At Long Last
Title: Apollo Lee – At Long Last (Winter 2021 Edit)
Date: February 10, 2020 (This edit: January 29, 2021)
Tools: Korg Electribe 2, Ableton Suite 10
Genre: House
Timing: 4:22 @ 120 bpm
In January 2020, I took part in a five-week live electronic music production / performance seminar presented by Sunshine Jones called the Play Live! Artist Residency Seminar. A group of us learned about performing dance music live, with a focus on using hardware synthesizers, samplers, and drum machines to create an improvised live performance. At the end of the seminar, all the participants were invited to play a short set of their music, live at Monarch in San Francisco.
I bought my Korg Electribe 2 less than two weeks before the showcase performance. After a series of tutorials, I frantically wrote 15 tracks to build a set for my live set. It was the first time I’ve ever performed a set entirely of my original music live in front of a crowd in San Francisco. Thank goodness my friend, Oz, was there to cheer me on, kick me in the ass, and remind me to look up from my gear and not lose the experience of seeing dancers with their hands in the air.
It was magical, frightening, and the sense of relief at having done it was overwhelming. The other artists I got to perform with are among the most passionate, gifted, and supportive community of musicians I’ve ever been connected with. Their amazing performances were inspiring to watch and learn from. There were hugs and a good crowd of people and lots of love from my fellow artists. It was a few short weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic closed everything down.
During the pandemic lockdown, I set an intention to polish off one of the tracks. This track, “At Long Last”, is the last of the set, which I was playing when the Monarch staff turned the lights and a whole floor of people cheered. Today is 351 days since that performance. I have been procrastinating finishing this ever since.
This short edit isn’t perfect, but it’s time to step forward and offer it to you. “At Long Last” was composed entirely on the Electribe, and this version was processed and mastered in Ableton. Each time I listen to it, I want to tweak some things, remix it, mess around with it some more. Today, though, I’m declaring this version complete.
“Perfect is the enemy of the good.” -Voltaire
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