Nigel Sifantus » Electronica

Progtronica presents: “Twisted Digits”

Nigel — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 23:13:41 +0000

I’ve never liked the modern emergence of “sub-genres”, the incessant need these days to boil down each kind of music into dozens of sub-categories. I have found that, although it provides a decent description of the sound of the music, rarely can music be so pigeonholed as to be put into a place that is so pre-defined. It also leads music fans to gravitate towards more music similar to what they already have heard rather than expanding their sonic horizons. I would never be the player I am today if I had this kind of mentality towards music “I like hard house but not deep house”. My approach through Progtronica is to take all of my influences and boil them into one succinct concept. Other than the basic forms of “electronic dance music” I have always has a secret love of progressive “math rock” and have played some form of that kind of music in many of my bands over the years. I had been looking for a way to do a tribute to this affinity in a Progtronica performance (mainly for my own self pleasure) since the beginning of the project. I can play a little guitar but mostly for making weird sonic feedback textures but then I found a secret weapon: the iPhone pocket guitar combined with Ableton Live 8’s new “Amp” and “Cabinet” effects. So I made this little ditty, switching from 7/8 to 6/8 with interweaving Don Caballero/King Crimson guitar lines all remixed live while playing the drums. This is a little bit different then my other recent videos but I like how it turned out and I’m sure you won’t find anyone using Ableton quite this way anywhere else.

Live duo performance with Taylor McFerrin at Zanzibar

Nigel — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 05:53:07 +0000

My old friend and musical collaborator Taylor McFerrin called me a few weeks ago and said he was rolling through LA on tour supporting his soon to be released album “Early Riser” and invited me to sit in with him at his show at Zanzibar in Santa Monica. Naturally I was totally excited to revive our old chemistry and eager to see what we would actually do. The show was put on by KCRW Dj Aaron Byrd and featured the bands Master Blaster and Electric Wire Hustle. It ended up being an amazing evening and we played a mix of Beat-box, Rhodes, Drums, iPhone, and dueling Ableton Live systems at times building beats from scratch on the spot using the Akai APC 40 and the Novation Launchpad. The whole show ended up being a total free form improv and it went places we didn’t even know we would go. One of the other DJ’s from the night, Anthony Valadez also posted this video recap of the night which has some great footage from the whole experience.

“Quicktronic” a “Be-Bot” iphone and Ableton jam

Nigel — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 06:37:32 +0000

This broken beat/house song i had been working over in my head for a few days, but the recording took record time. Sometimes that is the best way to write; think about it for a while then just pour it out as fast and unfiltered as possible. This is certainly unfiltered. I had been wanting to work with this amazing “Be-Bot” music app on the iPhone for a while. The thing is a “singing” robot that plays and basically sounds like a theremin. I used to own a theremin so I love the sound.

New Website, New Music, New Motivation

Nigel — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 17:55:30 +0000

The brand new nigelsifantus.com has now launched and my creative fire is burning and ready to blaze. For the past 9 months I’ve been working in solitude, producing solo live music videos in to comfort and isolation of my own studio and have been amazed at the reception I have received from all corners of the world. As of now, the Progtronica live video series has received 41,000 views on YouTube and plenty more on Vimeo as well. It’s kind of strange to make music for an audience that you can’t see though but I’ve enjoyed it nonetheless.

On Friday I found myself at a show in LA of all performers making live electronic music using the monome, basically an earlier version of my beloved Novation Launchpad. It was great to see others doing similar things to what I am doing and have people in the audience digging it. Better still is that none of the music they were actually playing sounded anything like what I am doing. In short, a lot of creative atmospheric music but none of the crazy drums that are my signature.

So the time has come. Progtronica will be hitting the stage soon. Stay tuned for dates. This is going to be raw, real, and rockin’. Word…

Progtronica latest news for January 2010

Nigel — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:37:07 +0000

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.

"Dreaming" feat. Taylor McFerrin, Shara Dae, and Ryat (Update!) New Launchpad Remix added

Nigel — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:30:54 +0000

Just added to this post is the last of my 4 part video series of Novation Launchpad live remixes of the music from some of my films produced in the last few months. Now you can see my live performance of “Dreaming” using the Novation Launchpad to arrange all the parts live, and the original film.

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.

Lets Face The Music revisited (Novation Launchpad Edition)

Nigel — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:47:13 +0000

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.

Novation Launchpad takes flight!

Nigel — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:48:43 +0000

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.

"The American Dream"

Nigel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:23:33 +0000

Does it exist anymore? This video is an ode to the proletariat despair of going someplace while wanting to be someplace else. Equipment used: Ableton Live 8, akai mpd 24, Roland V-Drums, Mino Flip video, Camera, and iMovie. Big ups to Phillip Glass and the Cinematic Orchestra for music and film integration inspiration. This is also my first HD film so be sure to click on the “HD” icon on the youtube screen.

"The Missing Link" (HD)

Nigel — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:20:39 +0000

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.