I have done a number of solo gigs in "Chill Out" rooms at parties etc.. . Solo vibes or marimba with laptop running beats, realtime sampling and the sort. Very chill, very fun.
I have one release, "MNO Sleeps....Marimba Sessions"
Another track, which was developed from an improvisation made one evening at a DUB BEAUTIFUL performance named "CATS" will be released January 2007 on 6 Degree's Records.
MNO SLEEPS...Marimba Sessions is an exploration into the sonic possibilities of the marimba. The concept was simple, record myself playing marimba, throw the files into the computer and edit/manipulate the sounds to create some music.
I set up a few limitations in the process;
1- All sounds would be derived from the marimba. The purpose for this was to give an acoustic feel to the recording, as I knew I would be manipulating sounds therefore I wanted to start as "natural" as possible.
2- No fast/technical playing. I wanted to make something relaxing that I would want to hear as a listener as compared to a mallet player who may become overly concerned with the technical merit of the performance. (I have been guilty of this on many occasions). To achieve this I recorded very late at night (4AM-8AM). I was very tired and wasn't concerned about what I was playing. These were fairly ego-free recording sessions.
3- Try and turn single strokes into drones and pads through computer manipulation. When I was making these tracks, I was very intrigued by a program called "Metasynth" which uses images as a template for audio manipulation. This program is fantastic at making sounds shift and linger in unique ways.
4- Melody. May ambient CD's I listen to are very interesting sonically, but have little melodic content to grab onto. I incorporated many very long repetitive melodies in these tracks, in an effort to make the CD a bit more appealing upon multiple listenings.
I have found that I like working within boundaries from the onset of a project, for providing a framework keeps me focused and stimulates creativity. Making this CD was comparable to a sculpting. After I recorded the Marimba, which took a total of 8 hours over 2 nights, I was left with a huge amount of information. I needed to weed through the tracks, cutting, cleaving, and searching for the right sounds. The music as in there somewhere, but like a sculptor working with a block of marble, I had to free the music within it. (Excuse the analogy, but it is a genuine comparison to me).
This project started in 1998 during a very hectic time in my life. I was in the process of buying a house and getting married. I worked on the original tracks during this time, finding it very relaxing and inspiring. But as life has it, distractions continued to arrive and I had to put the "marimba cd" on the back burner. I think when it came to be that I was about to become a father, I realized that if I didn't complete the project and release these pieces, they may never come to fruition. I gave my rough mix CD to my friend Johannes Luley, who is a true sonic wizard and he helped clean up, smooth out the sound and master the tracks.
ARTWORK NOTES
I used the same concept (expanding and reinterpeting a small amount of material) for the design of the CD. I took one photo of the marimba keys and then manipulated the image in Photoshop to create the cover.
TECHNICAL NOTES
Marimba: Malletech 5.0 -5-octave rosewood marimba
1AKG 460 B microphones
Mackie 1202
Sony DAT
Macintosh G3
Kurzweil K2000
Metasynth 2.0
Pluggo 2.1
Digital Performer 2.5/2.7/3.0
Pro tools HD
I recorded the marimba into the 4 AKG 460's, which were mixed down to a stereo pair with the Mackie mixer and recorded directly into the DAT player. The DAT's were then imported into my mac. First a G3 desktop 233, then a Powerbook Pismo 400 and finally a Powerbook G4 867.
Initially I tweaked multiple sounds in metasynth, which were then imported into Digital Performer or made into samples to be played on the K2000. These samples were then multi-tracked in Performer. Eventually it was mixed in Digital Performer.
I then gave mixed stereo tracks to Johannes who worked on sonic issued in Pro Tools and then mastered the session.