Max Richter Documentary screening in Amsterdam

On the theme of sleeping concerts, a friend of mine just shared with me that Max Richter has been performing his album “Sleep'“ live in marathon 8-hour concerts, from midnight to 8am all over the prestigious concert halls of the world, and also having performed outdoor as well. The audience gets to lie down in beds, invited to be awake or drift in and out of sleep while him and his musicians slave over the notes (120 pages of piano score) for 8 long hours!

Apparently he already performed in The Concertgebouw earlier in July 2019 in Amsterdam which must have been absolutely brilliant. In November, he returns to Amsterdam, not on the stage but on the big screen with his documentary ‘Sleep’, directed by Natalie Johns during the IDFA: International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam‎. The documentary takes viewers on a journey of how the piece came about, how it transformed to a live performance and a closer look into his private life with his wife Yulia Mahr.

On the night of the premiere, Max will also be present for an interview, along with the direction and his wife after the screening.

Dates and tickets:

Thursday 21st November from 18:45 - 20:59 at Tuschinski (premiere with interview) - Tickets

Friday 22nd November from 13:30 - 15:29 at Munt - Tickets

Saturday 23rd November from 11:00 - 12:44 at Kriterion - Tickets

Monday 25th November from 18:30 - 20:12 at Tuschinski (Press & Industry Screening: Max Richter’s Sleep)

Thursday 28th November from 11:45 - 13:29 at Tuschinski - Tickets

Saturday 30th November from 19:15 - 20:59 at Eye Cinema - Tickets

More information and tickets: https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/df96a60b-cba4-4c80-95d4-5b04812a54a3/max-richters-sleep

Image from Max Richter’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/maxrichtermusic/status/992675828386467845

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Electronic Music Sleeping Concert during ADE 2019

During this year’s Amsterdam Dance Event 2019, I was invited to perform alongside Equal Yoga at the ADE Zen Space, a curated chill-out zone at De Waalse Kerk for electronic music lovers and party goers to spend some down time.

On Thursday October 17, there was a sleeping concert by Circle of Live, an initiative of Sebastian Mullaert which is an improvised electronic music jam of 8 hours from 23:00-7:00. Lucky for the sleepers, the ticket included breakfast!

The original idea is that a selected number of electronic music artists on Mullaert’s record label are invited to come take part in this improvised jam. There is no specific schedule so the beauty is that the improvisation takes on a different journey depending on which artist joins or leaves. The concert during ADE was only with Sebastian Mullaert and Johanna Knutsson.

The audience were asked to bring their own sleeping arrangements such as sleeping bag, pillow and camping mats. Big inflatable mattresses are not allowed!

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/397024284330318/

More information: https://www.circleof.live/

REVIEW: Akai MPD218 vs. PreSonus ATOM MIDI pad controllers

As a music producer, I’ve recently been inspired to make my own beats! And instead of drawing the beats with a mouse or finger drumming with midi keyboard (like this video of Just Dance), I decided that I wanted to buy a cheap entry-level MIDI pad controller (or drum pad). At first a friend let me borrow her Akai Professional LPD8, but with the 8 pads, I didn’t find it compatible with Ableton where the drum racks are usually 16 pads.

So! I decided to compare the Akai MPD218 and newcomer PreSonus ATOM and see which one was better.

BUY the PreSonus ATOM: https://redir.love/70nbQ7Gx

BUY the Akai Professional MPD218: https://redir.love/6aGgqRE2

Look: The MPD218 has a really sleek black look whereas the PreSonus ATOm looks less sleek with the white pads, but everything is arranged very neatly and the knobs are shaped very nicely. At first I would say the MPD218 wins in the looks comparison, but when you plug it in, you’ll see that the reason why the ATOM has white pads is because they are illuminated with a lot of different colours when it gets turned on and the MPD218 lights up with a red light only on the outer edge of each pad. For the ATOM, the different coloured lights change with different uses, so they have functional benefits. Therefore, on looks, I announce it a tie.

Build: The PreSonus ATOM is built more solidly and feels less cheap. The MPD218 feels a bit plasticky in a cheap way. ATOM wins.

Pad sensitivity: Now this is where it gets interesting for me. I was looking specifically for a pad controller that was very sensitive. When you do finger drumming, you need agile fingers, but you also need a device with pads that will trigger on the slightest and fastest touches. With the same pressure, the MPD218 triggers less notes than the ATOM. I was not too pleased with the MPD218 and I also thought the LPD8 could be improved too. I tried also Maschine Mikro MK3 and Ableton Push 2, and these are really the benchmark of fantastic sensitive pads. Even though the ATOM is not as good as Mikro or Push, for a cheap drum pad, it’s definitely a delight to play and much more sensitive than the MPD218. Since the MPD218 is less sensitive, I found that I needed to hit harder, which made it harder to play on time and get in a good flow. When you need to hit something with more force, then you lose the ability to be quick. It’s fine if you are generally a hard finger drummer, but I think for anyone who does quick note repeats, it’s more handy to have sensitive pads. ATOM wins.

See my YouTube video for comparing pad sensitivity:

In my YouTube review, you’ll see that not all pads are equally sensitive in both controllers. I think because they are both entry level controllers and are cheaply made, so some pads are super sensitive, while some consistently don’t trigger that well. I hope that with more use, that the controllers become more sensitive, like any instrument that takes time to warm up.

Pad feel: Both feel nice and the rubbery pads are fun to hit. It depends what you like, but the MPD218 pads are a little harder, chunky and are taller, which I personally don’t like. The ATOM has flatter buttons and have good grip. (note: Actually I really like the feel of the Ableton Push and for a cheap option the LPD8 which has very flat and soft rubbery pads similar to the Push). Tie.

Price: For the price war, the MPD218 wins hands down. the MPD218 is almost HALF the price of the ATOM, which makes this review even a bit unfair, because they are actually not really equal in price, but I think it’s because the ATOM comes with Studio One software with a lot of in-built sounds and this is definitely what makes the controller superior to MPD218. But in terms of price, MPD218 wins.

DAW compatibility: I tested both using Ableton, and both controllers worked beautifully with Ableton, in terms of being recognised in the system and all 16 pads being perfectly assigned with the drum racks, which was something I was looking for. I really like the Maschine Mikro but it didn’t automatically work with Ableton when you plug it in. You need to install a template and do all this fiddly stuff, so this in addition to the price was a reason for me not to get it. So in terms of DAW compatibility it is a tie.

Overall: I really wanted to like the MPD18 because of the price, but it just disappointed me. Functionality-wise it is fine, but for me the sensitivity and touch of a pad controller is what I’m really going to base my decision on, and I’ve chosen the PreSonus ATOM.

BUY the PreSonus ATOM: https://redir.love/70nbQ7Gx

BUY the Akai Professional MPD218: https://redir.love/6aGgqRE2

(note: I see two low scores for this product on Thomann, with no comments attached to the rating, which leads me to believe they are fake reviews, purposely to downgrade the peer-to-peer rating.)

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Where to buy an electric cello in Amsterdam

I recently received an email from a cellist who asked me for tips on places or stores in Amsterdam where she could try out some electric cellos, and brands that are on the not-too-expensive side that I could recommend.

Hm, I thought. Great question regarding electric cellos. When I was looking to buy an electric cello, I discovered that unfortunately Amsterdam is not a good place to “try before you buy”. The music stores I know mostly stock guitars (Dirk Witte, Dijkman) or the big retailer Bax has a lot of guitar stuff and equipment for the studio like speakers, microphones, DJ gear and much more online, but no electric cellos.

So I struggled to find a store that had any electric cellos to try. There are no dedicated "string retailers" in Amsterdam. They mostly are ateliers who do repairs, and probably selling only classical cellos. Many years ago in Amsterdam I hired a Yamaha electric cello, but I'm afraid I don't remember which shop anymore. 

The BEST recommendation I can give is to shop online at Thomann, which is a German online music retailer. They ship to The Netherlands. Unfortunately they do not have free returns, but their customer service is always very good! Here is a link of the electric cellos they have on offer: https://www.thomann.de/intl/thlpg_bhyy893m7x.html

Here are my top picks from their website:

MOST NATURAL SOUNDING - NS DESIGN CR SERIES -
https://thinkns.com/instrument/ns-design-electric-cello/
I have an electric cello from the brand NS Design, and I bought it from Thomann. NS Design has electric cellos ranging from 950 Euros to 3500 (from cheapest to best: WAV, NXTa and CR Series). Mine is the more expensive one (CR series). I like it because it sounds just like a classical cello and you can play standing up, which was my dream. I have a 5-string cello, and it’s also possible to buy a 6-string. If you'd like to try mine, please get in touch. (Read my review on the CR Series cello here)

MOST LIKE CLASSICAL CELLO - YAMAHA SILENT SERIES -
https://nl.yamaha.com/nl/products/musical_instruments/strings/silent_series/index.html
If you can afford something mid-price and prefer a brand well known, then go with a Yamaha cello, which range between 1600-2600 Euros. The cello shape mimics the shape of a real cello, so, it has the least barrier to entry. Many years ago, I tried a Yamaha electric cello (I think the SVC-110) and I didn't like the sound. it sounded very tinny and metallic. I haven’t tried the SVC-210, but since it is the best of the range and many famous cellists use it, I assume it sounds nicer. I preferred the sound of the NS Design cello much more than the SVC-110.

CHEAPEST
The cheapest one on the Thomann website is Harley Benton, but I don't know this brand.

MOST INTERESTING NEWCOMER - SBIP - https://sbip-instruments.com/sbip-cello
I saw a newcomer to the market: "sbip", which is around 1000 Euros, and I found someone in Amsterdam who has one of these cellos, so if you want to try his, then I can you can contact him: https://mrvanwalsh.com/. I contacted Stefan Beyer, the owner of sbip and he said that his cello comes with a magnetic pickup (not piezo like most others) and is supposed to be the electric guitar equivalent of the cello, therefore, you can expect a different sound and not trying to sound as close to the traditional classical cello.

In summary, I hope this helps, and I’m sorry that there is no “good” solution to trying an electric cello in Amsterdam. Let me know in the comments below if there is any tip you can give me!

Link to buy a similar electric cello as I have on Thomann: https://www.thomann.de/intl/ns_design_cr5_co_pb_low_f_cello.htm?partner_id=81398

Link of all Electric cellos on Thomann: https://www.thomann.de/intl/thlpg_bhyy893m7x.html

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