4 weeks before I hit the dusty bowl of Black Rock City, Nevada for Burning Man. I’m getting just a little excited!
I’ve spend the last 2 months paring back my equipment set-up to my reduced Burn set-up. The Moog Sub37 and Novation Peak (2 hardware synths) have been ditched and I’ve replaced any sounds I used from those with virtual synths ‘inside the box’. They’re a little too precious and definitely not hardy enough to stand up to the (seriously corrosive) alkaline dusty space of the playa.
External audio interface – Gone! (replaced with audio interface in my A&H Xone controller), Midifighter 3D controller – Gone! (functionality repurposed into Push2 and Midifighter Twister), Akai MPK 49 key controller keyboard – Gone! (replaced with MPK 25 key controller keyboard and some dexterous use of the octave button when jamming). 2 Tier music stand – Gone! (replaced with customised baa guitar case with legs, that I can load all my gear and cycle across the playa with it on my shoulder).
A shadow of my former musical footprint!
I took the new reduced format for a spin and a recent party – you can check out my set from the Bollywood Pornstar 50th birthday party for a friend recently – good fun:
I’ve got 5 gigs lined up for Burning Man so far so it’s gonna be ‘hard work’…. yeah, yeah! No sympathy being sought here! One I’m beginning to get particularly excited about is a solo gig I’m going to do right out in the middle of the desert…unadvertised, no planning, just me and my gear (including a trolley sound system), way out on the perimeter, stoned , immaculate! Let’s see if I get ANY visitors!
So, back to my prep. My next post will have plenty of BM22 pics and videos, coming late after I get out of the desert.