Report: Remix Hotel Atlanta Day 3
Sep 22, 2008 7:52 PM, Lori J. Kennedy
One of the overarching themes I keep overhearing at Remix Hotel Atlanta is the major sense of community and networking—not only among attendees but also our featured artists and guest panelists. So many of our guests are meeting their peers for the first time and saying things like, “I’ve been dying to work with you; let’s exchange info and work together soon,” which really makes us Remix folks happy. We’re just tryin’ to bring all of us music geeks together, ya know? And day three at RHATL 2008 furthered that goal.
I started the day by attending the Ableton Live 7 master class, led by Ableton Lead Clinician and Training Specialist Huston Singletary. This class was a top-to-bottom overview of all the new features in Live 7. For me, the coolest part of the class was seeing how you could take video clips (for example, Singletary used a Halo trailer clip for the demonstration), import them into Live and then manipulate the audio in the clips. This class included a boatload of info to learn, and Singletary answered many of our nerdy questions. Audio nerds unite!
Next up was a one-on-one interview with DJ Mars, who graciously took time out of his insanely busy schedule to talk to us and participate in the Live or Die: How to Develop a Dope Live Show panel. During our interview, Mars talked about making the switch from spinning vinyl to CDs and Serato software. He was convinced to make the switch after playing one of Usher’s parties during a sweltering summer night in NYC, during which Mars had to haul eight huge crates of vinyl—in 100-degree heat—up a gigantic flight of stairs. Blech. You can check out the full interview at Remixhotel.com soon.
After our interview, Mars and I headed into the panel room, where Mars was joined by fellow panelists Cedric Lindsey and James Small from the Dukes of DaVille and J-Live. The panelists discussed many live-performance tips and tricks, including whether they change up their sets for each show. Mars said that he decides on the fly what he’s gonna play based on the crowd. For example, if the audience mostly comprises ladies, he’ll play more slow jams. If more guys are in the crowd, he’ll play more beat-heavy songs. When asked how artists engage their audiences, J-Live said he tries to make direct eye contact with as many people in the crowd as possible so that they feel as if they’re part of the show. My favorite part of this panel, however, was hearing some of the live-performance horror stories (think fried hard drives and lost iPods). We’ll be posting video from this panel soon.
There is so much more to see at RHATL 2008, so stay tuned to Remixhotel.com to catch all of the videos and awesome content we’ll be posting in the next week or so. (We need a few days to recover, okay?) But the bottom line of RHATL 2008 is this: Atlanta was a huge success, and we’re very grateful to SAE and its amazing staff; our illustrious partners Ableton, Atlantis, B&H, Beatlab USA, Clubplanet, Ex’pression College, FL Studio, Frank151, Fusicology, IK Multimedia, iStandard, The Kaos Effect, Midatlantic Music Conference, Music Marketing, Pioneer Pro DJ, Propellerhead, Rane, Roland, Serato and SKAM Artist; and the city of Atlanta for its warm Southern hospitality. We can’t wait to see you again next time!
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