The evolution of what we now call “DJing” is inseparable from the turntables and mixer. So, what happens when you enter the digital domain and you really don’t need to refer to either device? Many digital DJ controllers have simply mimicked those previous inventions, with virtual tables and a mixer-style layout. To some extent, they must, not only for familiarity but to even make it possible to perform the kind of tasks DJs expect.

Then again, the computer, endless shapeshifter that it is, can do whatever you like. And so we’re beginning to see mass-market controllers marketed at DJs – not just the laptop performer, but DJs and DJ software – that goes in new directions.

Novation Twitch is one such effort. New Yorker Abe Duque takes up the Road Test series for Dubspot. I rather enjoy the lo-fi video as he flies New York to Munich; I could almost imagine the entire video being shot that way. (There you go, CDMers: I now have no excuse not to shoot some video tests for y’all on my smartphone.) And, uh, yeah, been there. Maybe the most ringing endorsement for the Twitch is how snugly it fits into the carry-on bag. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the superb UDG Gear line carrying both his laptop and Twitch.

Getting down to the actual review, Abe Duque – whatever impatient YouTubers may say in comments – does a fine job of coherently covering all of the features fairly and in detail.

Highlights:

• The Twitch is clearly set up to integrate with Serato, though there’s also a Traktor overlay. I’ll be eager to see how it works with Ableton Live, though, as the layout would seem to apply nicely to that.
• Having faders double as effects wet/dry controls is a clever twist, and reveals the intention of the Twitch to focus a DJ performance on mucking around with individual songs and not just queuing, beat matching, and mixing.
• The highlight is probably the slicing control, which uniquely couples the touch strip with pads.

You begin to see how a Twitch performance would come together, with two-deck slicing and dicing and effects controls. Of course, that could be accomplished with other means, but the Twitch embodies a lot of what we’ve seen in the DIY scene and homebrewed controllers, assembling a layout that conceptually reflects all of this track-mangling in the hardware’s physical form. In fact, it’s hard not to think that that scene influenced the Twitch.

This kind of track manipulation was common both with the Akai MPC and Ableton Live. Curiously, the design of the Akai APC40 for Live really doesn’t make that sort of performance very easy, focusing instead on clip launching and mixing.

In practice, Twitch looks promising. It does face a lot of competition. For Serato alone, there are various controller options, and Serato loyalists can expect this and other control surfaces to cater to their needs. The big entry we know is on the horizon is Native Instruments’ upcoming controller and software – something the company has already revealed in some detail prior to its official release. In fact, it’ll be tough to judge Twitch without having seen in person whatever NI has cooked up, as it appears their offering could focus even more closely on the sample triggering / looping notion, again within a DJ paradigm (Traktor).

DIYers, many carrying the banner of “controllerist,” have been pushing DJing in this direction for some time, and back to its original roots, DJing has embraced more inventive ways of really transforming tracks and not just playing them. Now, as those ideas seep into the mainstream, we’ll see if the line between DJing in the sense of playing tracks – and live performance, more as you’d expect in the instrumental vein – continues to blur.
Dubspot Lab Report: Novation TWITCH DJ Controller – Road Test w/ Abe Duque

Oh, yeah, and for something completely different DJ controller-wise, see Dubspot’s take on the compact Allen & Heath Xone: K2.

“Folk music of the 21st Century” – radio broadcaster, jazz aficionado, and jazz-based Ableton Live instrumentalist / remix artist Nick Francis really sums up what this whole site is about. As he chops up jazz greats in Ableton, his mash-up music chops are as much musical analysis as they are performance. He walks through his controller moves in a pedagogical way, highlighting the meat of the jazz legends he puts into play. It’s a kind of digital transcription, transcribing re-imagined for Ableton’s colored blocks in place of.

Of course, you’ll only be able to reflect on this once you can take your eyes off that stunning wooden controller, which has the look of a decades-old instrument. Kraftwerk in their early days would have chuckled at the polished-wooden nostalgia, but here, it’s about care as much as memory – and Nick is a fan of Kraftwerk, DJ Shadow, and others. None other than Matt Moldover inspired all of this. (I look forward to catching up with Matt in California next month.)

We first saw Nick in May:
A Controller Love Supreme: Beautifully-Crafted Wooden Jazz Controller with Ableton Live [tons more detail there]

Our friends over at Dubspot have an extensive, illustrated video series on interviews. You can tell they didn’t have to edit too much here, that Nick just kept talking and saying great things.

The Choppertone: Custom MIDI Controller for Ableton Live – Nick Francis Video Interview [Dubspot Blog]

But seeing electronic music with Nick’s self-described “vintage fetish” – from the RCA-chic swirled woodgrain to the great old standards – is a joy. And if you can’t get enough of Nick, you can go listen to his radio show, too.

Quiet Music
Nick Francis @ KPLU (Seattle)

Flip that YouTube into 720p to hear the sound properly – yes, even in this modern age, the default setting is a bit lacking in warmth.

There’s also a second part of the video with a performance of “Canto de Wonderwall.” (Not visible in Germany due to licensing issues.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dig into humanity’s past, and alongside the earliest tools, you’ll find some of the earliest instruments. Designing objects for expression seems to be an essential part of civilization.

Martin Kaltenbrunner, a co-designer of the Reactable tangible music interface, is also a professor in Interface Culture at the Linz University of Arts in Austria. There, in the land of Mozart and Haydn, he works with students to explore what interface design is.

So, when I got to spend some time with Martin in New York in September, I was interested in more than just the flashy coolness of the Reactable, the futuristic table-with-blocks interface for music. We got a chance to talk about instrument design generally. The funny thing about the Reactable is that it is closer to the experience of working with a modular synthesizer and oscilloscope than anything else, with the sense of physical connections of sound to object you’d get from classic synths. It is something unique, truly, but that’s its pedigree.

Martin and I got to give a talk together at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, a terrific hub in which Austrian artists frequently are paired with New York-based folks, all in a lean, tall modern landmark building in Midtown. We also performed together, which for me was a real pleasure; Martin claims not to be a musician as such, but was good fun as an improvisation partner.

The next day, we headed to Manhattan music education center Dubspot, where Martin’s creation quickly attracted crowds of interested students and educators. Dubspot filmed our encounter for the video at top. Amusingly, the prominent synth sounds you hear at the beginning are not the Reactable, but our own MeeBlip open source synth, which I brought along to illustrate conventional tangible instrument design with switches and knobs. (If you’ve been impatiently waiting for news on the MeeBlip, believe me, I’m even more impatient – more announcements on that this week and next, following a production quality issue with a contractor that required us to reboot the run of new instruments.)

Reactable Live @ Dubspot! Interactive Sound Design Workshop Video Recap [Dubspot Blog]

YouTube commenters, that subtle and thoughtful bunch, are complaining that the tangible Reactable will set you back thousands of Euros. But at ACF and Dubspot, I was also equipped with the far more economical and portable alternative: Reactable Mobile runs on both Android and iOS. (I was pleasantly surprised to discover the app runs perfectly on a Galaxy Tab 10.1 from Samsung; I’m still a long, long way from being able to recommend buying an Android tablet, but if you’ve got one, I can certainly recommend this app.) Now, don’t get me wrong: the experience was nowhere near as fun as using the table. On the other hand, you can’t fit the table into a seat-back pocket on easyJet, and the savings in cash is proportional to the sacrifice in experience. What impresses me is that the design of the physical Reactable “flattens” so nicely onto the screen; I think it’s a user experience triumph that you can make that translation. And I was able to load up a few loops of my own music and jam along with the MeeBlip and Martin on the (real) Reactable.

Looking beyond the Reactable, Martin addressed these larger issues of tangible interface design at TEDx Vienna – a fitting locale for talking the history and future of music. His whole presentation, and a sweeping concept map of what he discussed, is available.

Martin Kaltenbrunner: Tangible Music

If you just want to get your Reactable on and can’t afford the table, see Reactable Mobile below. (Seen here on an iPad 2, but I’ve run successfully on the original iPad and the Galaxy Tab – the experience is more or less identical, thanks to portable code.)

And if you can afford the table, you rockstar, uh, can we be your friend?

http://www.reactable.com/products/mobile/
[the awesome table version]
Martin Kaltenbrunner website [with plenty of academic links]

In the ongoing struggle to make a laptop into an instrument, there’s inevitably the scramble onstage (or even in a studio) to get everything primed and ready to play. You want to adjust settings, launch certain applications, and generally get your laptop ready for actual music making.

Wouldn’t it be nice to make all of that happen automatically, magically, instantly, and robotically? It is, after all, a machine. (They’re supposed to be working for us, I’m told, assuming they’re following the Three Laws.)

Martin Delaney, London-based Ableton Live trainer, has put together a nice tutorial for production education center Dubspot with one way of accomplishing that using Apple’s free Automator. I was always a fan of Automator, particularly in its use in the workflows for the Soundtrack Pro audio editor from Apple, but it seems like almost no one else (Apple included) seems to remember it’s there. So here’s a way to put it to some free, powerful use.

Of course, there are probably other ways of accomplishing this – shell scripts and the like – if anyone wants to suggest something. Automator has the advantage of some serious ease of use.

Have a look, and download this set of Automator actions free:
Video Tutorial: Simplify Your Ableton Workflow Using Apple’s Automator [Dubspot]

Take a very short survey, and you’ll be entered to win some six months of intensive training in music production and Ableton Live, or copies of some of our favorite recent software, a two-app box set of Reason and Record from Propellerhead or Roger Linn’s AdrenaLinn Sync.

Knowing more about our readers helps us develop Create Digital Music, Create Digital Motion, and the Noisepages community as free resources, both by letting us know about you and helping us to work with the sponsors who pay our bills. It’s also a chance for you to tell us where you’d most like to see us invest.

I think privacy is important. Questions are kept strictly anonymous; we don’t associate your IP address, location, or email address with your answers. You’ll answer a minute or two of quick questions, then be provided with a separate form for your email (because otherwise we can’t contact you if you win); winners will be randomly selected.

I’m also pleased to get the chance to help our friends at DubSpot celebrate the launch of their online school on Monday. The Live training includes 66 hours of hands-on instruction and labs and three levels of Ableton Live education over half a year.

Reason and Record Duo from Propellerhead gives you the latest version of both these music-making tools for Mac and Windows – a virtual rack of gear, plus recording, mixing, and production.

AdrenaLinn Sync 2 provides beat-synced modulation and effects and now runs on Windows (VST/RTAS) or Mac (VST/AU/RTAS).

The survey will close 11:59 PM NYC (US Eastern) time, Thursday, February 3. You must enter before that time in order to qualify.

Enter the survey to win!

http://cdm.2011.sgizmo.com/s3/

And thanks, as always, for your support for this independent site and community. More on the prizes below (with some rather interesting videos, all).

Ableton Live Training Online from DubSpot

DubSpot offers training from its expert staff, like the free tutorial featured above.

Ableton Live Core Program ($2,495)
6-months / Three levels / 24 sessions / 66 hours of hands-on instruction + labs

The Core Program introduces you to the fundamentals of producing music with Ableton Live, creating a number of sketches while developing your own unique sound, then developing your ideas into two fully fleshed out songs.

Courses:
Ableton Live Level 1: Shake Hands with Live
Ableton Live Level 2: Completing Your First Track
Ableton Live Level 3: Production Essentials

http://www.dubspot.com/ableton-live/

AdrenaLinn Sync

AdrenaLinn Sync is a software plug-in from Roger Linn Design that provides the same unique beat-synced filter modulation and sequencing effects of our AdrenaLinn III guitar pedal, plus quite a bit more. Though intended for guitar, it adds fascinating rhythmic tonal effects to any instrument or processed audio.

AdrenaLinn Sync transforms your input signal–guitar, keyboard, turntable, loops, etc.–into dramatic rhythmic patterns of filtered, resonated, chopped, pulsed, spiked, sequenced, looped, delayed and otherwise manipulated tones.

AdrenaLinn Sync

Reason and Record Duo

Record – super intuitive, streamlined recording software. Reason – the legendary virtual studio rack packed with synths, samplers, effects and all the electronic music production tools you need.

Combine the two and they fuse into one incredibly powerful application, while still remaining the fast, lean, rock solid music production environment that lets you stay focused on your music making.

Reason

Record

Enter the survey to win!

http://cdm.2011.sgizmo.com/s3/

If you’re in Anaheim for the NAMM music trade show, or elsewhere in the LA area, it’ll be worth the trip tonight to downtown LA to catch the fourth annual Wham Bam. Jimmy Edgar and Richard Devine headline music performances that include WE ARE THE WORLD, Thavius Beck, Drumcell, Laura Escudé, DJ Kero, Derek Michael, Eezir, and Professor Nalepa vs It’s Not Over Quebec. CPU, CELL, KERO, and VJ Culture provide visuals and installations.

You’ll also get a healthy dose of tech, as Laura Escude, Thavius Beck, Steve Nalepa, and Moldover talk about live performance techniques and Gareth Williams of Ableton Live shares the latest from iOS touch controller maker Liine. (Gareth tells me he’ll have some never-before-seen stuff there, so if anyone’s there, do check it out.)

Hear and see loads of video and sound samples on the Dubspot blog.

The action starts tonight at 6pm; it’s 21+, US$10-15.
Wham Bam Page, Facebook

I played the event and led a panel last year; you won’t see me this year as I’m in New York, but enjoy!

Some psychedelic HPRIZM sounds to get you through your weekend:
PROJECT-Xmp3 by HPRIZM

And it’s worth revisiting Anti-Pop Consortium’s podcast for our friends at XLR8R Magazine:
http://www.xlr8r.com/podcast/2010/10/anti-pop-consortium

What’s a bit unique about this event is that it couples digital music with visual art (with, you know, actual paint) and teaching. NYU’s Hip-Hop Education Center” is a collaborator, teaching people young and old the craft of hip-hop music.

Invisible Instructions Exhibition + Micro-festival Site
Dubspot Blog Post

Psychedelic solstice Tuesday, anyone?

Our man in Seattle, Primus Luta aka David Dobson, continues his video coverage of the Decibel Festival for CDM with another set of feature coverage. All that coffee out there must be working. Take it away…

Despite being the first event after an incredible night, which for many extended well beyond the 2am last call, Pravda Studios is packed early on day three for a full schedule of conference activities.  It comes as little surprise though, the first workshop is one most who are involved with the release of music today are concerned with – “Creating a Digital Promotion Plan.”  Led by the PR savvy Shilo Urban of DanceFever5000 and head of promotions Decibel Erica Toelle, the workshop details the direct and indirect means of promoting music.  Covering issues including social networking, contacting blogs and labels, and building a promotions team, the hour long session is a crash course in self promotions.

There is little change over between the first and second session, indeed considering the subject matter perhaps the second session of the day should have preceeded the first.  The title “Uncertain Future: P2P Streams and Diffusing Works in the New Media World” paints a grim picture, but thankfully the panel is able to reveal some silver linings behind the clouds covering music today.  Moderated by Dave Segal of Seattle newspaper The Stranger, the panel features representatives from labels, radio and the press.  While it would seem most of the labels attest to following the BBE model (Barely Breaking Even) there does seem to be enthusiasm for this time in music.  Fans have become a commodity which both values music and is valuable to it, while labels have become cultural curators through which fans can filter through the deluge of releases to find the music that speaks to them.

As the next changeover happens things shift back to technology and creativity.  Where previous workshops on these lines dealt with music in a live setting the next two sessions focus on production in the studio.  ”Beat Production in Ableton Live” is hosted by Huston Singletary alongside Take.  Some of the tips Singletary provides are rather basic for the intermediate audience, but within them quite a few hidden gems are revealed.  Even more, Take seizes the opportunity to ask the hard questions of the in-house Ableton representatives, like why envelope information cannot be placed on clips.  At the end the audience takes his lead to probe the Ableton team about other software anomalies including the lack of SysEx support.

The next workshop focuses the new Native Instruments Komplete 7 presented by Dubspot, hosted by Thomas Faulds and featuring Lorn.  There isn’t enough time in an hour for Faulds to cover the 90GB package in total, so he focuses in on perhaps the bundles most powerful application Reaktor.  Things really get interesting when the focus shifts to Lorn who gives the audience a peak inside of his creative process by breaking down some of his own productions.  He turns to the layering of his drums utilizing multiple Battery instances.  While layering drums is not necessarily new there is something very special about Lorn’s approach which is most evident when all the layers are put together.  His drums are by no means merely stock Battery sounds.

In the heart of Downtown Seattle, the Nordstrom Recital Hall in Benaroya Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, has been set up for the first of three Optical events at this years Decibel.  Decibel founder Sean Horton explains that the Optical events serve to show another side of electronic music.  It isn’t all about keeping the dance floor moving; contemplative works of electronic music too deserve their proper place, and the concert hall serves as a perfect setting.  Additionally serves another purpose which electronic music is in many ways at the forefront, and that is the integration of music and visuals.  Within this setting one must expect that they like their musical counterpart need not be of the rapid fire psychadelic variety, but instead touch the audience at the same depth as the music.

Robert Henke under his birth moniker is first, though he does not actually take the stage.  Instead he is positioned behind the projector at the center of the hall with a small mixing desk where he weaves sonic textures around slowly progressive visuals that pair the natural with the industrial.  The synergy between the sound and visual works wonderfully as one looks for the subtle changes visually as much they are listening for them.  As the volume of change in the visuals increase so too do the aural.

Murcof is next with visuals provided by Scott Sunn and from the first chord it is evident the audience is in for a ride.  The chord itself is obviously symphonic, but synthetic in a way which could never be duplicated by the musicians who normally call the hall their home.  The sound of it calls back to the workshop with Lorn; it is familiar but treated in such a manner as to become personalized to the artist.  It is taken a step further with Sunn’s visuals, which echo each of Murcof’s chords with imagery obviously computer generated, but the fluidity of his smoke like shapes make them seem almost organic.  If Sunn were standing in front of the screen with a brush one might think he is painting them, and the beautiful thing is that he actually is.

The final act for the evening Mark Van Hoen unfortunately served to exemplify one of the major setbacks of all electronic music – there will be glitches.  Fortunately he is able to work his way through them to complete a performance even if not the one he originally intended.   Back on Capital Hill Ill Cosby is warming up the Baltic Room for the Planet Mu showcase, Shlomo is warming up the Neumos crowd for the Red Bull Music Academy On The Floor event and the four is already on the floor courtesy of Mister Leisure in Sole Repair as Seattle’s own Trust crew aims to keep the crowd jumping all night.  On the far side of town, the stage at Motor is filled with instruments as the Art of Rhythm event plans to showcase the roots of electronic rhytms through a myriad of global beat influences, laid down by the likes of Phutureprimative and Beats Antique.  The selections for the evening are incredible but the distance between them less than desirable, setting up for hard decisions and sacrifice.

Apparently overnight Neumos either acquired or fixed a smoke machine, and whoever is operating it is trying to use it at every opportunity possible.  The first couple of times it makes for a nice atmospheric choice, but after a while it is just annoying.  Not annoying enough to take away from the stellar performance Brainfeeder Teebs is putting down.  Considering the heaviness usually associated with the hip-hop beat category he is thrown into, the melodic development of his songs show that there’s far more to the sub-genre than the strict headnod.  It compliments perfectly the early bubble in the crowd as he works his Roland 404, building up the energy slowly.  By the end he is showing that while he may prefer the more textured approach he can lay it down heavy with the rest of them.

While the line-up for this Red Bull event is indeed spectacular, the set arrangement leaves a lot of room for improvement, evident by the strange transition from Teebs into Addison Groove.  He’s billed as Headhunter, but as soon as the first thump from his Roland 808 hits, it’s quite clear this is an Addison Groove set.  The crowd takes little notice of the awkward switch into his dub techno floor rockers, but instead just take the cue to start the heavy dancing for the night a little early.

Over at the Baltic Room Falty DL is laying down a rundown of electronic music genres from the 90′s to today that somehow makes a pitstop at Roy Ayers’ “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” before Starkey brings out Ikonika in a time slot an hour early.  She brings the bass heavy to the dancefloor, but perhaps has taken the early slot to slip out like others are to catch the first live U.S. appearance by Mount Kimbie back at Neumos, where a longer than expected intermission between sets is doing a good job of prepping the crowd for the second awkward transition of the night.

The UK duo is without a doubt the most anticipated set of the festival.  Their buzz precedes in them, and in this case has everyone in the crowd wondering if their live show can live up to the expectations of their recordings.  The smoke machine would make for a funny coincidence were they to have a repeat performance of their set the previous night where electrical difficulties left the majority of their rig powered down.  But there were no mirrors on the stage as they kicked into their dream like blend of every modern electric music influence imagineable.  Their hold of the audience’s attention beyond being well warranted was also quite fulfilling.

For the final awkward transition of the evening the Neumos crowd is released from the downtempo post dubstep of Mount Kimbie into the all out frenzy that is Modeselektor.  Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary hit the stage as if it is the cockpit, standing confidently behind their controls, scoping out the air space before turning off the fasten seat belt light so the passengers could enjoy every bump of the ride.

At the witching hour Decibel has the whole city of Seattle jumping, Modeselektor is trying to push past last call to honor their European club rocking heritage.  The trust party has hit full stride as Trus’Me mans the DJ booth at Sole Repair.  Beats Antique is fusing sounds turning Motor into a tribal dance.  At the Baltic Room Starkey is laying it all on the line with his breed of musical but still very heavy dubstep.  It stands as a testament to the power and reach of the music through all of its sounds.  That is until the bass booming from Baltic blows the subs.  Thankfully there are still after parties.

In LA’s DubSpot Live 8 Sessions, I shared a panel with Daedalus, talking about design, live playing, the monome, and how limiting tools for performance can be powerful. Austin gets its own cast of presenters this weekend.

Sadly, I can’t be in all places at once. If I could, I’d be in Austin – twice over – this weekend. Handmade Music session two hits with an all-new set of learning and noise-making. Whether new to electronics making or an old hand, there’s something to absorb from some of the best mad sound scientists in the world. And our friends at DubSpot are in town, too, with a big lineup of production, recording, and performance techniques centering on Ableton Live 8. And on top of all of that, the city is host to the brilliant art + sound East Austin Studio Tour – a fantastic idea coupling events, studio tours, and art exhibitions I hope we steal in cities like my home New York.

This is all of interest to a tiny fraction of a percent of our readers since it’s really relevant only if you’re in Austin, but therein lies my plea — if you are in Austin, we could use your help documenting this weekend’s events. Get in touch, and we should be able to hook you up with a free pass for the DubSpot event, plus — well, whatever I come up with to thank you for videoing and/or writing about Handmade Music.

First up, Handmade Music:

This sunday is Handmade Music Austin #2.

We’ll be building 4ms’ Autonomous Bassline Generator. The upper division class is filled but there should be some space in the beginner class. Even if there aren’t any seats available, there will be all kinds of things happening in the gallery space for EAST. You can play with the Thingamagoop 2, Eric Archer’s noisemakers, Andromeda Space Rocker kits as well as other handmade instuments.

Noon – Gallery space opens. Bleep Labs, Eric archer, and friends interactive exhibit.
4 pm – Free beginner class
6 pm – Upper division synth class $45 at door
6:30 – Free performances :
Red X Red M
Douglas Ferguson/Steve Marsh
TelepathiK Friend

Red X Red M
Douglas Ferguson/Steve Marsh
TelepathiK Friend

As always, see:

http://handmademusic.noisepages.com

DubSpot’s event includes two full days of programming covering production and performance. It’s about Ableton Live 8, but it’s also more broadly about how to make your tracks sound better, how to get them into the world, and how to be successful as an artist both in your releases and live. Austin includes many of the folks I’ve been hanging out with in NY and LA, plus favorites like Ableton veteran sound designer and Keyboard contributor Francis Preve. Christopher Willits will also take a first look at Max for Live and talk about how he uses Max/MSP to process his playing. And Saturday night is a FunkAid benefit with DJ OBaH, Ocote Soul Sounds, Akina Adderley & The Vintage Playboys, and Daetron Vargas.

I expect we can get a guest in if you cover the event for CDM.

http://www.dubspot.com/abletontour/austin.html

It’s music production. It’s … lasers. If you’re in the LA area, you’ll want to be there. If not, let us know in comments what you most want to see covered / interviewed / videoed for CDM.

DubSpot’s Live 8 Sessions Tour heads to Los Angeles this weekend, for a set of workshops, performances, and demos on Hollywood Boulevard. I’ll be out with the crew, and hosting with DubSpot a special interactive performance lounge Sunday night.

Sunday night will feature generative audiovisual art made on iPhones, and laser-powered, open-source gestural controllers and a laser installation that responds to motion and sound, plus Christopher Willits, Kid Beyond, Irwin, myself, and a lot more.

The weekend workshops: The artist lineup includes legends from a number of genres, including Scientist, Kid Beyond, Daedelus, Justin Boreta (Glitch Mob), Thavius Beck, and Christopher Willits. Other names you may not know have their own resume in sound design and performance (Irwin), producing and education (Steve Nalepa), mastering technique (Daniel Wyatt), and business (Barry Cole). Sunday, monome virtuoso Daedelus and I will talk about controllers, performance, and sampling technique, I hope going well beyond Live to design and playing technique in general. Passes are $110 for one day, or $195 for the weekend. Watch for a similar series in Austin, Texas this month, and other cities TBD, or for everyone else, stay tuned to CDM and DubSpot.

Ableton is a co-presenter, and Live a jumping-off point, but the topics really wind up being about more than any one tool. You’ll find deeper questions about composing, sound design, mastering, business, performance, controllers, and design in these discussions. I hope to work with some of my artist friends and DubSpot to bring more of those conversations to the CDM readers worldwide.

Want a free pass? One free pass awarded by the end of the day Thursday to the first person in comments to … write a really quotable comment about why you need a free pass. (Sorry, it’s the best I can come up with; I have to sleep and leave for the airport shortly.)

Los Angeles Tour [DubSpot]

Sunday night – $5 benefit Interactive Performance Night + CDM 5th Anniversary PARTY CDM turns five this month, and we’ll be kicking off a series of parties in LA, Boston, and New York. For $5 (all proceeds go to the sustainable charity NextAid), catch a night of audiovisual performance and bleeding-edge musical and visual inventions:

• Featured live performances by Kid Beyond, Christopher Willits (Ghostly International), and Irwin
  , with surprises through the night
• Open laser instruments: Open-source, gestural laser music controllers you can build, presented by Meason Wiley (www.cyclespersecond.net)
• 3D mobile music: iPhone-based performance live, synchronized three-dimensional audiovisuals by generative artist Aaron McLeran (Electronic Arts – Spore)

9:00 pm
SUNDAY, November 8
Los Angeles, CA
$5 / free for tour attendees
King King Hollywood | Directions
Facebook page

Full disclosure: The author is currently providing consulting services to DubSpot, and DubSpot’s Live Tour is a CDM advertiser, though there has been no compensation for this story or for my appearance in LA. (In the interest of disclosure, I’m happy to be spending my weekend being involved with the event!) – Peter Kirn