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Sampler Jam
Sampler jams have been an ongoing fad in the Metasoft sphere of influence for the last hundred years or so. In this art form, the audience is often the star of the show. At the beginning of the concert, as the audience enters the performance venue, they are given a brief (usually 60-second) shot at a microphone. The mike feeds into a sampling bank. People take turns going up on stage to one of the several (usually 4 to 15) sampler controllers. The audience can boo someone/thing off the stage, and does so for the less than competent, but a jam between true experts is an almost surreal experience.
The audiences have gotten into the spirit of the concert almost from the beginning and generally take pains to fill their 60 seconds with everything from rant to radiant hiss to odd biological noises to... well, just about anything. The only things NOT allowed are subliminals (which the bank is programmed to recognize) and control codes (of which the public-safety-recognized ones are programmed into secured databanks and access rented to double check the content - no one needs to loose literal control!). After that, it's improvisational music, based on what the mixmasters find in their sampling banks. It's often hilarious (and sometimes played up to by the performer) when the performer first approaches a bank with unknown samples. True masters often create a simple melody within a half-dozen strokes, slowly expanding range and complexity as they explore the other banks for useful bits.
The audiences have gotten into the spirit of the concert almost from the beginning and generally take pains to fill their 60 seconds with everything from rant to radiant hiss to odd biological noises to... well, just about anything. The only things NOT allowed are subliminals (which the bank is programmed to recognize) and control codes (of which the public-safety-recognized ones are programmed into secured databanks and access rented to double check the content - no one needs to loose literal control!). After that, it's improvisational music, based on what the mixmasters find in their sampling banks. It's often hilarious (and sometimes played up to by the performer) when the performer first approaches a bank with unknown samples. True masters often create a simple melody within a half-dozen strokes, slowly expanding range and complexity as they explore the other banks for useful bits.
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Development Notes
Text by John B
Initially published on 18 February 2002.
Initially published on 18 February 2002.
