Tara Plays Tramlines Festival July 25th! Ableton Adventures and Reinvention….
Good morning darlings! We’re in the midst of popping together the live show for our gig at the Tramlines Festival in Sheffield on July 25th – we are performing a live movie score. Here’s the lovely poster:
And now I must say – Oh, Ableton….I am still the equivalent of a baby bird in the nest, sprouting feathers, as far as my Ableton skills are concerned, but I’m getting there. Let’s hope I make a somewhat graceful leap out of the nest next Sunday when we perform this.
I have come to realize the potential of this “instrument” that is Ableton, and can see it as a way of finally being able to perform my songs without the heart attack of having to sit behind a piano, sonically naked. I’ve only scratched the surface of what this brilliant software is capable of unlocking, and I’m so grateful to have a new approach to try. I suppose I’ve finally come to realize, at age 36, that reinvention is always possible and that I am now, as Graham Massey would say, a ‘non musician’. Or a sort of oddball sonic pilot. That’s who I am.
So, here I sit, armed with an APC 40 and my trusty Moogerfoogers (and, erm ….a piano), opening up the whole situation and rewiring my entire creative circuitry and approach to music making.
I’ll try & post more progress and stay in touch; who else has rewired themselves in such a way? Does this make sense to anyone? Ah well. Off for my morning coffee…
Written by Tara on July 19, 2010 at 7:59 am
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3 comments
Absolutely! I’ve never been a ‘traditional’ musician and can only just about play keyboards! Trying to transfer our album into a state where it can be played live solo with limited budgets that don’t include drummer (though we may add this) horn section, string section, bass, lead guitar and all manner of strange percussion instruments, has been a challenge to say the least. Also its a real balancing act – I’ve never been keen on laptops on stage and personally don’t want to sit behind one whilst people wonder what I’m actually doing! Of course there will be a laptop, running Ableton Live, I may even have to glance at it every now and again just to check the status of things, but the APC40 will hopefully limit the need for this. Mix this with my Minimoog Voyager, reel to reel tape loops, Laura J Martin on flute, mandolin and with Debbie Clare, Vocals, and hopefully its a show worth checking out. Plus some space age visuals!
Looking forward to hearing your live set!
Performing music is an art all on its own. It doesn’t matter what tools we use as long as we’re able to convey our emotions to the audience. I firmly believe that.
This again reminds me of how much I need to get back on stage. I really need to sit down and figure out how to do some of my tunes live. Being that I play so many instruments, though, i don’t think I can do it alone.
Interesting topic – I’m 36 and am "rewiring" myself in lots of different ways too, one of which is learning to make music in a whole new way using tools like Ableton Live after almost 20 years of playing in rather traditional rock/funk/blues groups. It can be overwhelming at times, but I’m really enjoying the challenge because I feel like it’s giving me an opportunity to create something really unique and authentically "me". As Goethe (and the mom in Almost Famous) said, "Be bold, and great forces will come to your aid."
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