LIVE SPOTLIGHT
Aug 1, 2004 12:00 PM, By Justin Kleinfeld
Southern California native Überzone (aka Q) isn't just America's best breakbeat producer; he is also one of the best in the world. Live, Überzone is second to none, and Q was in top form during his Breaksday performance at this year's Winter Music Conference. Appearing on a bill that also featured Rennie Pilgrem, Freq Nasty, Elite Force and Hyper would be both a thrill and a challenge for any artist. However, Q and his DJ, Davey Dave, stole the show by launching into one of the most amazing live performances of WMC. As a great sign of respect for Überzone's talents, top-name breakbeat artists that weren't even on the bill (including Adam Freeland, Infusion, the Crystal Method and Deepsky) joined the fans on the dancefloor to witness his spectacular live set. When the set came to an end, it took a long time for the next DJ to work the crowd back up to the energy level that Überzone reached — and that DJ was the legendary Pilgrem on the decks! This is the power of live dance music done the right way.
Although many live dance shows offer nothing more than a redundant live presentation of studio tracks, Überzone really does play a live set. It all starts back in the studio when Q first mixes down the studio tracks. “First off, when I mix a track down, I always do multiple stems: drums, bass lines, vocals, samples, et cetera,” he says. “This way, when I need to duplicate it live, I can customize the arrangement to fit what Dave and I will be playing. I used to use MIDI onstage back in the day, so it was as simple as using the MIDI file and setting up the sampler to play the parts that I wasn't going to be playing. Now that I'm using all audio in the studio, it makes sense to do it this way. It gives me time to perform instead of just knob tweaking.”
When it comes to spatial effects, Q uses short reverbs and occasional delay, so there isn't much clutter in the mix, and he uses such few “big” effects, he says, that it doesn't affect the stems adversely. Consequently, Q does not need to remove many parts from the original for the live presentation, though he does eliminate superfluous special effects that may be harmful to the definition of the mix in a live application. Although a majority of Überzone's original studio material winds up in the live versions, Q and Davey Dave also do quite a bit of improvising with the parts they play, so the tracks never sound quite the same.
Überzone's live setup features a Dell laptop running Sony Acid for the audio sequencer, an Akai MPC1000, a Mackie 1202-VLZ for the submixer, a Roland TD-8 module for the V-Drums kit and a Roland HPD-15 HandSonic percussion pad. Dave uses a Tascam X-9 DJ mixer, a Pioneer CDJ-1000 CD turntable (for scratching) and various effects. During the earlier Überzone shows, Q used to sequence everything with MIDI onstage, using samplers, synths and live effects. As a result, he spent entire performances trying to tweak the mix and control the musical events rather than performing anything. As an experiment, Q brought out a secret weapon. “I started to bring a small drum pad out with me in the beginning, and the crowd response was so much greater when I played it that it was obvious the majority of the crowd wanted to see me play instead of tweak knobs,” he says. “It also added an intensity that was missing before.” That setup soon grew into the larger V-Drums kit that he uses today.
Überzone's live show works so well because the V-Drums set makes the audience feel like something is actually going on. All too often, live electronic music is presented with video screens or dancers that aim to divert attention away from what the artist is or is not doing onstage. Überzone is a rare exception, and Q's drumming is at the center of what makes this show special. Überzone will be taking the live setup on the road this summer in support of its forthcoming mix CD, Y4K (Distinctive Breaks, 2004). If you weren't a fan before, you will be.
GEAR ZONE
Akai MPC1000 sampling workstation
Mackie 1202-VL2 mixer
Pioneer CDJ-1000 CD turntable
Roland HPD-15 HandSonic percussion pad
Roland TD-8 drum module
Roland V-Drums electronic drum kit
Sony Acid software
Tascam X-9 DJ mixer
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