Behind The Scenes of The Meredith Blis Electric

Most of you know me as a chick on piano girl - back in Taos I usually had a violin player and in my NYC days I occasionally had full band and usually a cello player.

THEN a few years ago I had a crazy vision of incorporating loops and electronic sounds into my live show. But I also felt passionate about retaining my strong roots as a singer/songwriter. For me, the songs have always come first :) AND those of you who are familiar with the incredible Imogen Heap, she has definitely an inspiration!

After doing some digging on how to add Electronic elements to my live show, I came across a music program (for you music types the technical term is DAW {digital audio workstation}) called Ableton Live. It’s a recording platform (similar to Logic or Pro-tools) that was specifically designed for Live Performance! And initially it was created mostly for DJ’s and Dance Music. But no worries, I’m not going club kid on ya!

I took a class all about Ableton & Live Performance at Berklee Online and since then it’s been a crazy beautiful journey learning new gear - creating the soundtracks and acquiring an amazing new bandmate. For those of you who haven’t seen us, Tony Mann is my new partner in crime AND (wait for it) he Also Plays keys! His bass lines and string parts add a whole new layer of lovely to the music.

So the band is essentially comprised of 2 keyboard players!! Did I mention I love pianos?

In addition we have a bit of electronics happening….

All of my gear runs through the Ableton program. My electronic bandmates include...

Francois the Foot Pedal - I use him to create loops or trigger sounds when my hands are busy!

Larry the Launchpad - When I hit the buttons on the Launchpad he plays the parts or sounds that I have previously programmed into Ableton.

The star of the show is something called the Naonext Crystal Ball. I call him CB. CB has light sensors - when I pass my hand over them it triggers sounds or loops.
And that my friends, is the line up for the Meredith Blis Electric!
(sometimes the unicorn joins us on background vocals - just kidding...)

This project has taken quite some time to manifest. We are so excited to be taking it to the next level in 2018 with a monthly online concert series. The Third Thursday of every month you can join us by simply logging in to the internet. It’s a thrill to be able to invite all my fans from every city! The URL for this weeks show is at http://bit.ly/StageItBlis1

We look forward to seeing you Thursday!

Love, Light and Electronic Blis
xo