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*All Insectoid illustrations by Brian Koschak
*Insectoid's big multimedia shows are produced in cooperation with members of the Pyrotechniq fire-dance troupe.

View Insectoid's EPK

Insectoid performing "Droids" with Allen from Pyrotechniq.

Pink Floyd, Parliament, Black Sabbath, Kraftwerk, Clutch, Dr. Octagon, Morphine, DJ Shadow, LSD, Radiohead, Tricky, Lady Gaga, Stanley Kubrick, Portishead, Steely Dan, Flaming Lips, James Brown, Sun Ra, Mr. Bungle "California", Faith No More, Frank Zappa, Fela Kuti, The Doors, Jaguar, David Bowie, Air, Tool, Beck, Low, Tortoise, The Mars Volta, Prince, J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, Stevie Wonder, Soul Coughing, Can, Primus "Brown Album", Bjork, Kool Keith, "Appetite For Destruction", Modest Mouse, Massive Attack, Metallica (Justice), War of the Worlds, Isaac Asimov, Unbelievable Jolly Machine, Star Trek, Star Wars, Sonic Youth, Roger Troutman & Zapp, Jupiter Lander, Transporter, Fargo ND, Daniel Quinn, H.R. Giger, Aliens, 2001: A Space Odyssey, genocide, Vangelis, Steven Spielberg, Mike Patton, nuclear weapons, synthesizers, effects processors, warfare, space travel, NIN, amp modellers, NASA, androids, Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, George Lucas, robots, time, immovable objects, Bob Moog, Wendy Carlos, City of Lost Children, MIDI, JPL, worm holes, irresistible forces, insects, prehistoric and post-historic lifeforms, Buckminster Fuller, data, sub-atomic particles, ancient runes, plasma, lasers, electricity, humans and other hominids, invertebrates, Philip K. Dick, DARPA, molecules, genetic engineering, cruise missiles, chameleons, computers, high-speed and time-lapse photography, trilobites, neurons, neural networks, relativity, religion, reproduction, radioactivity, radar, resonance, assassination, cruelty, Freeman Dyson, world war, Stargate, chemical imbalances, Ray Bradbury, physics, Microcosmos, Charles Mingus, mathematics, ancient civilizations, NASA, psychotropic fungi, ancient civilizations of the future, mutually assured destruction, "Dune", brutality, fractals, computers, geometry, architecture, quasars, pop culture, hive minds, herd mentality, Led Zeppelin, The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, zeppelins, engines, change, constants, variables, simplicity, complexity, subtlety, isolation, humor, skeletons, exoskeletons, diatoms, parasites, evolution, revolution, convolution, synthesis, behavior, ions, waste, time travel, target acquisition, magnetic fields, networks, spores, control panels, propulsion, telepathy, telekenesis, superconduction, absolute zero, quanta, superstrings, black holes, the Borg, ...

Insectoid Performance Setup:

Insectoid performs using no pre-recorded parts (no backing tracks, no sequences, no loops) and does not play to a click. Everything you hear at an Insectoid performance is being played live. Without a net. The keyboard setup, or “hominid-machine exosynthesis interface”, consists of three controllers, two CME UF-7 76-key keyboard controllers, and a 25 note MIDI pedalboard of my own design. A Voodoo Labs Ground Control MIDI foot controller is used for changing patches on the vocal harmonizer, changing amp modeller settings, and expression pedal interfacing. The outputs of the controllers are input to Cubase SX3, where keyboard splits, octave shifiting, velocity shifting, aftertouch gating, etc, are performed, and the resulting MIDI notes are distributed to the various hardware synthesizers through an 8 channel MIDI interface. Audio interfacing is accomplished by two Presonus Firepods, providing 16 audio input channels and 16 audio output channels (all 16 inputs are used, but only 7 or 8 outputs are used). All audio mixing and signal processing (i.e. effects) is done in Cubase SX3. We send 6 DI channels to the mixing board: Stereo vocals, stereo keys, and stereo drums.

Insectoid’s synth setup is a hardware/software hybrid, utilizing several hardware synthesizers and software synthesizers. My hardware synths are a Moog Voyager Rackmount Edition (RME), two Korg MS-2000R's (synth/vocoder), a Novation Supernova, two Roland MKS-50s (rackmount Alpha Junos), and a Muse Receptor. Receptor is basically a specialized rack-mount computer designed to run software instruments and effects. (For the uninitiated, software synthesizers are basically software emulations of hardware synthesizers, reproducing expensive vintage synths in software form or completely new software synths). Receptor allows me to run more and better software synthesizers than my laptop alone would be able to handle. I also use a Digitech Genesis 3 amp modeler and a Dunlop Crybaby 535Q wah on a pre-fader send/return, so I can send any instrument through the wah and amp modeler to create guitar-like distortion/wah tones. I have an A/B switch at the input of the Crybaby so I can switch between the send at the guitar. For softsynths, I mainly use Minimonsta, Novation's Bass Station and V Station, Korg's Polysix, NI's FM7, ImpOscar, and NI’s Pro53. I’m also using Big Fish Horns, and Kontakt 2. For effects plug-ins, I use Masterverb for reverb, Quadrafuzz to add crunch to synths and drums, Vintage Warmer on all 3 sub-mix outputs for compression, crunch, warmth, and loudness, Steinberg’s chorus and delay, and Tube VST to warm up some tracks. I also use Autopan plug-in quite a bit, and other plug-ins to various degrees. I use a TC Helicon Voiceworks Plus for vocal harmonizing, pitch shifting, and pitch correction.

Tucker's rig is under development, but will probably end up consisting of a CME UF6 MIDI controller, a Digitech GNX4 amp modeller, a Moog Moogerfooger low-pass filter, EH Bass MicroSynth, EH Bass Big Muff, Ibanez Bi-Mode chorus, etc.

Loren's guitar rig is a Hamer Les Paul-style arch-top set-neck solid-body with EMG HZ pickups run through the 535Q Crybaby and Digitech Genesis 3 amp modeller. An A/B switch at the input of the Crybaby is used to switch between the guitar and the output send from the Firepod.

The drums, or “hominid-machine entopercussivizationing interface”, are a custom 6-piece Pintech e-Session electronic drum kit with a Roland TD-8 module and Visulite cymbals. The stereo audio outputs from the drum module are run into a Firepod, processed and mixed in Cubase, and sent back out a Firepod to the DI box.

Auxilliary entopercussivization is accomplished using a Roland HPD-15 electronic hand drum. The HPD-15 is also used as a MIDI percussion controller.

Video is provided by video projectors and TVs (we've used up to 5 projectors and 12 TVs at a single show) fed by 4 portable DVD players which are routed through a switching network and into RCA amplifier/distributors. The switching network allows us to send one video feed out to all the screens or 3 different video feeds out to 3 different sets of screens. Insectoid currently has 3 video projectors and 7 TV's. The footage is video collage compiled mainly from documentaries and sci-fi flicks. The footage is not synced to the music, we rely on syncronicity. Three different video tracks were created for each song to reinforce the song’s theme. Most video was edited on a 1.8GHz single-core PC w/ 1G RAM using Adobe Premiere 6, though I've recently upgraded to a 4.3GHz quad-core PC w/ 4G RAM running Premiere Pro 2.

Loren

Insectoid