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Moldover | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Matthew Edwin Moldover |
Also known as | Moldover |
Born | April 24, 1980 |
Origin | Rockville MD, United States |
Genres | Rock, metal, blues, electronica, breakbeat, drum and bass, plunderphonics, breakcore |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, technologist, instrument designer, musician, producer |
Instrument(s) | Mojo, Robocaster, Guitar, vocals, sampler |
Years active | 1998 – present |
Labels | Duct Tape Records |
Website | www.moldover.com |
Matthew Edwin Moldover (born April 24, 1980), known as Moldover, is a musician and instrument designer based in San Francisco, CA. The MIDI Manufacturers Association has referred to him as the "Godfather of Controllerism". He is known for his musical instruments, including the Mojo, Robocaster, Octamasher and Guitar Wing. [1]
Moldover is originally from the Washington, D.C. area and began playing guitar at the age of 13 in Rockville, MD. [2] He discovered Berklee College of Music on the internet and moved to Boston to attend in 1998. [3]
He earned a degree in electronic music composition in 2002, and then moved to New York City to play in a variety of bands. [4] He soon transitioned to a focus on solo performance; a 2003 visit to Burning Man Festival in Nevada led to him moving to San Francisco in 2008. [4]
Moldover has released a significant amount of media content in different arenas including 4 studio albums of music, many live videos of his performance known as "Live Remashing" and also instructional videos for Ask Video and others. [5]
Before releasing an official Studio album, Moldover released a series of live recordings called Live Remashing. These were his preliminary journeys into Controllerism before he had come up with the term. In 2006, Marc Urselli of Chain D.L.K. described Live Remashing as "an encyclopedia of modern pop culture in sound format" and "the best example of how to use modern technologies to enhance and extend musicianship and artistic vision", and "the new form of DJing." [6]
In 2009, Moldover released his debut album Moldover. Of the variety of price tiers for the release of the album, the steepest version included a fully playable circuit board, thus highlighting what is termed playable packaging. [7] The track listings themselves were created using circuitry. Inside the package is a small playable light-theremin.
In 2016, Moldover released the studio album 4 Track which included the playable packaging Voice Crusher.
Moldover suggests that the Controller is "the instrument of the next generation." [4] In 2005, he coined the term Controllerism with the encouragement of his manager of the time, DJ Shakey. [4] [1] On the development of Controllerism he said that "the basic styles of DJing weren't satisfying to me, I was used to a more visceral way of performing; playing guitar, singing, and producing sound with my body in real time. For me, controllerism is more along those lines than DJing." [2]
Controllerism is the art of manipulating sound and creating music live, using computer controllers and software.
In a 2007 article in Remix , Moldover stated that "Controllerism borrows its name from turntablism. These terms are essentially the same idea, but they revolve around different instruments." [8]
The Frankentroller started as a Novation Remote 25 SL Keyboard; Moldover adapted its hardware to make it a new instrument by adding a Kurzweil keyboard touchstrip, a Korg Kaoss Pad, as well as refashioning some of the keyboards black keys to be used as crossfaders. [9] Ean Golden of Remix subsequently stated that the Frankentroller had earned Moldover wins his personal award for "most creative mod." [8]
In 2010, Moldover released the MOJO, "Limited-Edition Performance MIDI Controller". This is his first "made from scratch" midi controller. It figures prominently in his live performances. In 2012, Moldover made the design for the Mojo open source. Artist Ill Gates called the Mojo, "the single greatest controller in the history of MIDI." [10]
The Robocaster is a custom-made signature guitar produced by Visionary Instruments: a "hybrid instrument", it incorporates several MIDI controller options, including "gaming buttons, touch-strips, knobs, faders, switches, motion sensors, a pressure pad and a joystick." [4]
Moldover said that he wanted to create the Robocaster as a more tactile and less sample-based instrument that allows for more traditional musicianship combined with advanced FX tweaking and midi integration. [4]
Directly inspired by the Robocaster, the Guitar Wing adds an ergonomic, wireless MIDI controller to any electric guitar or bass. The Guitar Wing was created in collaboration with Livid Instruments. Popular Science noted that it allows "near effortless control over effects, software, digital audio workstations and even stage lights between strums." [11]
Originally designed as a gift for Burning Man participants, the Octamasher is "a multi-input combination of 8 modified keyboards that link to a single brain (computer), the output of which is coordinated and controlled to allow for multiple users combining together to perform new music." [7]
An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into a power amplifier which drives a loudspeaker, creating the sound heard by the performer and listener.
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Novation Digital Music Systems Ltd. is a British musical equipment manufacturer, founded in 1992 by Ian Jannaway and Mark Thompson as Novation Electronic Music Systems. Today the company specializes in MIDI controllers with and without keyboards, both analog and virtual analog performance synthesizers, grid-based performance controllers, and audio interfaces. At present, Novation products are primarily manufactured in China.
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A MIDI controller is any hardware or software that generates and transmits Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) data to MIDI-enabled devices, typically to trigger sounds and control parameters of an electronic music performance. They most often use a musical keyboard to send data about the pitch of notes to play, although a MIDI controller may trigger lighting and other effects. A wind controller has a sensor that converts breath pressure to volume information and lip pressure to control pitch. Controllers for percussion and stringed instruments exist, as well as specialized and experimental devices. Some MIDI controllers are used in association with specific digital audio workstation software. The original MIDI specification has been extended to include a greater range of control features.
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Controllerism is the art and practice of using musical software controllers, e.g. MIDI, Open Sound Control (OSC), joystick, etc., to build upon, mix, scratch, remix, effect, modify, or otherwise create music, usually by a Digital DJ or Live PA performer, often called a controllerist. Controllerism is also a nod to traditional musicianship and instrumental-ism paired with modern computer sequencing software such as Ableton Live and Native Instruments Traktor. However a working knowledge of scales and chords is not necessarily required as the performers typically focus their efforts more on sequencing events, software effect and instrument manipulations using buttons, knobs, faders, keys, foot switches and pedals than on instrumental notes played in real time. With recent developments in music technology, particularly in software instruments, a USB MIDI controller enables musicians almost unlimited possibilities to control a wide variety of sound types.