Moogfest is Moog's annual music and technology festival, showcasing established and up-and-coming artists, as well as the latest tech and the people behind it. The four-day festival was in Durham, North Carolina, and took place in a variety of local performance venues, schools, theatres, churches, and music halls. Most artists are required to provide a talk or workshop, in addition to their performance sets. This was a fantastic way to learn about each artist's approach to writing and performing. There were workshops spanning topics such as how to patch a modular synthesizer to how to set up and run your own record label. For the true tech, Moog offered a special engineering workshop, where participants had the opportunity to build a Sub-Harmonicon synthesizer. Additionally, there were film presentations and day-long, interactive sound installations including Michael Stipe's film debut of Thibault Dance. There was so much to experience, I had a difficult time choosing.
Modular Marketplace
Open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., this was the place to be to get hands-on with the latest and greatest music tech. A large assortment of instruments was on display with headphones, allowing you to demo each instrument without the cacophony of most music retail stores. Highlights included testing all of Dave Smith Instruments keyboards side by side, and comparing the reissue of the Minimoog Model D against Behringer's Model D. Additionally, there were several modular companies on hand, including Make Noise, demoing its small desktop 0-Coast synthesizer and Shared Systems modular, while Bastl showcased its Rumburack 2.0 modular, as well as the palm-sized Kastle V1.5, the microGranny sampler, and the new Thyme "sequence-able robot-operated digital tape machine." For guitarists, Reverb had a booth set up with FX pedals for guitar and bass. I was finally able to check out the Strymon blueSky reverberator pedal and, wow, what a beautiful piece of kit.
One of my favorite finds in the market place was the was the Structure module, from Erogenous Tones, which is an all-in-one video synthesizer and video FX processor with numerous generators, filters, and 3D effects. There are composite and component inputs, as well as composite and two component outputs (perfect for creating analog video feedback). With a camera, this module would replace my entire video mixing setup (video mixer, video FX processor, and two color correctors), plus it's in Eurorack format, which works with standard 5V audio modules and LZX Industry's 1V Eurorack video processors.
The market place was also home to the Moog Pop-Up Factory, where Moog technicians worked on their soon-to-be released Grandmother semi-modular synthesizer. The Moog Grandmother turned out to be an absolute delight. The B&H video team spent some quality time with the folks at Moog and got the full rundown, with access to the instrument (look for AB's video soon). The Grandmother's internal circuitry is based on the Moog Modular Series (Model 15) and includes two 1V-per-octave VCOs with sync, linear FM, and PWM, a mixer (CP3) with asymmetrical clipping, a VCF (904A), an envelope generator (911), a VCA (902), and a modulation oscillator, which can be used as a third oscillator at audio rates and tracks at 1V-per-octave. A utility module provides a 1 x3 mult, an inline attenuator, and a high-pass filter. The sequencer / arpeggiator is based on the Sub 37 and offers fast and intuitive pattern programming with CV, gate, and velocity. There are three switchable presets (great for setting up a verse, chorus, bridge structure) that can be manually toggled between. And finally, the all-analog spring reverb (905), which includes a spring tank built within the enclosure (which, if struck, makes the classic spring-reverb thwack) and it sounds gorgeous. All the circuits have patch points, allowing them to be interconnected in new ways or patched to other Moog and third-party modular gear.
There was an excellent installation that included three Grandmother synthesizers that were interconnected with audio and video lines into several circuit-bent video mixers and processors and into a bank of old-school television (CRT) sets. Big Pauper Modified Circuity (BPMC) was the mastermind behind the A/V installation. Audio from the synthesizer would modulate video effects in strange and beautifully glitched ways. BPMC makes several turnkey solutions for glitchy video products—well worth a look if you are into glitch-art video processing, and they are highly recommended for VJs and video artists. Other highlights include the Reverb LP record fair upstairs, and the Ralph Steadman Exhibit, which included several illustrations from Hunter S. Thomson and other ink drawings and several showings of the Steadman documentary, "For No Good Reason."
Venues, Panels, and Talks
There were about 17 venues throughout downtown Durham. At any point, you could catch your favorite artist or stumble upon an impromptu modular performance. I'm a sound-system fanatic, so once I discovered the Armory, I tried to catch as many performances in the space as possible. The magic happened when engineers and techs from Meyers Sound and Virginia Tech came together to create a "Spatial Sound" installation. The system incorporated 40 elements into a multi-dimensional sound experience that was digitally controlled via tablet. I was lucky enough to attend a talk given about the setup and utilization of the technology. The main system was based on an 8-element-per-side line array with four large subwoofers. Five speakers were hung along the balcony railings on each side and across the rear of the room for a total of 15 individually addressable speaker elements. Additionally, a totem was setup in the center of the room with four speakers facing front, back and side to side. The stage box ran 24 discrete channels to a digitally controlled processor, allowing for each channel to connect to any of the individual speakers, or blend multiple channels for distribution to multiple speakers. The results went far beyond a surround sound setup and even eclipsed the latest Dolby Atmos technology. Artists would perform by sending at least four channels of audio into the matrix, while the engineers artistically routed the sound into separate speakers. Patrons were encouraged to walk about the room during a performance to broaden the experience.
Richard Devine was on hand to demonstrate the latest tech from Polyend. He performed a 20-minute improvised set with the Polyend SEQ, a powerful hardware MIDI sequencer with 32-steps, 8 track polyphony, 256 patterns, all in a high-quality aluminum and wooden housing. Devine also utilized the Perc Pro, which are essentially MIDI controlled percussion pods that affix to a drum or any resonant surface. You can make anything into a drum machine. Devine layered drum sounds from his large modular setup with acoustic percussion elements played by the Perc Pro and controlled by the SEQ sequencer.
Critter & Guitari gave an eye-opening overview of their latest offering, the ONDA. It is an open-source instrument that runs on the Raspberry Pi platform and allows you to code and configure the instrument easily to perform several functions. From analog-style synthesis and sampling to complex algorithmic generators and effects processing. With an open platform as its base, it possesses the potential to grow a community of artists creating and sharing their own patches with one another.
Other talks included a brief history of Don Buchla's controllers and synthesizers with Joel Davel, with an introduction by Suzanne Ciani, who also gave a spatial sound demonstration at the Armory, to great effect.
Artists Performances
There were so many artists performing, it was hard to choose. Of the multitudes, I experienced the sounds of Author & Punisher, Kelela, Little Boots, Kyoka, Yves Tumor, Mouse on Mars, Honey Dijon, Gudiya, Psychic TV, Valgeir Sigurosson + Liam Byrne's "Dissonance", Stud1nt, KRS-One, and DJ Stingray. I was grateful to cross Psychic TV off my list, since I had never seen them before. I especially enjoyed the crowd banter, the drone performance with the electric violin, and the subversive visuals. If I had to pick one performance as a favorite, it would have to be KRS-One. His extended freestyle rhymes proved that he's still ahead of his time, especially when compared to the latest crop "mumble rap" artists. He spits about his metaphysical self and seeing into the future. "Knowledge Reigns Supreme" openly rejects cultural exploitation and materialism, and teaches self-creation, transcendental meditation, vegetarianism, and the end to violence. I'd also like to give a nod to DJ Stingray, who's high-energy set was so infectious that not a person in the room could stand still.
That's a Wrap
That about wraps my coverage of Moogfest 2018. This is by no means exhaustive, because I could have easily written a manifest about everything I saw and experienced. Do check out the Moogfest website because there are a ton of links to all the artists and companies that participated. If you have the means, I highly recommend this festival. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I learned and am grateful for the exposure to all the new artists I discovered. If you have any questions about anything mentioned in the article, feel free to comment, or if you attended the festival, please share your experiences.
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