Live Sequencing and Performance (PBC502) Summative Assessment 3

Deadmau5

12/6/2013 Martin Krger

Technological advancements, such as improvements In DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software and hardware interfaces, have allowed musicians to be more creative and active in their live performances in comparison to a traditional DJ who only mixes two song. Joel Thomas Zimmerman, known as Deadmau5 is a Canadian DJ and performer who was born on the 5th of January 1981 (Debra, 2012). His signature headpiece that he wears on stage is called the Mau5head, which resembles a stylized mouse head (Debra, 2012) (Fig. 1).

Figure 1: Deadmau5 Performing in Spain (Ressler, 2010) Deadmau5 focuses on Electronic dance Music (EDM) and produces as well as mixes a variety of House genres (Debra, 2012), most notably Electro House and Progressive House (Beatport, 2013). Zimmerman (2010) has also produced Dubstep as well as fused Dubstep and House. He has a large collection of analog hardware within his home studio and while he feels one can accomplish the same sounds on software synthesizers, he prefers to use the analog hardware as it allows him a hands-on approach (Musicianstools, 2009).

Deadmau5 (2013) has won multiple awards for the music he has produced, such as the International Dance Music Award, Juno Award and Beatport Music Award. Deadmau5 initially started as a bedroom producer using precursor aliases such as Halcyon441 (Debra, 2012). He often makes use of side-chain compression, often called ducking, on his synths in productions and live performances, which give the sound a breathing like quality as well as makes headroom for the kick drum.

Figure 2: Side-Chain Compression

Deadmau5 has been known to make use of a Monome 256 controller (Fig 3.a), JazzMutant Lemur Professional Multi-touch controller (Fig 3.b), Allen & Heath Xone: 4D Universal DJ controller (Fig 3.c), Pioneer EFX-1000 (Fig 3.d), two MacBook Pros using Apples operating system OSX and two Microsoft-based systems (FM Music Magazine, 2010)(Knox, 2013). The core of his set is run through the Ableton Live DAW which runs on his main MacBook Pro. While he is often seen using this equipment he has utilised other equipment on occasion.

Figure 3: Controllers Used by Deadmau5 in a Live Performance

I like using Live as, you know, a live platform for performing because its just the most versatile system that I could find that will let you incorporate MIDI control, track selection, cue points and kind of accessing, create and controlling your effects and all that; which was really just a matter of wiring MIDI to the parameters of your VSTs or certain commands within in the application (FM Music Magazine, 2010)

Ableton Live is known for its capabilities in live performances due to the way it can launch clips, which are stems or whole parts of music that are quantized to a beat so the music always remains in-sync with the tempo and beat. All of his music for his live sets is prepared beforehand and loaded into Ableton Live (FM Music Magazine, 2010) (Zimmerman, 2011), where they are split into two tracks which relate to the usual DJ hardware setup, such as the left track being the

turntable on the left, A deck, and the right track being the turntable on the right, B deck (FM Music Magazine, 2010). A deck and B deck is routed to one track each in Ableton Live. Zone4D faders 1 and 2 control the main A deck and B deck volume controls. Effects are used on the routed channels mentioned. The Lemur with a custom template created by Deadmau5 has hold buttons which turn on effects within Ableton Live, such as a Beat Repeat (Fig.4).

Figure 4: Deadmau5 Demonstrating His Lemur Layout (FM Music Magazine, 2010)

There is a third track which Deadmau5 uses to develop continuity in the sound palette, which contains a stem from an existing song in A deck or B deck. That stem will be modified such as creating a loop point and he will intermittently play it in his set (FM Music Magazine, 2010). There is an additional track which he calls the live track that contains four separate elements; such as a loop, synth, kick drum and effect sounds routed to a separate 4 channel mixer. The sequences of these individual elements are controlled via the Monome 256 which can be structured or monitored via the Monome 256s illuminated buttons. There is a low processing power Maximizer plugin used on this 4

channel so that the live performance can attempt to be on par with a compressed and mastered production release. (FM Music Magazine, 2010) In his live performances there are two inaudible channels which house a simple kick drum and a variety of short percussive hits. These are used in conjunction to create a ducking effect through side-chain compression. The percussive hits create a more dynamic effect instead of having a linear effect by purely using a kick. (FM Music Magazine, 2010) As mentioned, Deadmau5 will trigger effects with the Lemur. This often includes using Ableton Lives Beat Repeat plugin which will take segments of the audio being processed. Depending on which button he pressed, these segments are then further processed into effects such as; distortion, phasers and long-tail reverbs. One of the techniques Deadmau5 uses is the Freeze function in Ableton Lives Reverb, which creates quite a fair amount of continuous noise and routes it to the side-chain compressor as an inaudible signal (FM Music Magazine, 2010). The end result is a live rhythmic sound. Deadmau5 also makes use of Pioneer EFX-1000 to add effects.

Figure 5: Recreation of Deadmau5 Ableton Live Performance Set

Ableton generates Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) timecode which syncs the lightshow to the current position of the set (Zimmerman, 2012). The Monome 256 that Deadmau5 uses is a configurable MIDI controller with a 16x16 button layout equating to 256 buttons (Monome, 2013). The user can use proprietary software to modify the actions of the buttons. He has the device configured so that the top half of buttons are used to trigger and monitor loops, while the lower half of buttons are used to trigger one shot sounds (FM Music Magazine, 2010). The Lemur is a multi-touch modular controller with a 12 TFT display. The layout can be designed by the user through the companys proprietary software. Deadmau5 6

creates his own layouts for his live sets and uses it to control mixing and effects (FM Music Magazine, 2010). He has a number of different Mau5heads, some which contain LEDs. On complex Mau5head models, these LEDs can be controlled to create a number of visual displays. The controller for the Mau5head is usually position on his belt. There is a camera attached to the helmet which is connected to a screen display inside the helmet allowing Deadmau5 to see outside the mask (Fig. 6).

Figure 6: Deadmau5 LED Helmet with Camera (Schulman, 2010)

There is little room for creative input in his live sets due to the pre-programmed light show. He has expressed this on the internet and this has caused controversy amongst DJs. we all hit play. its no secret. when it comes to live performance of EDM thats about the most it seems you can do anyway. Its not about performance art, its not about talent either (really its not) In fact, let me do you and the rest of the

EDM world button pushers who hate me for telling you how it is, a favor and let you all know how it is. I think given about 1 hour of instruction, anyone with minimal knowledge of ableton and music tech in general could DO what im doing at a deadmau5 concert. Just like i think ANY DJ in the WORLD who can match a beat can do what ANYONE else (not going to mention any names) is doing on their EDM stages too. (Zimmerman, 2012) His production releases have mastered and put through a number of effects, such as the Waves L1-L3 Maximizers and he feels that his live performances will not the match the quality of his production releases (FM Music Magazine, 2010). Production releases are often made to be as loud as possible as to compete with other releases, known as The Loudness War (Fig. 7)(Deruty, 2011) and generally make use of plugins that require quite a substantial amount of processing power which is often not freely available in a live setting.

Figure 7: Signal RMS Over 40 Years (Deruty, 2011)

Artists also have the time in a studio to make various tweaks to sounds and arrangement, whereas an artist is limited by time constraints in a live performance. 8

Despite the statement that Deadmau5 made entitled we all hit play, he is attempting to incorporate a true live performance in his set. His analog studio equipment is brought to a live set to reproduce his productions, allowing him to adjust the analog controls. This means that a live performance will never sound the same as a production version. Alternatively, he will play a synthesizer over a production song. The synthesizers he uses includes models such as an Access Virus TI Polar and a Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue Edition (Fig.8). Deadmau5 has looked to being more creative in his live sets and has changed his gear setup circa 2011. Instead of software synthesizers (FM Video), he uses mostly hardware and analog equipment to play and generate his sounds and effects, such as the Access Virus TI Polar and Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue Edition synthesizers.

Figure 8: DeadMau5 Analog Gear (Rukes, 2011)

Technical advancements in equipment and software have allowed electronic dance musicians to branch out in their creativity allowing for a scintillating experience for the crowd. However, technology can also limit ones creativity, and artists such as 9

Deadmau5 are trying to break the boundaries of those limitations by utilising software and hardware developed for a live performance.

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BEATPORT (2013) Deadmau5 :: Tracks :: Beatport [Online] Available from: http://www.beatport.com/artist/deadmau5/26182/tracks [Accessed: 14 th November 2013] DEADMAU5 (2013) deadmau5 | Bio [Online] Available from: http://www.deadmau5.com/bio/ [Accessed: 10th November 2013] Deadmau5 Live Cube Visuals - Creamfrields Abu Dhabi 2011 [HD] (2011) YouTube video, added by Iyad Tibi. [Online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKEMOmHUvYo [Accessed: 11th November 2013] Deadmau5 Live Set 2012 (2012) YouTube video, added by Mihai Ex. [Online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxc8ZfNsjl8 [Accessed: 11 th November 2013] DEBRA. K (2012) Deadmau5 Unabridged Guide. Tebbo: Newstead DERUTY, E (2011) 'Dynamic Range' & The Loudness War. [Online] Available from: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep11/articles/loudness.htm [Accessed: 4th December 2013] FM MUSIC MAGAZINE (2010) YouTube video, added by Future Music Magazine. [Online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTCqeWu094I [Accessed: 10th November 2013] KNOX, D (2013) How the biggest electronic acts play their music live. [Online] Available at: http://deejers.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/how-the-pros-play-live/ [Accessed: 11th November 2013] MONOME (2013) devices | monomer [Online] Available from: http://monome.org/devices/ [Accessed 28th November 2013] MUSICIANSTOOLS (2009) Artist Profile: Deadmau5 [Online] Available from: http://musicianstools.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/artist-profile-deadmau5/ [Accessed: 20th November 2013] RESSLER, D (2010) Deadmau5 dons the blue head while in Spain. [Image online] Available at: http://i.usatoday.net/life/gallery/2012/l120910_deadmau5/10-pghorizontal.jpg [Accessed 14th November 2013] RUKES (2011) Deadmau5 @ Hollywood Palladium - August 25-28, 2011. n.d. [Image Online] Available from: http://photo.rukes.com/palladium7/slides/palladium7%20264.html [Accessed 13th November 2013]

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SCHULMAN, J (2011) A day with deadmau5: LEDs, Super Mario, and techno. [Online] Available from: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/29/a-day-withdeadmau5-leds-super-mario-and-techno/ [Accessed: 10th November 2013] ZIMMERMAN, J.T. (2010) Raise Your Weapon [Online] USA: Ultra Records. ZIMMERMAN, J.T. (2011) IAmA dead mouse that tours, makes music, plays video games and has a stupid cat. AMA. [Online] Available from: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ktc48/iama_dead_mouse_that_tours _makes_music_plays/ [Accessed: 20th November 2013] ZIMMERMAN, J. T. (2012) we all hit play [Online] Available from: http://deadmau5.tumblr.com/post/25690507284/we-all-hit-play [Accessed: 15th November 2013]

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