Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

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SubFunk
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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by SubFunk » Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:41 pm

And if i think of it, i remember a few years back a discussion he had it was between him, ritchy hawtin, jeff mills, dimitry hegemann and i think it was anthony shakir during a workshop in berlin and he had zero clue what he was talking about, yet he makes music a lot of people like, all i want to say is that you do not need a clue to make music, being a musician or being an artist.

I am sure (i assume that) he did not set up his studio himself, this i mean judgement free.
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sabiwa
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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by sabiwa » Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:47 pm

great documentary! Villalobos is accomplished musician. His knowledge about micro tonality and 12-tone system is overwhelming and can be heard in many of his compositions. This guy is no mainstream man! Right? :lol:

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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by Nick Shepherd » Tue Sep 22, 2009 2:21 pm

SubFunk wrote:
Nick Shepherd wrote:he definitely is far from clueless - imho he is brilliant...

i think he just developed a very "esoteric" way of expressing himself :lol:

especially when he talks about his music, or his perception of electronic music in general - i laughed so hard when i saw the interview with Ricardo & Luciano in the movie "Feiern"... he looked sooo wasted and even though german is my native language i didnt really get the point of what he was trying to say *g*
maybe we should divide having a clue about something, i actually think (personally!) that a real great artists must be clueless, it is someone being abel to express visions and is creative, maybe even sort of crazy, and speaking of Ricardo, he is crazy and permanently off his face, i never ever encountered him anywhere close to being sober, not on TV or in real life. that does not make him a bad artists nor a bad person at all!, still the way he talks about making his music is a way of taking everything random and he just waits and takes his time until it 'appears' or 'happens' he is not controlling it in any way forcing anything...
totally signed Sub

btw i didnt intend to offend you in any way, i wasnt even really refering to your post - except for the term "clueless" which sounded odd to me...

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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by smartass303 » Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:55 pm

the studio part was pretty exciting 8O
he has invested a carload of money in this modular cabinet. i dont wanna know how much the speakers are...
the p-bar part was rather boring.
the discussion about ricardo being clueless or the fact that he is so verpeilt is part of the superstar cult i guess.

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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by SubFunk » Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:03 pm

@ nick shepard

No offense taken at all.
I only wanted to point out that there is / or can be a great difference between an artist / good musician and a person with a lot of knowledge about the field.

I know so many people especially around audio/music, some have great indepth knowledge and others real talent. A very few have both.
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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by Nick Shepherd » Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:10 pm

;)

Wahre Worte...

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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by Alien Leg » Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:12 pm

Is "24h Berlin" somewhere downloadable in HD? I think it was 720p!? Would be much nicer to watch!
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FORMAT
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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by FORMAT » Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:27 am

SubFunk wrote:
Nick Shepherd wrote:he definitely is far from clueless - imho he is brilliant...

i think he just developed a very "esoteric" way of expressing himself :lol:

especially when he talks about his music, or his perception of electronic music in general - i laughed so hard when i saw the interview with Ricardo & Luciano in the movie "Feiern"... he looked sooo wasted and even though german is my native language i didnt really get the point of what he was trying to say *g*
first of all i said he makes the impression, secondly being 'clueless' does not make you a bad artists or not a genius...

maybe we should divide having a clue about something, i actually think (personally!) that a real great artists must be clueless, it is someone being abel to express visions and is creative, maybe even sort of crazy, and speaking of Ricardo, he is crazy and permanently off his face, i never ever encountered him anywhere close to being sober, not on TV or in real life. that does not make him a bad artists nor a bad person at all!, still the way he talks about making his music is a way of taking everything random and he just waits and takes his time until it 'appears' or 'happens' he is not controlling it in any way forcing anything...

it's pointless to argue about his music, it's a matter of taste. period.

i think he is a great artist, but i also think he is clueless in certain terms of music and engineering, i am convinced he would never be able to mix a track of let's say a death metal band or a jazz combo after there wishes and come up with something decent the band wants to have.

but again it's pointless to compare. being a creative person you can't learn, anything else you can, why should he, he makes music for a certain genre and group of people he fits perfectly well in, he doesn't need to have a clue...

he is what he needs to be an artist an he is an esoteric freak and a junky nothing wrong with that.

it's not my cup of tea, though, but this is not the point of discussion.
This is an interesting discussion - precisely because the two poles "in control and sober" and "creative" can be so diametrically opposed to each other.
CAN be.
I think it's true you have to allow yourself to become detached from reality to a certain extent in order to be creative. However, few of us can actually just let themselves go for a couple of weeks or even just days, so squeezing in a few creative hours in between of functioning as a part of society is what most of us end up with.

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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by smartass303 » Wed Sep 23, 2009 9:20 am

FORMAT wrote:However, few of us can actually just let themselves go for a couple of weeks or even just days, so squeezing in a few creative hours in between of functioning as a part of society is what most of us end up with.
yeah, this sucks, doesnt it?
everybody should be a ricardo if he/she wants to.

harhar,

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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by SubFunk » Wed Sep 23, 2009 9:26 am

smartass303 wrote:
FORMAT wrote:However, few of us can actually just let themselves go for a couple of weeks or even just days, so squeezing in a few creative hours in between of functioning as a part of society is what most of us end up with.
yeah, this sucks, doesnt it?
everybody should be a ricardo if he/she wants to.

harhar,

303
in berlin it's not a problem at all, but that is why those guys live here, being a fullblown junky is widely accepted here.
In my eyes it is as well the main reason so many electronic musicians want to come and live here, it's a scene that turned into it's about the drugs not the music anymore.
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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by FORMAT » Wed Sep 23, 2009 9:30 am

smartass303 wrote:
FORMAT wrote:However, few of us can actually just let themselves go for a couple of weeks or even just days, so squeezing in a few creative hours in between of functioning as a part of society is what most of us end up with.
yeah, this sucks, doesnt it?
everybody should be a ricardo if he/she wants to.

harhar,

303
Well we could - if we chose to do so.
People like Villalobos, or Eno, or Zappa, have a strong artistic vision - but not just that, their view of life and their concerns about "securities" (which leads most of us to choose a steady income) are quite different.
It's what you may call "living in another world" or also "improvising not just in music, but in life as well".
It's not to do so much with drugs I think. I think living like that, does something to your system as well.

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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by SubFunk » Wed Sep 23, 2009 9:49 am

@ format

i agree, except the drug bit, to me a drug (if pure and clean) is nothing else but an amplifier, therefor and here i agree again with you it just enhances a basic vision... On life in general. you need to have a mind on your own before taking amplifiers, yet they help and support those lifestyles you are talking about and usually lead to an dependency (to me the term junky), at least that is my opinion.

and the use of amplifiers is especially in the society in berlin widely accepted.

drugs do play a great role and are a vital part of those lifes, funny even ricardo is talking about it himself in the studio part of the docu.

also i still think that this applies too:
In my eyes it is as well the main reason so many electronic musicians want to come and live here, it's a scene that turned into it's about the drugs not the music anymore.
there are hardly any zappa or hendrix or townshend or page type of musicians around anymore.
there focus was music and the drugs a helper. i think in our days for most people the drug is the focus and the music, if at all is a side product.

it certainly shifted, in my eyes.

i just have to see with what kind of energy (and reason!) people made parties or created music with next to nothing, comparing to the lame shit of today, today it's about owning high tech gear as a beginner... and talking a lot of tech talk, see this forum.
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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by smartass303 » Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:01 am

FORMAT wrote:
smartass303 wrote:
FORMAT wrote:However, few of us can actually just let themselves go for a couple of weeks or even just days, so squeezing in a few creative hours in between of functioning as a part of society is what most of us end up with.
yeah, this sucks, doesnt it?
everybody should be a ricardo if he/she wants to.

harhar,

303
Well we could - if we chose to do so.
People like Villalobos, or Eno, or Zappa, have a strong artistic vision - but not just that, their view of life and their concerns about "securities" (which leads most of us to choose a steady income) are quite different.
It's what you may call "living in another world" or also "improvising not just in music, but in life as well".
It's not to do so much with drugs I think. I think living like that, does something to your system as well.
hmm, i dont think that living the way you described leads to no steady income (ricardo - dj income, eno - gema etc., zappa - gema etc.).
it can get yours ears fucked up or a need for a rehab or cancer or a psychosis or, or, or...
in the end this is stuff WE can also have if we dont care too much just without the benefit of the recognition and succes they have/had.
i smell a rockstar discussion in here...

/away

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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by SubFunk » Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:11 am

hmm, i dont think that living the way you described leads to no steady income (ricardo - dj income, eno - gema etc., zappa - gema etc.).
it can get yours ears fucked up or a need for a rehab or cancer or a psychosis or, or, or...
in the end this is stuff WE can also have if we dont care too much just without the benefit of the recognition and succes they have/had.
i smell a rockstar discussion in here...
i think he is talking about the general risk. and that is higher than having a 'traditional' job at least that is what people think! and therefor have a problem changing there life and doing what they want. i mean my parents wanted me to study and become a hotel manager (you know steady home and family etc.), it took over 10 years until they accepted my lifestyle i choose, it was a hard fight to do what i wanted in life. if i understand him correctly he was referring to that?

and it's a big risk, i know a few old extremely successful people (in music) that suddenly lost all there income and fame, it's extremely fast paced unless you are a uber-talent and leave timeless music behind... otherwise you can raise as fast and fall like in hardly any other business (ok, there are other ones, like film or generally art)
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Re: Ricardo Villalobos feature on Arte "24h Berlin"

Post by Nick Shepherd » Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:25 am

SubFunk wrote: In my eyes it is as well the main reason so many electronic musicians want to come and live here, it's a scene that turned into it's about the drugs not the music anymore.
As we all know drugs are and allways were so closely connected with the music in the techno scene. And of course its not just about the music - it has never been just about the music.

But yes, in Berlin you can easily get the impression that its all about getting wasted, no matter what dj/act is playing - some people would dance for hours straight if you were just hitting with a stick against a wall as long as its in 4/4. But the only thing that really changed is how people are using - or let me say abusing drugs... there are way more people just dropping everything down their neck where they can get their hands on - especially the hardliner-druggys scare the shit out of me, i have seen plenty of people od´ing on Ketamine and GHB/GBL in berlin. This is the group of people that really doesnt care much for the music...still, i think the majority still appreciates seeing a good electronic act with or without taking drugs.

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