Recently we created a wood enclosure for superstar controllerist musician Molder. I first met Moldover in 2007 or so in NYC at a Handmade Music event. At the time he was hacking apart other controllers to perform his music and I have been following him ever since. Last year at NAMM I had the opportunity to see an early prototype of the Mojo controller, and offered to help out any way that we could. At a local event here in NJ Matt asked if we could make the bodies for his controllers and we were happy to oblige.
Moldover’s performances are about instrumentation, physical interaction, and performance. Having a controller that performs and looks like an instrument is the why we started making controllers ourselves, and the reason I started Livid in the first place. Having a controller made out of wood really adds the growing concept and perception of controllers as instruments. Some would argue that guitars are made out of wood for sound not just ascetic, but I disagree. It wouldn’t be very sexy to see B.B. King playing a headless Steinberger (though they are still made out of wood) so guitarists have a plethora of amazing designs to choose from, so why shouldn’t we? I had the opportunity to speak on a panel with Dick Boak from Martin Guitars a few years ago at CMJ who designs the signature series guitar and admire not only the aesthetic of his designs, but the ergonomic thought that goes into creating a beautiful instruments that are designed with the artists playing style in mind.
The body is made from mahogany and milled using our CNC machine and finished with a VOC free water based clear coat. This is the same style finish that is on our controller line, and is created made with the same techniques that go into guitar building. Last week at NAMM we performed at an after-party where Moldover was performing and managed to shoot some video. *Note the audio isn’t great but you get the idea.
[vimeo width=”475″ height=”276″]http://vimeo.com/8791414[/vimeo]
For more info visit on Moldover and to order his Mojo controller visit moldover.com
[…] info at Livid Instruments and […]
[…] that you see clearly how a performer is using his controller. Moldover created the Mojo and asked Livid Instruments to build it form […]
[…] element so compelling with regard to live performance. I think it was 2008 when I saw a video of Moldover mashing up stuff in his NYC apartment with Ableton and a controller. From there, my interest got […]
[…] their shop in Austin can build just about anything if you can convince them. They helped me make parts for The Mojo and we are currently collaborating on some new top secret multi-player madness. […]