Reception 06/2004
I got CD players! Woo hoo!! I can finally break out the massive digital collection
and blow your mind.
Online Since 11/30/2003
Do you remember echo.com? LaunchCast is the latest and greatest rate-as-you-go music service.
Check out
this link for my radio station thingie. Just follow the little yellow headphones.
I've listened to more than 6,000 songs there and use the service to broaden my horizons within the U.S. recording industry.
U.S.A. 08/20/2003
I'll give you a hint. It had something to do with big roller coasters and TV. And the Travel Channel.
Actually I was interviewed and then missed the show. I imagine I was on national cable. The ride was the best part though.
Down Tempo Trip 02/10/2003
I spent a day or two with Cool Edit and old tracks by Moby and DJ Shadow.
Ambient mixing is a piece of cake, so I enjoy getting deep into an hour
of mind-altering music once in a while. I mixed in some samples from
Bill Cosby for an experiment and it made some neat changes to the rhythm.
Digital Mega Mix 10/05/2002
The three-hour mp3 mix that I gave to friends as holiday gifts.
I burned 12 copies and kept one, but you can't have it. You can have a copy
of the introductory essay that I included
with each copy. Please note, there were two errors in the credits of
the original Introduction and mp3 files.
Part 05 - DJ Miqrogroove - She Makes Me Feel.mp3 credits should
include The Beatles.
Part 07 - DJ Miqrogroove - She Makes Me Feel.mp3 credits should
include Chicane.
Ann Arbor, MI 01/18/2002
It's nice to know the DJ. I haven't been very active in the music world lately
because of this transitional phase. (I call it Engineer's Rehab) I showed up
for this party, and all of a sudden I was feeling the vinyl withdraw. Of course
these guys were a bit reluctant, I would be too. But Uur, my main man, he picked out
an awesome track to throw on, just as there seemed to be a lull in the vibe.
I picked up the headphones, and that pad was packed by the time I
put them back down.
Ann Arbor, MI 10/06/2001
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 |
The average U-M house party can't come close to this. CD jocks were upstairs for the people who just wanted tunes and drinks. Mantis, Uur, Ro, and I were all in the basement next to the kegs, lights turned out. After I started warming up some Paul Johnson tracks at 12:30, so many people came in to see me spin, a few of my friends couldn't even get downstairs. I played just over an hour against a packed crowd and minor needle problems (all sorts of **** was falling from the ceiling), but the party kept going until 3am. I was able to mingle then, and all the ladies were complimenting my set. All the guys were complimenting me on the quality of the ladies. After-party estimates said 250 were in the house. |
Necto 09/20/2001
I wasn't able to spin Thursday night because of my Friday morning classes,
but I certainly made an appearence behind the scenes. I can take credit
for about 75% of what little decorating was done. Wall Street Journal
interviewed me toward the beginning as people were filtering in, but I
never heard from anyone if or when the event was mentioned.
By midnight,
there were so many people inside, and I was having so much fun, it
was very frustrating to have to leave and miss Kevin Saunderson's set. To my
surprise, the line outside wrapped all the way around Kinko's and half way
back to where the Scorekeepers line started, despite the number of people
already inside Necto.
On my way out, I ran into the guy who hired me
for the house party mentioned above, as well as Nader Shwayhat and his
crew of women. I let them in despite protests from the other hundreds
waiting outside. The rest of those people had a two hour wait ahead of
them. Anyone who complained to me heard, "It's your own fault, the party
is half over. You should have been here three hours ago!"
At the end of
the night, I had arranged for a few representatives of the American Red
Cross to accept a check from EDC, Necto, our sponsors, and the dancers.
The total donation was $8,025.00. See
EDC's website for photos.
Palmer Field 09/04/2001
Arriving on the field, Howie and I could see nothing but a big tent and
a wall of sound. By the end of setup there was a line of people waiting
for free pizza about 4 people thick and over 700 feet long. I had an instant
response to the sound check, but WCBN showed up at the last minute to perform
for the first half. After that, there were countless thousands dancing to my
fast, tight set. The sound was so clear that I felt like I was right at home,
practicing on my own PA. I claim this to be the biggest University of Michigan
party ever. EDC is in its place now. Congratulations to the personnel of
RHA for acting on my suggested improvements over previous Bashes. Pre-Class
Bash 2001 will not be forgotten. See
EDC's website for photos.
Ann Arbor, MI 09/02/2001
EDC blocked traffic on Washington and Main street to set up a chill
afternoon on the double yellow line. Binzo, Ro, Anime, Mikelee, and myself
played the fun, layed-back tunes of groove from noon until four o'clock. We
met tons of people interested in the local music scene, and enjoyed every
minute of this downtown opportunity. You can see our plug next to a large
photograph of Julia Stiles on page D1 of the Ann Arbor News, 08/31/2001. See
EDC's website for photos.
Pierpont Commons 09/01/2001
Saturday night on North Campus was never this cool. Hundreds came and went
throughout the night as Ro, Anime, and I kept the crowd dancing. My own PA
with a rental stacked on top pumped out big clear sound. Alex had a great
time lighting the area. Free cookies. Free condoms. The Pierpont guys
gave away body paints, mouse pads, colored pens, and loads of crazy stuff.
Another amazing success for EDC. See
EDC's website for photos.
Bedroom Edit 06/17/2001
Under Ice |
This is my halucination of Queen vs. Vanilla Ice. Special shouts to ZBuffered and a couple of women (they know who they are) for all of their inspiration. Also, thank you to any person who had to interact with me during the two days I spent with a mouse, calculator, and 6 blue sticky notes. |
Ann Arbor, MI 04/06/2001
I had the first set at this laid-back beer bash. There were several requests for
hip-hop and everyone loved the slower, funkier tracks I dug up, but I had a bag
full of club and hard house with me. Still, compliments all around. When I got
out of the DJ booth I found a surprisingly large crowd of people in and around
the house.
Leonardo's 03/30/2001
Another big EDC event, yet nobody showed up. What's up with that? Anyway, the DJs
and 20 or so dancers had a great time on North Campus that evening.
Michigan League 03/23/2001
 |
EDC's first gig, and a good one. My set started at 9pm while we were expectantly waiting for 120 ticketed dancers to show up. I received several compliments from those who were already dancing, but most of the crowd arrived to see Afrika Bambaataa. By 12:30pm the place was packed with 250 people having a good time. See EDC's Website for more photos. |
Ann Arbor, MI 02/09/2001
My first time performing a dark drum'n'bass set: An exhaustingly good time. The room filled quickly,
my set primed the party. Everyone enjoyed the music, and being less of a crowd pleaser, everyone
had room to dance. Bouncing needles kept me on my toes, but tehcnical difficulties could not stop me.
Michigan Union Ballroom 01/25/2001
A purely promotional gig for the EDC. Winterfest is notorious for
poor attendance, but we impressed every last person who came into
that room.
DJ Group Demo 01/24/2001
Four DJs worth of great mixing. We circulated one hundred
of these. I promise this was absolutely the last mixtape
I released where you can hear me feebly trying to scratch on my
original Trackmasters. (I ordered Ortofon parts December 18.)
Insanely great sets also by DJs Ro, Mikelee, and Anime.
You have to hear it to believe it.
Ann Arbor, MI 10/27/2000
This was a fun opportunity to work a crowd. It reminded me of the
dance in the Meridian Theater because it is so nice to just walk in and
throw down. I had the first set at 11pm. Everyone was warmed up
by 11:15pm. Mostly sober faces on the young evening told me when to
tease mixes. My vocal house style was easy, fluid entertainment.
Drum'n'Bass Practice 07/16/2000
 Spider As I'm trying to revive my drum'n'bass set, I decided to re-sort that portion of my collection. This evening I threw down a selection of the jazzier side of things. This was just for fun, and I honestly wasn't trying to impress. This mix will help me weed out tracks that don't belong in a dance set. Feel free to comment on this one. Are there certain tracks here that I should avoid in the future? Some that I should definitely use? I've already moved a few entire albums out of the way so that I don't confuse them with the good stuff. |
Side A 3:54 - 4:06 testing the water
4:52 - 5:51 lettin' it rip (I kick ass)
10:48 - 13:36 gentle in, outgoing expires
16:47 - 17:06 matched, record 3 enters, outgoing dies
17:52 - 18:16 volume up for the junglists!
19:26 - 19:39 incoming track is tick dickling slow
20:32 here it comes
22:35 cut back 'cause I can!
23:30 - 23:37 descend by fader work
26:50 - 27:18 trying to work the fader left handed
27:54 - 28:19 some mad fades to keep you peeled
30:48 outgoing dies and tears the mix down
Side B 2:30 - 3:16 difficult match, well-executed
now, speed me back up!
5:21 - 5:51 impossible match upcoming, play
8:15 - 11:10 mixed - I'm an animal!
13:23 - 13:59 matched, but missed my mark. strike one
15:21 - 15:33 trick for your ears (bumped power here)
17:14 - 18:01 scribbled, thrown, but bad. strike two
18:12 - 18:38 thrown again, realize speed reset to 33
18:59 - 20:30 sped-up, scratched, thrown
22:40 - 22:55 mixing, but thumb the plate. strike three
25:38 mix resumes
27:32 perfectly-timed punch
30:12 - 30:35 three strikes, I'm out. last mix
31:33 tape ends, I break for dinner
|
4th Doug CD 04/23/2000
Track #5 on the 4th Doug CD is straight from the master tape recorded
and broadcast LIVE on 03/04/2000. We broke the mold after 45 burns,
so these discs are generally not available.
Continuous Mix 03/01/2000
When Utopik sent me their new, and still unreleased copy of Into the Flow, I realized
then that they were well on their way to making some new music worthy of my attention,
to say the very least! I spent the next two days at my computer with a wave editor
to breathe a little of my own tastes into their sound. More specifically, I picked out
my favorite tracks (as many as would fit into the hour limitation) and put them in
a simple progressional order.
U-M Indoor Track Building 02/05/2000
This was an unfortunate waste of time. Advice for DJs: Seperate from any cancellation fee, your contract
should stipulate a high fee for cancelling after 24 hours in advance. Make it high enough so that:
1. the hiring party does not back out at the last minute, 2. you will be happy if they do cancel,
and 3. you can apply legal pressure if you are not paid for your work.
Portage, MI 06/05/1999
Recorded at the Greenspire Clubhouse 04/02/1999
Mix 2 Mix 3 |
Mix 8 |
Here are a few mixes I nailed.
This master was borrowed by the Prime Minister. If you know him, please get it back for me!! |
Portage Central High School 03/05/1999
A photo from this event appears in Roundup 1999 (Vol. 49) and was used in
the development of the LIVE link (above).
Scratch Loop Practice Tape 01/27/1999
Conditional |
2:26 - 4:26 beatmatch with a precision cut
6:00 - 7:52 looping
8:50 huge cut (intentional)
9:38 - 10:25 looping
11:43 - 12:03 why do they hate us so much?
12:38 look out, I found the miq
13:39 - 15:40 outgoing expires
16:21 - 17:02 looping
17:41 - 17:56 make me FASTER!! (don't stop)
19:40 skills are falling apart
20:23 - 22:12 scratch in with .. me?
22:57 mix comes crashing down
|
This set was mastered on a TDK Type II cassette in my new JVC deck, making it the first mixtape to meet my over-achieving standards of high quality. Features used here include: Dolby B, HX Pro, a manual rec level, and auto tape calibration. |
Morning Star Studios 11/06/1998
Tricks by 'scratchmaster bbd' BBD stylez |
'obvious world's' live PA |
The best idea that I can accredit to myself as a result of this dance was having the police beacon in the front room. The normally dull square then had one window which was rotating in the red spectrum. A very effective way to attract a crowd. Unfortunately, that crowd was limited by the scary number of adults in the place, and possibly by my grumpiness. The people on the dance floor had a blast, but I was irritated by the money factor (thank god we broke even), the sound factor (new speaker almost caught fire), and the excessive number of DJs present. One more wonderful learning experience. Only 60 minutes of this event got mastered. That's what happens when you use a friend's tape deck. I selected a good looping trick from bbd's set. Obvious World's live computer PA was supported by a didgeridoo and amplified guitar. The track was the kind that gets better and better with each beat.. however I only recorded 16 minutes of it. The last two minutes of the master tape are now available for listening. Regarding BBD's second sample: I'm willing to say that when you have selections like these, it is OK to do the human jukebox thing. You will still move a body. |
Meridian Theater
I was invited by Nate Dawg to follow some people playing CDs. It was really nice not to have to worry about setting up. I just walked in and threw down. The crowd was lively, and the mixing was well appreciated.
Fairfield Best Western 04/24/1998
I was in such total shock of how cool of a party I had organized (and a bit dead from dancing
for 3 hours) that I'm still not able to express how much fun I had. Setup began early in the
Best Western conference room. From the moment that I stepped into the room and turned off
all of the lights, I knew we were about to make history. With the 400 flyers already spread
(and people begging, "I didn't get one!") we were sure people would show.
Under code, The Break Squad, I organized the Cube. With the help of 5 other DJs we made an idea
into a night of hard thumping bass lines. Hydrogen at his live set, dj nate & bbd leading
the crowd and a few guest rappers with hip-hop style, miqrogroove in the vinyl finding a house
rhythm, with dj dan & nate dawg to top it off. Everyone danced. All 100 of the crowd was
bouncing with my speakers and a pair of rented 18"s.
For the event I bought a big light called the Aggressor. It wasn't spectacular, it was the perfect
visual variety needed in the crowd. Semi-intelligent sound activation moved the lights around
all night. The addition of my two blacklights, mini-strobe, and police beacon (stupid bulb popped
after an hour) was all that was needed. My amp was up all the way, plenty of power.
An accidental spike shut it down at one point, but the beatz returned before the crew even had
time to exchange confused glances. The Crown took a licking.. and I'm glad it didn't have
a meltdown.
Related essay: The Cube is Sleeping
MSAE Field House 11/08/1997
Needless to say I'm still learning a lot about DJing.
People didn't start to show until my set was over, but I got a chance to spin later on. 2 seconds into my house set everyone was on their feet and dancing. Very cool stuff. The speakers were 200% better than at the last gig, once again proving their worthiness. Overall the part-e was a thumbs-up deal. A few people noticed the stash of Vernor's ginger ale that I brought. More than once I heard someone say, "You've been to Michigan!"
MSAE Auditorium 10/31/1997
My first big gig took place Halloween '97, in the MSAE auditorium. First, the good news. It was
a lot of fun. However disorganized, the people that set up that part-e did a good job. There were
blacklights everywhere, there was a big foam covered.. uhm.. playroom I guess, and amazingly,
everyone was in costume and dancing! The biggest bummer of the night was that my set was
saved for last. As I put on the first track and everyone was chanting my name, some butt-munches
came in and shut down the part-e. I'd just like to say that that was really rude of those people
and I hope that never happens again. (or else :+)
The DJs used my turntables and speakers that night, constituting the acid break-in period of my equipment.
Everything made it in one piece. The speakers, which amazed me with their ear-piercing ability
to be very loud, developed a couple of rattles. Over the weekend we took them all apart, fixed
a lot of stuff that was apparently wrong with them, and put them back together. They're totally
solid now and waste a lot of ass. Although I bought them new they were very cheap so I didn't mind
having to perform a little basic carpentry on them.
Fairfield, IA 06/28/1997
Video Clip |
 |
This was my first experience trying to set up a sound system with a crowd. And a good one, too. A country karaoke group, having inflicted its horrid ensemble of folk tunes on the crowd for hours on end, finally succumbed to the impending destruction by the speakers stands being set up by the other DJ. It was a lot of fun. |
ca. late 1996
First Mix |
This is the very first beatmix I ever successfully executed. Before I had records, before I had turntables, and long before I ever considered myself a DJ, I made this magic segue with two CD players. Granted, the two tracks were on the same album and recorded at nearly the same tempo, but this single recording was the bridge that inspired a transition from techno MOD jukeboxing to seamless drum'n'bass beatmatching. I purchased my turntables in March of 1997 (that same winter) without much of a clue about turntablism itself, just the determination to learn how to get a groove on. |
ca. early 1996
First Mixtape |
Before I knew how to beatmix, and before I owned any techno recordings, there was just MOD mixing with Hydrogen's Ninja mixer. |
1990 & 1991
Back when all the grooves were on vinyl, (and I wouldn't have known who MC Hammer was if my
life counted on it)
three kidz named Rob and one named Andy got together to throw down some tracks and learn
what a cue was. Principal's Office by Young MC, Have You Seen Her?
and You Can't Touch This by MC Hammer,
Opposites Attract and State of Attraction by Paula Abdul and
Roam by the B52's were on our playlist.
Our imaginary station's callsign was WHAT.
In 1991 with a new group, the tunes got funkier, the news got whackier, and the callsign
was voted to WORD. That's the Way Love Goes by Young MC,
Turtle Power by Partners in Crime, The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber,
and Pop Goes the Weasel by Third Base formed a unique mixture of music.
Have you read this entire chronology? You can learn how it all came together in one tenth grade essay.
miqrogroove.com Copyright ©1996-2007 by Robert Chapin
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