Handheld eggs, ironing boards, machinedrums, phones … live setups can involve all sorts of oddities, especially among the rabid (in a good way) Ableton Live fanbase, and we’ll be showing them in NYC. Saturday night, we’ll chill out after Dubspot’s day-long workshop with a free, open party in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District at 675 Bar to explore some new musical interfaces, have a few drinks, meet each other, and hear some new sounds. [Facebook RSVP]

For more on the whole week’s events with Dubspot, see our previous post.

Confirmed lineup:

• Isomer Transition (aka RJ Valeo) doing some superb-quality techno with lots of knobs and a machinedrum + Ableton Live
• Ted Hayes’ EggBeater wireless shaker for rhythms, built in free software Pure Data and used (in this case) with Ableton Live
• Sound artist Ranjit Bhatnagar with a musical MIDI ironing board (pictured below) controlling Live, as seen at Handmade Music (at which it was covered by Wired.com)
• Track Team Audio’s Michael Hatsis showing some tweaked-out Live control in action – hopefully including his APC40 hacks and monome patches.
• Me, playing a set with control TBD – possibly Lemur and/or my Android phone

The “beater” application is really quite nice, and follows with a lot of handheld-style, gestural controllers we’re seeing lately. That could mean that soon we could have some sort of software layer that works with any of these controllers — substituting, say, a Wii or mobile phone. Here’s a great video from the ITP show (the bi-annual exposition of the work of interactive technology students at New York University):

The ironing board I’m also, as always, excited about; I’ll be working with Ranjit (and his dogs) tomorrow to try to map it intelligently, and we’ll be sure to share our results for everyone.

And here’s some nice work by Isomer Transition – I love that RJ can cover the gamut from dance-y to experimental.

If you’re in NYC, be sure to join us and bring friends – the event is free and open from 6:30-9:30pm, and 675 Bar has a range of tasty treats and drinks and looks like the basement you wish you had. (Hey, it’s NYC, so we just share a basement.) See the New York Mag review.

And, as a last-minute reminder, tonight (Thursday) 675 is also host to a free workshop on Live 8 with the insanely-talented KJ Sawka. We should have some video from this event (and a lot of the rest of the weekend) for the World Beyond New York. See Ableton’s announcement of tonight’s user group.

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And you can also follow my Twitter or the CDM Twitter on Saturday and through the weekend.

A History of Ableton Controllers

While I don’t think it’ll be done in time for the workshop I’m teaching Sunday, I’m compiling a history of Live controllers. There are too many alternative controllers in the world to cover, but over the years at CDM we’ve seen Live is a popular choice – even if only for prototyping, prior to building your own system. Nominees?

I was just reading Midi for the Professional by Lehrman & Tully from 1993. The foreword (by Robert Moog) states that “[t]he first time that two MIDI-equipped instruments built by two different companies were hooked up and played together was at the January 1983 NAMM show”. This year at NAMM, did anyone remember that it was 25 years ago? Any celebrations (like at 20 in ‘03, see http://namm.harmony-central.com/News/2002/MIDI-20th-Anniversary.html), memorial plaques, something like that? Just curious.

I didn’t do much for my own birthday this year, in the hopes of doing something, um, belated.

So I think we have to have some sort of huge MIDI bash. That is, assuming someone can confirm that this is correct (to my knowledge, it definitely is).

Suggestions for festivities?

Anyone out there who was at the first historic MIDI connection?

Will Richard Devine unleash his blazing fury once again at NAMM this year as he did with the Neko keyboard, or will he physically keep his cool but unveil his own brand of auditory destruction instead?

Come to the CDM Unofficial Afterparty in Los Angeles and find out! Show up at 8pm to Bassworks and witness a DIY, technological show and tell and then stick around to check out live musicians and visualists along with our pal Rich. Fire may or may not make an appearance, but we in CDM HQ personally hope for the metaphorical sort.

And you are all on the guestlist (meaning it’s a free party). You’d be ragingly insane to miss it if you’re local on Friday.

CDM is on the road to California! If you’re at NAMM, mark your calendars now.

In addition to our full coverage of the NAMM trade show (covering new and odd music things with video, photos, and sound), we’ve got a party planned. (Whoo!) Attending / playing / organizing: myself, the wonderful audioist Liz McLean Knight, and the also wonderful visualist Surya aka momo the monster, to whom we owe the space and the LA magic. Full details soon, but here’s a teaser:

Where: Basswerks, a hip but comfy gallery/studio at 5411 W Adams Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90016. (Directions)

When: Friday, January 18, eight to late

What:

• a handmade music night, for people to come and show-and-tell DIY music projects informally and just hang out, whether hardware or software, as we’ve been doing with Etsy and Make in NYC.
• a chance to swap demo discs, as seen in Chicago. (don’t forget to check resources for making great demos)
• a lineup of great music and live visuals from LA, CDM, and the world. Cash bar available.

Who: You, if you’re in the LA area for NAMM or local — all are welcome. RSVP will be up soon; stay tuned. And that includes our friends among the vendors, etc., who will be desperate by then to escape Anaheim hotels for the city.

Contact us now if: you have a project you want to bring for handmade music and if you’re interested in playing music or visuals for a short set — no guarantees, but we may have a couple of slots open; if not, there will still be time to play around during the handmade music time.

And we’ll be roaming the NAMM floor, too, so anyone wanting to schedule a meeting, do get in touch.

Contact us

If you are in the Bay Area, or coming into town for the awesomeness that is the Maker Faire, we would love to invite you to the party.

What: Chips + Fish + Music Party, the Maker Faire “after party”
Brought to you by: MAKE:Magazine and CDM
Who: Anyone making their own music with chips (little chips, big chips, Intel Core Duo chips), or anyone who loves to eat chips and/or fish. Makers from the Faire, locals, visitors all welcome.
When: Saturday, May 19. 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm: featured music sets. 9:30 pm – whenever: hang, DIY musical show-and-tell, eat fish and/or chips.
Where: Edinburgh Castle Pub, 950 Geary St. San Francisco, CA. 415-885-4074. (5pm – 2 am; map.)
Why: Because we love DIY music, whether it’s customized hardware, self-made software, or just lovingly-programmed commercial gear and apps.

And there’s more: I’m looking for a couple of additional featured sets, lots more partygoers, and also have a music lineup to share Friday night at Robotspeak (more performances than party there):

Featured sets and show-and-tells wanted: We still have a couple of slots left for short (20-30 minute) featured sets in the featured block, and I’d like to open that to CDMers and Maker Faire participants. If you have a set you’d like to share, and you’re an international celebrity or an obscure loner, drop me a line. (peter AT createdigitalmusic *dot* com.)

If you have a small DIY project you’d like to show and tell and, for instance, it wasn’t quite ready for the Maker Faire, bring it along. Especially handy: mobile devices, like your latest Nintendo DS / Game Boy / GP2X / Palm tracker set. We’ll be sharing stuff during the 9:30 hang. There’s also live music at the space, some of which sounds great, so I expect some people will go listen to that.

If you like fish and chips, we’ll have a pre-order form ready to make sure it’s there when you get there. I’m told they’re hooked up with the best fish & chips supplier in San Francisco.

I’ll be sure to post a reminder and details next week closer to the event, including travel instructions if you’re in San Mateo for Maker Faire like me.

Plus a Friday night Robotspeak party: Robotspeak has put together a really amazing lineup that I’m thrilled to be part of, with short music sets and artist Q&A. In the lineup, aside from me: Pineresin (Dielectric), Chachi Jones, and Daedalus (Plug Research / Ninja Tune). They’ve created a beautiful poster, too, which implies that while Daedalus is on Ninja Tune, I’m on … Mac World. (I’m guessing that’s because of my occasional contributions to Macworld Magazine. Though I may have to call up Chris Breen and see if he wants to start a Macworld record label.) Anyway, don’t be phased by that — if you get to stop by, the event is Friday at 589.5 Haight Street, at Steiner, at Robotspeak. I say that like I have any idea where that is. Happily, Google Maps knows (and now even has BART stops). That flyer really is nice: