Video

Live looping thanks to Ableton, Push 2 and the Binkbeats plug-in.

Actually this was an experiment. I was wondering if I was able to programme the malletKAT thereby that I did not need to touch any other equipment while I was inventing, playing and recording a song all at once.

So it is possible. But to be honest, it is quite a lot of work. I used for recording the loops Ableton Live. Normally I control the program with the Akai APC-40. Now the malletKAT triggers the computer. Sometimes directly but through the APC-40 too. All used sounds are programmed in the malletKAT in the right order. Starting loops, recording, playing and selecting tracks and scenes I did by hitting keys and foot-switches. Thanks to those last ones the functionality of the keys changes. So I was able to launch clips and whole scenes.

Controlling Ableton with the APC is a lot easier and because of that the experiment is not to be continued. I just wanted to know if it was possible. I think it is. Just take a look.

In June 2012 I was with Cada Dia at the International Jazz Festival in Enschede. Unfortunately the very last edition. Our government doesn’t want to spend money on culture that much anymore. So the organizer could not stand for the quality of the festival artists. VSuch a pitty. For Cada Dia however it was a great experience. The band did well and the audience was zestful. Not only the regular visitor but all those music pro’s too. Proud of Gerald Boesjes – trumpet and flugelhorn; Helen Ostafew – vocal; Nick Kerkhoff – bassguitar; Marcel Voorhuis – drums; Frank Groen – trumpet and flugelhorn, Alex Lipan – guitar; Marcel van de Burgwal – trombone; Marijn Teuling – saxophones.

A few years in a row I organized with a trio jamsessions at De Cactus in Hengelo. For the smallest stage in The Netherlands the malletKAT was a true salvation. At the beginning I took the real vibraphone with me, but I always had to disassemble the instrument completely, otherwise it didn’t fit the door. Even playing standards on e-vibes is no problem. Together with Jan ter Maat jr. on drums and Andrew Read on double bass we perform Night and Day by Cole Porter.

Back in 2011 there was a lot more ‘commercial’ music on the Cada Dia set list. Fun. Shakatak might be ‘so eighties’, but I still enjoy playing their songs. Original there was a piano solo of course, but Cada Dia doesn’t hzve any keys. So I allowed myself soloing on mallets. For this occasion the other band members were: Marijn Teuling – saxophones; Luuk Hof – trumpet and flugelhorn; Alex Lipan – guitar; Helen Ostafew – vocal; Marcel Voorhuis – drums; Bert Fransen – trumpet and flugelhorn; Marcel van de Burgwal – trombone; Nick Kerkhoff – bass guitar.

That a non-commercial band can get a crowd too we proofed in 2011 during the Tropical Night in Hengelo. We started with only a hand full of people in front of the stage. At the end of our first set the street was filled with more than two thousand of them. On stage were Marcel Voorhuis – drums; Alex Lipan – guitar, Bert Fransen – trumpet and flugelhorn; Hans Kerkhoff – malletKAT; Marijn Teuling – saxophones; Helen Ostafew – vocal; Marcel van de Burgwal; Nick Kerkhoff – bass guitar; Luuk Hof – trumpet and flugelhorn.

I organized a concert with a band and two international artists. The band was Cada Dia, the soloists were Russell “Konkie” Halmeijer, a steel pan player from Curaçao, and the percussionist Nippy Noya. You can hear the opening tune Guess What? One of my own. The band in 2010 was Helen Ostafew (vocal), Luuk Hof (trumpet), Edwin Hasperhoven (guitar), Reindert Kragt (bass guitar), Marcel Voorhuis (drums), Gerald Boesjes (trumpet), Marcel van de Burgwal (trombone), Marijn Teuling (saxophones) en Hans Kerkhoff (vibraphone).

I did the concert with Cada Dia and two guests. One of them was the world famous percussionist Nippy Noya. Here you can hear him during the intro of the Incognito cover Always There. Together with Marcel Voorhuis he played an open solo just before the horns fall in with the original intro.