The last couple of years have made humanity seem more divided than ever, like there are ideological and cultural barriers that seem insurmountable. Despite this perception, we are all one species, we share 99.9% of our DNA and anything that seems to divide us is actually minuscule compared to everything that we share. The most upsetting thing (at least to me) about the rise of divisive ideologies is that we now actually have the tools to create an amazing world for all of us. There are enough resources for everyone to be fed, clothed and even entertained, if we could only get over the thousands of barriers of self-interest that prevent that happening.
This track is a different type of retro inspired music to the electroswing and vintage remix stuff I’ve been working on recently… 90s inspired euphoric dance. When I was just a baby and started sneaking into clubs, it was one of the first electronic genres I got into. It wasn’t long before I was into darker, more complex stuff too but nothing else quite gave the same big joyful release. I know it had its cheesy moments but it created that feeling of togetherness that permeated the clubbing community like nothing else. I know a lot of people dismissed that as a product of drugs or alcohol but I’ve been to enough sober raves recently to know that its actually just acceptance and the shared enjoyment of music that makes us feel that way. Dancing is an ancient act, one of our oldest rituals (and probably the oldest form of exercise). Perhaps when we dance together, it allows us to touch that thread of commonality running through our history
As you might expect I’ve used a lot of oldschool elements for this one with pumping bass, soaring pads and big arpeggios. I’ve made a suitably retro video to go with it (with some help from Touchdesigner, zGameeditor visualiser and Blender). The track is a free download so grab it here:
I’ve been an mixed genre producer for several years now but currently about 75% of the projects I’m working on are electroswing. There’s something incredibly special about this genre, both to listen to and to make… here’s why
So Danceable
Swing music was made for dancing, its hard for me to listen to it and not start moving. In electroswing, the other genres it’s being combined add an extra level of energy. The overall effect is creating a style of music that is irresistable to dance to. And the great thing is there are so many styles of dance that work well with it: swing, quickstep, shuffling, charleston, club dancing, rock and roll or just your best flapper impression… anyone can get their groove on. A friend of mine recently observed at a gig: ‘There were ravers in the middle and swing dancers around the outside but everyone was dancing together’.
Creative Freedom
Compared to other genres ES is very light on rules, there’s no set BPM, no set beat, no established convention on what instruments you have to use, anything goes! (note to self, I need to make a remix of Anything Goes). People produce ES that is almost entirely swing with a hint of modern production added while others make primarily electronic music combined creatively with swing. With the latter, I’ve heard ES inspired by (or based on) almost every major electronic genre: House, DnB, Electro (obvs), Dubstep, Techno, Dancehall even things like Trance and commercial EDM. Providing it fits the overall aesthetic and uses some relevant samples or instruments you can justifiably call it electroswing. This makes it a real joy to produce in as this freedom of expression allows you try out combinations of sounds and techniques you’d never otherwise think of. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that genre conventions stifle creativity but I would say that it is a lot easier to be lazy in your productions when you already know how aspects of your tracks have to sound to be considered part of that genre.
Plays well with others
Because ES can be based on so many different styles of music and be played at many different tempos it mixes well with a whole range of other genres. Glitch hop, funk, rap, big band and latin house work particularly well but if you feel out the crowd you could drop a massive electro-house track, an acoustic rock number or something really leftfield. You could probably make anything work if you gave it enough thought. This encourages really creative DJing and means that the crowd can be genuinely surprised, which is much less likely to happen during a 2 hour long single genre set.
Sample away!
A lot of people have commented recently about how intellectual property law has become completely ridiculous. Some corporations (ahem ahem Disney) have tried to change copyright law to allow them to have perpetual rights to their properties. This is an insane approach as it completely shuts down some major creative avenues: homage, remixes, retellings all become potentially problematic legally. Fortunately they have not managed to extend this far enough back to affect a lot of swing, big band, jazz and other pre 1940s music. Maybe its just me who cares about making music completely legally (or rather without the chance that some gung ho record label will decide to try to sue over something that is clearly being used in a creatively altered fashion) but I really appreciate the sheer volume of source material freely available to use.
Broad appeal
One of the great things about electroswing is that it is really approachable. When I’ve played some of my friends and relatives a heavy electrotrash, dubstep or DnB track, their response has been ‘that’s just noise’, when some people hear a house or trance track all they hear is the pounding kick. I’ve yet to play someone ES and get an overtly negative response anything like that. I mean I might start them off with something fairly swing heavy like Parov Stellar or Caravan palace but even the tracks which are heavily inspired by the genres above get a much better reception. It might be something about the sounds of real instruments or the familiarity of the swing samples that makes it easier to get into. I think this is reflected in the group that turn up to ES events, you usually find people of all ages and backgrounds (not to mention an amazing selection of outfits), and that creates a really welcoming atmosphere.
Retrofuturism
Part of the reason I love electroswing is the same reason that I love steampunk… they take some of the best bits of the past, the present and our imagined futures to create something glorious. I love the imagination of these hybrid genres but I think that they are part of a bigger trend. We have unprecedented choice when it comes to music (and media in general), you could load up your computer with all the best music from the past 100 years, or listen to it online. We are no longer bound by whatever the radio is playing or we’d managed to collect as physical media. This has meant that in a sense we have moved on from the strong creative fashions and trends of the past. People can listen to, watch or play almost anything that is current and anything that is from the past. The last few years has seen an explosion in old acts reforming, retro inspired culture and classics being rereleased. Likewise modern technology has given us almost unlimited creative freedom to combine these things. I think that this has definitely helped to bring electroswing to the fore in the last couple of years.
While often an increase in popularity is associated with a reduction in quality, I actually think that in electroswing’s case it has just created a broader range of interpretation and styles. That’s not to say that there aren’t some really lazy tracks out there but actually, there are very few lazy tracks which are popular with ES listeners, it’s the interesting stuff that keeps people hooked. If that spirit continues I’m sure it will remain one of the most exciting and vibrant musical styles.
Ah crowdfunding has brought us a a great many awesome things, awesome music videos, insane gadgets and reboots of long dead media franchises (even an attempt to rescue the ailing Greek economy). However one of the things that I love the most are the crazy music controllers that people are coming up with. Often looking and behaving completely unlike anything remotely musical before, these could really represent the vanguard of future music production and performance. Or a hiliarious looking desk ornament that will serve mainly as a dust magnet once the novelty has worn off. I’ll let you decide for yourself which these beauties are
Expressiv MIDI guitar
OK, this is not the first time that someone has made a hybrid electric guitar and MIDI controller but this rocks some features that are truly unique. Firstly it will detect notes just from your left hands position on the fretboard effectively freeing up your strumming hand to operate the modulation controls, a mouse or perhaps a beer. Secondly, on the subject of the modulation controls, it has a playstation style analog stick instead of the normal modwheels, ribbons etc, so you can add a shinku-hadoken to your shredding (It also has buttons and a touchpad for crazy control schemes). Most importantly, perhaps is the fact they’ve built a light tunnel into the body! Anyone who knows my natural affinity towards glowing objects will appreciate how exciting that is for me. It also plugs into an amp and operates as a regular electric guitar. They’re in production at the moment. Expect to pay $500 on kickstarter to preorder yours
Drumpants
Hey if you’ve never slapped your thighs in time to a song, you probably have a terminal lack of joie de vivre. I mean isn’t the lap natures drumkit? Likewise the impulse to tap one’s foot in time to a tune is pretty much obligatory for listening to music. Some smart guys and gals have decided to harness this into a a collection of smart sensors that attach to your thighs and feet to convert your leg drumming into legendary drumming. They’re even making a version to help people with ALS and other movement disorders communicate more effectively, which definitely ups the awesomeness of this project. They’re actually being released very soon, with an estimated shipping date of September. You can preorder the basic set on indiegogo for $159
MIDI sprout
I know many exponents of the theory that talking to plants helps them grow, what if your plants could sing back though. Wouldn’t that make the world a better place? Quite possibly, or it could be one step closer to unleashing the Triffids, who knows? What I do know is that this black box (or white box in this case) translates the galvanic response of plants into MIDI signals that can be used to control your favourite music software. According to their campaign page it will also work with objects other than plants, including humans, pets and ice creams. Its apparently being tested at the moment and is available to preorder for $95 on Kickstarter
Spaceharp
On of the first performances of electronic music that I remember was Jean Michel Jarre taking over several city blocks playing his iconic laser harp. The Spaceharp takes things, umm a little further. Not content with just lasers that you break with your hand, this thing has Sonar, Shadow sensors and a whole range of buttons and other controls to create some crazy laser harp/kinect/theramin hybrid. And boy, does it have a price tag to match… $1900! You could set up a pretty decent starter studio for that. Still it looks amazing and is probably a very cool way of really using your body to play, available to preorder on indiegogo (it also comes in a 2-pack for $3700, you know, so you could get one for yourself and one for me to test out. Just saying)
RemoFinger
Anyone who has used a tablet for music production will usually tell the same story: multitouch = amazing, lack of tactile feedback = a right pain in the derriere. In order to counteract this there are a number of controllers available for iPad but they all have the same Achilles heel, software support. This can be a real pain if you’ve found a real gem of an app but the only way you can control it is by tapping the screen. The Remofinger niftily skirts this problem by actually having attachments that stick on you screen and replicate the touch of a human finger. As the pedal set implies, this is squarely aimed at guitarists aiming to change effects. However I see a whole range of control possibilities (and no not playing flappy bird with your foot). This has (at the time of writing) not reached its target of funding yet, although it is doing pretty well. I really want to see this happen, if you do too show your support on Kickstarter
Well there you go, there’s your 5. Perhaps once they’re all released someone could combine the lot into the maddest looking one man band ever (especially with the potplant you’d need to strap to your back to operate the MIDI sprout).
Dataphiles' Music Madness 