Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Microsoft Music with Phantogram, in New York, and ATTLAS in the House of the Future, Microsoft Lounge.

By Laura Medina
 
mau5trap’s Canadian producer ATTLAS

Microsoft has leaped head-first into consumer electronics by opening testing lounge a.k.a "Home of the Future," the Microsoft Lounge on the West Coast (the Best Coast) and teaming up with the Satellite Lab on the East Coast (the Right Coast) to better get a feeling of what Westerners and Easterners need and want out of their electronic products.

The Microsoft Lounge, on the West Coast,  is a cushy place to entertainment to spotlight music artists who need and deserve the product support while the artists are more than happy to be electronic guinea pigs ironing out the kinks.

During that same time period, Microsoft paired up with photography studio, Satellite Lab in New York, where music artists get the full-blown magazine glamorous treatment with Microsoft filming their performances and concerts as they debut their singles made with Microsoft Kinect technology and getting a professional photoshoot with Microsoft equipment.

That particular week where both the West Coast and the East Coast spaces debut musical artists releases using Microsoft tools, Microsoft called that week, "Music x Technology,' where art, music, and technology intersect."

Microsoft Lounge in Venice, California launched first on March 31st, when deadmau5 released DJ/Electronic Music Artist, ATTLAS from his label, mau5trap.


During the Q & A,  veteran DJ/Electronic Music Artist, Thavius Beck, interview the record label newbie, ATTLAS, about his collaboration with Microsoft and how he got his hands on their brand new and latest edition of their Surface tablet.

Once signed to deadmau5's record label, mau5trap, ATTLAS talked excitedly about how he went from a music composer's intern to a touring DJ/musician on a record label while testing out and composing his new single, "Aspen" on then-in-development Microsoft Surface Tablet.

Him being signed to record label, going on tour, and being given the newest and latest Microsoft Surface tablet to make his songs then finally releasing his single "Aspen" at the Microsoft Lounge is the practice of gratefulness of a wish granted.

Electronic artist and mau5trap label-founder deadmau5 took a handpicked collective of mau5trap artists on the road as part of the mau5hax bu5 tour. The mau5trap artists traveled down the East Coast and wrapped up the tour on a high note during the
Winter Music Conference in Miami –all while emerging electronic artist ATTLAS integrated
Microsoft’s Surface into his production process when writing his new single, “Aspen.”

Known for developing renowned artists such as Feed Me and Madeon, deadmau5 mentored
mau5trap’s Canadian producer ATTLAS as he worked to produce compelling new tracks for the label while on tour. The two innovative artists combined multi-platform studio production tools with Microsoft’s latest Surface hardware, showcasing how technology can be utilized in inventive and creative ways to make exciting new music.
When discussing the unique recording experience, ATTLAS stated: “It was equal measures of surreal, fun and discombobulating! On a bus, away from your usual comfortable studio setup with others around you examining your process, like deadmau5, was a bit scary but very exciting.  However, I was lucky enough to get in the zone, find a groove and nail a production I’m really proud of.”


Influential Tastemakers: Rossana Vanoi, Samira, Moi, Donna Lydon, Alan Murphy (Irish Radio Personality, and Jenny Leeser of "Jenny and the City" in Gladys Magazine.

To celebrate the first mau5hax bu5 tour release - the new ATTLAS single, “Aspen”- the label hosted a private listening party and panel session at the Microsoft Venice Lounge in Los Angeles last night. Attended by leading music editors and industry influencers, the invite-only event included an intimate panel discussion where ATTLAS further discussed the technology behind the process, as well as offered an exclusive opportunity for guests to listen to special DJ sets and the new track before the release date. Ultimately, the launch party provided attendees with an unforgettable experience and a behind-the-scenes look into how deadmau5 and the mau5trap artists are pushing music production forward using Microsoft technology.  “Microsoft seeks to empower forward-thinking artists like deadmau5 and ATTLAS, with technology that can help fuel the creative process” said Steve Milton, Founding Partner of Listen, who worked to bring the Microsoft and mau5trap collaboration together.

Phantogram utiliziing Microsoft Kinect at Satellite Lab in New York.

Four days later, Microsoft launched Kinect technology at Satellite Lab in New York. 

 A new interactive photography project, curated by Microsoft,
profiles forwardthinking musicians who have created compelling performances and innovative work using Microsoft technology. Shot by Satellite Lab founder and artist Carlo Van de Roer, the portraits are a homage to Microsoft’s recent creative collaborations with critically acclaimed DJ/producer Matthew Dear, electronic pop duo Phantogram, and electronic music band Neon Indian.

“We wanted to think about the relationship between these musicians and an audience… and
technology as a conduit for that relationship,” explains Van de Roer.

Van de Roer created the visual portraits using a highspeed cinema camera to freeze a moment of time with light sources moving at over 10,000 feet per second. This technology creates the ability to control the movement of light sources and the movement of the scene as independent variables.

The result of the project is a series of interactive portraits in which the viewer can become
participant by controlling and moving light sources within the image—enabling them to explore and discover the content, context and details of a moment in music performance.
The featured artists all have used Microsoft’s Kinect technology in creative ways to transform the music experience:

 Working closely with New Museum’s NEW INC team, Matthew Dear created DELQA, an
interactive installation in which visitors’ movements could transform the music
environment, blurring the lines between creator and audience.

Neon Indian used the Kinect to add a new dimension to the band’s show at last year’s
CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. For their performance of “The Glitzy Hive,” five
Kinect sensors were used to capture the movement of band members, resulting in a
dynamic light show.

Phantogram, whose name was inspired by an optical illusion that makes twodimensional
objects appear threedimensional, most recently used the Kinect in a midnight show at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. Creative technologist Blair Neal used custom technology to generate images onto the band’s bodies while simultaneously showing a realtime projection map of their moving silhouettes on the stage background.

The project was produced by Listen, who worked with Microsoft and Satellite Lab to
conceptualize the unique vision for each artist. Steve Milton, a founding partner of Listen, said:

“Microsoft is empowering musicians with technology as a means for creative expression. This
innovation helps musicians evolve as artists while giving fans new experiences.”

ATTLAS's "Aspen" single release and Kinect Technology shoot both represent the launch of Microsoft's MUSIC x TECHNOLOGY, www.microsoft.com/musicxtech.

Where Microsoft brings technology down to earth so anyone enjoy it to its full, maximum potential.

 
 

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