Tag Archives: live electronic music

dRachEmUsiK

Collaborators, , , , ,


Charles Shriner (aka dRachEmUsiK) and I collaborate as Side Dish Side Affect.   We released an  album in May 2014, and I am very happy with the result. Below is a track in the album called Fermented Stingray.

Charles probably has been performing electronic music before I even got my first synthesizer. He is a multitalented musician who runs a record label, produces albums, tours as a performer, broadcasts a weekly radio show, and runs an electronic music festival (check out charlesshriner.com for his credentials). If you need a music tech guy in Indianapolis, I strongly suggest that you contact Charles.

SDSA

I first met him at Electro-Music Festival in 2009, and became friends ever since. I particularly remember his excellent improvisation workshops and open-mindness to all kinds of music.  Charles and I also share love of good food. We named our group after a homemade Korean dinner at my place. I still remember the taste of an oxtail dish I had at Charle’s place during the recording session. Even our track names in the album are crude translation of Korean side dishes.

Please join Side Dish Side Affect when we come to your town for a gig. Let us also know a good restaurant in your town. Meanwhile, dRachEmUsiK + Onewayness is starting a tour next week. Check them out!

New Solo Set

Performances, ,

I am in the process of making a new solo set. My solo concert in the past two years involved a lot of found objects processed with computer.

Then, I fell in love with no-input mixer and analog synthesizer while I was doing the 100 Strange Sounds project. As I got more acquainted with analog instruments, it felt natural to try a performance involving more circuits and less objects.

The first attempt was done at the Asheville Electro-Music Festival in May 17. The “premiere” was exiting, but also revealed things to improve. Let me share what I observed and learned from the recording made by Project Ruori.

  1. The second half of the performance is better than the first half. Beside the sounds, compare my posture at 4:00 and 14:00. Fourteen minutes is a long time to get into the zone. I need more practice and confidence.
  2. I should use stage monitors in large rooms. For found object performances, I turned off the monitors for feedback issues. I realize that doing the same is not good for this kind of performance. The electronic instruments sounded too far and muffled.
  3. Ditch the speech intro. My intention was to gradually change my speech into music, but it did not work. I tried this in other occasions, but it did not work well, either. As my undergrad teacher advised to me, start the show with music.
  4. The cabbage intro needs more preparations. I was expecting this kind of visual and sound, but the vegetable did not crush well due to the poor choice of the cabbage and limited table space. Perhaps I should cut the cabbage a little bit prior to the performance?
  5. Electronics part could use a better dynamic change. Some transition to softer part sounded as mistakes. Perhaps this problem is related to my observation 1 and 2.
  6.  According to the audiences I talked to, the offstage  melodica ending worked well. I should try to end the set by eating the mutilated cabbage in smaller venues.

Please stay tuned for videos of my future performances. Feel free to comment/mail your suggestion to improve the sound and visuals. I expect to become comfortable with this set by the third or fourth show. I will prepare and practice, but some things are only learned from performing on stage.

jwPerfMode