An exceptional documentary on the beginnings of synthpop in the UK. Included are interviews with members of every important group in the synthpop movement of the late 70s and early 80s including OMD, Depeche Mode and The Human League. This BBC production also examines the inspirations and aesthetic of one of the most influential genres in music history.
Back in April of this year, I wrote an article for Resident Advisor on the growing sub-culture of producers who are learning to circuit bend and modify their own analog gear. During the course of my research on the subject, I was introduced to sound, visual and analog artist, Eric Archer. My interview with Eric was really quite essential to my article as a whole. In fact, the interview itself was interesting enough on its own that I wanted to share it here on my blog along with pictures of his analog experiments. The following is the Q&A session I had with Eric in its entirety.
From what I’ve read, you’ve been into electronics from an early age. When did you get into synths/drum machines/etc.? Did you get into them from a musician’s perspective or from an engineer’s perspective?
I love the sound of the 808 and its x0x relatives and I wanted to understand the physical reality of whats inside it, to have the knowledge the original designers had. I wanted access to the same palette of analog circuitry they used, because its ultra-minimal stuff and within that is a special kind of truth, it has a purity that I admire. Imagine the challenge to take the sound of an arbitrary percussion instrument and translate it into transistors and opamps. It’s not going to be a perfect sonic clone, but instead you get something unique and potentially magic.
Studying this stuff is really rewarding, I’ve gained insight on how technological progress has guided the evolution of electronic music. At every stage of progress from tubes to chips, someone has been there pushing the envelope with creative circuitry in service of aesthetics, to please the ear, to give musicians a new expressive tool. Yet, looking under the hood at synths of different eras, you can see sort of a struggle between the consumer and the manufacturer. And in the fray, a lot of good circuits have been forgotten. I’m fascinated as an engineer by the challenge of recreating these circuits and understanding exactly how they work. Then, the fun part is making creative changes to arrive at something new, something that potentially could have existed back in the day, but perhaps it was just a bit too complicated or bizarre to be mass produced.
When did you get into circuit bending? What were some of the first bends you did to studio gear (as opposed to toys)? Why did you choose these specific pieces of hardware? What results were you going for?
As a kid I built lots of Forrest Mims projects and had some fun with contact points in Casios but didn’t think much of it until my late 20′s. Thats when I quit a chemistry career and started messing with electronics again. Saturn Return I suppose? Suddenly I had a lot of time on my hands and an apartment full of electronics.
I picked stuff to bend that I hadn’t seen done before, forbidden stuff with AC power connections like FX processors. Digital answering machines make glitchy lo-fi samplers. I integrated one inside a cruddy bass amp and presto, an amp with record and playback features! I tried things with visual output rather than audio, like an electronic typewriter and video projector. The Indian company Radel makes funky electronic tabla boxes, I found these sound quite awesome with bends.
I’ve modded a lot of gear recently. Erich Ragsdale’s TX-606 (based on TR-606) is certainly the most elaborate, its a luxury device. Then there’s more utilitarian mods like adding 36 mute switches to my Studiomaster Diamond mixer. Why don’t mixers ever have mutes on the aux sends? I don’t get it.
From what I’ve heard (and watched) with Bodytronix, you’re doing pretty straight-forward dance music with not-so-straight-forward (to put it mildly) gear. Most of your work is experimental but with Bodytronix, you’re doing something more aesthetically accessible. Why?
I enjoy Bodytronix because at the heart it’s truly experimental, but we’re playing sounds that make me want to get up, stuff that pivots on rhythm and melody. My previous experimental projects seemed to gravitate toward a melancholic, alienating vibe, and that sort of limited emotional spectrum became tiresome. But, start up a good bassline over an 808 beat and that always makes me smile.
Anyway, I’ve always loved electro, techno, acid, so its fun to tackle these genres with handmade instruments. It may not be obvious when hearing Bodytronix, but some of the rhythm and melodic sequences are generated by algorithms. I like designing hardware that composes music automatically. Its a thrill to put these untested ideas into practice for the first time and crank the result thru a nice PA. Then we have a beat, we have bass, and everybody’s having fun.
You used to work fixing high-end studio gear and hardware. What insights did that give you about modifying/bending gear?
Doing repairs exposes you to schematics for all kinds of audio circuitry, and with the pressure to get it working so you can earn a buck, stuff starts to make sense pretty fast. Studio gear is quite educational to look inside because you’re seeing stuff that was designed for performance, rather than simply being cheap and easy to mass produce.
In a nutshell? Hot glue sucks.
Could you elaborate on the continuum from bending through modding to design?
In all three scenarios, you’ve got a soldering iron, some wire and components. The first case, bending, its an entry level approach in that there’s little or no theory, its just trying random stuff until either you like the result, get tired, or fail by destroying the device you were messing with. Next, learn to read schematics and understand a little about how electrons move, now you’ve got a measure of insight and you can start to plan specific mods on your gear. You know in advance more or less what effect you want to produce, and you understand which components to focus on to get results. Finally, once you start digging in the books, you see things from an electron’s perspective, you’ve digested stacks of schematics from classic gear you respect, and the oscilloscope is no longer a mystery. Then you can sit down with a pencil and paper and sketch something new on a creative impulse – and the real experiment is to build it and see if it sounds anywhere close to what you imagined.
Could you go into detail about your live setup for Bodytronix (perhaps focusing more on your favorite instruments)? I’d be very interested in knowing more about the drum machine you built.
Erich and I have duplicate set-ups in essence, because we each use an analog drum machine, a sequenced bassline monosynth, and a vintage keyboard synthesizer. So the layers can get thick. Erich’s got a TR-606 that is really boss, it has pretty much every mod he asked for. That, plus an external handclap machine we call the Clap-raca. Its a hybrid of the 808 and 909 CP with filter and decay controls. Analog handclap is a very crucial sound. Just as crucial as his x0xb0x. This is essential acid: 606 + 303 + clap, such a classic combo.
For keyboards, Erich’s currently using a Multivox synthesizer, and I like my Yamaha SY-1 and Alesis QS6.1. Gotta have a polysynth for pads, and the Alesis is effective with some help from FX.
Most of my setup is handmade circuits built on perfboard. There are about 30 individual boards split up into 3 boxes. Ten of the boards are drum sounds, another ten are sequencers, and the rest are synths. The drums are based on TR-808 schematics. I built the BD, SD, CH/OH as straight-up clones, but the MT, LT, CP/MA, and CB/RS are experimental. They have additional sequencers onboard, their purpose is to make components materialize in and out of the circuit, sort of like automatically modifying itself in sequenced patterns. That way the sound morphs continuously within a set of discrete possibilities. It can sound really fresh, and alien at the same time. These are special circuits, but fairly complex because they are all analog with discrete logic. I really need to make the 808 cymbal next.
My sequencers are experiments. This is rewarding territory to explore, I enjoy designing algorithms for composition. The drums are triggered by two sequencer algorithms – symmetric and asymmetric. By switching them on and off independently, I can have a four on the floor beat transform into something like a funky solo. The asymmetric sequencer was inspired by a 1972 machine called the Triadex Muse. It contained a really beautiful compositional algorithm. My sequencers are controlled by selecting numbers, and what comes out isn’t always what I expected. Its good that way, the machine always has a new idea for the next rhythm, even if I don’t.
The handmade synths in my setup are pretty strange and amusing. There’s the original Drone Commander prototype, also a modulated grid of LEDs that’s played with a photodiode stylus. These are the little synths, one board each. Then there’s a big synth that spans seven boards. It has a crazy algorithm to generate diatonic melody, and this is sequencing a 3-oscillator monosynth. There’s a second sequencer for synchronized LFO on the filter. It gets sounds from dubby wobble bass to acid leads, and since its controlled by numbers, I pretty much just pick some numbers and let it take care of the details… 4-bar loop of melodic 16th notes in G minor? With acid filter and glide and sub-octave? No problem.
The rest of my stuff is not handmade, like the mixer and FX racks etc. Actually I’m doing some unusual things with the FX. I use a Digitech RDS7.6 delay as the master clock for everything – the delay time knob sets Bodytronix’s BPM. That way I can use the delay as a 2-bar looper, and its always synchronized. The looper is crucial.
Did you know what drum sounds you wanted and then built it, or was there an uncertainty about the tone and texture quality of the final result?
Early on, I tried some stuff that looked cool on paper but just sounds like analog farts. Since then the more drum circuits I build, I get a little better at predicting the results. Its sort of a science or craft maybe, I think just as much as building acoustic drums.
I thought I would start the New Year off right by offering to you a new mix. This one is inspired by the Happy Hour I did last year at the club 222 Hyde. Although I am no longer doing this event, I wanted to continue my inspiration for the event through a series of mixes I am calling “Pre-club music for post-party people.”
Father knows best
I’ve been DJ’ing for almost 14 years now and as I have gotten older, I have moved on from club life into fatherhood and other daytime activities. This process has also involved a musical shift for me as well. I’ve always loved many different types of music, but now, I’ve been integrating these various sounds into my DJ set. DJ’ing is more than just making people dance, it’s about creating an atmosphere, a mood, a sense of time and place. Ultimately, the role of the DJ is to use sound to create a space that invites people in and makes them feel at home. I hope you enjoy!
Father’s Happy Hour presents “Pre-club music for post-party people vol.1″ by Jackson_Deep
“Pre-club music for post-party people Vol. 1″ set list:
Low Motion Disco – The Low Murderer is Out at Night (Eskimo)
The Zombies – Time of the Season (CBS Records)
Subway – Outbreak (Deadly People)
Lusine – Crowded Room (Type A remix) (Ghostly International)
Walls – Gaberdine (Kompakt)
Solvent – Loss for Words (Ghostly International)
Fleetwood Mac – Hypnotized (DJ 4AM edit)
Atlas Sound – Sheila (Kranky)
6th Borough Project – Miss World (Delusions of Grandeur)
Space Ranger – Herbal Cake (The Revenge Rubdown) (Lovemonk)
Outmode – Life (Future Classic)
Jamie Jones – Ruckus (Discoid Dub) (Hot Creations)
Caribou – Odessa (Cooperative Music)
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Time of the Assassins (Matthew Dear remix) (Because Music)
Please support these artists. If you like the music, all of these tracks are available on Beatport.
This article originally appeared in the March 2010 issue of inGen Magazine.
In the ever-shifting sonics of electronic dance music, a new sound emerges every so often that separates itself from its predecessors and becomes more than the sum of its influences. As the second decade of the century begins the new sound is called dubstep. Over the past ten years dubstep has evolved and matured; now it is poised to break through the boundaries of its scene and cross-over into mass appeal. Although dubstep has its roots in London, San Francisco’s vital dubstep scene is at the vanguard in the propagation of this cutting-edge sound.
Dubstep is the endpoint of a mutation of sounds that began in London back in the 90′s. First there was hardcore and then drum’n'bass, a combination of hyperactive drum breaks and thick, rolling bass lines. As that scene settled into a dark niche in the late 90′s, 2-step garage emerged with a slower tempo and the swing of its sparser beats. Then came grime which, as the name implies, took a darker approach to the 2-step sound by incorporating elements of hip-hop and dancehall into the equation. Then, a subtle shift occurred when the bass got bigger, more complex and moodier: dubstep was born.
Dubstep’s history in San Francisco’s clubs began with a monthly called Grime City, started by Ben Enzyme and Emcee Child. Already hooked on the 2-step and grime sound, the infiltration of dubstep records onto the decks was a natural progression. Juju, a well-established drum’n'bass DJ, also began to push the sound at his Narco.Hz events. Then in 2005, DJ and promoter Ripple threw the now-legendary party, Superheroes and Supervillians, which was the first party to fly in top UK dubstep DJs.
Promoters soon took notice of this new sound and began to push forward with monthlies and one-offs. The Full Melt parties along with events thrown by promoters such as Surefire Sound and An-ten-nae put down the foundation upon which the current scene thrives. The sound spread outside the city as well to Northern California’s vibrant festival circuit including Symbiosis, Raindance and Lightning in a Bottle. Spearheaded by Lorin and his Bassnectar project, dubstep along with its mutant cousin – a sound called glitch – has become an integral part of main stage music at outdoor events.
As these events began to create a stir in the club scene, behind the scenes, local producers began making tracks that were finding their way onto the UK’s airwaves such as DJ Mary Ann Hobbs highly-respected BBC Radio1 show. San Francisco now boasts a bevy of established producers: Antiserum, Djunya, Babylon Systems and Eskmo are a few of the artists who have been making waves both in the US and internationally with their productions.
As the scene continues to grow a new wave of artists and fans are being drawn to dubstep’s massive low-end frequency manipulations. In addition, San Francisco now boasts the largest vinyl dubstep record shop on the West Coast. Red Sky Records (224 7th St.) was opened in September 2009 by co-owners Jon Holliday and Beau Bales aka General Nao. The store has also become a nexus for the scene, hosting local up-and-coming acts like the Spit Brothers as well as international stars such as Boxcutter and Ramadanman.
One of the main factors in the rise of San Francisco as a major player in dubstep culture is Surefire Agency. Started by Miro and Sam Supa, Surefire has become the number one booking agency in the world of dubstep. One look at its roster reveals a who’s who of dubstep producers and DJs, including UK artists Shackleton and Peverelist who both released critically-acclaimed full-length albums in 2009. With this accessibility to so many top dubstep acts, Surefire Sound, the production side of the company, is able to bring to the Bay Area the most current and important artists from around the world.
What makes the San Francisco’s dubstep scene the most interesting though is the rate at which it is growing. As Sam Supa explained to me, the dubstep scene today has changed from what it was six months ago to a year ago and beyond. With a whole new generation of kids getting turned on to electronic music, for many of them dubstep is becoming the first underground sound they are listening to.
Most recently, some of hip-hop’s top artists, such as the Wu-Tang Clan and Lil’ Jon, have begun to collaborate with dubstep producers. This cross-pollination of scenes only heightens dubstep’s visibility within the US and abroad and raises the chances for cross-over appeal. As dubstep continues to expand beyond the boundaries of its underground sub-culture roots, San Francisco is already leading the way into the future of electronic music.
This was a feature piece I wrote for Resident Advisor back in September, 2009. The idea for the piece was based upon an entry I had posted on this blog over a year ago, entitled “The Set-up Sound.” I expanded upon the original idea and I was also fortunate enough to have such passionate feedback from the DJs I interviewed for the article.
The esoteric art of the opening DJ
No one seems to understand it. No one seems to respect it. And it might just be the most important part of the night. RA explains why the warm-up DJ deserves perhaps even more credit than the headliner.
There are many variables in producing a proper electronic music event. Some things are obvious: a proper space with quality sound and engaging visuals are part of the physics that create a comfortable environment for the crowd. If, for instance, the sound system isn’t properly dialed in to the acoustics of the space, the performer, regardless of his or her talent, is going to sound like crap. The result is a lethargic dance floor and an angry performer who will not only expect to get paid but will never come back.
But there are many subtle factors that can keep an event from being labeled “epic” and instead relegate it to just “another night out.” Fast bartenders, adequate bathrooms and a security crew that behaves professionally all contribute to a clubgoers overall perception. When it’s done right, these things aren’t even noticed. But when you have to stand in line for half an hour to piss in a flooded bathroom, while in the main room, everyone’s mind is being blown by the DJ you paid a lot of money to see, your night gets flushed down the toilet.
The last crucial element in the event equation, though, is the opening DJ. At a live music event, if the opening band is terrible there is always a short break to switch out equipment. The headliner then takes the stage and the night moves on. But in a club environment the music rarely stops from the moment the first track begins. This continuous flow of sound is maintained until the lights are turned on at the end of the night. A good DJ taps into this flow and manipulates the energy of a room through careful programming and mixing choices. Mastery of this flow allows a DJ to take the crowd on the sonic journey which has come to define the all-night electronic music party.
But the headliner almost never plays from the moment the doors open. One or more opening DJs are used to warm up the room, keeping the crowd entertained and the alcohol flowing until the headliner’s designated time slot later in the evening. And many promoters seem to be unaware of how important this role can be. A DJ who isn’t up to the task of opening can dissipate the energy on the dance floor before it has a chance to solidify. In a good scenario, the crowd will pack the bar and hug the walls until the headliner comes on. In a worst case scenario, the club will empty out before the DJ has time to mix in a new track.
In many ways, the warm-up DJ faces more challenges than the headliner. Consider this: The opener must start with a fairly empty room that slowly fills with generally sober people who aren’t there to see them.
The DJ must create an atmosphere out of thin air and at the same time set the stage for the musical narrative of the headliner’s set. Steve Lawler, head of Viva Music who has headlined top venues the world over, agrees, “The warm-up’s job is in fact the hardest and very important to how the whole night will turn out. If a warm-up does a good job, you can feel it in the air, and then usually 99% of the time, it’s an amazing night.”
The opening DJs biggest challenge is to program a set that will seamlessly sync with the DJ who will go on next. “The opening DJ has a huge responsibility; they can dictate the entire mood of the party,” says Magda, of Minus Records. “You have to think about who you are opening for and how they play in order to avoid overpowering their sound.” Each headliner has a definitive musical style that presents a unique programming challenge to the opener. “If I open for Theo Parrish I definitely will not be playing the same records as opening for Richie Hawtin. That’s the fun of it though,” she explains. “It’s a challenge to get the different crowds worked up while complementing the main act at the same time.”
A good opener must have two things: an attenuated awareness for the musical progression of the night, and an extremely large and eclectic record collection. Craig Richards would concur. With a ten year residency at Fabric, London’s most respected club, Richards is highly regarded as one of the best opening DJs in the world. Warming up a room is a position Richards fully embraces, “Over the years I have often opted for the warm-up slot. I find it a wonderful challenge which if played properly can result in maximum musical fulfillment.”
Great opening DJs know their music and the subtle effects each record transition will have on a dance floor. DJ Yousef, the DJ and promoter behind Liverpool’s legendary party, Circus, says for a DJ to successfully warm up a crowd “they need to be aware that the tempo, the groove, the energy and even the texture of every record must be seriously considered.” This sensitivity to the way music influences the crowd allows the opener to begin the patient task of drawing people to the dance floor.
Dirtybird’s Christian Martin describes it as such: “Your job is to peel people away from the bar, and keep building upon that small nucleus of early dancers that will eventually become a packed dance floor. It’s important to pay attention to the mood of the floor and adjust the direction of your set accordingly, without going overboard too early.” Martin’s last point brings up another extremely important trait of great openers: restraint.
“I’ve [sometimes] had to kill the
music altogether to reset
the energy.” – Lee Burridge
“I know a lot of my fellow DJs feel the pain on so many nights from an inappropriate, overly energetic and mostly far too big warm-up set,” Lee Burridge laments. With over 25 years of experience, Burridge is universally recognized as one of the world’s most talented DJs. He says great warm-up DJs “understand where the guest DJ starts from—not where they are two hours into their set. The energy needs to be left at a point where the guest DJ can comfortably continue from.” Burridge told me that in many cases the opener plays records of such high intensity “I’ve [sometimes] had to kill the music altogether to reset the energy.”
“I’ve warmed up for many big names over the years and I realized a long time ago that the night wasn’t about me alone,” Burridge continues, “This seems hard to accept for a lot of upcoming DJs as they want the attention of the people. This attitude totally disturbs the gradual build of the night as a whole.” Many young DJs see the opening set as their chance to show what they’ve got, but the result of this enthusiasm is exactly the opposite. Yousef states when an opening DJs set is “hitting them over the head with an iron fist” of uptempo, peak hour tracks, it “will always result in not getting another gig.”
But there is more to opening a room than just keeping the tempo under 124 bpm and playing deep music. The signature of a great opener is defined by a devotion to the music he or she is playing. As Lawler explains, “you can tell when an opener is someone that has just gone onto Beatport’s Top 100 [to buy their] Deep House [tracks] and is trying to do it, as opposed to someone who loves and collects the music they are playing. You can always hear passion in a DJ’s set.”
Craig Richards takes it one step further: “I’m absolutely certain that the music lovers, not the DJs, are fit for the job—the people who can forget themselves for a moment and deliver a groove, a beginning and a sense of belief.” The best openers are in many ways the people who are true music lovers, the ones who obsessively collect obscure and eclectic music for the simple joy of it. These DJs know their music so well they intuitively know there is a right track to play in each moment for any audience.
Opening a room requires the ability to step outside what you want to play and, instead, to be conscientious of what the crowd is willing to accept. “As a DJ you have to find the middle ground of being yourself and being mindful of what you think will work on the dance floors of the world’s clubs,” Yousef explains, “I always play the music I love but I’m experienced enough to enjoy a broad selection of electronic music.” Each DJ I spoke with emphasized the need for an opener to have an extensive range in musical tastes and, most importantly, the patience to hold back, and to slowly build the tension in preparation for the headliner.
For both Lawler and Burridge, each sees the role of the opener as important as his own role as the headliner. Lawler tries and takes an opener with him to gigs, “so I know the energy and vibe will be right when I go on.” But they each tell me it is often the promoter who chooses a DJ not fit for the role, or sometimes, Burridge says, “The promoter has been known to come into the booth and tell the warm-up to pick it up.” In either case, it reveals a lack of understanding in how a night develops. Whereas a nervous promoter wants to see the dance floor packed with people pumping their fists in the air from the start, all the DJs I spoke with saw this as detrimental to the night as a whole. As Richards put it, “There can be nothing worse than an over-enthusiastic start—a soup that burns the mouth or curtains ripped open to let the light in.”
But this ultimately leads to one question for the promoter: If you are going to spend the money to fly in and accommodate a world-class DJ, why not spend the extra time and money to get your guest a proper opener? With the high risk inherent in throwing an event coupled with a lack of understanding about the role of the opener, DJs who are picked to warm up a night are often inexperienced and more often than not, underpaid. A promoter can spend thousands of dollars on a headliner, and to rein in costs, will often only spend a couple of hundred on an opener.
So obviously, great opening DJs aren’t in it for the money. Instead, these DJs are perhaps the purest music fan in every sense of the word. Since the opener’s artistry is built upon subtlety, they rarely receive any accolades. The media often overlooks good warm-ups, instead focusing on the headliners, and only knowledgeable crowds will recognize the skill that goes into the nuance and restraint of slowly building the tension in a room. This often leaves only the headliner’s gratitude as any sign of appreciation.
In fact, the biggest reward an opener receives is the opportunity to explore musical territory a headliner often cannot. Playing opening sets “gives justification for buying records that you know will only sound right at certain times,” says Craig Richards. “The chance to hear these records loud was and still is my driving force. Playing deep, quirky, delicate tunes at a time when they make sense is an utter pleasure to the man who seeks the truth for the music not the limelight.” Successful venues and events have always recognized what a proper opener provides: The atmosphere that is the foundation of any event.
Words / Jack O’Shaughnessy
Published / Tue, 22 Sep 2009
comment 137 Comments
Photo credits /
Header image – Ruairi Drayne
Lee & Craig – Nick Ensing
Magda at Club 2 Club – Nick Ensing
I am getting back into updating my blog. So initially, I want to post a lot of my past writings. Some more poetry will go up, but for now I want to put up some pieces I have previously had published in various magazine and websites. The following piece on Michael Jackson was originally published in inGen Magazine, which is a monthly magazine in San Francisco.
In one’s childhood there are those rare events profound enough as to to emblazon a memory that remains as vivid as when it actually occurred. I distinctly remember Christmas morning in 1983. I had just turned eleven and while I still had the exuberance of a child for presents under a decorated tree, I had also begun to comprehend the meaning of cool. My hope was that this idea of cool would have my name on it and be amongst the carefully wrapped boxes beneath the family Christmas tree.
So early that morning my brother and I raced as we did every year to the living room eager to rampage through the careful architecture of presents stacked beneath the tree like Godzilla and Mothra in downtown Tokyo. But this year, I didn’t have to search for that one special gift. Instead, it was waiting for me. Leaning up against the wall next to the tree was a boyishly good-looking face looking at me with a smile that said “we’re going to be good friends.” It was a vinyl copy of Michael Jackson’s Thriller with a small bow attached to a corner. I hadn’t find cool, it had found me.
From that moment on, my friends and I sought to imitate Jackson’s every dance move; we waited impatiently for every new video. When the video for the single “Thriller” was premiered on Mtv, we sat in awe at the creative spectacle, the magical story being told through music and dance. Little did we know at the time that we were watching what is still considered to be the greatest music video ever produced. But Thriller really was about the music: for the first time in history, an album borrowed from R’n'B, soul, hard rock and disco and successfully blended it into timeless pop music.
It is impossible to overstate the cultural transformation initiated by Thriller’s release. There were the obvious fashion and dance influences that immediately took place: black and red leather jackets and feeble attempts at the moon walk come to mind. On a larger scale, though, Thriller initiated the era of the modern pop star. With the arrival of cable television and 24-hour news coverage, his every move could now be monitored, every rumor endlessly discussed. Over time, Michael Jackson was transformed from a mortal into a myth: sometimes he would be portrayed as the Herculean hero, and other times he would be labeled the Minotaur.
But beneath the layers of media coverage, court cases and Jackson’s tragic journey through drug addiction lay a man who was perhaps the greatest talent of our time. The quality of his voice was unparalleled in its emotive range: the childlike innocence of “The Girl is Mine” to the raw emotional content of “Beat it.” But he wasn’t just a singer, he was a performer. Nobody could dance like Michael Jackson – nobody. The flow of his body to the rhythm and the constantly cutting-edge dance moves inspired a generation of performers. He is the only singer whose back-up dancers had to keep up with him, never able to match his grace and flair. The remarkable thing when one sees footage of him dancing in the final days before his untimely death was how amazing he still was as a performer – an immortal figure upon the stage.
So much has changed since the release of Thriller. Today’s pop stars come prepackaged with auto-tuned vocals, lip-synced performances and air-brushed videos. Anyone can become a celebrity these days; no talent is required. One of technology’s ironic twists is that it has elevated mere mortals to the stage once graced by the King of Pop. The other irony is that the media that displayed Jackson’s talent to the world would also ultimately be a contributor to his demise. The ever-present eye of the media combined with the ungodly revenues from his album sales and constant touring allowed Jackson to create his hidden world, the details of which we are now just learning.
The shadow of tragedy will forever cast a shadow on Jackson’s legacy. But fame itself has become a tragedy. What has been surprising in the months since his death is that the faults of the man are slowly being forgotten. We are now left with the epic story of his talent: the records, the videos, and the performances. The renewed interest in the life of this artist has made people remember just how remarkable a human being Michael Jackson really was. The mythical beast has been made human once again, and with the return of his humanity, Michael Jackson’s legend lives on.
I’ve been playing a lot with harmonics lately with DJing. I have a less than precise ear, so I use a program (Virtual DJ) to name the keys of the tracks for me. I then discovered the Camelot system for mixing keys. Since I’ve really been into melodic tech house lately, it’s really opened my eyes (and ears) to the beauty of music. Harmonics are the ways the frequencies of certain sounds interact, creating the beautiful and sometimes challenging chords found in most music.
Something I found of interest as I researched this subject regards the sound wave interval known as the Fifth. The ratio of these two sounds is 3:2 (i.e. 385 Hz and 256 Hz, which are G and middle C, respectively). The harmony of the two is unmistakable. What is even more interesting, though, is that this ratio is known in mathematics as the golden ratio. The Greek mathematician Euclid was the first to write about it almost 2400 years ago. Since then, this ratio is seen in nature, architecture, and, of course, music. There are numerous books and websites available to find out more about this.
But this makes me wonder: before the universe as we know it was created, did this ratio exist as we know it today? Or, to make an abstract: did the laws of physics already exist say in the milliseconds after the Big Bang? If it did, this implies a pre-existing intelligence who devised all the rules before the universe began. But, what if instead, the laws of physics came about as they became necessary. As the subatomic soup of the early universe began to coagulate, react and bond, the rules of how these new particles would interact became the reality. There could have been an infinite amount of ways these particles could interact, but because of their proximity, the demands of this new relationship required that one rule be chosen. And perhaps as we see in biological evolution, the choice wasn’t the best, but the one that would work in the moment for the relationship to continue.
And now we have the universe as we know it. So what about the relationship between dark matter, which makes up almost 25% of the universe, and the electromagnetic spectrum (something like 5%) we know and love. Perhaps the only relationship that was necessary between the two was that of gravity. My mind hums with excitement when I think of the what exactly lies within this unknown realm of dark matter. As we continue to study it, the rules of dark matter, too, will become apparent, and, undoubtedly, will reveal the same beauty that exists within all relationships – whether they be two notes on a piano, or two realms of our universe.
Photo by Guzman
This photo is all about context. My good friend, Robert Guzman, took this photograph last Saturday night at Red Sky Record store. It was a Dubstep after-party for the night. I started DJing at midnite, thinking I would be spinning for about an hour. Keep in mind, this is an afterhours – as in, after the bars close at 2 am, so there were only a few chill cats there hanging out waiting for Boxcutter to go on downstairs at 3 am.
But I spin deep, funky tech house and deep minimal techno – nice melodies, expansive bass, and it has to have that swing in the beat. But these were some younger cats who only listen to Dubstep. But I was working out the 4/4 beats, keeping it deep and chunky. I could see them digging it. It was cool: an easy vibe and the space to play the music I love to hear on a very solid system.
Well, apparently, a couple DJs flaked and my one hour set got stretched into a 3 1/2 hour. I couldn’t have been happier. The place was minimally filled, the sound was perfect, and Robert and I rocked out for three hours, dancing to my choice sonic selections. That’s all you need. One DJ, one dancer and a lot of love for music – it was a perfect night. He got it, I got it, and it was pure catharsis.
And, you know, I saw some of those Dubstep cats nodding their heads to the beat – don’t fake, you know who you are. When you feel it, you feel it; allow your mind to get out of the way and just let it happen.
I found this video on Vimeo and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more perfect synchronization in the cut and paste culture. Both Bukowski’s poem and Burial’s track are deep on their own, but together, they sink down through the layers of skin and bone and pour into the hidden well we keep buried beneath the tectonic plates of persona, washing away the memories and emotions tossed down into the darkness like wishes.
The new mash-up culture should try to be more than just about being clever. When the context is stripped away and then reformed, like solid planets built of liquid stars, the implication is that our individual creative bursts are not solitary ripples in the vast space of existence, but instead, each creative act is a reference point for the other, creating a fabric that only becomes more rich as we adapt new forms of technology to tell our tales.
Ultimately, we will begin to see that all creativity pulses from the same subtle current. The revelations of unlikely sources reveal that the labels of distinction we use to create distance are the illusions of our imagination. If viewed carefully enough, there is but one creative act.
Sunday, August 2nd is a big day in San Francisco for electronic music parties. I’m spinning at the legendary Bionic party this Sunday night from 11 pm to midnite at The Triple Crown on Market at Octavia. Come and shake it with me!
I'll be DJing from 11 pm to midnite
Also, during the day, another installment of the free Dirtybird’s party in the park. Here’s the details, not to be missed!
| Date: |
Sunday, August 2, 2009
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| Time: |
2:00pm – 6:00pm
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| Location: |
golden gate park
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| Street: |
off of 25th
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| City/Town: |
San Francisco, CA
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Please respect the park and don’t pee in the bushes!
Ages: All Ages
Recent renegade parties throughout Golden Gate Park have made it harder for legitimate operations… such as dirtybird to do our thing. We have spent a lot of time and money cultivating a solid relationship with the Parks Department, and we would like things to stay that way.
*THERE MAY BE A RANGER MONITORING THE EVENT FOR SEVERAL HOURS. Please take this into consideration and let others know. Be discreet with your alcohol and whatever else you decide to bring. The park also has a strict no smoking policy.
*Please do not go to the bathroom in the bushes! This was a main concern in our last meetings with the Parks Dept. The ranger will be specifically watching for this. We have ordered two portapotties for this event, so there shouldn’t be a need to head for the wilderness.
*Please monitor your trash as you go!!! We will be bringing extra garbage bins to ensure that cleanup is painless.
So with all that out of the way, let’s get down to business – ANOTHER DIRTYBIRD SUNDAY IN THE PARK
