Moog on the Road -- at Sweetwater

Join Garaj Mahal founder and Moog Guitar virtuoso Fareed Haque and Thereminist extraordinaire Kevin Kissinger for an evening of dynamic performances that highlight the incredible expressive powers of The Moog Guitar and the amazing synthesizer performance possibilities afforded by the Etherwave Plus and Moog synthesizers.

Monday, April 27th 2009 at 7:00 PM

This exciting event takes place at Sweetwater's state-of-the-art headquarters in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

http://www.moogmusic.com/news/?cat_id=216

Hmmm....I didn't realize Ft. Wayne was so close to the Ohio border. Still, it's a bit too far for me to drive on a work day, and before another work day.

Break a leg! (How in the world did this horrendous saying ever become a way to express good wishes?)

Break a leg ... funny you should ask ...

The expression came from very early stage troupe lore. Apparently you paid whether or not you were on the stage should an accident prevent you from performing. So "break a leg" sort of implied getting paid for not working ... or so the story goes.

Don

Well... if breaking one's leg is the alternative, I'd rather work! :)

"Break a leg":

A translation from the German phrase "Hals- und Beinbruch" ("neck and leg fracture"), which comes from the Yiddish phrase "Hatsloche un Broche" (הצלחה און ברכה) ("success and blessing").

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_a_leg) has a whole list of theories.


Have a great time, Kevin. You'll be cooking on gas, touch wood, so blow the roof off and knock them dead.

Tell us all about it afterwards.

How did it go?

The "Moog on the Road" event at Sweetwater Music's headquarters was very successful.

An audience of over 100 people attended the presentation that included a demonstration of Moogerfoogers and other Moog equipment from Chris Stack, my live-looping set with the Etherwave Plus and the Little Phatty, and then Fareed Haque's set that showcased the Moog Guitar.

Afterwards, the audience congregated in the retail store and there was a pretty long line of people wanting to try out the theremin -- thus, the event generated a good deal of interest in the theremin.

Sweetwater's facility includes state-of-the-art recording studios and an auditorium that seats 250 people. The sound system was spectacular -- in addition to the surround sound house system, the auditorium has a room-modeling system with hundreds of speakers hidden in the walls and ceiling and can duplicate ambiences from a dead closet to bigger-than-life cathedrals. Many hidden mics pic up the audience, too... in other words, it really is like being in a physical space (as opposed to being in a dead space). In fact, the entire facility is worth a visit if you are in the Fort Wayne area. The entire place is a modern, state-of-the art facility.

We were pretty busy most of the time though there was some down time where I got to visit with Dylan Ankney (Sweetwater's technical director), Chris, and Fareed.