction to start with.
i went to the ea lab today to play with things and decided to just do an exploration project on my bass. its an electric/acoustic hybrid so its got a weird sound to it. today, with the help of my trusty sidekick elliot, we plugged my bass into a bass amp, and then through a guitar amp with distortion. this gave it a truly unique sound texture.
here is where i am torn: should i compose a piece to be played live with the help of a loop pedal, or should i record many tracks and compose them through a computer? both sound appealing, but i think live performance is more up my alley.
let me extend my thoughts on the bass. i expect to use it for many different sounds, not only that of the strings. being a big acoustic bass, it makes a great drum. also different objects on the strings make for super fun time.

statement

This year in electroacoustic music i hope to attempt a project utilizing one or more prepared/textured records to produce beats/rhythms to go with some other live instrument. I think that live performances and improvisation are very important to me, but i might not always stick to that. i am also interested in making music that is just fun to dance to. simple party music. I also hope to collaborate with my fellow electroacousticians for projects in and outside the class room. I am currently working with a music project called 'jet fighter' that utilizes manyh electroacoustic techniques and i think that this will aid me in my ideas for the upcoming semester.

yo

what up