in the wake of a good run : video, sound, interim release

We had a healthy run at the end of June, as we posted about earlier. It was exhilarating to have so many gigs so close together, it did wonders to keep us on our toes.

Jefferson has been on a bit of vacation, and the new job is keeping me hopping. In his absence, and while I can, Ive been sifting through the catalog of videos and recordings from all the gigs - which is quite a task, and has to be approached in stages.

One recent investment has been the Lexicon Omega, a USB audio interface that allows us to record 4 tracks simultaneously into the laptop. I can now get individual tracks each for the tabla, bayan, and sarod, so I can produce a much better mix from the live gigs rather than having to tweak and compromise on a stereo tracking from minidisc.

There have been four gigs captured in all: 0614 Outpost; 0617 Body; 0623 Ethnosphere; and 0624 Body. Outpost and 0617 Body we didnt have the four track up and running , so Im working with the minidisc versions; 0623 and 0624 were tracked with Omega, and Im really pleased with the results so far.

We also have video from 0617 and 0624 - great thanks to Julie Adams! - and also from Ethnosphere, thanks to Janet Darrow in Las Cruces, who came up to film the whole festival. Perhaps its having worked on BOAP, or now working at a television station as the day job, but I definitely have a film and video bug these days.

More than that, though, I also think so much of what makes the Duo work is the rapport - its all about the dialogue, the jugalbandi - and with people telling us how much they like us live, I ve been curious to see how we come across: how much and what kind of subtext and impact the visual/physical presentation of what we do adds to the experience for the audience.

That was my main motivation for getting some video documentation. Its also good video editing practice for me, and a couple of clips to add to YouTube won't hurt either.

A video post is still a little ways off, because first, we're sifting through all four gigs musically - about 5 + hours worth, if you consider two sets each from Body. Ive done very quick rough mixes on everything, then I've burned CDs sorted by piece: all versions of "Inside", for example, on one disc, etc.

I just finished that sort/mix process a few days ago, so with an hour commute each way to work, I'll start listening and evaluating during travel time. Ive also burned a set for Jefferson, so he'll do listening and we'll compare notes.

The ultimate aim of this is to do an interim release late summer or early fall: pretty much a demo format (we're thinking at this stage) rather than a full fledged commercial release, as a lot of the repertoire is still with us from our Travel Bug days. But the music has changed since then - where and how we take it, our comfort level, the ebb and flow of dialogue, its all very very different than it was 2 years ago.

As I told the Albuqerque Journal prior to the Outpost gig:

Jefferson is using more tabla now, which is bringing forth a whole other melodic element to work with, for one thing. Generally, it's more relaxed now, more comfortable in its own direction. That in turn frees it up to go to more interesting places; it's become both more subtle and more adventurous.

So we need something more representative of our current approach, yet we dont have quite enough new repertoire together ( though thats coming, and look for an all new release maybe end of year).

What I don't know is if there are any truly worthy performances with good video, or good video and bad musical performances , or vice versa. I have taken a peek at Janet's Ethnospehere footage, and its really quite good: the lighting, picture quality, angles, etc all make for a sharp presentation. Even the video editors at work thought it looked good, so kudos and thanks again to Janet . Of course I'll take the Omega mix for the sound track rather than having to rely on camera sound. Dont think there will be sync problems, but im not sure yet. I have not seen the Body footage yet, but ill get to that soon.

So thats where we're at. I'll post some mp3s as i sift through stuff, as there are a few new pieces i havent shared here before. The relocation to Alb is getting closer with some good houses there to consider and we're adjusting the price here to move!

We're investigating playing possibilities in Alb to begin in late September, so we'll post about those- or if youre interested in having us, let us know.