My new band/project, live tune!

U

Uncle Roel

Member
Here's a tune from the concert I played last week with my latest project. It started out as a one time project, but we all had a real good time, so we gonna keep it going.

The 'band' is called Xeeno, and there's 4 people involved. Me on sax, keys and PC (running Ableton Live), an awesome saxplayer who also kicks my ass on keys, a DJ scratching and providing some beats, and a percussionist playing whatever he can get his hands on.

We do rather free improvisational stuff. This tune is a free improvisation, based around 2 or 3 themes the pianoplayer had in mind. I'm playing sax on this one.

There's some distorion in the middle of the song, it was just a quick and dirty stereo recording with 2 ECM8000s in a stereopair somewhere in front of the stage.

XEENO tune 2

(This is the project that I planned to use the random sentences for, I didn't get to it, but someday, they WILL be used. Didn't get as many as I innitially needed either, still, a big thanks to those that actually DID record them! Thanks!!!)
 
Made me feel like the Madd Hatter on speed.

You guys have some talent!! For me, I liked the parts best that seemed more reheared rather than improved. From what you've said I believe that your goal is the improv though.

Good Luck

SpaceBoy
 
VSpaceBoy said:
For me, I liked the parts best that seemed more reheared rather than improved.
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There's really nothing in this piece that actually is rehearsed!! We played something in this vein while jamming on a rehearsal, and just said: wow, we gotta do this. We just had 4 rehearsals, of which 2 were with the percussionplayer.

I'm pretty proud on the sax, sabbath. I love the sound I got, and my improvisation seems to make sense, even if it's a bit outside at times. In the second set, my sound is really sucky... :( But I only play sax on one tune there, so that's ok.
 
Technique and knowledge are not an end in themselves, only a means to an end. Granted, I'm sure a lot is lost in the recording... not being able to see the show.

I can handle an experimental piece or two... you know, in small dosages. But not a full diet of things like this :).
 
Well, there wasn't much of a show to it. Just 4 guys on stage playing this. No interaction with the audience since they were all gathered at the other end of the venue...

This is not about technique and knowledge. The only knowledge in this is that we have an idea of how to relate what we want to hear to what we are playing... Free improvisations don't require alot of knowledge. :rolleyes: Although it helps to have some common expectations of how to react on other people and how they will react on you.

As for technique... Whenever you're improvising, you'll probably use whatever technique you have in it. Not that you'll use every technique you know of and play as fast as you can, you just play within your technical boundaries...

But I can totally understand that this isn't everyones piece of cake. As long as people keep an open mind, and are honest on wether they liked it or not, that's fine with me. :) ;)
 
Haha, you're from belgium right? Somehow I could hear that, hehe :)....can't tell you why though.

Cool. I liked the keys (especially the part at 4:44). Kinda 'hollow' recording, but hey it's live.

Yeah, definitely reminds me of some great belgian (or is it 'belgium'?) bands. Gotta find those Fukkeduk, X-Legged Sally and Univers Zero recordings (they're somewhere in my collection), it's been too long since I last heard those albums.
 
dude.....................................
I turned it up because the level on the piano is low...
where's the warning man?

Can't comment on the mix because I don't think you could mix this if it was all from overheads or "centralized" mics....

I dig the jam after the initial clash of instruments...
sort of sounded like a collection of show tunes....
with improv leads...

you got some mad skillz Unkie Roel....

Thanks for posting this jam....


Take it easy man,
Joe
 
Ismellelephant said:
LOL, ever listen to Naked City by John Zorn? Good stuff it made me laugh
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I'll take that as a complement. I LOVE most of Zorn's stuff. I'm a big fan of him. :cool:

Ped. I'm Belgian indeed. Does it show? Are we that strange, musically? The keys are really funny... I love it when he does that.

The recording sounds kinda hollow because of the venue. It's really a hollow-sounding place. Lot's of low mid resonance. I don't like the sound of it. I'm gonna try and get something done about it, but we are on a tight budget...

Sorry about the loudness Joro... People aren't used to dynamics no more. lol...

Thanks all!
 
Hey, Roel - I know squat about live recording, but I figure it can't be *that* hard to get a better sound on your band playing live. I suppose it means a mic on each player, yeah?

I enjoyed what you're doing here, and you're lucky to have an audience for this kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, when I compare, for example, Hendrix's songs and his jamming and improv work, I prefer the songs.

Keep doing the experimental explorations. Then record some structured songs. :)
 
But I can totally understand that this isn't everyones piece of cake. As long as people keep an open mind, and are honest on wether they liked it or not, that's fine with me.
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Yeah, man... it's cool that you guys have a vision of what you wanna do and are going after it. I might not dig it, but who gives a shit what I think :D.

You still playing with this line-up?
 
dobro said:
Hey, Roel - I know squat about live recording, but I figure it can't be *that* hard to get a better sound on your band playing live. I suppose it means a mic on each player, yeah?

I enjoyed what you're doing here, and you're lucky to have an audience for this kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, when I compare, for example, Hendrix's songs and his jamming and improv work, I prefer the songs.

Keep doing the experimental explorations. Then record some structured songs. :)
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You're right about the live recording. This really is just a quick and dirty recording. Stereopair somewhere near the stage and FOH speakers, set the levels and press record.

The way to go would be just record each instrument/line seperate on a track and add the stereo pair for ambience, but that would've required more than 8 tracks and that's all I can record simultaniously... It would've also helped alot if someone was doing sound for us, but I did it on stage so we didn't really have an option. And above that, the room is very bad sounding. We'll probably invest in drapes or something soon to clean it up a little, dunno how much that will help though.

I don't like to put alot of time in the mixing of things like this afterwards either. The main idea was just to give us something to listen to afterwards and to learn from it. And we did learn from it. I know I did anyway...

As for songs versus experimental... Well. It kinda depends what you're into. I listen to alot of experimental stuff. By good musicians that are experienced with that kinda stuff. We aren't even close to that... We kinda still have to find a balance between the structured and improvised things we do, get more structure in our free improvisations maybe, or just get some more experience with free improvisations. We're just newbies you know?

Another point related is; on a concert, with the music linked to something visual, you can handle alot more. Kinda like some film music that is really out there, but the images make it acceptable for the untrained ear...
 
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