Video - Navs live at Powwow

I had a lovely time playing at Powwow last week. If you missed the stream, here is the full video.



The line-up was Navs, Uchi, Wilted Woman, Goldwiener + Luma/Chroma and Hainbach. It was the first Berlin Powwow to be held at Patch Point’s new store in Neukölln and in stereo.

My 6U case contained the usual suspects - Cwejman, Mungo, Makenoise, Toppobrillo - with the new additon of a Harvestman Piston Honda MkI. It's a wavetable oscillator, packed with timbres and glitchy surprises - an oldie but goldie.

Thanks to Darrin and Stefan for organising the evening and setting the stage, to Uchi and Wilted Woman for their wonderful sets, Luma/Chroma for her mesmerising visuals, to Paul for his excellent camera work and Wouter for that suit!

Powwow 4 - Feedback

Here’s the recording of my live set at the fourth Berlin Powwow session which you can buy from my Bandcamp.



For this performance I wanted to explore feedback and the obstacles and modifiers one can place in the loop. The key players in this were delays, filters, non-linear functions and malfunctioning components.



My main analogue patch featured a Cwejman RES-4 in a loop with a Bananalogue Serge WVX. The combination of four frequency bands of oscillation might have been enough, but placing a Cwejman VCEQ-3 in the chain to dampen or boost the feedback added another level of complexity. A stressed coupling capacitor and scratchy Folds pot on the WVX added to the unpredictability and fun.

Live, I love my Clavia Micro Modular for two main reasons: patch recall, which allows me to set a scene or chop between moods, and polyphony. The virtual feedback patches in this set were simple, but switching them to two or three voices added complexity and interest, for example asynchronous panning or the beating of multiple sine-wave oscillators. You can do it with a ’real’ modular, but at a cost!

This set up is flexible and just about portable. It’s still completely live in that each patch either has to be built or played by hand. But the addition and convenience of the Micro Modular does cause me to question how we approach playing live with a modular. With many musicians turning up to gigs with their rigs pre-patched, is there a difference or even a need for the real deal?

Thanks again to Goldwiener, Hainbach, Paul da Fonk and Mark Berman of Powwow for the opportunity to make some noise.

Basic Electricity Concert Tonight - Rastko, Plastiq Phantom

If you’re in Berlin tonight, come along to Basic Electricity, a concert with the Serge Animal tamer, Rastko and Patch Point proprietor, Plastiq Phantom, aka Dr. Wiener.

Doors open at 19:30 for music at 20:30 at the König Otto in Neukölln. As you can see, it’s an amazing venue housed in the old Kindl brewery.

There’s more info here and a Facebook event here.

See you later!

BE#23, Thursday, 19.10.17 @ König Otto
Tickets 10€. Doors at 19:30, music at 20:30
Am Sudhaus 3, 12053 Berlin Neukölln
U7 Rathaus Neukölln or U8 Boddinstr.

Powwow - Thanks 2

A second round of applause for hosts Hainbach & Goldwiener and their lovely assistant Paul Da Fonk for a fab time at Berlin’s 2nd Powwow stream at Patch Point!



Here’s the recording of my set which you can also buy from my Bandcamp:




Get ready for the 3rd Berlin Powwow event, also on Youtube, on Friday, July 21st with music from Ashley M Puente, Hainbach, Goldwiener, Lindred and Navs and featuring the knock-out visuals of Luma //Chroma!

Navs Live on Berlin Powwow Stream Tonight!

I’m taking part in the second Berlin POWWOW live video stream this evening, Thursday, 8th June. It’s a live modular improvisation over the internet also featuring Andrea Lange, Hainbach, Goldwiener, a special surprise act and visuals by Luma //Chroma.

The first Berlin session was loads of fun - join us for part two tonight!

Powwow - thanks …

… to our hosts, Hainbach & Goldwiener and to Luma //Chroma for the mesmerising visuals! The launch of Powwow Berlin was loads of fun and I’m looking forward to doing it again.



Here is a video teaser of my set:



And here is a proper recording which you can also buy from my Bandcamp:



I patched a 6U case live, with back-up provided by a Clavia Micromodular and EHX SMMH as delay and looper. Given the short set-up and play time, this was a good selection which provided enough options. It was nice to get back to basics after a couple of virtual modular gigs and I think there’s enough play in this caseful of modules for another outing.

Navs on Powwow Live Stream Thursday

I’m taking part in the first POWWOW Berlin Live Stream this Thursday, 4th May from 19:00. It’s a live modular improvisation over the internet featuring Hainbach, Lindred, Navs, zv_k and Goldwiener.

Details are here.



I’ve never knowingly played to a virtual audience before and I’m looking forward to making music with these lovely people, so tune in on Thursday night!

Basic Electricity on Friday - Joker Nies, Gino Robair, Richard Scott

Join us on Friday, April 21st for an evening of hands-on live electronics with Joker Nies, Gino Robair and Richard Scott. It’s the second Basic Electricity concert in our new, super venue, the König Otto in Berlin, Neukölln.

There’s more info, pics + video here and the Facebook event is here.

Here is a video of the re-opening concert with Wolfgang Seidel, Hilary Jeffery and me:



direct link

We're looking forward to seeing you on Friday!

BE#20, Friday, 21.04.17 @ König Otto
Am Sudhaus 3, 12053 Berlin Neukölln
U7 Rathaus Neukölln or U8 Boddinstr.
 
Tickets 8€. Doors open 20:00, music starts at 21:00.
Seating is limited to 50, so please come on time.
The bar will be open for drinks and sandwiches.

March 24 - Navs Live @ Basic Electricity Berlin

I’ll be playing live with Wolfgang Seidel, Hilary Jeffery & Hainbach this Friday, March 24th, at Berlin's best live electronic night, Basic Electricity.



We’re very happy to have a new venue, the wonderful König Otto in the old Kindl brewery in Neukölln.

There’s more info, pics and video here; the Facebook event is here.

Doors open at 20:00, music kicks off at 21:00. The address is Am Sudhaus 3, 12053 Berlin Neukölln.

Look forward to seeing you on Friday - until then, here are some ideas I have been working on for the show:



Cheers, Navs.

Superbooth Gig Video

Thanks to Synthtopia for taking the time to document our trio's concert at Superbooth!

Hilary Jeffery has dates in France this weekend. Check his site for more live engagements.

Wolfgang Seidel has just published a book about Krautrock.



Everything you ever wanted to know about this strange German music but were afraid to ask, written by a man who was there.

May 7: Wolfgang Seidel + Navs Live, G2 Patch

Fresh from our Superbooth set, I’m looking forward to another chance to improvise with Wolfgang Seidel. We are playing at Spektrum in Berlin, Neukölln next Saturday, May 7. Doors open at 19:00 and we must start by 20:00 so don’t be late!

Also on the bill at Richard Scott’s Sound Anatomy night will be the pipe-smoking professor himself in duet with trumpet-player extraordinaire Axel Dörner. They will launch their new release on the Sound Anatomy label.

Spektrum is at Bürknerstr. 12 in 12047 Berlin Neukölln. The Facebook Event is here.



Playing live electronics can be a lot of fun, especially given a nice sound system and large room. The one bane for the performer can be the amount of equipment he or she needs and, conversely, the amount of space offered by the venue. A case or two of modules, a small mixer and a couple of effects often have to be unpacked, set-up and dismantled on a small table in a short amount of time.

Frank Bretschneider’s minimal kit list for his Superbooth performance was inspiring: just an Elektron Octatrack and an external delay. Frank told me the effects box was wired as an auxiliary loop within the Octatrack. I’m not familiar with the architecture of the Elektron but saw a possible parallel with the Clavia Nord Modular G2 system.



Above is the FX framework that I’ll be using at the Spektrum gig. It means I don’t have to bring an external mixer and can control levels directly from the G2. A multiple of outputs 1+2 is sent to an external effects unit via physical outputs 3+4 and returned via Ins 3+4. I’ve set the modulation wheel to act as the FX send pot and dedicated one knob page to the virtual mixer. With a few tweaks it could easily be modified for ‘voltage controlled’ automation.

It’s not perfect as there is a momentary muting of the output when switching between patches. But I felt it was more important to have control over the main as well as dry/wet levels and ratios. This is especially important when, for example, using my gigging delay, the EHX SMMH, as a looper. Patching the delay physically between the synth and the venue’s PA/ mixer would not be as flexible.

There seems to be a drop in levels between the VA + FX sections on the G2, irrespective of any padding. To avoid overdriving the delay pedal I have additionally padded the input to the FX section by -6dB. You can switch in a 6dB boost or add some overdrive to make up the gain should you need it. Be careful of avalanches if you use the FX-FB feedback loop.

You can download the G2 patch here. Let me know how you get on. Hope to see you at the gig!

Live at Superbooth

I’m very happy to present an evening of improvised music on Friday, 1st April at Andreas Schneider’s inaugural Superbooth in Berlin’s historic Funkhaus.

Basic Electricity stalwart, Wolfgang Seidel and I will be joined by Hilary Jeffery on trombone for a clangorous electro-acoustic trio. Hainbach combines recordings and melodic modular electronics and is accompanied by Orca’s hand drawn and animated visuals. And Frank Bretschneider presents his new project Sinn + Form, featuring recordings of vintage Buchla & Serge systems at EMS, Stockholm.

Follow the links in the artist’s names for more information and media. Click this link for a list of evening events.

We’ll play in the wonderful Saal 2, the so-called ‘small’ recording hall!



Click here for more pictures and information about the Funkhaus.

Here’s a taster of some patches I'm preparing for the concert:



Look forward to seeing you at Superbooth!