Rick's technique

undarrenworld · #1 07-06-2008, 01:33 AM

Maybe silly question, but anyway...I was always wondering how Rick use these papers to navigate on the mixing desk. If it is not secret could please anybody explain to me how Rick operate mixing desk with these papers.

http://www.darktrain.jp/Event_Media/...s/dsc_0082.jpg

Thanks

Flywaver · #2 07-06-2008, 01:50 AM

Probaly left to right and the papers in the corner are emergency acoustic tracks for power failure.

Buji · #3 07-06-2008, 05:59 AM

As far as i am aware and from a bit of experience with this myself!

Each strip of paper/white tape has the layout of what instrument/noise is on each channel of the mixing desk per song.
So say Rik loads the settings to Jumbo into the desk he can lay the strip of paper across the desk and at the bottom of each channel it will say 'Bass' or 'Synth' etc so he and Karl or Darren know what instrument is on each channel and can tweak some levels or mute a channel in safe knowledge that it will be the instrument they have written on the paper!

Hope this makes sense!!

Cheers,
Jez.

www.myspace.com/buji

idoru · #4 07-06-2008, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buji

Each strip of paper/white tape has the layout of what instrument/noise is on each channel of the mixing desk per song.
So say Rik loads the settings to Jumbo into the desk he can lay the strip of paper across the desk and at the bottom of each channel it will say 'Bass' or 'Synth' etc so he and Karl or Darren know what instrument is on each channel and can tweak some levels or mute a channel in safe knowledge that it will be the instrument they have written on the paper!

This is correct.
________
VAPOR GENIE VAPORIZER

patrick · #5 07-07-2008, 06:28 AM

so how does rick time when the actual instrument starts getting played or not on that channel?

mondokat · #6 07-07-2008, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrick

so how does rick time when the actual instrument starts getting played or not on that channel?

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that they worked with some company in the 90's to develop a device that synchronizes the instruments so that the beats line up every time. So the short answer is: Magic.

My question is, what software do they use on the Macs. Are the Macs just driving midi instruments in their setup? I heard they use a Nord Wave, does it get driven by the Macs in real time?

I know, I know just enough to be wrong on lots of points. I'm pretty new to this kind of technology...

Buji · #7 07-07-2008, 06:55 AM

As I am not in Underworld I can't say what I am saying is a 100% correct on this but here we go:-

The track/instruments will have already been sequenced in Logic Audio or a similar programme, so when you load the track up in Logic it will synch with the desk. As for mixing into another track as far as I know Underworld have 2 Main Mac's with Logic on with one sending Midi clock to all the other comps/laptops they have keeping in synch with the tempo, so when one track finishes on logic on one computer, they can set the other one going on the other computer with the same tempo.
Also they use Ableton Live for on the fly mixing too, so this can help fill a few gaps when setting up a completely different song/tempo on Logic. I saw them in Nottingham and when some tracks had a complete tempo change, Karl would play a sample of poetry or something like that whilst Rik was cueing up the next track.
It is a clever set up and Rik should be applauded for setting it up as it can be confusing to try and work out!!

lloyd · #8 07-07-2008, 07:20 AM

Rick plays the Nord live too. (if you know the synth) You can most times hear it blasting the speakers and dancers to pieces.

Perhaps a future project for Rick, a photostory about the mixingdesk. Or a 2dvd with him talking us through the routing and lots of anecdotes about the equipment...
I know it's part of the magic but so many of the fans want to know how it's done.

Buji · #9 07-07-2008, 08:20 AM

Taken from Remix website:-

“Five Macs onstage,” Smith says with a laugh. “It looks ridiculous, doesn't it? But they all get worked. It's all to do with trying to get 'round problems of electronics and sequencers, and having a predictable, linear presentation. In the early days when we used to use one computer, an Atari 1040ST, you would prepare this open jam, a series of loops and options that could come up on the console but, of course, it still hung around this spine. What we tried to do was take two different pieces and run them in parallel, just as a DJ would, but not just overlap them. The five Macs really come from the need to run things in parallel; very largely, it's to keep us guessing.”
Native Instruments Kore lies at the heart of Underworld's ability to work comfortably onstage today. Running inside Ableton and Logic, Kore is holy manna as far as Smith is concerned.
“I really do think Kore is the most amazing musical invention for a long time,” Smith exclaims. “It saves us fortunes because of the interfaces and options it makes available to us. We generate so many random ideas that when archiving those ideas, it is a bit like a library that is not organized. You need something to alphabetize all that. Kore allows you to access information in a very quick fashion. A file that is made in Logic or Ableton can be played back in the finder, copied across and played on a different computer with no problems, and you can still know where it is and what it is from.”
The multiple Macs store the elements of Underworld's original mixes, so no need for absolute pre-tour preparation or extracting single elements for eventual mixdown. Underworld creates new mixes at every show. But with Oblivion With Bells, there was mental preparation.

Full interview and more about the setup here:-
http://remixmag.com/artists/electron...ostcards_edge/

DaddyAdv · #10 07-07-2008, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrick

so how does rick time when the actual instrument starts getting played or not on that channel?

all the sounds/loops are playing continuously, he just mutes them or manipulates them with the mixing desk (i.e. reverb, delay, eq etc.)
he's basically doing what a mixing engineer does, but since it's live and spontaneous, it's a whole new level
it's the same with the mixer strips, mixing engineers use gaffa tape and scribble down which channels holds which inputs (i.e. guitar 1, bass, lead vocal etc.)

the nord lead 2 produces the main loop sound from at least You Do Scribble and Rowla. it's also used on the bleeping loop in the middle of cowgirl. Rick also uses it as an input keyboard to the vocoder on BoyBoyBoy and Airtowel (and TMO, if things go wrong with Karl's guitar - that happened in Hamburg this year).