So D.N.P uses Android applications for live playing and he agreed to write some about his experience. It is great because he uses a lot of different apps connected to a mixer and in the end of the post you can take a listen to his live set as rehearsed.
So please read on to see what D.N.P has to say.
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The Live 'laptop' electronic experience is a funny affair.
The audience can never see exactly what's going on and often they aren't sure if you're doing anything at all. I'm sure in the past I've witnessed such acts who've just pressed 'play'.
In my own experiences of constructing a 'live' set I've attempted to debunk the 'he's just pressing play' audience mindset and I've discovered that by using multiple android devices you can do just that. That's the first problem. Multiple devices. you can only run one app at a time. Fortunately I'm a hoarder and so have 2 old smartphones as well as my current one. My main unit is a Nexus 7 tablet. Wire all 4 to a mini mixing desk along with an iPod to play bits of found sounds and speech and away you go.
The crux of my sounds are built in Caustic 3.
A truly wonderful and powerful app and the amount of virtual knob twiddling that can be achieved is endless. Great for a live situation. Alongside Caustic, Virtual ANS is fab for even photographing the audience or the setup and using those images to generate sounds. Saucillator, Yellofier, 8-bit Buckaroo, Ethereal dialpad, Pixelwave, Ambient synth pad, White noise generator, and my new favourite Psycho Flute can all be used on the fly with remarkable results. Shame I can't get Moon Synth to work on any of my devices. I like the look of that one.
Pixitracker, 1-bit Pixitracker, Reactable, Nanoloop and Sunvox are all on my to do list in future performances as well as a heavily processed electric ukulele.
Rehearsing is very important like music in any other discipline. A full knowledge of how your apps work and what they can achieve is of highest importance. Floundering in front of a paying audience does not look good.
Anyway I record all rehearsals and listen them back to see what worked, what didn't etc.
You often can't tell when you're 'in the moment'. I've put my last rehearsal on bandcamp for others to hear. With warts and all.
A couple of overloaded mixing desk situations at about 15 and 40 mins in for a few seconds. But you learn from making these mistakes.
Take a listen and get out of your bedrooms and onto a stage.
You're musicians after all.
D.N.P Live - Obsidian Ambient Terror
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So please read on to see what D.N.P has to say.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Live 'laptop' electronic experience is a funny affair.
The audience can never see exactly what's going on and often they aren't sure if you're doing anything at all. I'm sure in the past I've witnessed such acts who've just pressed 'play'.
In my own experiences of constructing a 'live' set I've attempted to debunk the 'he's just pressing play' audience mindset and I've discovered that by using multiple android devices you can do just that. That's the first problem. Multiple devices. you can only run one app at a time. Fortunately I'm a hoarder and so have 2 old smartphones as well as my current one. My main unit is a Nexus 7 tablet. Wire all 4 to a mini mixing desk along with an iPod to play bits of found sounds and speech and away you go.
The crux of my sounds are built in Caustic 3.
A truly wonderful and powerful app and the amount of virtual knob twiddling that can be achieved is endless. Great for a live situation. Alongside Caustic, Virtual ANS is fab for even photographing the audience or the setup and using those images to generate sounds. Saucillator, Yellofier, 8-bit Buckaroo, Ethereal dialpad, Pixelwave, Ambient synth pad, White noise generator, and my new favourite Psycho Flute can all be used on the fly with remarkable results. Shame I can't get Moon Synth to work on any of my devices. I like the look of that one.
Pixitracker, 1-bit Pixitracker, Reactable, Nanoloop and Sunvox are all on my to do list in future performances as well as a heavily processed electric ukulele.
Rehearsing is very important like music in any other discipline. A full knowledge of how your apps work and what they can achieve is of highest importance. Floundering in front of a paying audience does not look good.
Anyway I record all rehearsals and listen them back to see what worked, what didn't etc.
You often can't tell when you're 'in the moment'. I've put my last rehearsal on bandcamp for others to hear. With warts and all.
A couple of overloaded mixing desk situations at about 15 and 40 mins in for a few seconds. But you learn from making these mistakes.
Take a listen and get out of your bedrooms and onto a stage.
You're musicians after all.
D.N.P Live - Obsidian Ambient Terror
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Links:
A small review of the show:
http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/miss-halliwell-big-bren%E2%80%99s-combo-the-dollcanoes-d-n-p-the-city-tavern-birmingham-uk-28-february-2014/
D.N.P Bandcamp site:
http://dnpdarkness.bandcamp.com/
Please contact me if you are using Android applications partly or only when playing live;
at musicalandroid@yahoo.com as it is highly interesting and a nice thing to share with others that want to take the step out of the bedroom onto a stage.
A small review of the show:
http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/miss-halliwell-big-bren%E2%80%99s-combo-the-dollcanoes-d-n-p-the-city-tavern-birmingham-uk-28-february-2014/
D.N.P Bandcamp site:
http://dnpdarkness.bandcamp.com/
Please contact me if you are using Android applications partly or only when playing live;
at musicalandroid@yahoo.com as it is highly interesting and a nice thing to share with others that want to take the step out of the bedroom onto a stage.
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