J. LeRoy Performance
Blue Milk
Debrief
Last
Updated: 21-Jul-2001 10:21
July 14, 2001 - Atlanta, GA - Sources -
Paradigm ArtspaceJ. LeRoy met up with ZXQV for an eight hour ambient set for a gallery opening at Paradigm in Atlanta.-
Event: Sources Opening Night
Location: Paradigm Artspace - BlueMilk - Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Musical Partners: ZXQV
About ZXQV
J. LeRoy and ZXQV have been working together in one form or another for what now seems a very long time. ZXQV is now an academic, plays a variety of instruments, and has supplied ample creative support and energy and raw materials to J. LeRoy. He is an Atlantan who was instrumental in bringing J. LeRoy to the City with Gentrifying Neighborhoods.
Overview of the Situation
The ambient nature of the music allowed for a free-form blending between the three different software packages and the two artists. The presence of the AirFX also worked very well for this show. Probably the best that I've ever seen it work. The audience also got a big kick out of the AirFX and would come up and play with it while we played. I might go searching for more of them and arrange them to allow more audience participation at some shows in the future.
One of the nice things about doing an Ambient gig is that you can still be fairly available to chat with the "public". Our setup made was intimate with the people attending the opening, which meant that they could come and chat us up.
One of the common themes was people asking us if we were just playing MP3s. When I would actually show them the gizmos in Mulch, the power of Tuareg or the insane detail of Reason they were duly impressed. If we were just on a stage people would have thought that we were just playing files and not actually making music.
We did VideoTape the whole event, which will be some combination of fascinating and highly boring to watch. I watched about 5 minutes of one tape where ZXQV and I didn't move at all. We do stare very intently at the screen, however.
Another nice touch of the evening was that AudioMulch and Tuareg users came to check out the event. That's another great thing about using those two warez -- there is a definite community out there.
Gear / Setup
J. LeRoy used an HP Pavilion N5190 laptop with a Roland UA-30 USB Audio Interface. ZXQV used an IBM Thinkpad 570E and a Toshiba Portege - both running on their native soundcards. The three computers were run into a Mackie 14 Channel desktop mixer which fed to two JBL powered monitors (very nice) and to one almost comic and barely intact bookshelf stereo amplifier which was attached to four home-use and blue spraypainted speakers. An Alesis AirFX was attached to a mic stand which sat between J. LeRoy and ZXQV.
All music for the event was produced live. There was no "DJ"ing involved. The three weapons of audio foundry were AudioMulch, Tuareg and Reason.
Use of Audio Mulch
Audio Mulch was used by both J. LeRoy and ZXQV to build complex aural environments. J. LeRoy had compiled a variety of highly diffused soundscape sources and generators. ZXQV had compiled a large collection of verbal loops from political figures and other bizarre sources. AudioMulch 0.97b and 0.96b were used in this event. Primary VST plugs were VReorder, RePsycho, Cyanide, and MDADetune.
Use of Tuareg
J. LeRoy used Tuareg for portions of the show. The looping and sample mangling software was used to create variating and complex rhythms at various times during the night. When the audience had become used to long, shifting and diffused soundscapes, Tuareg would be fired up and would introduce unexpected order. In general, Tuareg was used at 30 to 60 BPM -- sometimes pumping it up to 212 BPM just to be obnoxious.
Use of Reason
Tuareg and AudioMulch are created by two individuals. Reason is more of a corporate product - although it might amuse the folx at Propellerheads to be thought of as corporate. Reason's synth is a force to be reckoned with and produces a sound completely unlike Much or Tu. Use of Reason also provide variety and discord to the evening. Much like Tuareg, Reason was usually slowed way down. I built long, winding patterns in the sequencer and then tweeked both the sequencers and the synths in real-time. This, combined with the on-board effects and sounds created by ZXQV created some very compelling moments in our set.
Recording
Recording this event -- sucked. It really did. We Videotaped it, so we might release a bootleg. But it will certainly be a bootleg.
Billed by local press (With moderate editing in blue) as:
Visual art A host of artists are searching for natural order in the exhibit SOURCES: ART AND THE UNIVERSAL at Bluemilk's Paradigm Artspace. The show includes works by artists Karen Rich Beall, Richard Beckman, Karen Zorn Woodward, Rena S. Edgar, Hannah Jones, M. Roxanne Lowery, Amanda McGee, Melissa Messina, Sandy Owens, Aaron Parazette, Michael Pittari and Jamound Williams. The opening night activities JULY 14 will begin at 7 p.m. with Seattle's J. LeRoy joining Atlanta's ZXQV creating ambient music in the main art space. At 10 p.m., Charm School will perform on the outdoor stage. 1125 Spring St. 404-815-8911.
