Music has always moved forward when people get together to play. Groups of artists in Los Angeles’ Interface LA collective – and other California groups, like LoveTech and controllerism.com – are challenging each other to keep expanding their technique in playing electronics live.

I’m pleased with CDM and some of our friends to support a party Friday night in downtown LA celebrating playing live. Interface LA is a group centered on live electronic music performance and interactions. We’ll be bringing you video coverage after the event here, thanks to talented videographer Charlie Visnic. But we can kick things off now with videos of the artists and work. And if you are in town, be sure to preorder tickets now, as we expect this to sell out really quickly and hope to see you there!

Videos, from top: Mike Slott (Brooklyn), who’s headlining Friday night, in an interview. Second from top, check out the crew in their last event at top, that one centering on the monome grid instrument.

I’m playing, as well (hey, I’ve got to put my money where my very large mouth is). But I’m really thrilled to get to share some time with a bunch of artists I love, many coming from San Francisco’s LoveTech and controllerism.com, and from LA’s own Interface LA regulars. The lineup:

Mike Slott
Moldover
Vass Glenison
Rich DDT
‘House Band’ (Smacktop Ensemble, featuring the awesome force that is the Smacktop laptop-that-you-hit)
Nonagon
Ro and the Interface LA crew
Presented with Novation and Ableton

Friday, January 21
Doors 9pm
18+
$10 cover

We also have an interactive work entitled (con)textile:

A digital installation using the Kinect, stop-motion and digital noise, and interactive audio” by Jeff Aaron Bryant.  Jeff is a composer working in digital media and kinetics. He is pursuing his MFA in music technology at California Institute of the Arts.

Information:
http://interface-la.tumblr.com/events
http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/82413

Facebook links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Interface-L-A/316896995011687
https://www.facebook.com/events/351095438239262/

Images

November Interface LA, in photos

San Francisco’s LoveTech crew, including their Burning Man trip

SmackTop, in Video

We’ve seen this before, but it’s still good watching someone hit their laptop.

More Events in LA This Week

I have an early flight Saturday morning back to Berlin, but there are two other great events in Los Angeles this week if you happen to live in the area or are in town for a certain massive trade show down south in Anaheim.

TRASH_AUDIO NAMM BBQ 2012 has closed its RSVP, but if you do make it, let us know how it goes or (with, uh, permission) take photos of any cool stuff you find. Really wish the TRASH_AUDIO folks the best and all our modular and sound-making friends and Matrixsynth and company; I’ll be somewhere like 40,000 feet over Ireland while that’s going on.

Also, Droid Behavior is doing a party Friday night that should go late at an undisclosed location, the fifth anniversary of their Wham Bam series. I thoroughly enjoyed getting involved in that in 2010, and might duck in if I can on my way to LAX; the event here is not related, to clear up any potential confusion.

It’s almost impossible to come upon an electronic musical colleague – indeed, regardless of their personal genre – without some lament of the state of dance music. But electronic sound has long depended on the connections between experimental and dance, all the vibrations that can move people.

Don’t complain – do something. Reaching across national borders, some people are doing something to make dance music better.

Biatch Corp makes its connection between Colombia and New York, and for the last three years has put together a label and a successful series of parties. Whatever your stylistic tendencies, there’s something to learn from their international strategy, one born in Colombia that uses New York as its cultural broadcast center. Alvaro Bueno tells CDM:

We basically liked the idea of being facilitators (first as party promoters, now as a label) of good dancefloor music and some of the artists we are been sharing in this healthy ecosystem of Techno that is being formed, artists like fong+Julio own the Sheik n’ Beik series of parties, Vadim is the head of Less, Deepak & Dieter are the bosses of Hidden Recordings, Thomas Hildebrand is part of Brooklyn-backyard parties called Backseat-buzz. We like collaboration and how synergy keeps scene healthy.

Another artists we have in past and current releases are vets like South african Brendon Moeller, Hamburg’s Ascii.Disko, Jussi-Pekka hailing from Finland and Perc, who lives in London. Bleepolar, Nicolas Ovalle, Karraskilla and Me (Pito) are the South-American quota of the label, probably is there that resides the path for a more flavorful music in techno, a more organic one. Nico is from Uruguay and we Colombians.

Now celebrating three years in action, Biatch Corp has a new compilation out entitled “Auditoria” coming out on Saturday. Karraskilla, Ascii.Disko, and Peter Corvaia, all of whom have done releases with them in the past, are included, but so are various other friends and locals. Thomas Hildebrand from LA is a highlight for me among others, as his work with found sound and field recordings adds other textures to his work.

This weekend, I’m in Boulder, Colorado for Communikey, but the Biatch Corp is doing a party back here in New York. And wherever you are, there’s the release, plus a free live mix by Karraskilla.

Karraskilla Auditoria Set by KARRASKILLA

Direct download link [SoundCloud]

More information:
http://www.biatchcorp.org/
Auditoria Release Page [Music + Party; warning - audio auto-plays]

In Anaheim this week, the music manufacturer trade gather to show their wares. But 8pm – 4am Friday night, we party.

“Wham Bam Thank You NAMM” has become an annual tradition, an unofficial afterparty of sorts for the first two days of the trade show.

This year’s lineup: John Tejada, Richard Devine, Flashbulb, Deru, Laura Escude, Scott Pagano, CPU, DJ Kero, Acid Circus, Derek Michael, Baseck, Eezir, Trifonic, DJ G Ov, Moldover, Henry Strange, and myself, among others.

Escaping from the Anaheim Convention Center doldrums, the event is held in the lovely, artistically-blossoming Los Angeles downtown. The Downtown Independent is a gorgeous space with a movie theater and rooftop for full audiovisual-party immersion. This year, we have a couple of new features with which I’m assisting on behalf of CDM. There’s a VIP lounge / “industry room” which will be filled with music toys. You need a NAMM badge to get in, but inside you’ll find some unusual sonic toys you can’t find on the NAMM floor.

Also in the spirit of going beyond NAMM, I’m moderating a panel on how people are using computers in performance, and how we can all make the future of music tech shinier, sooner. When you’re living in a cool-sounding year like “2010,” there’s really no excuse not to take matters into your own hands (oh, yeah, and maybe I want to make sure I’m on the same side as the evil robots when the bad s*** starts going down):

2010: It’s gonna be the future soon
A conversation on live electronic performance technique, and how to make music tech better

There’s no need to dream of futuristic, expressive live performance on computers. It’s here. And there’s no reason to wait for technology to improve: let’s talk about how to make it happen. Moderated by Create Digital Music’s PETER KIRN, this conversation with some of the artists at the edge of sound and live electronic music provides a glimpse into the ways people are working in 2010, and an open discussion about what we can do this year to extend our technique and make technology work better.

JUSTIN BORETA and edIT (Glitch Mob, etc.)
RICHARD DEVINE (Schematic/Warp), DSP mad scientist and composer
LAURA ESCUDE, violinist and music technologist
FLIPMU, the duo of Owen Vallis and Jordan Hochenbaum
MOLDOVER, Mojo controller creator, musical supervillian
DERU, composer and musician (Ghostly, etc.), recent Paris Opera Ballet score
BRIAN TRIFON (TRIFONIC), electronic musician and sound designer (Avatar)

and other guests

Hands-on "snap" demos of live rigs + topics of discussion:

Unusual interfaces, including graphical, touch, gestural, and multi-touch interfaces
Monome, Arduinome, MidiDuino and the Minicommand
Max/Max for Live, Reaktor, Pd, Processing, and other tools
Collaboration, synchronization, and open control
New Year’s Resolutions for making technology and performance practice better
…topics to be continued online
Followed by live performances kicking off a night-long party

Presented by Electronic Creatives, Dubspot and Create Digital Music

When: Friday, January 15, 2010, 8pm – 4am

Where: The Downtown Independent, downtownindependent.com

251 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 [Map]

What: Wham Bam Thank You NAMM [official site/artist bios]

Cost: $20; $10 discounted (21+)

RSVP: droidbehavior@gmail.com Information: 213-915-6120 Facebook: Event page

Note on NAMM badges: the NAMM badge gets you into the “industry room” and a discount on admission, but you do NOT need a NAMM badge to get into this party! It is 21+, though – sorry about that.

View Larger Map

Major kudos to the wizards of Electronic Creatives who’ve been a huge part of making the whole evening happen (whereas I largely get to just show up). That includes in particular the talented violinist, composer, technologist, educator, and creative mind Laura Escudé, who has worked with everyone from Cirque du Soleil to Carmen Rizzo; I hope we get to introduce more of her work.

Electronic Creatives “produces events centered around Ableton Live and new music technology coupled with envelope-pushing performances.” (I’m going to try to make sure not to interpret that last phrase as “making my laptop crash onstage,” okay?)

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.

View Larger Map

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: