The Playground of Amsterdam Dance Event ( ADE) is a space full of inspiring innovations that further the genius of electronic music.
If you’re an upcoming electronic music artist, or find respite in your beats and synths, the Playground at Amsterdam Dance Event is bound to appeal to the nerd in you. Featuring the latest developments in electronic music innovation, ADE provides a backdrop where leading frontrunners from the genre engage in healthy, beneficial discourse with electronic music aficionados and learners thereby creating a viable community.
Every year, the ADE Playground is one of the most coveted spaces for electronic artists. Experienced musicians, up and coming artists, managers, production enthusiasts, studio heads and tech experts look forward to ADE Playground’s ability to throw up the latest information from the scene. This takes place through pop up performances, tech shows and several art-enhancing courses.
The Sherp looks at the 10 coolest programmes at The ADE 2015 Playground, that is bound to get the electronic music fan in you pretty excited.
Ode to the Originals
At Sonos Studio in ADE Playground, the first programme for ADE 2015 is a session where, along with Resident Advisor, musicians like Derrick May, Osunlade and DJ Vadim go career-spanning as they talk of their inspirations and their rise up the ladder of electronic music, along with the innovative styles they’ve incorporated in their music. The session is wrapped up with a party hosted by the three musicians in collaboration with Resident Advisor, proving a fruitful discourse for an upcoming artist.
The Big Debate
If you’re an electronic artist or a fan cued in to the latest trends in the scene, you will want to catch The Big Debate programme at ADE Playground. Moderated by techno producer Dave Clarke, the topics can be anything from SFX Entertainment’s latest debacle, to the incessant waving of hands by DJs, and whether social media has a role to play in boosting artists, despite of their talent. The session is bound to be a crowd-pleaser as opinions will be thrown across the panel.
Gear Test Lab
The Gear Test Lab is the machine haven for the electronic geek. With a collective of machines that cater to several needs of the modern electronic producer, the Gear Test Lab is a great space to test new innovations in the scene, and to affirm its contribution to your credential as a producer. Several brands like Novation, Roli and Next Audio Labs will have their machine on display, along with workshops on how to master them.
Roland’s Latest Gear
At ADE’s famous Compagnietheatre, Roland will be displaying its brand new gear for electronic music innovation, where artists can not just attend workshops on using the instrument, but also have a go at the instruments. These include machines that are all set to revolutionise the space of modular synthesis, in a bid to meet the needs of the modern musician, as expansively as possible.
Kompakt Pop-ups
Cologne label Kompakt is wont to use live DJ parties at every edition of ADE, having now easily become one of the most popular programmes during the festival. The free showcases, while limited in capacity, are one of the event’s hotbeds for discovering not just the latest in the scene, but also helps foster much socialisation.
Q&A with Skrillex
With Skrillex having established himself as one of the biggest icons in the world of electronic music, notwithstanding dubstep, the amount of interest in the artist’s process of creation is overwhelmingly high. As part of a programme hosted by his own record label OWSLA, and along with label mates Wiwek and Vindata, he will be fielding questions from enthusiasts and fans. This, apart from hosting an OWSLA party later!
The Absolut Nightlife Creativity
There are a lot of elements that have helped revolutionise the world of electronic space and clubbing culture. One of the most important elements that have helped enhance the artistic value of electronic music, is lighting. Artists like Pretty Lights and Flying Lotus have had their visual elements in tandem with their live performances. At The Absolut Nightlife Creativity programme, one can participate in interactive sessions with visual artists and experts, proving to be beneficial not just for designers, for also artists hoping to integrate light with sound.
The School of Life
Culture helps foster greater profundity. It helps enhance better emotional and societal comprehension. The School of Life was originally founded in London by Alain de Botton. It helps address issues like better satisfaction with work, fostering creativity at work, and helping attain calm. During the session, DJ Tommie Sunshine will take audience through how several creative pieces of work from his past have inspired him and how that has helped him in his musical process.
An audio-visual gallery
One of the most unique sessions at The ADE 2015 Playground is an audio-visual gallery titled Lust : A Carnal Sin. It’s a programme where three contemporary artists will be giving an audio-visual presentation in a room full of huge, classical paintings. Featuring a mishmash of mystical sounds, poetry, interjected with preaches by pastors, thereby combining the worlds of religion and electronic music.
Soundhunters
The Playground at ADE is well known to integrate the alternate worlds of art, with the medium of sound. Of them are the film screening sessions, which showcase work that bear deep pop-culture sentiment. This year’s films features the gem Soundhunters, a musical documentary of two upcoming producers from diverse backgrounds who experience encounters with leading icons from the field such as Matthew Herbert, Matmos, Jospeh Bertolozzi, Chassol and Magnus Börjeson. The film is bound to be a source of inspiration for several upcoming artists.
(All images from ADE Website, unless stated otherwise)