Thomas Dolby, on Music Making Past and Future: The CDM Interview
Thomas Dolby Extras: Live Performance Technical Details, Logic + Max/MSP

Thomas Dolby’s recent tour was important for more than just the music, though — onboard was legendary visualist/VJ Johnny DeKam, also known as a founder of Mac software maker Vidvox. Here’s what Thomas had to say about Johnny:

To have a VJ up there of Johnny [DeKam]’s stature, mixing live feeds with footage of his own, is definitely exciting. Of course, I’ve never seen the full experience myself, you know. But he does a really good job, and he’s very spontaneous. He’s got a lot of different tricks and toys that he tries out on a nightly basis. Other video guys and VJs who’ve come have sort of been in awe of him because he writes his own software that everybody else would like to get there hands on.

For more on Johnny (and yes, hope to revisit his work and Vidvox soon here on CDM!):

Johnny DeKam’s Website
Johnny DeKam’s Live Visuals Rig on Thomas Dolby Tour [Create Digital Motion]
Johnny DeKam Profile [M-Audio]

Peter has looked at M-Audio’s new MidAir cable-free midi keyboard and adapter on CDMu, but I’d like to bring it up here for those who don’t visit the ‘Mu daily (shame!).

The MidAir 37 controller is just an incremental upgrade on the existing MidAir 25, adding an extra octave and 9 faders. These are definitely interesting products, but without some way to strap them to your body they’re just removing a cable from the tangle behind your rig. Admirable, but not really worth US$100. However, the MidAir Transmitter and Receiver system allows you to add wirelessness to your existing midi controller.

• 10 meter range
• Receiver is class-compliant on XP or Mac and bus or 9VDC powered
• Transmitter takes 2 AA batteries (20+ hour operation quoted) or 9VDC as well
• Multi-channel, so several adapters can operate in the same setup

The first thought to hit anyone’s brain when faced with this thing is “Yeah! Keytar!“. Don’t even try to deny it. Peter went there. Tom did. I certainly thought it, and that’s fine. Everybody was younger in the 80s, and given the chance we’d all go back there, if only to wait for the 90s to come around again so we could buy dot com shares and then pick up some cheap aeron chairs.

Aside from the potential with DIY gadgets or hacked midi controllers, this device will allow visualists to integrate better with the musicians we collaborate with or support. I have a gig on Friday in which I’m providing visual tastiness for the whole gang, but shall be rocking the midi triggered visuals with Segue. This kind of thing is technically quite simple (midi out of MPD24 or MPC, into BCR2000, done), but logistically can be horrible. Tiny stages and often a lack of decent cable length from the projector can leave a VJ stranded on the opposite side of the dancefloor from their band. Fortunately Friday should be smooth sailing, but I think I’ll be getting a MidAir when they drop, if only for those gigs which can’t be guaranteed to run so smoothly.

And for my keytar.

Update: The MidAir25 has been reviewed on O’Reilly Digital Media.

Thomas Dolby’s blog continues to induce rabid gear lust. After drooling over Mr. Dolby’s live rig and repurposed vintage MIDI controller, we now get a glimpse at Johnny DeKam’s live video rig. (Kevin Johnsrude caught this one, and reminds us that “envy is one of the seven deadly sins.” Better keep that in mind.)

Actually, we can divide this into “things to envy” and “things to note.”