Above us, only sky. Christopher Willits playing the Overlap + Ableton show at Public Works early this month, San Francisco.
You can think about melodies and harmonies in geometric shapes. In fact, instrumentalists playing piano keys or guitar frets have already been doing that for some time. What’s happening with grid controllers like Push – among other alternatives – is that it’s now easy to rearrange melodic setups to see and play these relationships in new ways.
Musician Christopher Willits has started a series of videos called CREATE (hmmm… like that name somehow), through the creative community platform Overlap.
Willits tells CDM, “I really love this instrument. I’m excited to work with it more and become really comfortable. Like any new instrument, it’s going to take a little time for it to become a fluid part of the creative process.”
So, consider this a first chapter. In it, Willits has a nice overview of how to think in triadic harmony using triangles – a good place to start if you’re finding those layouts a bit overwhelming. And stick around for the end as he begins to make some music.
Nice little video, and more to come:
I expect a lot of Push posts – I’m finishing off a little hacking guide from stuff you’ve sent which, incidentally, also includes ideas about how to get around some of the frustrations with Push and how to do things without the hardware. (Trust me, this isn’t the Ableton blog, and that’s important – so let’s see more grids, more geometries, and not just for Live, please.) At the same time, I remain puzzled by the naysayers claiming Push “isn’t an instrument,” including various conversations with other hardware makers. Please – a fader box can be an instrument, too. In the end, your own personal feeling of playing it seems to me what matters.
Finally, to finish out with some music, a recent, haunting ambient remix from Chris, in a fuzzy, lush swell of sound:
From the remix album from tmymtur – ensl.jp/shop/tmymtur_2en
Featuring: Celer, Christopher Willits, i8u, Yui Onodera, Mark Harris, Opitope, Sogar, Stephan Mathieu, Taylor Deupree.