Based on the Poser Alien figure and animated in Poser on a Mac G-5 with his own custom 3D double-kick drumset, AL is a beer-drinking, drumstick twirling rock drummer created by the band's lead guitarist/keyboardist/drummer/vocalist Michael Macpherson. Utilizing renderings from Poser, AL's parts are brought into Director for scripted animation sequences based on imported, massaged MIDI files.
Michael wrote a MIDI-to-animation converter, and that is the key to the show. All possible drumming positions were animated, and then brought into a custom application he created in Macromedia Director (now owned by Adobe).
AL appears on stage with Element 115 and hits every drum and cymbal on cue. The band has a 12-foot plasma video wall that sits where the drum riser would be, and AL clicks off the time and drums all 60+ classic-rock and original songs that the band performs!
The Story Behind AL the Alien Drummer
Creator Michael Macpherson filled us in on AL’s story:
As owner of Ultramedia, Phoenix, I've authored over 500 CD-ROMs, 100 CD-I and 200 DVD titles for K-12 education and corporate presentations. In 1991 I became an Authorized Macromedia Developer (when it was still Macromind). I've made TV and radio commercials since 1992, and in some of those there have been 3D animations done with Poser, Bryce, Macromind 3D, Extreme 3D, Shade, Amorphium and others. My first 3D program was Virtus Walkthrough (pre version 1) and I think my first version of Poser was 4.0.
We were having a problem finding a drummer with a digital kit who had the vision of international fame and success. Since we were already into the Element 115 thing, I just jokingly said, maybe I could make an alien to do it. Our former keyboardist said the now infamous phrase, "if you can pull THAT off..."
Ten days later I had AL 1.0 playing a song. At that time it was all frame-by-frame animation in Poser for each hit on the drumset. There was no repeating a sequence; every hit throughout the song was frame-by-framed. It took 10 full 12-hour days to animate that song (I think it was "All Right Now" by Free).
In AL 2.0 I hired someone to model a really great double-kick drumset. I then modified it a bit, removed the cymbal stands (AL's cymbals float in the air) and put the logo on the kick drums. With a fixed main camera position, I had AL hit each drum and cymbal. Some drums are hit with either hand. I then took the arm movements, and corresponding shadow movements, (with cymbal movements where applicable) and cut them into individual cast members in Photoshop for export to Director. I use half as many frames in the hit as in the pull-back. This makes a more realistic visual. Each frame of the drum hit then is strung together to make an addressable sequence. The kick drum skin blurs when the kick drum is triggered. You can also see AL's knee move a bit behind the drums when he kicks.
I drum the tracks with my dk 10 (drumKat) into a Pro-Tools MIDI file. That MIDI file is minimized and converted to text which is imported into Director. I wrote the Director MIDI-to-animation convertor so that when a MIDI note's time arrives, the Director program triggers the corresponding sequence. This allows AL to play the song in real time. I capture the Director stage right from the computer display, so there is no video conversion distortion. That 832x624 QuickTime movie is then brought into Final Cut Pro where the pre-mixed 2 track drum audio file is synched to the video. The finished movies are then brought to the laptop where another Director program I wrote is used to select a song by name. When the song name is selected, it also tells all of the guitar and vocal processors what patch to be on, and loads the timing information for the light show. It then waits for me to hit the PLAY button. There are no MIDI notes played live on stage. The computer is only playing QuickTime movies out the external video port, which goes to my VGA distribution amp, and then to the plasma screens. I've found this to be much more reliable than keyboards receiving MIDI data. I trust the Mac completely - it's the rest of the equipment I don't trust for live performance to be under MIDI control.
In addition, I've animated some other movements such as AL drinking a beer, pulling up binoculars to look into the audience, holding up a diamond ring to flirt with some cutie in the audience, etc. He also beams in to start the show and beams out to finish. AL also has a cool drum solo programmed.
Rocking the Universe
Blending great tunes of the past with technology of the future makes Element 115 one of the most unique classic rock bands you will find anywhere.
The four piece act includes:
AL - drums and mild debauchery
Carla - bass, vocals and keyboards
Jess - guitar, keyboards, and vocals
Michael - vocals, guitar, keyboards, programming
This family of multi-instrument musicians is living their dream. They all wanted to be rock performers, and they are on their way to international success. Utilizing their own investment, they designed and created the stage, wrote and recorded their songs, bought the necessary equipment, learned 60 classic-rock cover tunes, designed their outfits, customized a trailer, and got really buff loading and unloading the 2500 pounds of gear used in their rock show!
This group has figured out how to play rock ’n’ roll (with a message) and still keep their heads above water. The goal for 2008 is to start touring the world with their unique rock show.
About Element 115
The periodic table element 115 was released to the public by one Robert Lazar who claims that element 115 is the fuel for interstellar spacecraft. Mr. Lazar, working on craft captured by the US government over a period of 50 years or so, was on a team of engineers whose job it was to disassemble these craft and determine how they function. According to Lazar, element 115 is the only element where the strong nuclear force is detectable with sensors, thus making element 115 a source for gravitiy amplification. A couple of scientific teams have claimed to have synthesized element 115 here on Earth. If you want to see element 115, you won't have to invade your local government underground research facility, just keep an eye on your local music scene and check out this band when they come your way.
Lean more about Element 115 and pick up their self-titled CD at:
http://www.Element115theBand.com/Tshirts.html