ANKR x INN x L8ching x ArturiaInto the wild with MiniFreak & MiniLab 3
Deep in the high-altitude wilderness of Taiwan, an early evening sun illuminates rolling layers of pine forest, as blankets of mist move between mountainous creases and the clouds glow with pastel shades of blue and peach.
After weeks of thorough planning, hours of intense off-road driving, and one jeep breakdown in the middle of nowhere, the ANKR Collective and their guest artists INN & L8ching are set up and ready to perform on location for what is their most ambitious project yet. We went behind the scenes on their creative inspirations, their passion for nature, and how MiniFreak & MiniLab 3 brought their wild performance to life.
The Collective
ANKR’s mission to highlight environmental sustainability through creativity.
Based in Taiwan, ANKR defines itself simply as a musical content collective. The inspiration behind their group? Exploring the connections between nature and sonic creativity to promote the value of environmental sustainability.
They do this by organizing open-air sessions, field recording gatherings, cross-industry events, and much more, uniting music with all forms of art to give their objectives a platform and a voice. One way or another, all of their projects involve a closeness to nature, which affords them unique circumstances in which to cultivate deeper relationships and understanding with their cause.
We use electronic music as a medium to advocate a lifestyle of being in nature, being close to the land with the young community, and practicing the value of environmental sustainability. Loving nature is the first step in protecting nature, which is what ANKR wants to promote.
The location
Venturing into the heights of Taiwan's coniferous mountains.
Searching for the perfect location for their shoot with artists INN and L8ching would take ANKR, quite literally, to new heights. The team found the ideal spot, situated up high in Taiwan’s dense forests, surrounded by clouds and peaks. While the location fit the bill, it also presented their biggest challenge yet, involving hours of traveling wild woodland dirt tracks.
Their solution: travel in specialized jeeps, enlisting the help of friends who are keen off-road drivers to make the ascent. As with all ambitious plans, there were hurdles along the way: the jeeps broke down on several occasions, with the narrow road making it difficult for reversing and recovery. In turn, this affected the team’s schedule for setting up their campsite, arranging their equipment, and shooting the performance.
We calculated that the whole journey, including travel, setup, performance, and return, took about 30 hours… A very thrilling yet fun experience, in true outdoor off-road spirit!
The team
Seeking inspiration with kindred creative spirits.
The ANKR team consists of DJs, music producers, sound engineers, videographers, designers, and content planners. For this particular project, it was Tyler and York in charge of videography and editing, with many years of combined experience in shooting music videos.
In charge of setting up the equipment suitable for outdoor performance and recording was one of the collective’s resident DJs, Jack, while the preparation and content planning was led by Gary and Will. ANKR is a full creative ensemble, with everyone on the adventure playing a crucial role in making the experience and performance as inspiring as possible.
The artists
INN
Leading the performance is DJ & producer INN, an established artist on the Chinese electronic music scene with over 10 years’ experience, published works in China and Singapore, and performances at Boiler Room Beijing under his belt.
INN a self-professed lover of outdoor activities and nature - something that not only aligns directly with ANKR’s motives, but also melts into his musical output. He blends styles like tribal house with natural samples, world music elements, and acoustic instruments, forging a profoundly organic sound.
L8ching
Accompanying INN is professional drummer & singer-songwriter L8ching, combining various percussive instruments with a sprinkling of vocal texture to enhance the performance’s atmosphere.
With bongos, brushes, shakers, and a rainstick, he weaves a subtle web of percussive timbres that sits right in the mix, anchoring its organic sound but maintaining a driving momentum.
The gear
Using Arturia tools to breathe life into their nature-infused sound.
INN and L8ching soak up their surroundings to not just inject nature into their sound, but to bring their sound into nature. Revolving around sequencing in Ableton Live, their setup is controlled, embellished, and performed spontaneously with MiniFreak & MiniLab 3, each component playing a unique role in bringing their sound to life.
MiniFreak
When I used MiniFreak for the first time, I found that it was a very powerful atmosphere-making machine. Its pad and chord sounds have a very distinctive feel, and it’s very quick and convenient to make music out of them.
These two (macro) sliders can be assigned or designated with various parameters, and can be synchronized to control - I think this feature is a great way to add richness to the sound.
MiniLab 3
For the MiniLab 3, I used it to control all sounds from my computer. I set up all the tracks individually, and then decided which tracks to perform with whenever I wanted to.
I used the pads to trigger clips in Ableton Live, like the rhythmic and vocal parts, so I can control them all together. For the knobs at the top, I’ve inserted 4 different effects that I can then control spontaneously during my performance.
The result
Man, machine, and nature in sync.
Despite being at the mercy of the Taiwanese wilderness, breaking down mid-journey, and their race against time to set up and play, INN & L8ching’s performance went off without a hitch.
But as we’ve seen, this was more than just a musical performance - for ANKR and their guest artists, this was an adventure in every sense. The ambitious expedition deeper into the wild than they’d ever gone before; their embrace and exploration of new instruments and musical tools for fresh inspiration; their free-flowing performance in an ever-diminishing window of daylight; and of course, quality time spent with friends in new and exciting surroundings. What’s an adventure, if not that?
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