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]

Laptops and Mac minis are wonderful, but they don’t let you upgrade your CPU or fill two PCI slots with hyper-powerful video cards. I’ve been loving lugging my Shuttle XPC to gigs, in a custom Shuttle case that I can carry on the subway or in cabs. But if it hadn’t tempted you yet, this might:

Shuttle XPC Barebone SD37P2

The new barebones kit lets you add your own Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and, with two x16 slots, ATI CrossFire-compatible video. The Core 2 Duo is not to be confused with the Core Duo in Mac laptops; this is the souped-up desktop-class Core 2 Duo (up to Duo Extreme) that’s the fastest consumer CPU on the planet. Gizmodo has the story, and readers there are confused by the cost. Let me explain: unlike, say, a new Mac Pro, the barebones system lets you customize the machine for your individual needs, and unlike almost every other solution out there, you have an upgradeable machine that you can actually lift to gigs. VJs and live visualists, I’m sure, don’t need an explanation here. Much as I love Apple, the ability to fully customize and transport your machine has a lot of appeal.

The US$537 cost isn’t cheap, but it’s not just a case — as with the Shuttle I covered here, “barebones” includes the motherboard, fans, cables, and little extras like a card reader. The case is definitely first-rate, too.

I’m still happy with my AMD-compatible Shuttle, which has now been through four gigs. This case design is similar, though I don’t like the fact that Shuttle moved the drive eject button so you could accidentally hit power. Full post-gig review of my SN26P coming soon.

Related:

Building a Portable SFF PC for Live Visuals, Music Gigs: Part 1, Assembly in Comic Book Form

Building a Gigging PC, Pt. II: RAID Setup, Installing Windows XP Without Bloat

Over the course of a conversation with Peter I became aware that he was oblivious to the existence of video baluns. This made me wonder, how many other VJs are going through life as he is: Anxious and empty, unsure whether the venue he’s playing at will be able to do justice to the imagery he creates, or if they’ll push his feed through some kind of horrible, unshielded composite cable which has been draped over hot lights and snacked on by rats since the last refit in 1982.

There’s no shame in this, I too was living under this ominent shadow of doubt. Until I discovered baluns.

Laptops are wonderful things. But they’re not always the best tool for the job, particularly when it comes to visuals. Notebook computers with even basic video cards command a huge price premium, and they’re not upgradeable. Desktop computers offer cheap, fast, upgradeable components, from the processor to storage to the video card. I didn’t want to sacrifice either: I wanted a powerful machine that I could take with me on a subway. Think fragbox for live visualists. In this series, I’ll set up, configure, and then gig with a Small Form Factor (SFF) PC running live visuals and audio.

First up: assembling the custom PC. For a little twist, you get to watch me do it comic book form, courtesy the fun Mac app Comic Life from plasq. If you’ve never built a PC before, or never an SFF machine, this will show you what it’s about. (Hey, I was a mostly-Mac person from 96 through ‘04 before returning to a cross-platform setup!) If you’re an old pro at custom machine building, you can laugh heartily at my mistakes.

Before we get into the how-to comic, though, a word about the Shuttle SN26P and why I’m so excited to be using it as a portable visual powerhouse.

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.”

“For me, it’s like a music video,” says Holly. “What I do has more to do with go-go dancing than a DJ. I am the video equivalent of a go-go dancer.”

My story on NYC VJ Holly Daggers (of Eyewash fame) is now available online from Keyboard Magazine:

VJ Holly Daggers: Go-Go Music Videos Go Live [Keyboard music/picture]

Links and story background [CDM]

The key to Holly’s go-go effect is a hardware rig with a camera, Korg Entrancer sampler, and multiple Edirol mixers — no computer. (Check out the rig diagram.) So when the folks at Livid talk about expensive hardware rigs, this is what they mean. On the other hand, a computer can neither replace a camera, nor sample video fast enough for what Holly’s doing, so it’s more of a matter of choosing the right tool for the job (or the tool you can afford) than which is better.

Anyway, enjoy the story, and watch for more VJ coverage; there’s a wide range of aesthetics and appproaches out there.

First off, welcome readers of Keyboard Magazine, which has bravely taken on a new regular feature on VJing for musicians. Don’t read Keyboard? Check out online stories or subscribe at Keyboard’s site.

In the September issue of Keyboard, there’s not only a great cover story on Trent Reznor, but I did a two-page feature on VJ Holly Daggers. There were a lot more links that I wanted to talk about than I could fit into the article, so here goes:

Holly Daggers, Reflective Chroma-keying, and the Korg Entrancer [CDM]

Holly’s rig: Reflecmedia’s miracle surface, perfect for chroma-keying, Edirol V4, the favored 4-channel hardware video mixer of VJs everywhere, and of course the Korg Entrancer, the key to Holly’s setup

VJ resource list from community sites to VJ performance reports [CDM]

Hands-on with the Kaptivator, Korg’s beefed-up new video sampler (Holly? Have they sent you one yet?) [CDM]

Forward Motion Theater, Holly’s collaboration with Eric Dunlap that produces the Eyewash VJ event here in NYC

VJing: Now in convenient book form! Lastly, much to my surprise, we have a new VJ book to look forward to that features the Eyewash crew and many of the other top VJs and video artists, and provides essential how-to information:

The VJ Book [via share.dj]

Not only that, but the writer is Paul Spinrad, who I also get to work with via Make Magazine. We’ll have to all have drinks in the fall when his book, plus my upcoming (delayed) book Real World Digital Audio are both out!

Got other VJing tips or resources to share, technical questions to ask, or just want to brag about your demo reel? Drop me a line, because remember, “I don’t sleep.” (TM)

Search for “VJ” for more coverage at CDM, or check out the latest news.