From nhetrick Sent Tue, Jul 27th 1999, 02:16
From nhetrick Sent Tue, Jul 27th 1999, 02:16
Just a few thoughts on the recent Funkstorung show at The Spot, Baltimore, July 22, 1999.... ====================== I certainly enjoyed their material, and the fact that it was very LIVE (Jega [at The Edge, Wash. D.C., last May?] was cool, and it was fun to watch him do a bit of a jig to his own stuff, but it was still mostly pre-recorded). Funkstorung did great, complex rhythms with a very low-tech sequencer (Alesis MMT-8), which is impressive. Maybe the stuttering, "speed-up-and-slow-down" rolls were done with the arpeggiator in the Nord Lead? That kind of effect is the single most baffling thing for me as far as current trends in 'techno' go. The 'bouncing ball' effect and the like. Are they just done with algorithms in computer software or new, 'dance-oriented' boxes like the MC-303? Or is it more complicated than that? I still haven't figured it out.... BTW, any idea what the word "funkstorung" actually means, if anything? I haven't got a German dictionary handy, so I can't check to see if it's even a regular word. Could be just some made-up word like 'autechre'.... At any rate, it was great to see this kind of underground IDM act 'touring' the U.S. Sure, Orbital will likely do an extensive tour in the near future, but that kind show is completely different to seeing a small act with fewer than ten pieces of gear on a table-top, working out with a small audience to some cutting edge, first-rate IDM. My hat's off to Sonic Soul for, in my view at least, bringing the spirit of 'Artificial Intelligence' to the greater D.C./Baltimore area. (They even had fliers designed by local grafix-miesters Airline Industries "in accordance with the Funkstorung Design Standards Manual set forth by the Designers Republic....") Neil Hetrick xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx p.s. -- for those interested, Funkstorung's setup included: Mackie CR1604 mixer Alesis MMT-8 sequencer Yamaha RY-30 drum machine Access Virus synth Nord Lead synth Nord MicroModular synth Alesis Wedge fx box