Now that I have ended the month of June 2007, I can officially put into effect the paradigm shift that I realized back in May. This is the move from DJ to producer. Though its not so much a move, but the addition of a layer. Or, as I'm finding, multiple layers, coming from above, below, beside and, well, directly at me.
The first change is to cut down my DJ appearances as much as possible. So far that is 1-2 a month (not including Oseao). This allows me more time to learn whatever it is I need to learn to make my own music. And let me tell you, there are A LOT of moving parts. More that I ever imagined. But hey, if it was easy, I would have already mastered it, right? And then what would I do? (Considering the complexity of this, the next step feels like quantum physics.)
The second change comes from a live project that I've been involved with, otherwise known as an 'electronic band'. Live Sessions, I've been calling them. These consist of myself on decks, Mel Sky on Keyboards, Sklobot on Sax, Bass & effects, Jay Ray on Synth, Drum Machine & effects & Aaron also on Bass. Fun right? True until I realized that as a DJ with 1 CD-J and 1 Vinyl turntable my options are very limited. Its like I'm holding two markers, one in each hand. I can change the colors, maybe the thickness of the stroke. But in the end, I'm still only holding two markers. So I bought a new drawing kit. Which is more like a multi-level Art Supply Warehouse. A kingdom of markers, paint brushes, colored pencils, crayons, airbrush, acrylics, oil, pastels, clay, pottery, even the sexy nude model if I want... Ableton Live software and a laptop to boot. This is the shit. Now I don't have just 1 loop on CD and 1 loop on Vinyl. Now I have a million bazillion loops, vocals, instruments & effects to play simultaneously. Well, once I learn how to use the thing. I feel like I was just handed the keys to an F/A-18 Hornet Fighter Pilot, a Blue Angels helmet and instructions -- 'Here you are, now go fly!' Uh, ok. How?
The third layer is the MIDI Controller Keyboard that I bought down in Portland, which has since been more like our favorite toy, Woody, who was all but forgotten after the addition of the flashy Buzz Lightyear to the family. But every time I fire up Reason, I fish they keyboard out of the bottom of the box too. They go hand in hand, er key in key, and knob in knob, and slider in button, and button in key, and slider in modulator and transpose in octave and ctrl assign data1 to store recall... Ugh! Figuring out how to map the sounds I want to the knobs I want to control them is yet another learning curve. Slowly but surely, its happening. I can connect 1-A and 2-B. But I still have to figure out how to connect R## = Combine##(V - C(I), K - I). What the Bleep, Right?
In the midst of all these new fun toys, I realize that I can construct my Legos to be the highest most complex structures that I want, but without a proper base, they just won't hold. I want them to look good! Er, sound good. No, sound fantastic. Enter the bottom layer, the basis of all music (well, the basis above the math part). Music Theory 101 (Thank you, Seattle Central!). I'm finally learning what 4/4 really means. And major minor, scale, clefs, compound meter, grand staff, accidentals, intervals, double flat, middle C ... I could list them all, but I should be really doing my homework right now.
And now that its the age of technology, with each of these layers comes new software to learn, new terms to learn, new interfaces to connect, new websites to bookmark, new magazines to subscribe. Wikipedia is my very very very best friend.
Oh yeah, and it might be helpful to actually learn to play the piano. There's a bunch of notes swimming around in my head. I'd like to actually know what they are.
I got a long way to go.
Quantum Physics, here I come!
