2010 is going to be an exciting year for Progtronica. I am nearing the compleation of compiling all the tracks for my debut solo release “Progtronica-Live from Nowhere” The raw version of all the performances have been featured an all my recent videos. The next step is mixing, mastering and arraigning them into album form. Recently I have added 2 brand new performances featured on this page: “Rolling with Strings” and “Drum n’ Bass for a Rainy Day” both featuring my new (awesome) piece of gear, the Novation ZeRO SL Mk II midi controller, which has tons of faders and knobs etc. Partnered with my beloved Novation Launchpad and Ableton Live Suite 8 things are getting really crazy here in my studio. 2010 is going to be the year of Progtronica!
Also check out the new “Progtronica Live for No One” channel on Vimeo.

This is the first music video production from my new Long Beach studio, live drums and video by me, and featuring the Beatboxing skills of Taylor McFerrin as well as vocals from Philadelphia area vocalists Ryat, (as Human) and Shara Dae. The music was almost entirely written and produced on a quick coast to coast trip from California to Philadelphia for a old friend’s wedding, mostly on the many connecting flights and train rides. Following the slamming reception, extended after party, and impromptu late night hotel break-in pool party, I got these 3 artists to come back to my hotel room to lay down some of their stuff along to the semi abstract 7/8 Drum and bass piece I was working on. After getting home, I did a little mixing and editing, then re-recorded the drums live. The results are what you see here.

This is a Novation Launchpad remix in 20/8 time of my song “Lets Face The Music” (a tribute to Phillip Glass, The Cinematic Orchestra, and the MPC 2000) all of which were deep inspirations for this piece. I approached this one a little differently then my recent “remixes” incorporating some live drums (using Roland V-Drums) using the same sounds as the ones I used to chop up the original drum breaks. For this one I triggering all the individual parts of the music live and manipulated some of the sound effects. All music played by me using various triggers including the akai mpd 24, the Launchpad, keyboards, as well as all the drums parts being are cut and sliced from live V-Drum performances using Ableton Live 8.

I have been working with Ableton Live as my main digital music platform for a few years, using several different controllers to trigger sounds, samples, drum breaks and affect different parameters in real time while mixing music. With this unit though, I’m bringing it to a whole different level. Here are two live home performances: “Progtronica” a live jungle mashup, and “American Dream Remix” a live performance of the music from my film of the same title. I am just getting started with this so stay tuned. I plan to keep working this technique so that I can play for hours continuously.

This “Broken-Beat” video is a audio/cinematic tribute to evolutionary theory at a time when it seems to be under constant attack from a growing international trend of “creationists” who are convinced the Earth is a mere 10,000 years old with humans and dinosaurs coexisting in some sort of harmony. It features audio from prominent academic/author Richard Dawkins who is known for popularizing the gene-centred view of evolution (and is commonly referred to as “Darwin’s Rottweiler”) during a recent book tour reading promoting his new book “The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution”, as well as video clips from a recent NOVA documentary on the subject “Becoming Human” produced by Graham Townsley. I’ve spliced these clips along with footage I took myself and re-mixed it with my music using Ableton Live in an attempt to remind people that evolution is not just a theory; it is being proven everyday before our very eyes and more and more understood as the origin of our existence. “It is no accident” as Dawkins reminds us.

Originally inspired by the amazing racket my new washer/dryer unit was making. I set out to make a piece using samples from around my immediate surroundings. Featured here are: sink (with dirty dishes) coffee carafe, coffee cup, garage door opener, airplane advertising for the Long Beach Marathon, stairs, bottles, and the Be-Bot app on the iphone takes a solo. I also play the drums live on Roland V-drums, recorded all the film on a flip video camera, and edited it all using ableton live 8 and iMovie. Making music using ready made sounds is hardly an original idea but this is my own unique take, blazing live drum n. bass style.

This is my brand new video I created on 9/5/09 using a Mac running ableton Live 8 with and akai MPD 24 (like my old MPC) roland v-drums, and a small trumpet sample from Nils Petter Molvaer, all filmed on a flip share micro video camera. I just obtained this Akai controller and and it’s giving me flashbacks to when I used to make all my electronic sounds with the original mpc 2000. Using this thing with Ableton Live allows me to recreate all the digital mashup tricks I developed over the years when samples were much harder to edit and create. This is the second song from my upcoming solo ep to be released later this year!

A video tribute to Luke Vibert, JoJo Mayer, KJ Sakwa, and the health care reform debate insanity. This is a
live drum n’ bass performance video from Nigel Sifantus’ upcoming solo ep. Like a line of dominos, The sounds are set up and then knocked down using digital V-drums, nobs, sliders and effects. Prepare to be transfixed!

This is the brand new video for my new song “From 10 to 11″ featuring Jubei on vocals (of L Maestro Presents). I recorded mixed and edited all the music as well as shooting and editing the video itself. The drum beats are all cut up clips from my own drum breaks mashed up into crazy time signatures. You can also find samples from the Cell Theory’s recent album ‘Memory is Energy,” and lots of other strange warped sounds. The results are something a little different then what you’ve yet seen or heard, and something brand new for me.