digitalism @ dc9 roll call

I have the flu so my senses are dulled…
I thought the show as a lot of fun for a Monday night. I felt like I was sitting at a chef's table being so close to the band. I felt after the beginning the lead singer hammed up his German accent for the effect. Next time, I might not stand so close to the front. The backup singer kept fiddling this small touch sensitive tablet-like instrument with moving LEDs. I couldn't link that to changes in the music. Anybody know what the instrument is?

Originally posted by sweetcell:

Originally posted by 930clubber:
i'm surprised you didn't complain about it being too packed as you usually do.

again there were some pushy buffoons upfront but test of will was nowhere as acute as at the Justice show.

you just answered your own question (in as much as "i'm surprised…" was a question :p )

did you enjoy the show? thought? observations?

Originally posted by 930clubber:
The backup singer kept fiddling this small touch sensitive tablet-like instrument with moving LEDs. I couldn't link that to changes in the music. Anybody know what the instrument is?

"backup singer" - LOL. he did provide occasional vocals, but i wouldn't call him a backup singer. definitely wasn't his prime role up there.

i can't recall what the name of the midi triggering device that you're referring to, it'll come to me. he was using it to trigger samples and loops in upcoming measures, so the effects of what he was doing wouldn't be heard immediately.

Originally posted by sweetcell:

Originally posted by 930clubber:
The backup singer kept fiddling this small touch sensitive tablet-like instrument with moving LEDs. I couldn't link that to changes in the music. Anybody know what the instrument is?

"backup singer" - LOL. he did provide occasional vocals, but i wouldn't call him a backup singer. definitely wasn't his prime role up there.

i can't recall what the name of the midi triggering device that you're referring to, it'll come to me. he was using it to trigger samples and loops in upcoming measures, so the effects of what he was doing wouldn't be heard immediately.

I wasn't there, but I'm willing to bet it was a KORG Chaos Pad

nope, definitely not a kaos pad - that name i can remember.

what he was playing was almost exactly like a Yamaha Tenori-On (link 1, link 2, link 3). sort of like a rhythmic lite-brite :) i scoped the gear when i first got to DC9, but the stage was quite dark so i couldn't see it very well. the reason why i say "almost exactly" is because the lights on digitalism's contraption were red - and every tenori-on i've ever seen has white LEDs. so either digitalism has a custom tenori-on, or it's something else. yamaha can't make tenori-ons fast enough, so it would almost certainly have to be an after-market custom job if it is in fact a tenori-on.

</geek>

i was right up in front of pad guy but I can no longer remember the proportions of the tablet.

what i remember bears a strong resemblance to the Kaoss 3 Pad, perhaps with less instrumentation around the LEDs:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=O51Bp2VWaEk&amp;feature=related

As you suggest, with their access, they could have a custom job or something high end we've never heard of.

I call him "backup singer" because although he had very little to sing, at one point seem frantic about the lack of sound in his mike and waved for the sound engineer(s) to up the volume.

I'll be another person to note the floor buckling under the pressure of the jumping and dancing but - wow! what a show! a total DIY techno blast.

Originally posted by 930clubber:
what i remember bears a strong resemblance to the Kaoss 3 Pad, perhaps with less instrumentation around the LEDs:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=O51Bp2VWaEk&amp;feature=related

i remember it looking a little more like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0