If this ain't sound in the machine, I wouldn't know what is. Check it out first. My comments are below. 




Amazing as the performance is, I'm thinking of the role the video plays in suggesting the experience. Several things at work here.

The rapid hand movements heighten the affective momentum, not at all unlike watching the exaggerated movements of a conductor (who doesn't 'touch' the music, mind you). All this movement says, this thing is going somewhere and fast!

Unless you know what you're watching (Exile built a few of the controllers making that even more difficult), there is a tenuous relationship between the hardware and the resulting sound. We expect something a bit different. Faders don't increase or decrease the volume, but pull down the pitch and tempo; the keyboard makes bizarre intrusions, responsible for the least traditionally musical aspects of the performance. You're not in Kansas anymore.

The variations almost can't change fast enough- Exile's inspiration spilleth over, from mic to keyboard to drum pad. But if you only listen to the track, the variations seem more like transitions that never really get anywhere. At least that's my sense of it (and a commonplace complaint of dance music, "intelligent" or not).

Again, I think this is great stuff. Granted he's demoing a product and going for the WOW factor, even doing so somewhat outside of the context of many Reaktor users. Just the same, from a marketing point of view, the video tells us that we can do this too: just look at this guy! One guy and all this sound! That's pretty convincing, I'd say. From a production point of view, however, the video noticeably conceals the work Exile did in creating settings, mapping controls, assigning instruments, making ensembles, etc. It's almost like magic on the video. Too obvious to anyone looking to drop a few hundred $$ on a soft synth. To me, without it the video, the audience would have a greater appreciation for the production that went into the track. Unless you add in the rough edges.

And so on. This is all to say, there's more than sound going on here. As always, of course.