So it has been a while since our last post but we haven’t been idle in the meantime. Even though December feels like a lifetime ago, time flew by. Gluren bij de Buren was the main event as we said in our last post, but we’ve used the same set a few times. At first the trail run with equipment in the living room, the full three sets. Then the day itself and afterwards we decided to also do the three sets in a livestream setting. Also also we’ve recorded it all and now we are sorting out the best versions of the songs that we’ve played and slowly releasing them on YouTube.
There was not a lot of audience on the day itself, but it was definitely fun all the same. The way it works is that you can register as an artist or as a “stage”. So there are a lot of different places that you can be placed as an artist. We ended up playing in a living room somewhere in the north of Amersfoort on a dead-end street. But all was well because they were very friendly and, most importantly, they had a real piano (score!).
And then! New camera! Well to be honest a new webcam, but quality upgrade nonetheless. Exanimo has gone back to school for a course into audio engineering and with the new gear for this study it became possible to link both the camera and the mixing board to the PC. Time for testing! The first test was a living room session, and the product was very nice for a first try.
The live stream! Woop woop. The entire studio was transformed to a digital stage, twitch accounts made, flyers distributed, software prepared, camera calibrated. Lights, camera, action! The night before a dress rehearsal and then the livestream itself. It was a whole new experience to play for an audience that you cannot physically see and the possibilities of things going wrong with that much equipment set up were endless. But everything went as smoothly as possible and the result was recorded and broadcasted without a hitch.
Because of a lot of reasons we’re still a bit in hibernation when it comes to gigs, but we’re currently busy with new virtual instrument versions of songs that have not made it onto the YouTube channel thus far. Rope was the first (link) and more will follow! Especially now that we’ve upgraded the studio from a permanent space-cave to a more “business friendly" studio.
Inner peace from clean and tidy surroundings.
Another thing on the agenda is H’ArtSnaar, of course. Thought farting, mind mapping, brain storming, We’ve started a mood board to keep track of all the things that come to mind that we want to incorporate. Most importantly now is HOW and WHERE. We are in the privileged position that we do not have to rush and also that it is fun to build it up brick by brick.
Another upgrade is the newest member we’ve added to the band, a portable synth that can operate on batteries. Yesterday we went on a road-trip to the music store in Germany. Just to test out what we wanted to buy. And then… We found it! Back home we made a mini space cave to test it out further. Happy!!
And now what? Yeah so we’re working on some virtual instrument versions and we still have some videos we want to share, but all in good time. The next blog post will come after the holiday break we’re going into and we’ll be back again come June. So keep an eye on our socials for new material!!