VJing in a trance

[solly]

I was VJing in a club with great DJs and at one point was in a complete trance which felt like a rush where music and visuals were in a total synchronisation which put me in a trance. I realised that visuals can make you trip sometimes. Has anyone experienced that? out of curiousity

[wellREDman]

thats what i aim for

succeed about half the time


:)

[silk]

I have this all the time :)

[kevenius]

yep ! and my main perpose is to create the same experience for the audience!

[robotfunk]

Don't get high on your own supply.

[littlecatalyst]

mmmm isn't that just the BEST feeling???

i know this will sound artsy but i have always thought of that "zone" and being in teh zone as something akin to a state-of-consciousness when the vj is on a total act of creative process..... whaddabuzz!!

...of course that trance does seem to get broken when someone comes over to ask you a) if the VIP room is open b) how you play those funky tunes on you VHS tapes c) if you can play some tune for them or the ever-favorite d) can you score them some e?

what is the best way to get it back?

[questionmark]

I'd say the trance is the result of constantly having to improvise. You have to be focussed and follow the atmosphere, and immediately react to the music. So perhaps, it's not really a trance in a sort of passive way, but really a more active, heavyly concentrated state of mind.

It's hard work! :D

Which brings me to the question: what happens to this state of mind in the case of dj's and vj's working together so closely (according to some kind of plan), that the show looses the element of improvisation?

[brain]

this is whats it's all about :cool:

[robotfunk]

yup its from creative improvising ... i have the same feeling whether performing audio, video or djing ... actually whenever i was djing and in the middle of a mix all kinds of thought from subconsciousness would come up, almost like you are dreaming. I think performers get addicted to this kind of buzz.

[littlecatalyst]

ok this is gonna sound crazy, but here it goes:
when i was a kid i used to play guitar a lot. i found that i could hit the zone when i was playing so well that i no longer had to think about what i was going to play, it just happened. and it may be the drugs (but i doubt it, it used to happen before the drugs ever started) but i used to see this mandala about 8 feet in front of me. it was full spectrum (ultraviolet to infared) and if i looked too closely at it (meaning no longer being in the playing and in the zone) then it would disappear....
vjing is a bit different in the sense that looking a a screen full of jiggling lights makes it pretty hard to see the mandala anyway, on top of it it is a bit more cerebral in the what-am-i-going-to-add-now type of image searching, but there is something very similar...
and it definitley is some type of buzz..... i am curious to see if one day we can get a vj to attach some sensors and see whattype of brain activity is happening when in the mix.....

[vjrei]

littlecatalyst you scare me:alien:

[chaOS123X]

Is'nt that not the whole point of the VJ or DJ??? to put people into a trance state

[RayV]

I agree w questionmark regards
"constantly having to improvise. You have to be focussed and follow the atmosphere, and immediately react to the music. So perhaps, it's not really a trance in a sort of passive way, but really a more active, heavyly concentrated state of mind."

In good gigs, where I feel the 100% connected, I feel like a transmiting station, that goes from the inputs of my ears through the brain to the output of the hands. no thinking are involved (mayb a bit of data base sorting out) but for me its completely like playing a musical instrument (which i did / still do, but much less thes days). more exact to say - jamming.

That's happens more often when I do connect to the music.
but when I don't (80's music for instance :terror: ) than Its just hard work while trying to find the connections.

I agree w Robotfunk about the "Buzz addiction". its not so much about the crowd, its more about the flow.

I just love it! :P

[wellREDman]

thats what they call being in the zone,

its a form of meditation to be doing something you know how to do well enough that you dont have to consciously think about what youre doing.
the subconscious which is deeper in the brainstem and therefore more intimateley connected with the motor systems takes control, leaving the ego to surf on the brainwaves thus created.

I was once critisized by a guitarist i was in a band with, for looking out of the window whilst i was playing the bass in rehearsal.

I countered with
"thats why we rehearse, so my subonscoius can learn to play it without my assistance. that way at a gig if i notice a pretty girl or something similar distracts me i can still carry on playing without losing concentration, "

I f you play using your forebrain you have to concentrate all the time, relax and let the reptile brain do it for you and its a much more enjoyable ride :)

[unjulation]

medation throgh movment, trance danceing, shamans, etc, have been doing this sort of stuf for eons