DIGITAL MUSIC
Sam Martel and Collin Steinz make up Montreal-based pop / R & B duo Flara K . They just released their sophomore EP , titled Anxious , Irrational , Fashionable , available now on all streaming platforms and at FlaraK . com .
By Sam Martel & Collin Steinz of Flara K
Touring in a Pandemic
You ’ re touring in a pandemic ?
YES , but not the usual way . To promote our new EP Anxious , Irrational , Fashionable , we got the idea to travel across the country in what we call our Cruiser Conversations RV Tour . We wanted to do something that would allow us to travel safely and , at the same time , help us grow our network and connect with different music communities across Canada .
The idea was that we could travel safely in our RV , set up live performances , and chat with artists , festivals , and organizations all via Instagram Live . We ’ ve chatted with BreakOut West , Manitoba Music , Regina Folk Festival , and artists such as Celeigh Cardinal , Soul Push , Fionn , and more .
Live Performances in Tight Spaces Flara K is a duo and the two of us spent a lot of time figuring out how to create a full live sound with just two people . We came across a way that would allow us to showcase our musicality by changing instruments with a balance of triggers and sequences . We did have to strip things down a bit given that we were living in an RV for a month , while adapting to the fact that viewers would be tuning in on their phones .
Logic x Maschine To keep things easy for us to manage , we set up our sequences in a Logic session on a MacBook Pro that could either play seamlessly throughout our set or allow us to stop the playback if we wanted to engage with the audience or needed some time between tracks . Our sequences for each track differ depending on need , but for the most part , it plays what we ’ re unable to do live .
For us , the fun part is being able to use Maschine and our Maschine Mikro in a live setting . Not only does it attract people ’ s attention , but it ’ s really just cool to use . We have a Maschine session open on the same laptop that ’ s running our sequences in Logic , but control everything with the Maschine Mikro controller . The session has a unique “ group ” for each of our tracks , and each group allows 16 pads where we upload different samples and sounds that we can trigger .
Since a lot of our tracks are pretty keys / synth-heavy , most of the pads have different plug-ins loaded in so we can switch sounds on the fly . We have this pretty beat-up Korg R3 synth that has followed us around for years that we use as a MIDI controller and is plugged in with the Roland UM-One MIDI-to-USB adapter . It works pretty well for us . We can hit a pad that has a synth plug-in loaded and immediately our Korg R3 is playing the sound loaded in the plug-in . This means we can switch from some smooth keys to some raw synths to a bass sound all rather quickly .
From the Computer to the House Speakers We ’ ve always tried to make life simple for the person running sound at the venue and to try and keep changeover times as short as possible . To get this whole set-up to the FOH speakers , we used a 1 / 8 th -to-2 x 1 / 4-in . jack that plugs from the headphone output of our laptop into a Radial JPC DI box . The JPC has been our secret weapon for years and resolves this entire set-up into two XLR outputs , which you can ask the person running the sound to hard pan left and right .
We always try to create the most trouble-free set-up possible , and already I feel like we ’ re treading water , so it would be important to note that we don ’ t actually run a click . We created all of our sequences with the intention of playing them live so there ’ s always a cue somewhere in there to give us the beat . Also , we ’ ve spent countless hours balancing the volumes of each trigger as the person running sound has no control over each individual track .
Adapting to Livestreams Adjusting to livestreaming has been a process , but we ’ ve settled on something that works pretty well for us and allows us to livestream from home , on the road , and directly via our phones . We run all of our inputs through a USB mixer ( we use the Yamaha MG10XU ) which plugs directly into our iPhones via a USB-to-Lightning adapter . It does take some testing as you need to adjust the mix for cell phone speakers but it ’ s definitely worth the extra effort for a better sound quality .
Navigating through this new music landscape has been a challenge for all artists and creatives and our goal was to adapt as best we could to continue doing what we love . We feel like this experience has forced us to get even more creative with ways to reach new audiences and we ’ re only just getting started .
Although there are certainly some kinks to work out , this isn ’ t an impossible thing to do . There are so many ways of monetizing a trip like this to make it an affordable option . Whether that ’ s through Patreon , selling tickets to live events that can be hosted via your website , tip jars , crowdfunding campaigns , and the list goes on .
The arts industry took arguably one of the heaviest blows of all industries in this pandemic and we just wanted to find hope in all the mess . This trip definitely did that for us .
Ð CANADIAN MUSICIAN 31