This is beatjazz - The Tron Beat Jazz Controller
« on: 2011-08-14 17:18:36 »
Something new in tech and musician interface .... Fritz
Musician and inventor Onyx Ashanti demonstrates "beatjazz" -- his music created with two handheld controllers, an iPhone and a mouthpiece, and played with the entire body. At TED's Full Spectrum Auditions, after locking in his beats and loops, he plays a 3-minute song that shares his vision for the future of music.
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2011/06/09/the-tron-beat-jazz-controller-onyx-ashanti-steps-away-from-the-computer/ <snip>He wants to leave boring laptop DJ performances behind: I’ve been playing around with this whole “perform from the dance floor” thing for the last few shows, since doing it for the first time at ARENA in Berlin a few weeks ago. The stage is increasingly becoming the place where i leave my gear when i play, rather than where i play. The effect is much more visceral, which is useful, because the first thing people think is that I’m a dancer with lights on my hands. From the floor, up close, they can see that i am making the music. I feel that the effect owes something to close up magic. Besides that, it just feels “natural”. Like you are where you are supposed to be but haven’t been able to be, for various technical reasons. I know that i can’t do it for every show, but whenever i can, that’s where i will be.
Ashanti’s work is interesting on many levels: for the way he makes use of technology; his ‘visceral’ approach to performance; and his exploration of this within a jazz context.<snip>