#mini kaoss pad

[asepticvoid]

I'm recording some samples for track number 9 of my upcoming album.

[crurum]

𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽

𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯𝟬𝟰𝟬𝟳

[glass-needles-and-futurisms]

Took a breather from making Dom's drum kit for a new mini-project: Matt and Chris's guitars!

The blue specks on the neck of Chris's bass are meant to emulate LED lights. The white square on Matt's guitar is, of course, the kaoss pad.

Was gonna crochet the straps from scratch, but then I remembered that I had some spare black ribbon and jump rings in my supplies!

[taperwolf]

So I've been listening to stuff on my phone — podcasts and videos and such — through really cheap bluetooth earbuds for a while now. They don't have great sound quality, but in exchange the battery life is short too. I'm basically always charging one pair while listening to another, and keeping a third set in reserve.

But today at a thrift store I found a couple of those little bluetooth receivers intended for plugging into the aux input on a home or car stereo, and due to the discount structure at the particular store they were selling for 50¢ each. So I bought both. I opened one up and it actually already had a charge; when I paired it to my phone and plugged in some wired earbuds I was also carrying, it drove them with really nice clarity.

Then I remembered I was also carrying my Mini Kaoss Pad.

So for the last half hour or so I've been running my podcasts through assorted delays, reverbs, distortions, flangers, filters, and vocoders. It's not the best way to get information out of the episodes, but it's certainly a fun way to pass time on the bus.

[popmilofirst]

I spent my afternoon making this song. It’s really fun making electro songs and throwing together videos for them. Starting to understand all my gear a little bit more each time I come up with a new jam.

[kyotakumrau]

Do you have models of your microphone, theremin, bass, voice synthesizer and kaoss pad?

Lmao I don't have any, but if you mean Kyo's then:

●Moog EW-Theremini-01 

https://www.moogaudio.com/en/moog-music-ew-theremini-01-mini-etherwave-theremin-wht

●Bass Edwards E-BB-145

https://espguitars.co.jp/products/e-bb

●SOMA The Pipe

https://somasynths.com/pipe/

●Kaoss Pad is from Korg but I don't know which model

●The microphone brand doesn't matter to Kyo, I don't know which brand he's using currently.

[disinvited-guest]

10/27/2018 NYC Mini Recap

Since there is a full length recording of this show as well as several videos, and because I want to be all caught up on recaps going into my next round of shows, this is just going to be a mini recap.

-I took a bus and two trains into the city, then walked several blocks.  I had planned to get there earlier than I did, but it all worked out, as due to some intense strategizing and brilliant execution on the part of @monopuffstan and @integrityproject , we snagged a spot in the front row in front of the drum riser.  It had been far too long since I had been over on that side of the stage, and I really enjoyed the change in perspective.

-While we were waiting, we saw a bunch of the backstage goings-on through a gap in a curtain that covered a balcony over stage left.  Just about everyone passed through that point before the show, and Dan and Linnell both peeked around the curtain to check out the crowd.

I- realized at this show that Curt has a tablet set up in front of his riser.

-The setlist wasn’t an exact replica of the night before, but it was fairly similar.

-Dan was right in front of us for the Damn Good Times solo, and it’s even more spectacular up close

-I got a smile from Danny towards the start of the show.  Towards the end, of the second set, you could see him checking the first few rows from one side of the crowd to the other and making sure he had acknowledged everyone he recognized.  I got another smile then, and I thought it was nice to see how much he cared about us fans.

-Linnell was taking pictures on a disposable camera as they came onstage, and while Flans was greeting the crowd.

-Flans referred to Terminal 5 as both “the concrete box that rocks” and “our home away from home, even when we are at home”

-Linnell apparently had slept most of the day, then had and exhausted conversation with his wife about how strange Canada was “that was weird”

-They claimed in touring Canada that the had missed Moosejaw and Winterhat, but had been to Sascacheeeee....

-Flans talked about going on someone’s twitter profile (sometimes when a person posts something incomprehensible, he explained, you have to check out their profile) and they described themselves as "shy af." He pretended to us that he had no idea what that could mean, and Linnell told him it was a photography term and it stood for out of focus.  “It all comes back to photography.”

-Flans mentioned that he had presented Robin with their first ever piece of taxidermy (the mini-tiger which he had mentioned in Ithaca).  They’ve decided to keep it in a nook at the top of their basement stairs.  What happened next is too hilarious not to include longform.

Flans:  The interesting thing about taxidermy is that you either lose all your friends or you gain a whole new set of friends who are just a little bit creepier.

Linnell: Or you could just taxidermy your old friends.  It’s a win-win.

Flans:  It’s that kind of outside of the box thinking that’s kept this band fresh for all these years

They continued on that vein  for a while, the exact wording of which I forget, then continued

Flans:  What’s a little cannibalism among friends?

Linnell: I didn’t say anything about cannibalism.

Flans: And that is the basis of our collaboration.  You mention taxidermy and I’m like “hey cannibalism!”

-Flans said the second set is all fusion rock and we’d have to pay to leave.

-When Linnell tried to start during the Future of Sound on his Kaoss pad, nothing happened and he had to reach up and turn it on, which everyone saw since the camera on his keyboard was projected to the big screen

-Flans told us we weren’t in the oversized paper clip section of staples when introducing the contra alto clarinet.

-When introducing All Time What, Flans said Dan was on the keyboards.  Dan eyes got huge, and he asked Danny about it.  Danny went over to Flans and told him that he was introducing a different song than was next on the setlist.  Flans asked him what was on the setlist, then brushed him off, saying that that was the song he was introducing.  Linnell then teased Danny that it was “a little early in the show to start fuckign everything up.”  Danny threw his hands in the air, walked back over to Dan, and said something to him, obviously to the effect of ‘are you going to play keyboards on this’ which Dan responded to with an adamant headshake.

-According to Flans they don’t have any other time to talk, so the show is also a meeting for them “last week they confronted me about the cold medicine and I was like ‘I don’t care guys, I am an autonomous individual of destruction.”

-According to Linnell, they wrote Let’s Get This Over With when they were “stone drunk and flat broke in the Louisiana rain,”  in a deep gravelly voice that he claimed was his “real” one

-Dan was wearing his Chicken Parm Shirt.  Linnell pointed out to us all that when he first came onstage wearing his jacket, it looked like it said “ick ar” and that when he was wearing his guitar strap it had said “chick arm.”  He thought maybe there was more to the shirt than just chicken parm.

-Since we were in New York, Flans figured everyone had a solid theatre background.  He told us the “safe word” for the night was new song.

-When Linnell announced they were reaching the end of the first set, he said it was “when we will be taking our hopefully well deserved break.”  

-Flans apparently usually listens to an audiobook during the break.  Linnell thought it was a Keith Richards autobiography, but Flans claimed it was The Making of A Star is Born (which made Marty shoot him a dirty look).  They decided that the audiobook was narrated by Gilbert Godfrey, which was apparently an in-joke based on the rotating narrators of the Keith Richards’ autobiography, which Flans had been listening to.  Linnell has decided that the last chapter of every audiobook should be narrated by Gilbert Godfrey.

-During Spy, Linnell started yelling “Now the night is gone!” over the guys playing instead of using the song sample he has programmed.

-Curt felt a little bit towards the end of the first set  Dan covered a bit of his part during When Will You Die, and the Spy intro was a little shorter than it had been.  Whatever it was, he recovered a lot of his energy by the second set.

-I met @marcuskane briefly during the break between sets!

-Flans discussed George Soros again during the Quiet Storm.  Apparently, they are making The Shining 2 about him, and how he is everywhere, doing everything.

-Linnell told us in the future of 1844, everything has the word space in front of it: space beards, space horse-and-buggy, etc.

-Flans used the phrase “push back the hands of time” in introducing Applause Applause Applause, which caused a few gasps in the front few rows before they started the song.

-How Can I Sing Like a Girl was a “long distance dedication to anyone not running for the Supreme Court” because it “wouldn’t be the acoustic section without unwanted political comment.”

-The electronic drums in an acoustic set are “a musical non-sequitur” according to Flans

-Curt was right in front of us for the intro to Istanbul, which was unbelievable.

-Linnell claimed that he was a kid in the year 3000 BC before the Mesopotamians

-When Flans introduced the Sun as being the single off their new album, the crowd went wild like Flans had demanded they do for new songs during the previous set.

-“The sun is like a huge atom-smashing device for crushing. The heat and light from the sun are caused by the nuclear reaction between this finger. That’s it.”

-At the beginning of the show, some people were yelling out requests and Flans told them “That’s right, we’re not taking requests.” They tried it again before She’s an Angel, and someone handed Flans that fake setlist that had shown up on Miscellaneous T a few weeks before.  When thanking people individually a bit later, Flans told him “you have a lot of ideas but this is neither the time nor the place.”

-Dan’s guitar was having trouble during the second set and he had to switch to another for a few songs.

-Flans started Operation with “People of Terminal 5 New York, allow me to inform you about my operation.”

-Flans sang his individual thank yous to the crowd with Linnell’s keyboard accompaniment.

-During  band intros, Dan did that thing where he tracked and repeated bits then played over them, shutting it all off abruptly with his foot.  

-Danny squeezed up next to Marty on the drum riser during Curts intro to have a conversation with him.  There is not enough room up there for two people

-Danny mimed eating when he was introduced as from Long Island “where the weak are killed and eaten” once again, but since he was using a ‘spoon’ it looked more like he was eating cereal from a bowl than the weak who had crossed him.

-“How bout that band? Only one rehearsal!”

-Coming out for the second encore, Linnell told us “You’ve made a happy band very old.”

[mfmusicaudio]

Korg nanoKEY Studio 25-Note Mobile MIDI KeyboardThe 25 velocity-sensitive keys allows you to step-record easily. The Scale Guide function illuminates the keys to show recommended notes in the scale, making it easier to play. This is a smart keyboard with a variety of performance modes, such as the Easy Scale function, that lets you produce musical phrases using any keys.More freedom to produce music, via USB or wirelessly.The nanoKEY Studio can connect not only via USB but also wirelessly. It's easy to connect to an iPad/iPhone music app such as KORG Gadget or Apple GarageBand, or to your Mac/Windows music production software. Liberated from annoying cables, you'll be free to set up your system much easier than some other products. Thanks to careful tuning, you'll enjoy low latency and high stability.Eight high-sensitivity trigger pads that you can use for drum input or playing chords.The eight velocity-sensitive trigger pads will convey every dynamic nuance of your drum performance. In chord-playing mode, the Chord Scale function automatically assigns the best chords for the key and scale you've selected, so your song will take shape at amazing speed. You can also assign the pads to trigger audio clips. These pads are not limited by musical genre; they deliver all-purpose music production power.Touch pad inherited from the KAOSS series provides one-finger control of software synthesizers.You can use a single finger to control a software synthesizer just like you can with a Kaossilator, or control a plug-in effect the same way as a KAOSS PAD. The nanoKEY Studio features an arpeggiator with rhythm patterns, letting you generate a succession of new phrases simply by touching the pad.The nano Studio series comes with an extravagant bundle of powerful mobile and desktop music software that includes iPad / iPhone apps, a special edition of KORG Gadget, and the KORG Legacy Collection M1 Le which includes plug-in versions of classic KORG instruments. If you have the nanoKEY Studio, there is no need to buy any additional software.SPECIFICATIONSController:25-key Keyboard with velocity sensitivity (four velocity curve),8 trigger pad (velocity sensitivity is supported, four velocity curve),8 knobs, X-Y padOctave + / - buttons, Sustain button, Touch Scale button, X-Y button, Pitch / Mod button, Scene button, Shift / Tap buttons, Arp button, Chord Pad button, Easy Scale button, Scale Guide buttonOctave Range: -4+4Scene Memory: 8Connections: USB jack (micro B type)Wireless Type: Bluetooth Low Energy (Apple Bluetooth Low Energy MIDI specification compliant)Power Supply: USB bus power (when connected via USB)Two AAA batteries (when connected wirelessly; use alkaline or nickel-metal hydride batteries)Battery Life: Approximately 10 hours (with the factory settings, when using alkaline batteries)*Battery life will vary depending on the batteries used and on the conditions of use.Power Consumption: Less than 500mADimensions (W x D x H): 278 mm x 160 mm x 33 mm / 10.94" x 6.30" x 1.30"Weight: 471 g / 1.04 lbs. (without batteries)Included Items: USB cable, KORG Software Bundle code, two AAA Batteries for checking operationOPERATING REQUIREMENTSiOS Wireless ConnectioniOS - iPad/iPhone that supports Bluetooth 4.0, and has iOS8 or later installeModels - iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5, iPhone 4S,iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad fourth generation, iPad Third generation, iPad mini 4、iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2, iPad mini,iPod touch sixth generation, iPod touch fifth generationMac Wireless ConnectionOS - Mac that supports Bluetooth 4.0 or later, and has OS X10.10 Yosemite or later installedModels -MacBook (Early 2015 or later)MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or later)MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or later)Mac mini (Mid 2011 or later)iMac (Late 2012 or later)Mac Pro (Late 2013 or later)Mac USB ConnectionOS - MacOS 10.8 10.9 Mavericks or laterWindows Wireless ConnectionOS - Operating system: Windows 8.1 or later (32-bit/64-bit) [KORG BLE-MIDI Driver is required]Windows USB ConnectionOS - Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 or later (32-bit / 64-bit)*Korg does not guarantee that the unit will work with every computer that meets these requirements. لطلب شراء المنتج و الشحن اتصل بنا على الارقام التالية01006237502 0122754590301127214405 01095518233 ضمان ضد عيوب الصناعه لو حابب تعرف أكتر عن المنتجات أو تشوف أكتر تقدر تزور موقعنا الرسمي https://mfmusicaudio.com/ومن خلاله تقدر تعمل أوردر يوصلك لحد باب البيت في أسرع وقت أو تشرفنا بفرع الشركة : 217 شارع احمد زكي - المعادي ميدان فايدة كامل امام سنتر الهدي والنور تقدر تدخل علي صفحاتنا الرسمية علي فيسبوك وتعرف أكتر عن المنتجات من خلال الروابطhttps://www.facebook.com/mfmusicalinstrumentsegypt/https://www.facebook.com/mfaudiostoreطرق الدفع لدينا:متوفر دفع بالفيزا كارد و الماستر كارد مع ميزة انك تقدر تقسط اي منتج مع البنك الاهلي المصري بدون فوائد لمدة 6 شهورو خدمة QR و المحفظة الذكية و فودافون و اورانج كاش هدفنا: الثقة - التميز - الأبداع - العمل علي راحة العميل

[crurum]

𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽

𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯𝟬𝟰𝟭𝟴

[taperwolf]

Here's Hainbach demoing the new Chromaplane from Koma Electronics — a set of ten oscillators running into coils under the top surface, which you play with two wired pickups.

(I watched the video and immediately got out my homemade Elektrosluch EMF microphone and my Mini Kaoss Pad to groove on drones generated by my microwave oven.)

[ralfthees]

Liked on YouTube: Kung Funktion - PO-33 + Korg Mini Kaoss Pad 2s / Nu Disco https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4NzIXFzdEE

[kyotakumrau]

ROCK AND READ 072 – Kyo interview (1/2)

The Opened Pandora’s Box.

original text by: Hayakawa Yosuke

sukekiyo, a side project started by Kyo from DIR EN GREY in 2013, has just released an audio and video collection “ADORATIO” that is only available at their concerts and through online orders. It’s been over 13 years since the last feature interview, this time in addition to “ADORATIO” that has a considerable volume with 3 discs, 2 blu-spec CDs and a blu-ray disc, we will discuss in detail the abyss of the human named Kyo. Why does he keep transforming, we will open this “Pandora’s box��.

- It was for a different media when you just released ANIMA and held a solo exhibition, but I have interviewed you about a year before. That time you said “I noticed that I used to waste a lot of time, there was never enough time”.

Kyo: Yeah, now as well there’s not enough time.

- I see (laughing). We are starting this interview from 10 in the morning and I heard that the photo session yesterday started at 8. So I thought that you really work without wasting any time.

Kyo: That’s true, especially in the case of work I start really early. But again and again there are times when I can’t go to sleep because of work. I get mixing done abroad and constantly there’s a situation where I can’t take a lot of time, so I wake up early and have to answer emails. If there’s a tour on top of that, the timing gets slightly off and communication gets late which causes the rhythm of the activities to go off as well.

- I see. When the rhythm of your activities is in order does it have a good impact on your singing?

Kyo: For example, I think it’s much healthier when the cycle of going to sleep at 11 in the evening and starting working after waking up early continues. And even though recently we’ve been touring all the time with DIR EN GREY with old albums, my throat stays fine. At the time I was taking care of my throat, but as we continued performing my throat still got really bad. Well, how packed (the schedule) gets now is a bit different. That’s why I can keep my throat in a good shape.

- So at the same time are you also careful with your diet?

Kyo: Nah, not at all. But I eat quite a lot.

- I see. You definitely have higher energy consumption while on stage. Then, let’s talk about your audio and video collection “ADORATIO”. It was completed at last, but a few days ago, you were shooting videos just the morning after you finished 2 days in Shinkiba with DIR EN GREY, I heard you also had a recording after that, I was surprised that you had so many things planned at the same time.

Kyo: Well. The day after the MV shooting we had the recording of the chorus and fixing of some songs. I guess that time was the toughest. We also couldn’t record the second half of songs according to the schedule because of the studio. This work got really delayed; there was a time period when I was really annoyed.

- Oh. Yet knowing that you overcome a situation like that and only this was born, then strong feelings get even deeper.

Kyo: That’s true (laughing).

- The content of the release, including the videos, is 3 discs. Were you planning on such volume from the beginning?

Kyo: At first we were thinking about releasing a full album. With the flow up to then we kind of finished the first chapter, I was able to build in the worldview I imagined, could express it clearly, so I had a feeling we should go to the next stage. So when it was the time to create new music the mode inside of me changed suddenly, I was able to somehow see the next path. As much as we could we tried to arrange new songs, we started to think about increasing the volume of the release. There were the series of events produced by MERRY. At those as well we tried out new songs, even other new songs than those we played at our own tour before. Even songs that were still before the pre-production stage, we dared ourselves to add them to the setlist and let them mature while we played them live.

- So it wasn’t allowing fans to listen in advance to the already fixed songs?

Kyo: No (laughing). That’s why at the tour with MERRY in Osaka I suddenly said during rehearsal “I want to use theremin or a kaoss pad! Doesn’t matter which song. I just wanna do it”.

- What?! That’s some story (laughing)!

Kyo: Right? I said that to other members and we started calling various music shops searching for those, but we didn’t find it. But in Nagoya we had both of them delivered, for the Nagoya rehearsal we suddenly got to try the equipment with new songs. That time YUCHI got to play on the pad (without touching bass), we experimented a lot.

- That’s a very fresh image.

Kyo: I could include the experimentalism and impulse on the same level as when we created the band, I could create [this work] with a totally fresh feeling. While mixing those fresh parts and the atmosphere of the concerts, I wanted to feel various components when creating, and suddenly we did completely different songs. From the fans viewpoint they could think “eh, another new song??” or “even as they haven’t released it yet??”. But we didn’t think that.

- Indeed for sukekiyo songs it’s not about how you enjoy them, but rather how you absorb what you felt into your body.

Kyo: For us as well there are many things we’re doing for the first time, so it’s close to the feeling fans have. They probably thought “Eh, vocalist is suddenly using some kind of music equipment, what the?”, but I also performed while thinking “what am I doing?” (laughing)

- Hahaha, no way!

Kyo: That’s why doing it for real, for both other members and for me it was like “that’s interesting” or “I see, there’s a new feeling to that”; it was good so we could keep working on the album.

- If tunes were experimental, then the act itself was actually an experiment.

Kyo: Yes. Also, we prepared theremin, but it was in bad shape and couldn’t produce proper sound. So I couldn’t use it at the concert, but I played on it during recording. Members knew I said before “If it matches the atmosphere I want to try using theremin” so all of the sudden UTA contacted me saying “please use theremin from this to this second”. But it was for a song that we haven’t even played live yet? And I haven’t even played on any instrument before; it was without any explanation how to do it, too. “Please do it���, only this, I was very confused.

- (laughing) He believed in your good sense for sure.

Kyo: So I tried using it watching others and I recorded it. I sent it to UTA and it was edited properly. Having such part as this included, I think it came out interesting.

- With this there was no intention to simply create an album anymore?

Kyo: First, the price of CDs themselves is gradually going down. When my generation went to buy a CD, first we checked out the jacket and lyrics card, there was an excitement about the CD itself. For the generation older than me it was about vinyl, it was said that “it has to be this size for this record [volume]”, but for our generation we thought “good it’s not so big” or “we don’t have to change the side each time” (laughing).  This CD era is also ending; moreover you can listen to the music for free. In this age, dealing with music I wanted to set the price properly. From our point of view, one album, one mini-album and some video footage are included here and adding the artwork as well we can imagine the price of the release, but I don’t think the younger generation have that sense. In such case, with one release, without calling it an album or a single, I wanted to release it as a collection that included music, video and booklet art.

- I see. To tell the truth when you get this release in your hands I think you can be completely satisfied with its all aspects. Regarding the songs from disc 1, although the sukekiyo-like analogue feeling and melodies are still present, there’s the impression that the digital taste is perfectly combined in a different way for each song. And with that a new sound is created again.

Kyo: About digital elements, isn’t everyone crazy about EDM now? Having various effects used in music, everyone is the same (laughing). I really hate that, I don’t want to get like that. That’s why I thought it would be something new to mix the underground feeling of sukekiyo till now with new digital elements; I don’t think anyone else could pull that off yet. I thought again about creating something not done before; we went with the recording on a trial and error basis. In the end, I think we could apply [those elements] in good places. The sukekiyo till now and new sukekiyo have combined. Members could see the idea of the sound, and we worked on it while we discussed the details of various parts, and made progress. If we thought some part was too much, we dialed down a bit, or on the contrary there were times when the sound was too analogue etc, this kind of superb places took us a lot of time. (EDM = Electronic Dance Music)

- Indeed, you can feel those fine elements in each song, for example in -jyunboku, muku de arouga-. Or in -kubitsuri yuugu-, melody is somewhat nostalgic and it’s an adult song, but the digital texture that covers that is unique.

Kyo: Originally it had a really analogue feeling, it was a jazzy piece. In the end, it’s more like current sukekiyo, only the original melody is left, the rest changed quite a lot. But as the nuance of the guitar is still softly there, it’s still has that jazzy feel, but it’s also digital… there wasn’t anything like that before, we got to a very interesting place. This song also took all of us some time, “that’s not it” – we did tiny adjustments like that so many times.

- However the ending is definitely surprising.

Kyo: Right? (laughing)

- Also, you created a song titled -en-, its melody that presses hard on ones heart is really hard to describe; that sad melody that makes you emotional, many people say that the female singers of our early childhood, 70s to early 80s, had those daily life elements (in songs). Is it same in your case?

Kyo: Yeah. I really love Akina Nakamori, but from the 2nd year of junior high I really hated music, I didn’t listen to any artist. We talked about this before, but when I was a child Hikaru GENJI was on TV each time you would turn it on, also because of that I started hating music, I had this image that music is a flashy thing. Also, my family didn’t watch anything but baseball. Yet on the contrary I’m glad now that at the time we didn’t play any music on TV. If we did I’d probably hate it. I started hating baseball because of that (laughing).

- Hahaha, you hate it that much (laughing).

Kyo: But for the melodies that come to me, a lot of them are like that, it’s natural. As for -en- , I talked with Takumi about wanting a song that would have a good tempo for me to sing. He really understands well the key of my songs and so on.

- For sure. The expressive power of songs and how everything fits are both splendid; it’s perfect from the strength of the opening to the ending. Even for the last -hakudaku-, you can listen to it as a song that shakes your heart, but even as the audio changes the way the ‘singing’ is in its core, is it something that goes with the flow of the evolution?

Kyo: Yeah. Also, it’s an issue I had for the past few years, “try not to over load it”… even as I’m doing it.

- For example with lyrics?

Kyo: With lyrics, too, but I’m trying to considerably decrease piling up voice tracks or types of singing. As much as possible I try to reduce those to get more impressive effect. If you add a lot of those the songs becomes average.

- Is it the same with DIR EN GREY?

Kyo: Yeah, I think from around “ARCHE”.

- So as a result of thinking it through, are you returning to “being on your own”? (without adding anything else)

Kyo: No, no, it would kill all cool back arrangements. As the attention usually goes to the vocal, I want to finish those parts well. Like, it’s fine if I don’t sing all the time, I have a tendency to cram things into the empty space, no matter if it’s good or not. I should use that more properly. I won’t know if there’s too much crammed unless I listen to it from the audience perspective, so it’s hard. If I take out too much it will end up too boring; being aware of this balance one need to care more about each small detail.

- If one listens to your work released till now being aware of the changes in the approach, there should be some things to discover.

Kyo: Also my way if singing, I had many strong habits in the past… well, it’s the same now. I have some, but I don’t like that, I’m trying to get rid of them. However, making another lap, I thought that those habits are also a part of me; I think I keep a good balance of that at the moment. I understand my own habits to some extend, so if it’s better to allow them at one point [in the song], or if it’s better to do it more smoothly, I create songs while being conscious of such fine adjustments. Also, when discussing small details, I don’t use vibrato much myself, so I think about adding it in some place in a way I haven’t before. While experimenting in my head I want to move forward, become a new singer; while thinking that I created this work.

- Being able to hear you talk so concretely about the aspects of singing is very valuable, it’s really interesting. Also, as we talked a moment ago, -saredo michizure- and -shiryou no ariana- are songs that took their final shape after you played them experimentally at your concerts, but despite being able to change your own voice so much, at the concert I thought it was unexpected that you would further change your voice with the equipment.

Kyo: Until before I was able to produce various sounds, so I thought it’s fine not to depend on such things, but I thought “it’s might be old for me personally”. I always doubt myself.

- Ah, I see.

Kyo: As in “hey, wait a moment”. To have various choices and no conditions is of course stronger. For people, before we know it we get stubborn and our perspective gets narrower, so when we get like that we think that it ends in us. I don’t want to be like that. So I constantly doubt myself…

- In such case, in terms of music in the past are there any points that you see as negative looking from a flat perspective?

Kyo: Of course. Looking at it flatly, “ah of course that’s impossible”.

- Hahaha! So it is like that (laughing).

Kyo: It’s not like I absolutely have to add things everywhere (laughing). Even from those, I am choosing properly.

- Thinking “that got old already” even though your style was established to such extend really requires some courage.

Kyo: Generally there’s a word “unwavering”. It’s a really great word. But it can also be seen as a lack of confidence. Like being told “you can only do this, nothing more”. “No, I can do various things, but I’m doing this one”. That’s why you try to see from the various points of view.

- Hearing this now, just before [you said] that there are too many voice tracks, you said “I cannot sing like in the recording”, at the concerts you stick to prioritizing expressing emotions ---- if it’s like that, it also leads to showing the style of singing precisely.

Kyo: Yeah, indeed like in “you can do it if you think you can”, so if you don’t do it no one knows if you really can do it. So showing the style once, “ah in the end I won’t be doing it”. If you don’t show people both… I hate being doubted.

- Hahaha, that’s natural (laughing). … part 2 coming some time in the future ;)

[vnshkk]

SUKEKIYO [2017.06.27 - Kyo and YUCHI interview]

Explosive force , an inquisitive spirit and everything thereafter.

Part 1 of Kyo and Yuchi’s interview for spice. 

Sukekiyo, a band lead by Dir en grey’s vocalist Kyo, have just released their new sound and visual image collection 『ADORATIO』

With an explosive force to the point where it will surely be thought of as going to extremes, those extremes only serve to give even more power to the musical composition. This is surely a piece work that can be said to be pushing this band's potential forward.

“From the start with Sukekiyo, I always hated not being able to do something the very instant  I decide to do it. It’s not a case of can or cannot, I want to ascertain how I feel. “  - Kyo

The release of ADORATIO, is not an album but a “sound and visual image collection”,  The way it was executed in terms of a work of art has a strong colour that suits Sukekiyo.

Kyo: I sort of feel like,  ‘mini album’ or ‘album’, those kinds of ‘expressing oneself on the surface’ titles don’t have that much worth to them these days. For the age we’re living in they’re kinda, outdated. I’m also not really fond of the process wherein it’s not a case of we made it take form in this way but rather we made our work into a product and then a Blu-ray was whacked on there as a special bonus. That wasn’t the case, it was more like wanting to exhibit something, a feeling of   “let's gather up everything into one piece of work!”

So in a way, It was a case of wanting to make the piece of work hold even more significance? So, with that in mind,  in more concrete terms, just what kind of worldview were you trying to express this time around?

Kyo: I'm not really sure exactly when Sukekiyo’s new world view came to be but, it was a case of taking those unconventional parts and making them more unconventional, then incorporating a more digital element into it. There was a vague feeling of not really having heard that kind of ‘digitized unconventional sound’ and if Sukekiyo were to attempt something like that, how would it turn out? And so, that was the starting point that really made everyone think, “I wanna try out something like this!”

YUCHI: Which is exactly why the start really was just us groping around in the dark. That kind of ‘dance music you can dance to’ really would be more suited to a song with a brighter temperament, but if Sukekiyo were to attempt something like that wouldn’t the result just turn into something completely different? Simply, as I had always been a fan of digital music from the start, it was a case of Kyo san and I having a discussion whilst sharing more concrete ideas and so, we were able to continue.

An understanding of the unconventional versus the digital. Certainly, during your performance for the 3 band tour Merry hosted (March 21st Shinjuku ReNY) I received quite a shock when I saw Kyo san using the Kaoss pad, I thought “Whats going on?!”

Kyo: About that, during the first day of the tour in Osaka, I just suddenly said, “I wanna do it”. Even though prior to that point I had never so much as even touched one before.

What?! The day of the live?!

YUCHI: Yeah, (haha) Originally we did talk about wanting to use some kind of equipment during a show at some point though.

Kyo: However, even after going to 3 to 4 different places in Osaka we couldn’t find the equipment. Then it became a case of, if it's a shop in Nagoya will we make it on time? And so we got it from Nagoya. If it had been a case of wanting to do it way back before Osaka I would have prepared it beforehand but I realised I wanted to do it on the day of the live so I couldn’t do it in time.

YUCHI:  Kyo is the type that the second he thinks “Today I wanna try this” he does it. For example, deciding to do a new song before the lyrics or anything is even complete, but it's thanks to that, that during lives I'm now able to exhibit this power of wanting to try something new and exciting.

Even so, it’s incredible you can do something like that.

Kyo: From the very start with Sukekiyo, I always hated not being able to do something the very instant I decide to do it. For example there are those types, aren’t there? Who say they wanna start skiing or tennis, but then hesitate because you gotta wear the right clothes, you gotta buy the right equipment, and in the end spend years not even doing it. I really can’t stand those types who are just all talk. They’re gross to even look at! Just like, it has nothing to do with can or cannot, just go there, give it a try and figure out by yourself whether or not you’re good at it.

When you actually went out and gave it a go, how did you find it?

Kyo: Nah, I just thought “this is cool” It was interesting, doing something like that made it feel like a fresh new version of myself.

Wow. I had thought it must be a case of you having completely finished the song and then performing it, but that's completely wrong isn’t it?

Kyo: It wasn’t even remotely finished was it?

YUCHI: To be honest, it was an experiment. We had the songs prototype, so to speak, the bare bones but, there was a sense of wanting to actually just give it a go during the atmosphere of a live. By doing so you end up noticing a lot of things about the song! By allowing a song to grow during a live and developing that version of it that is stripped down of any unnecessary waste, once you record it, it reaches completion naturally whilst retaining that old indies band feel we wanted.

Kyo: When doing a tour because you’ve released music, the completion comes once you reach the end of the tour, but to be honest I like recording once the live is over. I'm a band man. This time around at the oneman tour, before the various artist live with merry, we were allowed to play new songs and I was happy were able to record a sound that had been polished and worked out during the live. We didn’t perform it at the live but, the arrangements in 「純朴、無垢であろうが」were also made during rehearsal. Making music with that feeling where it’s almost like being in band for the first time all over again. No pre-existing rules, just “Well let’s give it a bash!” I really love that kind of feeling.

So did you use the kaoss pad during recording too?

Kyo: nope, that arrangement is for live performances so it wasn’t used during recording. We just added in the theremin. I’d been wanting to do it for ages, when I said “I proper wanna use it during the live for one of the songs” I got a message from UTA (guitar) saying “Let’s add the theremin in on the 10th track 「嬲り」” So I was like “ooh ok!” and then UTA said, “Put it from so and so second to so and so second please.”

YUCHI: True! True! That's what happened! (haha)

Kyo: And like me right, I’ve never touched an instrument in my life, so of course I dunno how to properly follow the code. And like, all he says is “add it in” ?! Like, “something noisy” or like “Something quiet” Something like that, but he didn’t tell me anything! Since I had no other option I just had a go at messing about with the theremin and recorded loads of takes at home then sent them to UTA. But, even without all that, this song was a difficult labor.

But, the evolution of Sukekiyo’s song seems so perplexing and profound that all of the songs sound as if they were a difficult labor.

Kyo: I’m already numb to that side of things. Even if I make a song with the intention of it being completely insane when I listen back to it I’m like “oh...it’s normal...”

YUCHI: On the contrary, this time around the thing we were most conscious of was the idea of simplicity. Of course, at a glance, the album looks intense, there's almost these sort of destructively devastating parts but we kept in mind it's structure and the story itself, in order to make it simple.

Kyo: In regards to the songs on this album, I wanted to make them as simple as possible, so I reduced a lot of parts and elements. I’m the kind of person who keeps trying to cram more and more into a song,  so I wanted to stop that as soon as possible. Then once I listened back to the sound, it was actually quite deep and profound, which made me think that even if it's not something difficult it's still possible to convey a particular atmosphere.

If you were to compare it to a film, it's like a scene free from the clutter of the actors lines, simply stood in an atmospheric place, that's what we wanted to draw out.

So that's why the performance itself is relatively long in length? Even the sound itself is painting a picture.

YUCHI: Although Kyo san is the kind of person who is infinitely able to put a melody to absolutely anything and everything, this time he held back. We cut out some of the pre-existing melodies from the demos and it's thanks to that we had a sense of being able to up the pace more than before. As well as songs like 「純朴、無垢であろうが」and 「マニエリスムな冷たい葬列者」those kinds of songs, with a strong digital colour, the way Kyo san sang them was an approach I had never heard before.

Kyo: UTA said something about「マニエリスムな冷たい葬列者」too, he was like “The hook… it’s pretty good isn’t it.”

YUCHI: Sometimes he’ll suddenly be like “This is awesome!” (haha). Songs are often re-recorded, and so I wonder if, within Kyo,  by doing so, it becomes closer to the nuance he intends it? For 「死霊のアリアナ」didnt you record 8 different takes?

Kyo: Yeah. It’s probably such a small level of change to the point where you’d be like “where is it even different??”

When I feel as if I haven’t properly attained the protagonists feelings I have a go at changing around the ending of the sentences.

With lyrics that constantly arouse and stir up your imagination, making one wonder just what story will unfold here, I understand your urge to pin down the nuance of the song.

Kyo: Each individual song gives the feeling as if it can be turned into a film only, the protagonist would lose their mind… and then generally, die. (haha)

Actually, come to think of it, aren’t the protagonists female?

Kyo: Indeed they are. Sukekiyo’s lead protagonist is a female. That element is something which naturally came to be but also something that keeps it completely separate from DIR EN GREY.

Particularly when listening to the song 「死霊のアリアナ」it brings to mind the story of the couple watching 『死霊のはらわた』(The Evil Dead), or rather… the feelings of a girl being forced to watch it by her boyfriend?

YUCHI: But, it there’s an incredible reality to Kyo san’s singing isn't there? Even though it’s like he’s losing his mind it's not as if he's singing about some far away world. Which is why on the contrary you feel the possibly that maybe reality is crazy.

In a sense, Kyo san himself isn’t losing his mind, but rather the dark, twisted parts hidden away by the world are being dug up and this is something you must be conscious of?

Kyo: Ah, yes, exactly that. Consciousness! Oh, by the way, during the phases of 「死霊のアリアナ」pre-production, Takumi played the bass and YUCHI did something completely different, so I suggested to him earlier, “What if Takumi was to play bass during the live?”

YUCHI: Yeah, I think that's an interesting idea.

The 13 tales that make up this story are bound together with the title 『ADORATIO』however,『IMMORTALIS』（First album, released April 2014）、『VITIUM』（First mini album, released February 2015）、「ANIMA」（First single, realease April 2016 ）there is is continiuantion of Latin titles isn’t there?

Kyo: It was decided that the titles to Sukekiyo’s sound would be in latin. Personally, I really dislike it when you line albums up and the titles look like they’re all over the place.

YUCHI: Yeah, I know what you mean. I want to line them up so that they’re all neat like the spines of manga books.

Kyo: Right! I guess that’s what happens when you’re born in the Dragon ball era. (haha)

I particularly want those of you who bought the tour version of the CD to have a go and line them up. You’ll see how the band's name and title all neatly line up.

*I’ll post part 2 when my eyes stop bleeding*

Kaoss pad*

[internet-plum]

Technology in our performance - UNIT 6

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AKAI APC40

The Akai APC40 is specifically designed for Ableton Live, which means we didn’t need to map its controls to talk to the software. This allowed us to easily work with the APC40 without complications because its easy to get around. The controls are customisable, so we could map the knobs, button and faders for what we wanted it to do. The bidirectional communication makes the APC40 an advanced controller in that it can receive feedback from the software and display it on its clip matrix. The clip matrix gives you an instant view of all clip statuses: what's loaded, what's playing, and what's being recorded. We are going to use this to control effects and mixing live, as the controls are easier and more continuous to use than those of the Launchpad for these purposes.

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NOVATION LAUNCHPAD MINI

The launchpad has similar functions to the APC40 as it allows you to launch and stop clips as well as control panning, sends, record arm and soloing tracks. This can be done using the 64 pads, which control 8 tracks at a time and can also be used in a 'mix' view to control track volumes. However, there is also the option to play instruments using the 'session' view, with different notes on each pad.

We are going to use this to play in drums live and also to midi-map controls including the looper record button for guitar and bass.

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KORG KAOSS PAD

The Korg KP2 Kaoss allows you to choose between filter, modulation, delay, reverb, SFX, BPM FX/PTN, synth, vocoder and sample/play settings to manipulate a variety of sounds for example by connecting a microphone or guitar. The pad in the middle can be used to control (mainly) the pitch and one other parameter of these effects in real time. There are also controls for the BPM, FX depth and pad motion, which records your motions on the pad. In addition to this, there are 2 six-second sample memories which can be recorded and triggered from within any effects patch.

We are going to connect a microphone to the Kaoss pad and use it to manipulate the vocals, likely using the vocoder settings.

[crurum]

𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽

𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯𝟬𝟰𝟭𝟲

[dirtbaby2016]

my birthday is coming up soon whom want to get me a mini kaoss pad 2s