May 08, 2005
MixMaster Mike in MPLS
Some of the readers of my blog told me "it's getting old and kind of bore to death that only T-Wolves and A I " so I'll change the shift this time. so I will review the show that I saw yesterday. "MixMaster Mike from the Beastie Boys" well, technically he is the DJ FOR the Beastie Boys, but..... anyway .
Man, it was amazing Show. I didn't know what exactly for, and I found out very last minutes(half hour before the door open 8:00PM), Mixmaster Mike has show in town and it's FREE!!!! you just can't miss the opportunity like this. so I fly down to the "Bar-Fly". I waited ......and waited .....and waited.....and waited finally he got on the stage just after Midnight (yes, 4hours of waiting). but I have to tell you, it was worth of waiting. Why is that wait ? you know what, I thought so too. and normally when you see the AD said "Door open 8:00PM Start 9:00PM" you would believe Show start @9:00PM, right ? this is the tricky part. this even was for the Promotion of "Camel"( That is Why it was FREE). As a lot of you living in Twin Cities area knows, some cites baned smoking in the bar and club in TC, which I love. This is the event for bringing back the smoking in the bar and club. which I believe it will happen in winter time in TC with some condition. anyway, Promotion Event start @9:00PM. Opening band French Kicks start @10:00. MixMaster Mike start @ 12:00.
First, I couldn't have good vision of what MixMaster Mike is doing. but sound what he created was impossible to spin with just analog vinyls. so I was thinking "mmmm, I want to see what exactly he's doing! ". so I whipped my Old Timer Body{some point, I may change my name from DJ Hiro to Mixmaster ALT(al' timer)} , I went up to the front. Do you know what I saw ? that was amazing Art with high quality of skills and imagination. he use two technics 1200(MD3?)and Pioneer Digital Mixer and Mac G4 17' laptop computer with Final Scratch(I think). He didn't use any analog vinyls. He use vinyls which is encoded SMPTE time code on the groove. and trigger the MP3 audio files from computer, but you can treat audio file like analog vinyl. which kind of intrigued me because reversing digital audio isn't exactly sound like revering analog vinyls. now I want to have Final Scratch! technology is far beyond of my intelligence( if I have any...). anyway, now that answered my question. he switch loops and music chunks for 1 bar(measure) 2 bar , 8 bar, stretch. I don't think it can be done with vinyls (or can he ?). but he show off what exactly people need to know. technology is just a tool. how you use it is more important than what can you do with it. When I teach Music Production at IPR(recording school in MPLS) a lot of kids wanted to know technical aspect of computer software. they wanted to know what it can do. I was questioning myself " Why did they take Music Production major instead of Recording Engineering major ?" Sadly That question will never be answered. I appreciate music with highly trained skill with creative imagination(emotion). Classical music and Jazz are my favorite music. because they require both. you need discipline to master the technical side of the music. and you need desire and heart to express the emotion side of the music. well, my story always go all over, but what I'm saying is MixMaster Mike certainly has both of them. it's not Jazz, it's certainly not Classical, but he has skill and emotion in his music. well, 1hour and 40minutes of grooving non stop music was definitely worth it , no matter how long you wait. now I'm back to my turntables and practice. Peace Out !!!!