Cu sonorul cat mai tare, soundul cat mai pronuntat si cu rasunet pe toata Calea Victoriei, va anunt ca ne-am cumparat boxe! Ne-am, adica neam, adica noi toti! Cubecast.net detine doua monitoare M-Audio de calitate si mai ales minimale! Pentru ca sunt mici, micute si foarte dragute, in contrast cu sunetul maximal, letal, cu membrana kevlar.
Si, ca si cum nu ar fi de ajuns, au mai aparut si doua pick-up-uri, cadou pentru inimi. Este vorba despre primul model Technics, clasicul SL 1200 MK2 (love). Sunt argintii, ca sa reflecte lumina, caci in timpul live-ului audio-video din fiecare joi, DJ-ul nu are de fapt un reflector indreptat inspre el!
Saptamana aceasta, adica joi, adica astazi, adica ora 19:00, in lumina luminii, dar si a platanelor, vor mixa Alecs si Mr. V, fresh good minimal cu membrana kevlar. Toata lumea click!
Posted in radio on November 29th, 2007 by fresh good minimal |
3 Comments
Nemaipomenit, doamnelor si domnilor, cel mai talentat DJ din punct de vedere tehnic din lume, the one and only, Jeff Milligaaan!
Vine din triunghiul Toronto –Chicago –Detroit si danseaza minimal la patru platane, de pe vremea cand noi gandeam minimal. Da, tot cu Richie Hawtin are treaba, este unul dintre primii artisti de la Plus8. Ascultam zilele trecute un set al sau, din ‘96. M-am intrebat: facea Jeff Milligan atunci muzica viitorului sau muzica prezentului nu a evoluat in nici un fel? Culmea e, ca artistul a raspuns. Atat de mult, atat de bine si atat de interesant, incat s-a transformat in nemaipomenit! Sa se auda muzica, in timp ce cititi!
– Being among the first and the most important minimal-techno DJ’s, with a new sound and a new mixing style (4 decks), what where the reactions at the beginning?
– I have been performing with 3/4 turntables for many years now. Since I don’t produce very much and when I do, it’s usually ambient, I know that my productions don’t sell me as a DJ. That being said, I know that 90% of my gigs are booked because of my turntablism.
The public has been very supportive of me but I have also lost many gigs because of my mixing style. There are quite a few star DJs (that i will leave nameless) that criticize my mixing style. They say that what I do is inappropriate and that it’s all about the music, not the mixing. I disagree with them but these opinions have influenced the public and I have lost gigs.
– What is the difference between a mix at 2 turntables and one at 4? Is the degree of difficulty higher? How do you do it?
– Yes, mixing 4 turntables is definately harder than 2 but in some ways it’s easier. When you only have 2 turntables you have to approach DJing in a very linear way, track after track after track. With 3 or 4 turntables you can choose to take the mix in any direction at any time which gives you much more flexibility. How is it done ? Practise and more practise. But being quite honest it’s not so much technical as it is philosophical. It may sound odd but it’s about letting the records un-mix themselves. I’ll let the audience figure it out. ;)
– Do you remember the first gear you started producing with? What hardware piece do you think had the biggest impact on producing and why?
– The first gear I bought was a Roland Juno 106 and a tr505. I can’t remember where I got them but likely from a pawn shop. I used to be obsessed by searching for things in pawn shops and used music gear stores. I bought and sold many 909’s, 808’s etc. The one instrument that had the biggest impact to me was probably the Roland TB303, just like so many other DJs.
– What is the thing from your studio you can’t work without? What’s your piece of resistance. Is it a secret? : ))
– Hmmm. Haha, the Technics 1210. ;)
– How would you characterize your style?
– My style is a hybrid of edit oriented hip-hop mixing and smooth beatmatched techno/house mixing. My DJ roots are in hip-hop. I used to study scratching and turntable tricks in my early years yet musically I always identified more with house and techno. I fused these two styles together.
– How would you characterize the Canadian style, the way it began and evolved?
– I think that the Canadian style is quite diverse. I must say that North American DJs consider mixing to be much more important than European DJs do. I think North American and Japanese DJs are much more technically oriented than our European counterparts. Canada is far too big a country to define as one style. Montreal takes a more lazy, laid back European style of DJing whereas Toronto was very much all about mixing.
Toronto was and is a special place for this technical style because of it’s geography. It is the closest major city across the American border to Detroit. Torontontonians were always overshadowed by Detroit so we had to work hard to stand out and get noticed as being unique. I remember being in many DJ battles 15 years ago. It was very, very competitive. If you couldn’t mix, you got boooed, had spare change thrown at you and all kinds of nasty stuff!
– In order to give the best, your demands about mixing gear and for a live set point out nothing but professionalism. This technique of placing the turntables, white slip mats, a fading mixer, the height of the monitors, the table’s length, and so on, create the best environment. Tell us more about it.
– Though my technical criteria may seem odd at first, I can assure there is a methodology and logic behind everything in my rider. The placement of the turntables counter-clockwise, roughly in a semi-circle is based upon the need to have as little distance as possible between the pitch controls and the mixer in order to mix quickly. It’s very important if you need to monitor multiple sources and quickly turn off things that may go out of synch because the last thing I want to do is run across the DJ booth to pull a fader down.
White slipmats, silver decks etc. are best used because they reflect light. All DJs know that the most annoying thing in a DJ booth is when you can’t see anything. The more natural ambient light that can be reflected, the better.
Height and angle of monitors is based on acoustic laws. In many DJ booths you will find monitors that are pointed directly at the DJs head and the monitors also point directly at each other, causing phase cancellation and thus, requiring that the monitors be turned up louder and louder. On top of that, usually those monitors are also pointing at the wall directly behind the DJ causing an immediate first reflection. If the back wall has an odd geometry there can be many reflections that create all kinds of acoustic anomolies which affect perception of tempo.
Table height is just my preference for my body height. I don’t think there is really an ideal height for all DJs of course. I think that the most effective height is one in which the DJs arm when working the mixer is 180 degrees horizontal to the mixer. The flattering thing about all these particulars is that often I re-arrange a DJ booth in a club and months later I go back and find that all the other DJs since me enjoyed my set up much better and left the booth as I designed it.
– Where you ever not satisfied with a set because of the sound system?
– Oh yes, of course! Perhaps I don’t even need to mention it because my reputation in this regard could perhaps be a little bad. I am certainly my own worse critic and one slightly off mix makes me hate a set completely. I get very nervous if I have technical problems and have been known to lose my Irish temper.
I drew up a very complicated rider and always take a long soundcheck. I am so particular about sound and am so nervous about technical issues that I took it upon myself to always take at least two hours or more usually to make sure the booth is as absolutely perfect as it can be. If I screw up, it’s only my fault or an overseen circumstance. I take my job very seriously.
It outrages me when I see DJs not giving a shit, just showing up and pressing play. DJing is a technical art form and needs to be respected as such. I have had a few shows where the booth was really bad and I acted embarrassingly angry because of it. This year I played shows in Alicante, Spain, one in Krakow, Poland, one in Toronto, Canada this past New Year’s Eve and one in Seattle, USA, last summer where I had technological and mental breakdowns!
I can truly say that it is rarely if ever the promoters fault. Sometimes shit happens! Ironically, after all this attention to detail sometimes I suck when the booth is perfect and sometimes I rock it when the booth is a disaster.
– Tell us a club where the sound system blew you away and what impressed you the most about it?
– I cant say one club in particular has the best booth and sound but I can certainly say that the ENTIRE country of Japan has the BEST sound and DJ booths in the world. Perhaps it’s due to Otak-u culture or the fact that the Japanese invented half of this equipment or because they seem to be the least egotystical people in the world. I must also say that the best DJs I have ever played with are all Japanese. They really take mixing seriously like us Canadians.
– Back in 1986 you had your first radio show. How did you end up there?
– Damn, I have to admit that I’m forgetting which radio show that was or where u got this info. Nonetheless I did many radio shows in my life from a very young age and I was so young and naive and nervous about everything back then! I was convinced that all those international DJs were on some superhuman level and then I started to slowly realize it’s all marketing and publicity.
– How was the vibe of the parties back in ’88? Tell us about a party from that period: how was the club, the music, the people, how were they dressing, how were they combing their hair and how were they dancing?
– Haha, well back then in Canada, all forms of electronic and alternative music were all played together at the same club. People were hearing hip-hop, house and alternative music in the same place. There was high exposure to a variety of styles. I was one of those people who got into the rave scene from listening to the Stone Roses and the sounds coming out of Manchester and Scheffield. So I guess we were all wearing baggy jeans back then.
– Although your first release came out in 1996 at Serotonin, 1999 is the year of your own label REVOLVER and the first release signed by you. What was the goal of this label? What makes a label be good?
– The original goal of the label was to expose the underpromoted works of our friends back home in Toronto and Montreal. I think a good label is one that tries to put out records that are timeless. A good label is one that sets trends, not following them.
– Artists like Akufen, Tomas Jirku, The Mole, Pan/Tone signed at your record label. What do these DJ’s and the label have in common?
– The one thing they have in common is that they are all making music that is unique. You can hear one of their records and know instantly that it’s them because they took a long time to develop a unique sound.
– In all these years you had the opportunity to watch the evolution of music, especially the techno scene. How would you say it evolved? How big was the influence of technology over music? How did technology influence you? Can you compare ’88 with the prezent, the music and the technique?
– I think that I have seen the de-evolution of music in recent years rather than evolution. If we roll back the clock ten years you will notice that many DJs worked much harder at mixing and it was also much harder to produce and put out records back then. You needed a lot of abstract knowledge ten years ago in order to make music. New technologies have demystified this process.
Today I see much lazier DJs and much lazier music since no real investments need to be made to create, release and perform music. It’s all so much easier now and I find it ironic that with such unlimited tools, somehow the music has taken a few steps back! I think the electronic music scene needs another renaissance similar to the early nineties to breathe new sound and life into the industry. Techno music used to be defined as anything you hadn’t heard before and now it’s all about fitting into genres and molds. Of course there are plenty of amazing records coming out today but there is also a huge amount more music coming out.
– I have listened to a mix of yours from 1996. I wondered: were you doing the music for the future or the music from the present did not evolve in any way?
– The music evolution slowed down and also, producers today are trying to mimmick the old school. It’s funny how in old school minimal, artists were doing as much as they could with a few pieces of gear. It seems to me that modern minimalist artists are trying to “sound” like they only have a few pieces of gear!
Pe scena se urla ca la rock, ca la rock! In loc sa-mi acopar urechile, cum fac de obicei cand aud astfel de sunete, ma umfla subit rasul. Ma uit la cei trei care canta pe scena si ma scutur de buna dispozitie surprinzatoare. Cu mainile in buzunar, imi lipesc urechea de fotografia miscatoare si rad iar. Cred ca imi place si nu-mi vine sa cred.
La chitara se misca sacadat o Morticia miniona si blonda, cu parul umflat, subjugata sunetului clash, electropunk, post-punk si foarte experimental. Ea este Le Petit Sonja. Vorbeste ca un soricel, chitz, chitz, cand multumeste publicului. Cand canta, isi pune la ochi ochelarii albastrii, cat fata, iar vocea ei devine grava si matura. Sunet electronic din plin, tehnic si analog, de la omul dur care sta neclintit la clape si la taste. Isi misca doar degetele, grabite catre niciunde. Este Moimir Papalescu, Contele Dracula al lui Bram Stoker, din 2007. Pe laptop scrie “Lost”, iar el seamana cu John Lock, personajul chel, cu ochelari de soare, din serialul “Lost”.
E concert, e live, dar se striga “uuu” timid intre piese. Cateva plete si mai multi clubberi, chitari electrice care te zguduie techno si lumea care sta totusi, infipta in podea. Sa nu ne miscam prea tare, sa nu ne lovim! Iar capetele se clatina continuu, de parca ar aproba sau ar nega. Asa se poate dansa si la masa! Si se danseaza la masa, de pe canapea, asa. Galagie! Dau ca un copil cu bazdaci din picior si las muzica sa se prelinga pe timpan, sa ma isterizeze. Este atat de bine, incat in sfarsit, se aplauda! Solistul spune niste cuvinte in ceha si nimeni nu intelege nimic. Traduce apoi in limba universala, cu o voce de calaret singuratic care starneste mainile in aer, precum nisipul in desert, in goana lui dupa sunet.
La prima pauza intre piese simt energia cum iese prin toti porii, vreau sa ma odihnesc mental si vreau sa strig: “Acum un blues, acum un blues!”. Insa, blonda cu buze rosii si tenul alb continua sa cante agresiv la microfon, din toate pozitiile. “Un DJ nu va putea sa faca asta niciodata”, ma gadesc si o fixez in memorie cum danseaza exorcizata sub transa creata de ea si de oamenii ei. Te smuceste scurt, si involuntar, si robotic. Dar nu-ti dezlipesti ochii de scena. Micuta Sonja se misca ca o pisica ritmata, vreme de doua piese traite intens. Sugar pop, zahar pop. Nici un pic de minimal.
Se anunta ultima piesa, iar vibeul de concert se declanseaza automat, de parca Contele Dracula a apasat pe buton. Pana acum, lumea a stat ca piatra, care astepta sa vina cineva, sa o arunce in apa, sa faca pleosc! E deja a treia oara cand chitaristul spune “this is the last song”. Cred ca la un momentdat, o sa devina isteric si o sa urle:”I tOLD YOU ThIS IS `thE LAST SON~G!”. Pentru ca sunt o trupa cu personalitate.
-sunt inlocuitorii burtosilor de la mese care ne deranjau atat de tare acu ceva timp
-se situeaza pe baricada muzicala corecta (din intamplare sau nu) si le place cu pasiune muzica asta. preferabil oricand unui indiferent cuminte.
-sunt preocupati de look, de cool, de tot ce face placere si bucurie unui tanar
-au o abordare estetica originala si indrazneata. nu stiu de unde vine moda asta, chiar as vrea sa stiu, dar au un curaj nebun in a o afisa. “cand eram noi de 18 ani” ne era rusine si de un fular mai colorat
-sunt printre primii care accepta ca la club te imbraci altfel si nu in hainele bune. sunt funky si vor fi primii care vor adopta neon-chic-ul care rupe europa cand va izbucni la noi
-frezele te duc cu gandul mai mult la david bowie decat la struti dar asta tine de cultura acuzatorilor
-fac atmosfera, petrecerile reusesc sau nu in functie de aparitia lor. le si strica in aceeasi masura dar tocmai asta dovedeste importanta existentei lor. ei conteaza si stiu asta.
-sunt multi, se simt bine si nu ii intereseaza ce zic ceilalti desi banuiesc ca se simt usor prost si discriminati tocmai in mijlocul lumii pe care o iubesc
-sunt tineri fara alte background-uri muzicale, nepotii lui internullo, scoliti de pagal. nu au sensibilitati de rocker si inteleg greu ce e aia un cocalar.
-a se accepta deferenta lor pentru alte stiluri ca pubertate
-consuma cele mai multe droguri reducand din presiunea asupra consumatorului matur. sunt creatori de piata.
-nu se plang ca nu mai e cum a fost si entuziasmul lor duce lucrurile mai departe
-evolueaza
-platesc
si nu in ultimul rand pentru ca e urat sa te iei de oameni asa si sa razi de pozele lor. anti-cocalarul e un cocalar, asta inveti abea la a doua tinerete.
“The pace of techno’s output is like capitalism on speed, with innumerable, virtually identical products hitting the market in quick succession. Along the way, there are the interpretations, the innovations and the occasional improvement– and that’s why we keep listening.”
“I’ve always loved techno precisely for its streamlined seamlessness, but with so much material out there that sounds almost as if it’s trying to be anonymous, indistinguishable, one begins to wonder if techno’s long, asymptotal slope towards its ideal type isn’t beginning to split subatomic hairs.”
“Like dubstep, techno can be way too self-serious for its own good. What happened to the euphoria? (Maybe it was the shift from ecstasy back to cocaine in dance culture.)”
in primul rand belgia e o tara foarte frumoasa, cu oameni relaxati si inclinati spre micile placeri ale vietii. berea e arta acolo ca si dulciurile, vafele, branzeturile, sosurile, mustarul, steakurile si cartofii prajiti. dar asta nu e techno, asta e turism.
de altfel techno nu prea a fost nici i love techno. in primul rand pentru ca toata zona aia geografica pare complet orientata spre new rave. festivalul, de fapt petrecerea dat fiind ca e o singura noapte strange cam 35.000 de oameni in niste hale imense tip expo. fiecare sala, erau vreo 6, avea o capacitate maxima undeva pe la 6000 de oameni si daca se umplea nu mai puteai sa intri. chestia asta s-a intamplat numai la justice care sunt mega-vedete populare. de fapt si eu ma dusesem destul de chitit pe zona asta, justice si digitalism mai vazusem dar vroiam sa prind niste klaxons, boys noize sau mstrkrft. nu prea am stat la camerele de hard-techno sau techno clasic dar pot sa spun ca trendul popular era pe new rave.
organizarea festivalului este extrardinara numai daca te gandesti ca exista garderoba pentru 35.000 de oameni, un fel de romexpo, una dintre cele mai mari sali pline cu haine pe care am vazut-o in viata mea, un camp cu haine dar organizat foarte nemteste. nu existau cozi la nici un bar iar apa se distribuia gratuit. organizarea asta buna are in schimb si o parte foarte proasta. punctul cel mai slab al festivalului si chestia care mie personal mi-a distrus jumatate din distractie a fost faptul ca sunetul a fost tinut aproape toata seara la un nivel foarte scazut. muzica asta chiar nu functioneaza incet. auzi, iti place dar daca nu te loveste cum trebuie e ca la radio. frustrant, de 10 ori frustrant. cred ca are ceva de-a face cu niste reglementari ue legate de protejarea urechilor participantilor dar prea multa reglementare si civilizatie face petrecerea praf. asa ca mai mult am ascultat decat am simtit muzica.
pe scurt traseul a aratat cam asa: klaxons, vedete de carton, mai multa imagine si atitudine decat muzica, o tura scurta pe la simian mobile disco sa vad cum suna live toate sculele alea analoage cu care se lauda, suna bine, boys noize, incredibil cat de popular poa sa fie, un set nici prea prea, nici foarte foarte, distorted electro exact cum te asteptai dar la un volum care il face sa sune bleg, goose, mandria recenta a belgienilor, care chiar au sunat foarte bine, saltaret, cu refren, o vizita destul de scurta si dezamagitoare pe la ellen allien si miss kittin & the hacker. important la festivalurile astea cu de toate e pana la urma sa te relaxezi, sa te simti bine si sa nu te frustrezi cand pierzi ceva din planul initial. de fiecare data ajungi sa faci planul praf si sa iti dai seama ca de fapt nici nu vrei sa te ti de el atat de mult. toate considerentele astea numai ca sa marturisesc ca cel mai bine la i love techno eu m-am simtit la gui boratto. poate pentru ca era singurul minimal pe care l-am auzit in seara aia (pe bodzin l-am ratat), poate pentru ca era intr-o camera cu mai putina lume si mai intima, poate pentru ca era singurul loc in care volumul era rezonabil. am incheiat petrecerea cu un set mstrkrft care a sunat la fel ca boys noize, la fel ca justice, la fel ca goose, la fel ca simian mobile disco.
si sa stiti ca belgienii si italieni cand se duc la festival canta cantece de galerie in tramvai si lovesc puternic in geam la unison, se inghesuie si se imping mai rau ca la noi, si ca ajung atat de beti la fest incat pica inainte sa intre. muie steaua kind of atmosphere. si ca belgienii care gasesc bilete de garderoba pierdute chiar se duc si fura geaca. si ca am fost mai multi romani decat m-as fi asteptat, ca ne cam stiam intre noi, ca ne-am intalnit de cate ori prin multime si am schimbat politeturi, ca ne-am pierdut de unii dar i-am gasit pe altii. si ca mi-a fost frica sa iau camera foto cu mine ca sa nu ma intoarca aia din drum de la mama dracu asa ca nu am nici o poza.
per ansamblu, mi-a fost dor de o petrecere reusita la club, cu lume mai putina si sunet neiertator. 35.000 de oamenii a inceput sa fie prea mult pentru mine.
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