#tmzz

[imsaneipromise]

Leo P has left Lucky Chops and I am officially in mourning.

[turtledactyl]

im going to see too many zooz?? in less than a month????

[delgoroth]

Too Many Zooz | Brasshouse | (2016)

Leo P - Bari saxophone, Matt Doe - Trumpet, King of Sludge - Percussion

[sugarkevin]

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYitJpcHhB8から) 　 　 TEDxNYIT: Too Many Zooz 　 Brass House Forged in the depths of the New York City subway system, Too Many Zooz is unlike anything you’ve ever heard. While only consisting of three members (Matt Doe on trumpet, Leo P. on baritone saxophone, King of Sludge on drums/ percussion), Too Many Zooz has the ability of producing a booming sound. This organic music, which they call “Brasshouse,” is the musical culmination of all different styles and upbringings. While still a young band, Too Many Zooz has received quite a bit of attention. The New York Post calls them “The hottest thing in New York City music”. Questlove (The Legendary Roots Crew) tweeted a video of them, saying, “THIS is how The Roots got their start....minus Youtube to spread the quicker word. Peep NYC’s own”. While Too Many Zooz grows and continues on their journey, you can still find them from time to time at the largest night club in the world: New York City’s subway system. 　 　 http://toomanyzooz.com/#clips

[sugarkevin]

Techno Subway ..

https://www.facebook.com/htid.official/videos/10153175231112220/

SO KOOL GOOD THREE-PIECE

[francescup]

Always a pleasure seeing these fellas perform randomly on my commute home :) Definitely had to buy all of their CDs this time around since they were quite the deal and because I rarely get to see them play live ! All 3 of their CDs for $20! 😃 #latepost #frannyventures #totheeastcoast #funventures #dailyventures #april9 #2015 #subwayperformances #toomanyzooz #tmzz #nycunderground #ilovenyc #fangirling #brass #woodwind #percussion #barisax #trumpet #siiiiiiick (at 14th Street – Union Square (New York City Subway))

[kathleenhinkel]

One Camera, A Crappy Kit Lens and Too Many Zooz*

Whether you're a photographer or a musician - being good with your gear is more important than having good gear.** 

The Too Many Zooz show that took place at Fortune Sound Club in Vancouver a couple weeks ago reinforced this concept for me.  So let's talk about photographing live music in low-light environments with a crappy kit lens (for the photography geeks) while showing photos and talking about the big personalities that make up Too Many Zooz (for the music lovers).

Photographing live music with available light and your crappy kit lens

Photographers often shy away from shooting in low-light environments.  They assume they need strobes or a tripod to make photographs.  Or they assume they at least need a fast lens like the cheap 50/1.8 that I talked about awhile back when I wrote a post on the merits of shooting with one camera and one lens using photos from a Rich Aucoin show in Vancouver.  

It's definitely helpful to have a fast lens when shooting in low-light environments but that doesn't necessarily mean that people with a slow kit lens can't make strong photos at the club too.  If you're patient and can wait for the stage lights to work in your favor and know how to expose your camera when they do then your kit lens can work for you in a low-light environment too.  

At the Too Many Zooz show in Vancouver last month I brought my trusty 50/1.8 but I also brought a cheap kit lens with a range of 19-35mm/f 3.5-4.5.

Here are a 4 things to consider when taking your crappy kit lens to shoot in live music setting

1. You can hand-hold your camera at shutter speeds that are slower then you think.

Great photographers know this and embrace shooting around darkness, twilight and dusk.  The steadiest hands can get sharp photos at shutter speeds as slow as 1/4 of a sec.  Shooting live music you will rarely need to shoot that slow as stage lighting at even the smallest clubs usually pumps in plenty of light to work with - especially with newer DSLR's that can shoot at incredibly high ISO's without adding too much digital noise to the photos.  The photos in this post were shot at ISO 1600 at shutter speeds that ranged between 1/40 and 1/160 of a second.  

2. Shoot wide open

When shooting in low-light environments like a club - you are going to want to shoot wide open to be able to work with your fastest possible shutter speeds.   When I say wide open I mean shoot with your widest possible aperture - with the 50 that's f/1.8 but with your crappy kit lens that could be anywhere from f/3.5 - f/5.6. 

You'll will need to use a high ISO in order to get a fast shutter speed but don't go so high that noise will start interfering with your photos.  In a low-light club I would attempt 1600 and if need be - go up to 3200. 

3. Shoot on manual

Now it's not as easy as showing up at a show, putting your camera on aperture priority to the widest aperture and firing away.  Shooting in low-light environments is all about exposing for highlights while embracing the shadows.  Program mode and aperture priority work great in even lighting environments but in dramatic lighting environments you'll get better results if you shoot on manual mode.  

Expose your camera for the brightest lights that hit the band - if you do this correctly you will have your subjects and their instruments correctly exposed while the rest of the stage will drop into shadows.  (Most likely this exposure will be several stops under what your matrix or evaluative meter reads of the scene).

4. Be patient

In many areas of photography the best photographer is the most patient person.  The one who waits for the light the longest.  This is true even in this artificial lighting environment of a club.

Shooting live music can be a waiting game.  In many ways - your pictures are at the mercy of the lighting guy or gal.  You need your moment to happen at the same moment when your subject is lit nicely by the stage lights - but at most shows the lighting changes every few seconds.  You have to wait for that moment when you are exposing for the correct lights that hit your subject at the exact time you click the shutter.  At the end of the night - you may end up with a lot of shots where the moment was there and the lighting wasn't and vice versa.  

About Too Many Zooz!

The self-described brass house trio Too Many Zooz keep it simple in terms of gear.  This is a band that has gained popularity through youtube videos of performances in New York City subway stations and so they are accustomed to traveling light as street musicians tend to do.  

They take to the stage with only their instruments - a trumpet, a baritone sax and a drum.***   This basic setup at a Too Many Zooz show is balanced by the band's complex sound and big personalities.    There is the King of Sludge who demonstrates an insane work ethic as he shuffles around the stage dripping with sweat while pounding a kick drum that is harnessed to his waist and decorated with a tambourine and some cowbells.  Trumpeteer Matt Doe plays high energy solos while clutching a cocktail in his free hand and providing humor for the audience as he catches his breath in the short moments the band takes between songs.  At one point he commented on how his choice of drinking vodka pineapples was making his instrument very sticky.  (The stickiness of the instrument did not seem to slow him down.)  Leo P plays rhythm on the baritone sax while energetically dancing with energy and character that made me wonder if he could be the love child of Elvis Presley (hip thrusts galore), James Brown, Michael Jackson and a salsa dancer.****  

Each member of this band has their own distinct spirit that serves as a bonus to their music.  This is going to help the Too Many Zooz grow their following of Fanimals.*****  In addition to coming to hear their interesting brand of house music, fans will show up to see these characters - who put on a big show with their simple setup.  

Bands with character are fun to photograph.  I had a camera in my bag so when these guys took the stage - I decided to take some photos. If these guys could keep it so simple with their gear while putting on a great show I thought I would keep it simple with my gear as well - hence a post on shooting live music with your crappy kit lens.

* This title is misleading as I actually had brought two lenses to the show - which someone with a good eye can tell.  I just thought One Camera, A Crappy Kit Lens and Too Many Zooz sounded better than One Camera, One Kit Lens, One 50 mm Lens and Too Many Zooz - especially since the emphasis of this post is simplicity and being good with your crappy gear.  The two pics in this post that I used the 50/1.8 are the 3rd and 5th photos down.

** I've long held the belief that in photography having a good eye is more important than having good gear...  Trey Anastasio more or less used this exact quote in an interview about his rig so in case my wording is exactly the same I thought I'd include that he said it too to not seem plagiarism-ish.

*** Actually they also had a big bottle of Grey Goose vodka, a pitcher of pineapple juice and a microphone on a stand in addition to their instruments.  But nothing other than that!  I just left these details out of the main body to emphasize the simplicity of their setup but if in the interest of accuracy...

**** Leo P also bears an uncanny physical resemblance to Justin Bieber.  I didn't want to mention this in the main part of the post because I really liked Too Many Zooz and didn't want this post to be tainted with the mention of Justin Bieber or have people think that I think that the sound or stage presence of this band in any way compares to Justin Bieber.

***** Fanimals is the name of the band's second EP and I'm assuming a nickname for their fans.  In my opinion it's a great move for bands to nickname their fans.  Fans love to be recognized and feel important - having a nickname really helps to do that!

[kiddii-tmzz]

So much time~~ And nothing to do ~ Vacation Calendary: -Stay in room -Play videogames~ -forget how The outside looks like~ -eat.