This is footage of Daedelus (aka Alfred Darlington) playing on the Dublab Rooftop in LA. He's been making music since 2001 (or prior) on various record labels such as Ninja Tune, Warp and Mush Records.
I have been slightly obsessed with his work for a while now and I noticed that both he and Four Tet use some fascinating gadgets live. After seeing Little Boots use one on Later With Jules I had to find out more about it.
Daedelus has been one of the dominant pioneers of using the 'Monome' live. A Monome is a grid with backlit buttons that connects to a computer by USB and OSC Protocol. It was invented by musician Brian Crabtree in 2005. They are quite rare and have a very limited production line. Essentially it allows for a greater diversity of functionality over differing musical software applications.
A few things I have picked up from various research;
- Each row triggers a loop and you can change the loop's speed and direction.
- Buttons can be sequenced and looped automatically.
- Rows are the duration and columns are the pitch.
The name Monome is derived from the mathematical term 'Monomial', a gesture to the concept of many variables made possible through something that is nevertheless singular or simple in nature. As you can see, it provides endless possibilities when playing live.
"More than anything I wanted a controller that could dynamically adapt to different uses".
"By sharing as much as possible, we encourage others to do the same".
"Community enthusiasm has allowed us to exist without the traditional business avenues".
- Crabtree et al.
Credits: Wikipedia, Last FM, Daedelus, Fout Tet.
Also thanks to Alicia Palimaka!
Posted by j.
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