We’ve reached the anxious point where the ‘mini tour’ swells up into a fire breathing monster – we will soon be on those long flights to those venues where we will be groggy, time shifted and fumbling our way through a music set – just so long as India and Pakistan stop lobbing missiles at each other across our flight path from Singapore to Germany.
Small things…
As the end nears plans shift and change and need fixing. Some changes are relatively minor. We developed the London gig as two sets of 45 minutes each, but this has changed to one set of roughly 80 minutes more or less, depending on the audience. I mean thrown bottles could bring it down to 70 minutes y’know? Or an encore could be deployed to take it higher. Prepare for each.
That it’s now one set causes a cascade. The tracks are set up in a spreadsheet with Title, Duration, Status (is it ready?), Era and so on. The intensity should follow a contour, have video that is of the right mood for the moment, not be too long for the placement in the set… all this and more. So when it goes from two sets to one, the contour has to be redesigned.
The spreadsheet leads a master video/audio file where the tracks are sequenced, loudness and EQ levels adjusted (sometimes gently up in volume). That then expects the live elements to be designed to go alongside the programmed parts to make the whole. So there’s data flow from spreadsheet all the way to what’s sequenced on my AKAI MPC. Change one thing, all must change.
UPDATE: the venue just decided that they want two sets again. Version 3 in progress…
Big things…
It would have been nice to have a last show in Sydney Australia. We have been in contact with a festival that proposed that we last perform in White Bay Power Station, which seemed ideal until we were told the video screen would be 9:16 ratio. Yes, that’s phone aspect at right angles to cinematic 16:9. The main artist needs that ratio for his work, and I spent a full day trying to reformat our stuff … all of which would have looked a bit shit. No, they could not provide a screen for us. This was not how we want to end and sadly we have withdrawn.
Other things…
Really there’s a lot of other things to do. I pulled up my current 3D environment “Snakes” and did a bit of design work. I’ve become fascinated by toys made by a company called Bluebird that once existed in Swindon UK. No – not Polly Pocket, their biggest seller. They also made little environments for boys called Mighty Max which have an astounding (and quite gross) depth of detail. I mean a small plastic compact a bit bigger than a cupcake filled to the brim with intricate bits and pieces. Skulls mainly.
Not that I want to do this – I just want to learn how the hell they carved these things out of clay and sent them to China to be turned into tiny little stages full of drama and crazy. Compared to the BIG stages that I’ve seen in the USA theme parks. Seeing the photos is one thing – trying to find the actual toys is a world full of obsessive collectors. The main source is in the UK of course but fortunately many came to Australia and exist in Australian dollars, not pounds. Some are rare. If you see a rare one you are supposed to hock your car for it. I don’t have a car, but I now do have just a few Bluebird Mighty Max. For science.
Back to work…
ARGH I had some Mighty Max as a kid! Sadly no longer do, but glad to hear they’ve piqued your interest!
They are Intricate. Very.