Dubspot’s Ableton Tour stop in L.A., over the weekend of November 7th and 8th, achieved its goal. All accounts of the event have centered around how unique the experience was, how innovative the workshops were, and how in-demand the Dubspot experience is Los Angeles.
The workshops began on Saturday with a production focus and a locally based presenter. Thavius Beck drew on his talents as one of L.A.s only Ableton certified instructors to warming up the brains of those in attendance with a presentation on beat-making and grooves. The second presentation saw Dubspot’s own Jon Margulies and his discussion of cleaning, simplifying, and organizing Live sets through automation control and project management techniques. Next, Irwin came through with some sound design strategies for a variety of applications, playing off his years of live performance and studio experience.
The second half of the day began with Kid Beyond hopping on-stage for a quick preview performance of Sunday night, and Daniel Wyatt in all of his charm discussing the mastering techniques that took him multi-platinum. Jon Margulies joined half-way through to translate the ideas into direct applications in Ableton. Barry Cole came next, talking about licensing issues and how emerging musicians can protect their art and turn a hobby into a career. Closing the day was a special presentation by the Dub legend Scientist, whose timeless mixing strategies were applied in Live by Dubspot’s DJ Kiva, translating timeless ideas from old into the technology of new.
Sunday’s performance based workshops saw more of the brightest minds in electronic music demonstrating a diverse selection controllers options, programming strategies, and techniques to utilize Ableton’s versatility on the stage. DJ Kiva opened it up with a performance and an introduction to Live PA/DJ Hybrid sets, which flowed into Steve Nalepa’s overview of the most popular uses of Ableton and an analysis of contemporary performance strategies, i.e. how acts like Bassnectar, Flying Lotus, Adam Freeland and Nosaj Thing perform with Live.
After these two experienced teachers (Kiva is one of Dubspot’s own, Steve is a professor at Chapman University) came two experienced technologists, Daedelus and Peter Kirn. Together they discussed the Monome controller, programming strategies for Max MSP, and applying these ideas in Max for Live. Throughout the workshop Daedelus jammed out some samplings of his incredible live performance. Justin Boreta of Glitch Mob then gave a behind the scenes look into how his break-out electronic music group controls, develops, and programs their sets, plus what they have planned for the future of their performances. Finally, Kid Beyond, the one man band and beat boxing extraordinaire, gave a presentation on looping and his live performance, in which he creates all the elements of a song on the fly, with only his voice and a couple guitar samples. During the whole talk, Kid weaved in and out of lecturing and performing, closing an extraordinary day with an extraordinary workshop.
Sunday night closed with 5yr Anniversary party for Create Digital Music (Peter Kirn’s outstanding music technology website), and some amazing technology demonstrations and live performances by Christopher Willits and Kid Beyond.
The whole weekend was a truly unique experience. All the insights, ideas, and interactions throughout the weekend, from this incredibly diverse selection of elite DJs, composers, and producers, combined to create a one of a kind event that represents what Dubspot brings the world of music. The school is already thinking about the next trip to L.A., whether its for another weekend event or a permanent location.
