409 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
409 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
________________________________________________________
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/\ . . . . . . . . .
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/__\ s s e m b l a g e techno \/ music V 1.1
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/ \S S E M B L A G E rave /\ culture NOV 92
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issue editor russell potter rapotter@colby.edu
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________________________________________________________
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_Assemblage_ is a deliberately ephemeral, occasional, mobile
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journal that will publish reviews of techno/rave music, raves,
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dances, along with articles on the social implications of this
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music (if any). Freelance reviews, signed or unsigned, are
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welcome.
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Editorial Staff:
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Robert Campanell robcamp@well.sf.ca.us (cyberpunk)
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Michael Pisano mpisano@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu(theoretical articles)
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Russell Potter rapotter@colby.edu (reviews, theory)
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Bob Crispen crispen@foxy.boeing.com (record reviews)
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Frederick Wolf Frederick.Wolf@um.cc.umich.edu (Detroit scene, reviews)
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Robert Hooker hooker@aristotle.ils.nwu.edu (the theoretical side)
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Arthur Chandler arthurc@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu (reviews, thought pieces)
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Laura La Gassa laura@usl.com ("The Flux Tube" (NE Rave Scene))
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Andy ndc@engin.umich.edu (reviews, scene stuff)
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Johan Dowdy jwdowdy@colby.edu (reviews)
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taylor808 TOD3253@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU (tech,cyberpunk stuff)
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Joe Turner cutter@silver.lcs.mit.edu ("Kickin' Phase" (Tech Tips))
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===========================================================
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I S S U E 1 C O N T E N T S
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===========================================================
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Columns [Assemblage part 1] :
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Kickin' Phase: "Techno: The 12-Point Program" -- Errata Stigmata
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The Flux Tube -- The East Coast Rave Scene as Seen by Laura La Gassa
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Articles [Assemblage Part 2]:
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Russell Potter, "DANCE: Music, Body, and the Reign of the Senses"
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Robert Hooker, "Reflections on the Rave Generation"
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Arthur Chandler, "Have We Been Here Before? -- Hippies & Ravers, 60s & 70s"
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Music Reviews [Assemblage Part 3]:
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The Techno Sound of Berlin, Swamp, Radition, Acid Drill, Lords of
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Acid, Underground Resistance, World Power Alliance, Sysex,
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C.Y.B.E.R.F.U.N.K., Circuit Breaker
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[reviewed by Andrew Crosby and Russell Potter]
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Rave Reviews
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Halloween Rave, Greensboro NC -- Reviewed by henders@eos.ncsu.edu
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========================================================================
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*Assemblage* 1.1. Copyright (c) 1992 by *Assemblage* for the contributors
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(unless otherwise noted); this text may be freely shared among individuals,
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but may not be reprinted without prior permission from the author(s).
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========================================================================
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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K I C K I N' P H A S E
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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b y E r r a t a S t i g m a t a
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TECHNO: The 12-POINT PROGRAM
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----------------------------
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TECHNO - the sound of ten million whining chainsaws melted into a
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disco record with a bad attitude on speed. Must be easy to make one
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o' them there thangs, eh? Hrmph! About as easy, as they say, as root
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canal -- but fun nonetheless, and you CAN do it if you want to.
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Techno, while ultimately very diverse, is actually a very rigidly
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defined style. Your first Techno song, if you're not a latent genius,
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will probably sound pretty derivative; don't fret, and don't give up
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if you suddenly realise your creation uses the same changes as the
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latest Twin EQ disc. Just as a lot of rock sounds interchangeable (on
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the surface) because it's just two guitars, bass, and drums, a lot of
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Techno ends up sounding similar because of the ingredients needed to
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make it.
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"Writing" a Techno song doesn't follow any of the same patterns as
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writing a pop song. Techno, with very few exceptions, is based on the
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jam-in-the-studio method of writing: you get in front of the drum
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machine and keyboard, and you just go nuts. Whatever works, you keep,
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and then change/modify until you like it (or you hate it and throw it
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away). If you don't like something, save it anyway; having old ideas
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around often lets them "compost" in your head, and they may come out
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later in a different and better form.
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The process of writing a Techno song is very linear, if you're having
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a really good day and the muses are with you. A basic drum pattern is
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created, then a simple bass line is added over it, and then a main
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chord or sound to fill it out gets laid over the top. Frills can then
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be added on, such as samples and effects. The samples can come
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earlier in the process, if the sample is integral to the song.
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The kick drum is almost always the first thing to be written. Techno
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uses a beat called "four on the floor" almost exclusively. What that
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means in english is that for each measure of a song, there are four
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kick-drum beats. You know, THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP. You can
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experiment with this, and play around with syncopating it a little.
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Variety is the spice of life -- but if Fred the Raver can't dance to
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it, it won't do well. Be inventive but know when to stop. The choice
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of kick drum is also important; make sure you use a sound that has a
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good fast attack and isn't flabby or hollow. Most drum sound sources,
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depending on whatever you're using as a drum unit (you can use a
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sampler with drum sounds loaded, or a drum machine), will have a
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variety of sounds to choose from. The Alesis SR-16, for example, has
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about 25 kick drum sounds.
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Once you have the kick pattern set, start experimenting with hi-hat
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patterns and snare drum fills. Use the snare very sparingly, if at
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all. Keep it low in the drum mix (most drum machines will let you
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control the volume of each drum individually), and avoid heavy,
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rock-like drum sounds (unless you are going for a particular one-time
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effect). Keep the drum line percolating but simple -- the urge to
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make a very complex drum line is strong, I know, but less is truly
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more.
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If you are going for a stereotypical hardcore Techno sound, you will
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probably want to put that grindy REEET-REEET sound in that everyone
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and their mother uses (if you're not sure what noise I mean, and
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through the printed medium I'm sure some people won't, just grab your
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ancient copy of "James Brown is Dead" and fixate on the annoying buzzy
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grinding sounds). Take your sampler and the nearest heavy metal
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record you can find, and sample a bit of pure guitar noise. Just a
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half-second will do, just enough to loop. (You should read your
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sampler's manual if the term "sample and loop" confuses you; basically
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it means "take the sampled sound and have it play over and over and
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over if you hold a key down". The shorter the sample, the more
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unearthly the loop usually is.) Pitch-bend that sucker to hell.
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If you're going for something a bit more housey or trancey, any good
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analog or digital synth will do. Moogs are nice; Juno 60's are
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better; Jupiters are worth killing someone for. Go nuts with
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bloopy and blorpy arpeggiated sounds. If you're lucky, your unit can
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control how fast it arpeggiates by looking at how fast your sequencer
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is going (by looking at MIDI information), and you'll have some snappy-
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sounding acid basslines.
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If you have listened carefully to *any* Techno, you may have noticed
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that not only are chords optional, they're usually nonexistant. This
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doesn't mean you have to make something totally atonal; however, don't
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concentrate on figuring out how to get from the Lydian mode in the
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break back to Dorian mode in the main section. The ravers won't care,
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and so shouldn't you. Most Techno does not vary from one or two
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chords over the course of a song, so don't sweat it.
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Vocal samples are fun, but optional. They can either add to the
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recognisability of a song ("I'm the One and Only Dominator!", "Shut
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the fuck up, bitch, you can't sing!") but they can also get incredibly
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annoying if used too much ("...Dominator" and various Public Enemy
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samples being prime offenders in past years. Hey, anyone remember
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"this is a journey into sound..."?) A whole book could be written
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about attempting to match the rhythm of your sample with the rhythm of
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your song, but in general, don't worry about speeding the sample up if
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you have to, or slowing it down. Most DJs will adjust the speed of
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their turntable, anyway.
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Your song should groove, but it should also change and build. Don't
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be afraid to put breaks in. "Break" can either literally be a silence
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of so-many beats, or it can be short for "breakdown", where you strip
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the song down in an interesting way -- take the kick out, let the
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piano glide byt itself for 4 bars, or whatever. DJ's like breaks,
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especially in intuitive places (try to keep things in even numbers of
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bars) and when they can hear it building. The chances that your
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record will be played by itself in its entirety is pretty slim, so
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make it interesting; don't just let it sit there and grind away for
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four minutes.
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Now that you understand the basics of the process, you must
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meet two major requirements if you have ANY pretentions about making
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Techno: nearly infinite patience, and nearly infinite money.
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Money first. Forget all the hype about LFO plopping a Casiotone down
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on tape and having instant success with it; the equipment needed to do
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all the stuff I just described ain't cheap.
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If you plan on doing a housey-trancey song (much easier than a
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hardcore samplefest), you will need:
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o A sequencer ($200/$400 used/new) -OR-
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o A home computer such as a Macintosh, IBM-PC, Amiga, or
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Atari ST ($700/$1500 used/new) plus
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good sequencing software ($200).
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o A drum machine ($200/$400 used/new).
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o A synthesiser ($300/$1500 used/new). Most newer
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digital synths are MIDI-fitted; some older
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analog synths are, also. Some VERY old synths
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may need a MIDI "retro-fit", which can be VERY
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expensive.
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o A multichannel mixer ($25-$150/$50-$500 used/new).
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Four channel at least, six channel is nice.
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Radio Shack sells a good six-channel mixer;
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don't beleive anyone who tells you that you
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need twelve channels.
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o An open-reel audio tape recorder ($500/$1000 used/new)
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for sending your gem to the mastering plant.
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o Buttloads of audio and MIDI cables ($50-$200). This
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is the hidden cost that everyone forgets
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about.
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If you don't want to wear headphones, and your neighbors are 80 and
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deaf, you can also get:
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o A PA power amp ($200-$500/$500-$1000 used/new), at
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least 100 watts a channel.
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o Two PA speakers which you should call "cabinets" or
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else you'll look like a total neo ($200/$500 per pair
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used/new). Make sure they have good bass, and that
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they'll match the amp you buy.
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If you DO want a samplefest, then you can also count on buying:
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o A sampler! ($400/$1000 used/new) Make sure it has
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enough memory to choke an elephant. Most samplers
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will have enough to sample about 15 seconds in mono.
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o Lots of disks ($50) -OR-
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o A hard disk drive ($200/$400 used/new) to save
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samples on. Some home computers have "sample library"
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software and can store samples on disk, and modify
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them.
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If you just won the lottery and have money to burn, don't forget your:
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o Multitrack recorder ($250-$7,000/$500-$20,000
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used/new). Four-tracks are useful, but eight-tracks
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are better for doing some really inventive tricks.
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o SMPTE time-code reader/writer (if you have to ask,
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you can't afford it, used OR new). Hook this up to
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your sequencer and record many tracks of synced-up
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music. Useful only if your synth is limited or if you
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want to do VERY layered stuff.
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You may pick your jaw up from the floor now -- but put it back down
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because even for bare-bones stuff, getting even 1000 records pressed
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requires $200 for mastering and EQ, plus five cents per sleeve, plus
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about $700 for the actual vinyl.
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IT'S NOT CHEAP. Unless you traffic in stolen goods, or unless you
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have lots of generous friends with equipment to loan, you will end up
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blowing close to $2000 on a basic set-up.
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This is by no means a complete guide; rules were made to be broken and
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Techno definately breaks a LOT of rules. Read the manuals then throw
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them away and play intuitively. Listen to a lot of Techno and then
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put a Patsy Cline album on before you go into the studio. Be calm but
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take risks. Play things for your friends, and send demos to anyone
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and everyone. Go to raves and really talk to DJs about what they like
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to play. Listen carefully to your friends jizz over what they've
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bought and what they like. Remember: it will sometimes take 20 bad
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songs before you write that first good one.
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...and fer gosh sakes, keep a sense of humor about it all. Ain't
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nothing less fun than a pompous musician!
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========================================================================
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The Flux Tube
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A Column Depicting the East Coast Rave Scene as Seen by Laura La Gassa
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========================================================================
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This issue's topic: A Raver's Map of the North East
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Raving on the East Coast often involves a lot of driving, and the core
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of dedicated ravers will travel anywhere from one to eight hours for an
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event. This results in a lot of good friendly parties since a portion of
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the people will have made a special effort to be there, and because the same
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faces keep popping up, lending a small neighborhood feel to a large geographic
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area. Interstate 95 links the major cities on the East Coast, and as such
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links the major rave centers. Let's take a drive . . .
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MAINE: Way up north in Portland, K.C. and the Sunrise Gang throw raves
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about every two months. These are generally small (compared to the huge New
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York and Washington raves) and breakbeat oriented. I have never attended any
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of these raves, but a reputable raver reports that the last party, CRUSADE
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held on October 10, was excellent.
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MASSACHUSSETS: The Boston rave scene as such is pretty much non-existent. A
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large number of enthusiastic ravers live in and around Boston, but they have
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been able to have very few rave parties within the metro-Boston area. There
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are decent clubs with good techno nights (Venus and Axis), but everything must
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close down at 2.00 am so it's difficult to get an all-night vibe going unless
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it is at a private party held in someone's apartment. Occaisionally
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after-hours parties are thrown at underground locations, but these are prone to
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being busted. I attended a good after hours party Labor Day weekend, thrown by
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self-proclaimed Boston scene leader Debo and DJ'd by Debo and Long Island's
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trance god Onionz, but it was closed down at 7.00 am because of noise. The
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exception to all this is a legal Fridays-only after hours club called The
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Loft, which runs from midnight until about 6.00 am. The Loft is a beautiful
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space, and a welcome addition to the
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now-overrun-by-overly-drinking-college-student Axis, but it lacks the
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atmosphere and energy of a non-club rave. Debo planned to throw a warehouse
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rave in Boston proper, but moved the location 45 minutes west to Worcester
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after someone else tried a non-rave-related party there and got busted at
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2.00 am.
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Worcester has had two other sucessful raves, both called BOLD. I worked the
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door at the second one, held October 17. Over 160 ravers turned up from
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Hartford, Providence, and Boston, as well as from the immediate area. The
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DJ list at BOLD II was spectacular if you are trance-oriented: Dave Trance,
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James Christian, and Dante. Other DJ's spun breakbeat and acid as well.
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RHODE ISLAND: Providence, aside from being Rhode Island's rave capitol,
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is the defacto center for the Boston rave scene. It is supposed to be
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easier legally to throw raves in Providence than in Boston, and three
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seperate organizations ensure that there is at least one party in the city
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every month. Word of mouth tells me that the best raves are the QUEST raves.
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I was at their first rave and thought it was wonderful. They had an excellent
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location near a 24-hour donut shop, and allowed re-entry so hungry ravers could
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fuel up. The music was a mixture of styles, from the hardcore of Adam X
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and Jimmy Crash to the breakbeat of Mayhem to the trance of James Christian.
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The ORACLE organisation held their first rave October 9. I did not attend,
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but heard that there were underage kids blatantly drinking beer outside
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the front door and that the rave was busted around 3.00 am. The organizer of
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the ORACLE rave was arrested and taken away in handcuffs for selling food
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without a license. The third organisation, MICHELANGELO, has also had two
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raves. Word of mouth says that their first one was really bad, but their
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second was an improvement.
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CONNECTICUT: I am under the impresson that Connecticut ravers travel
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a lot, because I know there are lots of people in Connecticut that
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rave but I never hear of any raves out there. I could be wrong . . .
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they could just be very underground. I never claimed to be *that* well
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connected with the rave scene . . . .
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NEW YORK: New York seems to always have to do everything the biggest and
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the best on the East Coast, and raving is no exception. It was announced
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that the last Storm Rave in New York City drew over 5000 people, but one of
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the promoters told me that there were only about 1670 paid admissions. This
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discrepancy seems very odd, because I was at the rave in question and it
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looked to me that four to five thousand seemed like an accurate count.
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Offshoots of the Storm Rave Organization frequently throw raves of their own,
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so there is ALWAYS something going on in the metro-New York area.
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Since I adore deep deep trance techno, Sattellite Production's raves are a
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welcome addition to the Storm Raves. This group is based upstate in
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Poughkepsie, and have had two good parties so far: SPUTNIK and SPUTNIK II.
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At SPUTNIK there were two dance areas, one featuring mostly hardcore and
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the other with trance/breakbeat/house. SPUTNIK II featured a wide range
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of DJ's, opening the night with housey happy breakbeat, moving into
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hardcore, and finishing off with two of the most amazing trance sets I
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have ever heard: DJs Rob Sherwood and Onionz should be cannonized. All
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the Sattelite raves are held in roller skating / skate board parks, which
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is a neat twist from spending the night in a place with no real bathrooms
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(okay, so I'm a wimp). Their next rave will be December 5th, and is called
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EXPLORER I.
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NEW JERSEY: The New Jersey scene is incredibly underground, so underground
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that members of the raving community there don't even admit they are part
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of it. I will respect them and not name names and places here until they
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get things off the ground and go a bit more public. They've had a run of
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bad luck lately: every rave they've thrown since August has gotten closed
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down, and in September their sound equipment was seized.
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PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are the rave centers. The two
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main groups in Philadelphia are the Vagabonds, who host parties in various
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clubs on various nights around town, and Dead by Dawn, who have held at least
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two raves in the city. Dead by Dawn's last two raves have had police
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run-ins. At the first a raver was stabbed (by someone not connected with
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the rave or raving) outside the rave location, and the second (at a
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different location) was closed down around 1.45 am. They will try again.
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I'm not too sure exactly what's going on in Pittsburgh, except that a group of
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people who I know out there are throwing a nice big rave November 13th.
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Pittsburgh ravers travel a lot also, frequently going down to Washington and
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New York.
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DELAWARE: The Delaware ravers I know usually travel to Baltimore,
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Philadelphia, and Washington. If anything else is happening, I haven't
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heard about it . . . yet.
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MARYLAND: It seems to be easier to stay open late around Baltimore, so
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several clubs have late night parties with techno music. Also, a number
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of the raves advertised in DC are actually in Maryland.
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WASHINGTON, DC: The Catastrophic organization puts on the most and the
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largest raves in Washington. They get amazing lighting effects, including
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argon lasers, and draw all the top DJs. I've never raved down in Washington
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either, but I heard that the last two Catastrophic raves were excellent as
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far as huge raves go. In warmer weather a number of smaller, simpler,
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outdoor raves happen under bridges and in parking garages.
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[END *ASSEMBLAGE* PART 1]
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________________________________________________________
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