These days technology plays a big part in the production and progression of music. Don’t believe me? There’s a new web series out now that will help explain and entertain. It’s called The Playlist and it comes from the minds of G4’s Attack of the Show host Kevin Pereira and Musical Playtime segment producer Yaniv Fituci. The web show serves as a platform to educate fans of music across all genres about the fusion of technology, music, and pop culture as well as an interactive competition that will pit renowned musicians against each other to claim victory inside the “Audio Octagon.”
Episode 1, directed by Nick Tabri, is out today and it is comprised of five videos. Video DJ and turntablist Mike Relm (perhaps best known for his “Old Spice Remix” clip) explores the history of video mixing and tells how the art of VJing has become a worldwide phenomenon today. The other videos introduce the first two teams who will enter the Audio Octagon, namely video mixers Eclectic Method and Screenwerks. In addition to getting to know the players, you will also be acquainted with their DJ equipment that includes Pioneer’s DVJ-1000 and DJM-800 and Novation’s Dicer. And then there are the rules. Field correspondent Kathryn Lyn explains that each team is given a playlist of 15 unique samples ranging from viral hits to video game sequences and over the course of three rounds a winner will be crowned based on the most creative use of the audio-visual clips. Viewers can voice their opinions and vote for the victor over Twitter. The battle between Eclectic Method and Screenwerks is coming soon.
With The Playlist, Pereira and Fituci intend to spark interest and discussion around the way modern technology is shaping the evolution of music and the pop culture scene. Over the course of several episodes sponsored by Pioneer DJ, The Playlist will cover a wide spectrum of musically-inclined technology like controllerism, chiptune, percussion, and MIDI. Sure, it’s cool to say you’ve seen the latest and greatest viral hits the Internet so generously offers; but wouldn’t it be even better to be informed about the people and technology that drive them?