Routine: KiNK Live Improvised Controllerism Routine

Seeing a producer take a strong performance-based approach to playing live is always refreshing, and KiNK doesn’t disappoint in this wild live routine recorded at Resident Advisor‘s Sessions studio. He manages to work in a whole array of controllers for layering sounds and new beats over top of his own original productions. RA writes in the video’s description:

“KiNK’s performances are a middle finger to live dance music’s naysayers. The Bulgarian house artist shows the broad possibilities of the form by playing his assorted setup with the skill of a seasoned musician. Strahil Velchev’s style blends DJ tricks with keyboard and controller manipulation. He also likes to involve the crowd, encouraging dancers in the front row to smash out patterns on his Novation Launchpad […] he stopped by RA’s London HQ he combined “Source Of Uncertainty,” a new track from his forthcoming debut album, with a stretch of improvisation.”

Click here to watch more inspiring DJ routines.

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Comments (16)
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  • lolmayonnaise

    Well that blew my dick off

  • Devin Gilmer

    I was lucky enough to see KiNK in Boulder, CO for the Communikey festival. I have been attending underground parties, clubs, and festivals since 1998 and this was easily one of the most impressive Live PA sets I have ever seen, if not the most. Just a taste above was absolute madness in person. Don’t miss this guy if he comes to your town or nearby.

    • P.F.F.P.

      KiNK’s performance at CMKY was the shiiiit. And how about Voices from the Lake tho?

  • Rob Byles

    Wonderfully musical and creative… Really inspiring stuff.

  • Mutis Mayfield

    Controllerism with turntable? It is not possible (due to the Controllerism definition itself)
    It is not turntablism neither (due he is not scratching, juggling…)
    So… Maybe the turntable or the buttons are only “tools”

    Mmmh… maybe TOOLtablism?

  • Aaron Leese

    Yeah – dig it! Thanks for posting this one.

    • DJ_ForcedHand

      I think I know why YOU like this 🙂

  • DJ Rapture

    I’m with Dan – a producer taking a performance-based approach is definitely refreshing. I always get ticked off when I see a producer perform as a DJ and just play the tracks, not really doing anything to them. I always think, “Come on!!! You’re a producer! You can do better!!!”

    P.S. The Other Routines link keeps giving me a 500 Internal Server error. Anyone else having trouble with this?

    • Dan White

      Our web server is having some database issues, causing the 500 error. We’re working on getting them to fix it.

  • Matthew Korytowski

    This is really awesome! Very smooth transitions. I especially enjoyed the tapping on the vinyl to get that nice thump sound for use in the routine. This is a great example of implementing pretty straightforward techniques. I personally always try to overcomplicate things.

  • genjutsushi

    Loving the use of pitched Vinyl – great idea.
    Re: ableton, presumably recording the hits on the Akai pad thing as clips in session view – nothing complex as a technique, but great to see it pulled together in this way.

    • Mutis Mayfield

      Check fretless fader by John Beez. I hope you find it interesting…

  • djfreesoul

    At the beginning I thought it was a bit “arty”, but then as I evolves it very cool. Pity we can’t see the what’s happening in Ableton (I just guess he uses that).

  • Toontown

    This is sick