The very long queue snaked around a couple of blocks in West End, and I made a mental pledge:
“Note to self- get more contacts who own big venues or manage superstars, lining up is for chumps.”
Of course this was further illustrated when I caught sight of Jaymis casually milling near the front of the venue, and later when I saw him and his camera up on stage behind the scenes as well. My current claim to fame: “I know someone who met Imogen Heap!” Oh yeah, I rule.

The gig itself was pretty special- my first visit to the HiFi- and I like it! The warmup acts were very accomplished- Tim Exile hits new heights for live sampling with lashings of geek-factor. The highlight of Tim’s set was when he jumped into the crowd armed with some kind of bluetooth supergamer joystick and a microphone and proceeded to sample and mess with sounds from the crowd on the fly. Impressive stuff.

Imogen was a joy from the moment she ducked out on stage with her hair “not done yet” to introduce Tim’s performance to her spine tingling triple encore. Calm and disarmingly charming as always, Imogen gave us a brief rundown on her impressive technical setup, and showed off her wrist microphones- “a lot less expensive than miking up every piece of equipment” she noted.

Armed with more technology than NASA and sporting an impressive set of wireless packs strapped to her back, the focus was definitely her music and not the gadgetry. Live samples of wine glasses, toy birds, bells and chimes combined to build beautiful atmospheres for each track. The highlight, almost predictably, was Hide and Seek; the whole crowd was swept up what could only be called a sacred 5 minutes. Who knew a gaudy plastic key-tar and a vocoder could emote so much?

Anyway- the gig rocked- I’m sure Youtube is saturated with video and Flickr updated with the collective recorded bits from the army of iPhones in the crowd. I managed one “not totally blurry” pic from my (this is not a gadgetry blog) Sony Ericsson w810i. I’ll update soon ok?!

On the Saturday afternoon I headed down to The Edge to check out Plug & Play- a VJ workshop being held by Jaymis & Andrew Gibbs (also a Catalyst). Inspired by the previous night’s performance, I thought it might be a good idea to finally make use of my gear that’s been locked away downstairs for months and see what crazy noises we could come up with to complement the visuals. With no rehearsal, laptop, or backing tracks of any kind, it was a leap of faith. Fortunately it was a small and tech-curious crowd, who were only too keen to get involved and there was no pressure for me to keep some kind of uplifing DJ set going the whole time, so I managed to play all kinds of geeky stuff. A little polish and we could maybe take this thing on the road and perform at the Logan RSL!

I’ve come to a few conclusions after the “performance”. 1.) My Amiga 600 has no place in any kind of modern stage-setup, and I should consider setting it free on ebay. 2.) It might be a good idea to learn how to play my own songs (sequencers make us all lazy!) and 3. Brisbane crowds are pretty forgiving. I got away with playing the soundtrack to an old Nintendo DS game I made, and jamming over the top, as well as an impromptu jam with Andrew Gibb’s iPhone running some imitation Tenori On  software- and found new uses for my Electrix Repeater. Here’s a photo of the setup:

The Edge is still an inspiring place- met some amazingly talented and industrious VJ types, and hopefully there’ll be more jamming. Any future gigs will have this bit of experience behind them, and I’ll be better prepared to keep some smooth tunes rolling. Will work on a live FL-Studio set for next time.

Speaking of which- don’t miss my workshop on April 10 if you want to meet other FL producers and build your skills!

=) A

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=324668492&s=143460

If you’re thinking of breakfast cereal, it’s likely this article isn’t directed at you. No offence.

This is a call to arms for all FL Studio users (the grown‑up name for the old‑school Fruity Loops music program) based in Brisbane and surrounds who might like to hone their production skills and attend a series of free workshops to be held at The Edge at the State Library of Queensland.

The workshops are aimed at intermediate to advanced users, and will explore electronic and hip-hop production, working with voice samples, and the art of remixing.

Those who haven’t used FL Studio before can download the demo to their computers and have a go (www.flstudio.com) or check out an introductory workshop next time The Edge puts one on (keep your eye on the website).

The workshops are being run by Andrew Curnock—Audio Catalyst at The Edge, videogame soundtrack producer and electronic musician. Andrew has more than 10 years’ experience with the program and a real desire to see some high calibre music production from local artists.

To register your interest, shoot off an email to workshops@beattherapy.com

For information on dates, times and more info about The Edge, visit www.edgeqld.org.au

The Edge is a cornerstone of arts culture + me, the Queensland Government’s Children and Young People in the Arts Action Plan 2008–2011.

Sunday’s (21/03/10) workshop was a huge hit- some very talented producers turned up & made some nice beats. Hope to see you all there next time!

Next Workshop is April 10 at The Edge – 2pm til 4pm

=) Andrew

Old site still semi-functional at beattherapy.com/legacy/

=) Andrew

You can still visit the old site here: beattherapy.com/legacy/ Stay tuned- still working this out.