M-Audio Artists



 
Artificialeyes.tv

Official Website:
http://www.artificialeyes.tv

Background:

artificialeyes.tv is an Istanbul-based collaborative project of artists and programmers. The current membership is: Todd Thille (Los Angeles), Michael Parenti (Vienna), Pascal Lesport (Paris) and Korhan Kaya (Istanbul). artificialeyes.tv’s aim is to bring people closer to the art form of live video mixing (known as “VJ’ing”) through the creation, performance and distribution of unique and engaging audio-visual interpretations of contemporary culture.

Parenti has gathered a top-notch résumé, performing with a cross section of international DJ’s such as Deep Dish, Ferry Corsten, John Digweed, Scott Bond and James Lavelle. He was resident VJ for both FG Radio and Dinamo, and is a driving member of the vibrant underground arts and culture tableau in Istanbul working with Gamze Fidan of Kop-Art and Ari Alpert of Osman Productions.

Thille, principal of Los Angeles multimedia firm synesthete.com, spent a number of years working for Technicolor Creative Services and on documentary projects in South-East Asia, East Africa and Eastern Europe. Thille has performed globally, with shows in England, Warsaw, Poland and now Turkey. His performances blur the distinction between what one sees and what one hears, driving the audience’s sensory experience to new levels.

Lesport studied music at the Paris National Conservatory and trained at IRCAM in Paris. He creates music for films, patches for installations and for musicians in the electronic scene—all while being actively involved in pushing forward the concept of real-time audio, video and streaming installations. Lesport teaches real-time audio and video processing at Kultur University in Istanbul. Taking his creations out into the field, he has performed at a number of locations in Istanbul, Turkey and India.





Artificialeyes.tv

artificialeyes.tv on M-Audio hardware: “We use our FireWire 410 and Trigger Fingers for performances, but also practice with them set up in the studio connected to our Apple PowerBooks. We use the FireWire 410 audio interface to get signal between our VDMX5 software and turntables with Ms. Pinky control vinyl. Todd used Trigger Fingers in his win at the Maker Faire VJ Battle in April 2006. We have found the Trigger Finger to be an ideal controller—it has been a great asset for triggering our video clips and has allowed a level of control unrivaled by any other controller we have come across. Now that we are moving into A/V territory, we expect the Trigger Fingers to play the role that many artists are using the Pioneer DVJ’s to achieve, with wider applicability when combined with VDMX5.”

artificialeyes.tv on M-Audio Software: “Our home studio consists of Pro Tools LE with an Mbox attached to an Apple G5. We produce songs and loops in Pro Tools LE—then move them over to Ableton Live to prep them for live performance. We come from recent careers in video editing and are glad to see it replaced with things like Pro Tools and Ableton Live.

“We travel with the Mbox with us at all times. We are constantly beginning projects and continuing to refine existing ones. We are on the road regularly and the ability to continue working outside our home studio has been absolutely invaluable. We used to only be able to collect sounds on the road—now we can begin to edit them together as well. Being able to have our projects with us has opened up amazing possibilities of collaboration while we travel.”

What they are proud of: Todd: “I won the Maker Faire VJ Battle in San Mateo in 2006 with a pair of Trigger Fingers. I was able to rock them controlling GridPro, my VJ software of choice at the time. The Trigger Fingers really helped me take it over the top with my performance. I have been performing for six years as a VJ, but this was the first time I had done it competitively. It was nice to find out that my work was of a caliber to take home a win in a battle with my peers.

Michael: “Being the resident VJ crew at Indigo in Istanbul. This was one of the most amazing challenges of my creative career—doing between five to seven hours of live video per night, two to three nights per week, and keeping it always fresh. It was here that Todd and I cut our teeth together and developed into a powerful live team. After the year ended we had over two terabytes of material to draw from, and this enabled us to set up and jam on a moment’s notice for basically any music style that gets thrown at us.”

Why M-Audio? “We feel that M-Audio—more than any other company—has helped to democratize tools for high quality recording and playback of audio. It is revolutionary to have such tools available at a price point that are accessible to the average user. Our experience with M-Audio products has been one of the smoothest and most hassle-free experiences we have had with audio and MIDI gear. The products work out of the box with our computers—no troubles, no headaches.”