This week's #ThisDealInHistory is one of three clips taken from our concert in Northampton, MA on Feb 20, 2009.
Something to note about this week's epic 21-minute cut is that there are no standard tND songs in it. Rather, this clip features nothing but jams created in the moment and turned into songs (to the best of our ability) in real-time on stage.
We start in the middle of what sounds like an old-school UK Garage-style jam. We're keeping it pretty sparse with only the echo of the Juno stabs spilling over into the next beat. Dan and Darren are locked into a super-clipped staccato groove until 1:00 when we morph into a Latin House vibe. I solo along for a while, pouring on the jazzy vibes (especially that ascending lick around 1:40!) until we settle into a main groove at 1:54 and ever-so-subtly change the key signature (C- and B-flat minor progression switching to G- for those keeping score at home) at 2:08 in anticipation of our next move. Dan's rocking a dirty bass tone as we amp up the intensity courtesy of Darren's hi-hat and some harmonized twin-lead synth lines. The breakdown at 4:30 features me playing the same melody on two different keyboards but with one of them offset by (I think) a dotted-sixteenth note. Intellectual!
We briefly visit an interesting halftime feel before exploding (at 6:24) into a balls-to-the-wall section topped off with an angry Moog solo. This whole bit is on fire but we seem to hit our groove from 7:06 onwards as we explore that descending synth line and increase the intensity until the tempo and key change at 9:25.
I don't think we initially had dub on our mind when we kicked in to this bit although we quickly jump in with both feet by 9:35. A nice change of pace from the intensity of the previous ten minutes.
I like the patience we're displaying here in letting this downtempo exploration unfold. We don't seem in any rush to get anywhere which, in my opinion, is the way to approach it - if I'm thinking too far ahead I lose focus on what I'm trying to do in the moment.
At 13:40 we transition out of the dub and into an entirely different jam - this one heavy on The Bounce. The offbeat bass and the blippy Juno create a refreshing alternative to the previous jam and help point us in a new direction. I've got a pretty intense sound coming out of the Nord at 16:00. This is a good example of the "Random Patch Generator" concept that i've touched on in the past. Basically the idea is that i press any button on the Nord to bring up a random sound which will usually inspire me to play something i normally wouldn't have played using any of my "go-to" patches. I'll sometimes tweak the sound but more often than not I'll keep it as is. It's definitely an exciting way to make music on stage! -Jamie
