This is the first controller app I tried out on my iPad and I love it.

I downloaded and tested Griid Lite first and after one or two minutes I bit the bullet to pay the hefty ¥2900 price tag for the full pro version but it was well worth it and I have already used it live twice.

In their own words Griid is an advanced clip grid interface which allows you to control Ableton Live (running on your desktop or laptop) from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Using specially developed touch objects and simple gestures, Griid is carefully designed with the performance experience in mind.

Finely tuned for rapid navigation, you can enjoy the freedom of playing Live sets of any size with ease. Explicit visual feedback means that you have all the information you need, quite literally at your fingertips. Combined with wireless operation, this means you can perform with Ableton Live without ever needing to look at the computer screen..

Features: Dedicated and super slick control of clip launching functions for Ableton Live with a momentum scrolling feature that sets it above the rest in terms of on-the-fly usability and navigation.

Clips and Tracks appear in rows with real time bi-directional feedback from Ableton so all corresponding clip and track names correctly display on the iPad.

With Griid Pro (on the iPad) the clips and tracks are Zoomable to make the clip launch buttons all the more easy to see and trigger.

There is a handy overview function to navigate to different sections of a large set and a jump-to-currently-playing-clip feature that makes it super easy to get back to where the action is should you get a little lost in all the excitement of a live show.

It is also possible to stop all clips at once or one at a time.

Set Up: The software is time consuming to set up but once up and running it is stable and works as advertised. Just follow the instructions step by step and you should be fine. It took me about an hour or so to get everything synced and working but that is only because, before I got started, I had to brush up my knowledge of ad-hoc networks and setting up IAC busses so there is a bit of a learning curve for end users like me but nothing that can’t be overcome by just RTFM.

Issues: Part of the greatness of the software, its scrolling function, is slightly undermined by the fact that the two other basic and important functions of the software (Zoom and Launch Scenes) are grouped together in the same gesture area. The software relies on a sophisticated algorithm to distinguish between the three gestures but often in my first encounter with the software I accidentally launched scenes out of sequence while scrolling and I only learned how to zoom the Clips and Tracks after contacting their customer support.

After a few e-mails back and forth and a brief Skype meeting (their customer support in my case was simply superb) we determined I was not scrolling hard enough to let the algorithm differentiate between my gestures, so after I couple of rehearsals I got the hang of it and this will be a staple feature of my live sets to come.

Thoughts: A truly professional and elegant app designed for a specific purpose and the best (only?) in its field by a long shot.

It feels very much like an instrument and as with any instrument there is a learning curve in getting to use it just right. It is really refreshing to see a dedicated tool that is not trying to be several things at once.

The creative team at Liine totally get that some artists need dedicated controls for just one aspect of a show and this app might disappoint a few who find out it does does little more than “just launch clips”.

I look forward to seeing how they expand this series and highly recommend this software.

Link:

Griid Pro. (iPad)

Context:

I invested in an iPad because after an exhaustive search I simply could not find a ”hardware” controller that satisfied my needs as a live performer.

In my live set I already use two Novation Remote Zero SLs controlling Ableton Live and I wanted to get a separate clip launcher without needing to take up any more space than I already do. I also like to have dedicated controls for each function in my set because I do a lot of simultaneous manipulations across multiple tracks and a lot of the newer controllers I looked at don’t seem to cater to this way of working.

It is for this reason that I am not a big fan of the Akai APC40 and the Novation Launchpad. They rely on multiple layers to access devices/features and have these one-at-a-time device-you-are-looking-at-now controls that make controlling effects across multiple devices and tracks awkward and unintuitive for me.

I am also amazed that neither support velocity sensitivity on their pads and buttons, and their overtly plug in and play feature, particularly that hideous Automap software, drives me nuts. (Anyone who knows how to disable it completely on the Zero SL please let me know.)

These kinds of controllers are squarely aimed at the bedroom DJ/Producer market and will clearly be obsoleted by newer versions of themselves in the months to come so I found myself at a loss for what to do until someone suggested I get an iPad.

Now I am not ashamed to admit I had my eye and dreams on the JazzMutant Lemur Interface for years and when Apple announced the iPad my very first thought was, wow a Lemur for a fifth of the price, but for some reason I just couldn’t get my head around what an iPad actually was and what is was good for, until I saw the apps being developed for music software control.

I am not an early adopter, I like to leave the line waiting and the bug battles to those who care more deeply about that kind of thing so a lot of the software I am talking about here is not necessarily new or revolutionary, it is just software I have tried out since getting the iPad and some of it has left me disinterested and a little confused and some of it has simply blown me away, inspiring and enabling new interactions with my software and instruments and opening up a whole new level to my live performances and studio production.

I hope these insights assist you in making a decision on which app best suits your setup.

Links:
JazzMutant Lemur

->Download the live sets here.<-

Last week I played two live shows for Summer Sounds Vol 2.

The first set was live to web via USTREAM on Thursday the 19th of August and was part of a promotion campaign for the main event the following Sunday the 22nd.

Since I was going to do a relatively short set at Summer Sounds (40 mins) I decided it might be cool to split a 90 minute set over the two occasions; play the first half live to web and play the second half at the main event.

It worked well but I had to make some minor adjustments to the set in real time because Summer Sounds is not strictly a Techno crowd and I decided to ride it out for quite a while in the intro to the second set. DJ Wada set the tone perfectly (as always) but I felt the need to just get a groove riding — to build some trust with the audience — and I feel it worked extremely well. I used a rolling vocal sample and some hypnotic drums vs droning synths, holding and building tension and then twisting everything into some large wobbly bass lines and intense breakdowns and breakups.

I have also started experimenting with the idea of an alias — Akatokuro — for my more minimal excursions so as an introduction a lot of the tracks featured in the Webstream are from this new project.

For the first time in a while I am really happy with the flow of the sets, I feel more focused and on target this time around, it helps immensely that I introduced software control via iPad to the controller set up and I simplified everything else to the bare essentials — simple is best (not to mention destroying one of my main controllers during rehearsals.)

I had a fantastic time, big thanks to DJ Tamaki Maruta for getting me to and from the venue, and promoter Shinoki Takeyoshi for organizing the web stream and booking me to play.

Last and certainly not least, a huge thanks to everyone who came to the event and /or logged onto the live show on the web. Your support, your moving bodies and your smiling faces are all really appreciated.

Links:

UStream Channel: Sancha TV

iPad Software: Griid Pro

I am very excited as this will be my first foray into streaming live on the web.

What I have decided to do is play one set over the two occasions – starting out deep and minimal online and then finishing the set large and dirty at the party on Sunday the 22nd of August at Laputa Garden, Aoyama.

The two sets should seamlessly blend into each other when laid back to back.

Well that’s the theory anyway.

I have a ton of new tracks I have been working on, super simple and hypnotic and I’m also thinking of adding a drum machine to the mix but I’m undecided on that front.

Joining me online will be DJs Ryo Tsutsui and Satoshi Otsuki.

Links:

Watch The Stream Here (21:00 JPT)
Sangenchaya TV

DJs:
Ryo Tsutsui (Eden/WeekendWarriorz)
Satoshi Otsuki (Tresvibes)

Event:
Summer Sounds Vol Two
Laputa Garden

My next release with Greta Cottage Workshop has already been kicking up dust in the UK as Sasha has been dropping it into his sets the last couple of weeks and he has given it a big thumbs up.

If you would like to be included on the promo mailing list and get a copy ahead of the release date to review or chart please contact me at info@shaneberry.com.

Here is the text from the one sheet.

Greta Cottage Workshop

Release Date: 20th August 2010

GCW015 – Shane Berry

Plugitin
Putiton
Pullitout

How to use a Turntable E.P

Fresh from remix duty for the Little White Earbuds Download of the week, Shane Berry brings his latest E.P to the table. The man takes a swerve in a slightly different direction this time around, but its still 100% Shane, and still Electronic Music from the Soul directed at the Dancefloor. We at Greta Cottage are pleased to see him going from strength to strength as an Artist, and it’s our pleasure to give him the creative freedom he deserves. (the role of the label has changed, but this remains the same)
Plugitin : Micro house wriggler from Captain Berry. Foraging harmonious repetition and digitising bass stabs deliver to industrious effect. Strutting flecks tie in with light whistles of acid taking this into a deepened Detroit flow (This has the potential to swiftly blow ones socks clean off)

Putiton : A proper psytech warbler that touchingly shares a piece of it’s ever evolving self. A maze of 303 oddities reach out with pulsating melody and slick charm. Play it out & about, then watch people wriggle with joy.

Pullitout : A sinister synthesized induced rustler encapsulates a sense of virtual empathy and analog dismissing togetherness, with interweaving filter manipulations attributing to an eventual warm spontaneous combustion. Hi tech soul from Tokyo resident Shane. Can you feel me?

This has been a Sasha Secret Weapon for a month or so, its time to spread the love.

(Jamie “winkle” Slater on the track descriptions. the man is a lunatic. It was his birthday this weekend. He is still lost in East Prawle)

Feedback

‘A very strong release – will support fully. Particularly like Pullitout’ – Sasha

Links.

Greta Cottage Workshop

Thank you so much to everyone who came down to Soup on Saturday. I had a great time and it looks like you did too. It took me longer than expected to get all the artwork, audio editing and uploading done but here it is, finally, the edited recording of my live set at Soup. There are two parts, the main live set and the 30 minute encore.

The Venue.

Soup is a small underground space located in the basement under a 120 year old bath house in Ochiai, Tokyo somewhere between Shinjuku and Nakano just off where Yamate and Waseda dori intersect.

It used to be a gallery but now the proprietors use it to host music events and the place has steadiliy built a reputation as a “go to” venue to see and hear the best that the Tokyo Underground has to offer.

The sound system is sublime and no stops are pulled setting up each artist so that they can express themselves clearly and strongly, yet never overwhelmingly, in such a small venue.

I could chat with fans and friends without straining my voice or protecting my hearing and all the while the beat was filling my feet and thumping in my chest.

I love spaces that make me love techno even more.

Because it is located smack in Suburbia they have to  close up at midnight and it makes club music all the more accessible to those who cannot regularly brave a full night out on the town but need a fix of loud solid beats and bleeps.

(If you don’t know it may come as a surprise that though Japan has one of the most sophisticated railway networks in the world the trains do not run 24 hours a day. This leads to two scenarios in club land here, First Trainers and Last Trainers. Last Trainers are the (usually large group) of people who will come to a party but leave the event before their last train leaves the nearest station – around 1 am. First Trainers on the other hand commit to a night on the town and will wait until 5 am or thereabouts when the trains start running again.)

The Line Up.

Starting off the event was DJ Takahashi who spun some deep and groovy minimal tunes and set the tone perfectly for the rest of the evening.

Taking over from him was the super cool KeLie who spun funky Tech House and Latinesque grooves.Her sound palette is solid, sophisticated and tight  but she plays with flair and nonchalance, my foot was tapping constantly.

After her set Itaru Yasuda showcased visuals and sound design he created using supercollider. Intense and deliciously digital, his works are deceptively simple and hypnotizing.

My Set.

I had a great time though I wasn’t technically on my game.  For this  set my timing and pacing is a bit sloppy and the transitions and loop jams tend to drag on bit longer than I would  like.

I had prepared for a 90 minute set and when I came to the end I was encouraged to play one more track.

When I started the encore the organizer told me that the venue could take another 30 minutes of music and he asked me kindly to fill it up and I obliged.

The encore is very noisy and created on the fly I was setting loops in real time and fiddling with the noise generator on a soft synth.

Recently I have been a little distracted by my gear. For the last couple of shows my main controller has been showing signs of wear and tear, the buttons are loosening up and the faders are getting temperamental, it results in a small niggling feeling that I can’t fully trust my gear and is not dissimilar to the feeling one gets playing a guitar expecting a string to snap at any moment.

It’s annoying and pulls energy away from me focusing on the crowd and my performance.

This time around I also tried out a new hardware controller I bought and I must say I am not pleased with it at all. I found myself a little lost in some parts of the set because of it and I wont use it again live if I can help it.

Conclusion.

Overall it was a fantastic party, I had an awesome time, the music and visuals were inspirational, and the crowd really made the party come to life. They were ready to rock out despite it being only 21:30 in the evening and their energy and enthusiasm is greatly appreciated.

Links.

Artists.

KeLie

Itaru Yasuda

Software.

SuperCollider

On Saturday the 31st of July I will be playing at Soup in Ochiai/Shinjuku at the dashingly reasonable time of  21:30. More than enough time to come down, throw a few beers in your face holes and then still have an evening of crocheting and basket weaving at your leisurely disposal afterwards.

Seriously though Soup seems to be held in very high regards by the underground electronic music scene here in Tokyo and I must admit to having heard of it only a few days before I was booked to play.

From what I can gather it is more an art/music space than a night club and people who know it speak of it in reverant tones. From the video linked below it looks and sounds awesome and I am very excited to play there.

I’m also very interested in the visuals and sounds of Itaru Yasuda who will do a short live set before I start and then he’ll  continue to do visuals during my show.

The event is called:

都市の引力 Toshi-no Inryoku

“The gravity of the city”

7/31(Sat) 18:00-23:00 @SOUP (Ochiai)

¥1500 w/d

Time Table:

18:00 Takahashi
19:50 KeLie
21:10 Itaru Yasuda
21:30 Shane Berry
23:00 end

VJ: Itaru

Links.

Soup
The Atmosphere in Soup (Video Featuring Rom=Pari)
Itaru Yasuda

There have been numerous such catastrophes at organized events around the world like soccer games in the UK and fireworks displays in Japan and those haven’t been canceled because of a few deaths, rather measures have been put into place to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again the next time the events take place.

That there is even the notion that an event like The Love Parade should be canceled henceforth is actually offensive to me because it smacks of bias against counter-culture and counter-cultural events and lifestyles.

The actual problem in most cases like this is neither the type of event nor the people attending but shortsighted organization,  poor crowd control and, all too often, compassionless policing (though according to Der Spiegel the German Police Union did warn of the city’s inadequacy as a host of the event for years.)

I do think the decision to continue the party was wiser than stopping it and trying to tell 1.4 million to go home, a decision that could have lead to even more confusion and deaths and besides those who died probably would’ve wanted the party to go on anyway, I know I would.

Rule 22: When in Doubt Know Your Way Out.

As a person who spends a lot of time in nightclubs and event spaces in Tokyo this kind of news really freaks me out.  I often feel that spaces here are blithely unaware of how dangerous they potentially are and after reading about the The Station Nightclub Fire you can color me absolutely paranoid about fire safety in clubs.

Believe it or not when I play at a venue I am not familiar with I always make a point of knowing where the exits are.  There are a few clubs in Tokyo that down right scare the boogie out of me. They have poorly marked exits, blocked stairwells — drunk people sleeping it off until first train or furniture shoved on to fire escapes to make space for the crowd — and though local district fire brigades do come around every now and then have them clear up the place they slowly return to fire death traps as the months go by.

One famous Tokyo venue, which shall remain nameless, is so obviously a death trap I have on more than one occasion overheard punters pondering out loud how dangerous it is to be down in there.

While the rest of the civilized world is slowly stubbing cigarettes out of most entertainment spaces Tokyo is still smoking strong, and drunk people wielding fire sticks in a darkened venue with blocked stairwells and copious amounts of flammable liquids splashing around is a recipe for disaster in my eyes.

Not to mention Japan’s propensity for Earthquakes.

If you do find yourself in such a terrifying situation here are some tips on what to do if you are caught in a stampede in a night club.

My condolences to friends and family of the deceased, it needn’t have happened.

*this post has been edited for clarity a few times since the original went online

The DJ line up before me was a perfect flow of styles culminating in a live drum show by Drumno,  three live drummers rocking it out in real time in the middle of the campsite on acoustic drums and filling the night air with their intense and energetic show.

They set a perfect tone for my set which, though there were a few technical glitches and timing errors, nevertheless rocked and rolled.

This set is decidedly schizophrenic and meanders all over the place, deep and dark in places, melodic, synthetic and light in others. I also added a few tracks from my tribal alter ego “Amazoku” towards the end and polished it off with my first attempt at a vocal track “Sooner or Later” an up and coming release on Greta Cottage Workshop scheduled for later in the year.

Oh and watch out for those damn Vuvuzelas.

You can download the set for free here Shane Berry Live in Chichibu.

After me the sublime DJ Wang Gung took over from me and kept the flow moving deftly into the very interesting live electronic music of  Computer Soup. Armed with a muted trumpet, a sine wave generating oscilloscope and a laptop the guys really came out with some tasty sonic treats – and that is when I collapsed into my tent and floated off into the warmth of the supersonic bass.

I really love doing this party and I’m so pleased to be involved every year. The sound is so good that no matter where you are in the camp site you can hear and feel the music as if you are listening to it on a stereo at home, yet not once is it overwhelming or intrusive. From inside the tent it’s so relaxing to lie back and listen to tunes and on the dance floor it’s thumping enough to feel  in your bones, yet there is no need to shout to be heard, the perfect balance.

Speaking of tents, a big thanks also to Sarah, The Tsunami Devil, for showing us the ropes, literally. Camping without you would’ve been a tangled, exposed mess. Big hugs and kisses to you. Without you around I think we’d still be somewhere in the mountains trying to collapse the tent and roll up the sleeping mats.

Also thanks to Yosuke and friends for coming out very year and making a big noise during my set, your presence and energy are deeply appreciated.

And last but not least everyone who came together to do the party, real techno spirit.

■LIVE■
SHANE BERRY
DRUMNO
COMPUTER SOUP

■DJz■
THE KLO (potekoi disco)
TANGO (methane)
WANG-GUNG (void)
TEO (from seoul)

EPISIARK
MASA
SPORTS-KOIDE
MINODA

■LIGHTING■
VEEM (hothouse TOKYO)

I will do a more in depth recap later in the week after I have collected photos and videos from various people, and of course I will upload a recorded version of the live set I did too.

But for now I just want so say that it was truly fantastic and I am deeply grateful for everyone’s support and creativity, an inspiration.

Thank you.

I am thrilled to be playing at the “Just Do It!” outdoor festival again this year and it’s my absolute favorite booking of the year. The Asami Campsite is deep in a valley in the mountains of Chichibu, Saitama, next to a crystal clear river and it is such a refreshing get away from the city.

Once a year the Just Do It! crew haul an audiophile quality, home built audio system across the river and set up for a weekend of galactic grooves and interstellar inspiration.

A weekend of solid, from the heart music by people who love techno as much as I do.

Here’s how to get there. The entrance fee (to cover camping) is usually around ¥2500 – ¥3500.

If you have any questions/queries e-mail me.

[Seibu-shinjuku ->Chichibu 910yen]

seibu-shinjuku
△10:23
(shinjukusen-kyuko)
↓

Tokorozawa
(ikebukurosen-hannou-iki)
△11:06
↓

Hanno
△11:34発
(seibu-chichibu-line)
↓
Seibuchichibu
↓
walk 6 min
↓
Ohanabatake
△12:44
(Chichibu-tetudo)
↓
Chichibu

—————–

[Chichibu-station ->Asami camp site
by bus 510yen]

Chichibu
△13:20
↓
Urayama-dainichidou　
↓
walk 20 min
↓
Asami camp site