Below is a timeline of important Sasha music releases and events he played at.
https://youtu.be/7NWCMKFojpw?si=isOfbotecxfETHzl
Sasha @ Barbarella 7-28-1994 (Grand Opening)
"Made In The USA" party
Hernán Cattáneo & Sasha – Live Moonpark (04/05/2003)
He also appears July 3rd at the Avalon in Hollywood.
This dj control surface, nicknamed 'Maven' was designed and built in conjunction with Audio-Concept for Sasha to give him more freedom and control of the iMAC based mixing software, ableton live, in a live environment. The control surface closely resembles the typical mixing desk found when using traditional vinyl records but is designed to control key features within the software.
With this custom controller Sasha found new freedom to DJ in a completely new way. “It allows you to make real edits spontaneously,” he says. “To do very seamless two-track mixes. That style of mixing has always been something I’ve been associated with, and this allows you to do that brilliantly. It turns it into a really hands-on experience.”
Sasha’s custom-built MAVEN controller/mixer for Ableton Live.
He used it primarily during the mid-to-late 2000s.
- 2005: MAVEN debuts publicly at Fundacion in Los Angeles, and Sasha is using it with Ableton Live.
- 2005: Fundacion NYC is specifically associated with the MAVEN/Ableton setup.
- 2006: Sasha was still actively using the original MAVEN and was developing MAVEN II because of reliability problems.
- 2007: Contemporary reporting still describes him touring with his custom MAVEN.
- 2008: This is particularly important: an interview quoted in December 2008 has Sasha saying “Yeah, I am still using the Maven controller” and that he was working on putting it into production.
- December 2008: EQ Magazine documents the MAVEN Mark II, described as custom-built specifically for Sasha.
- 2013: Sasha explicitly said he had switched away from Ableton + MAVEN to Traktor + CDs, establishing that the MAVEN era had ended by then.
Timeline
MAVEN Mark I: ~2005 → 2006
MAVEN Mark II: ~2006/07 → at least 2008, and probably substantially longer
MAVEN/Ableton era: 2005 → around 2012, with the exact final year uncertain
Traktor/CD era: established by 2013
The identification timeline
| Year | Version | Confidence | What the evidence shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Prototype / development | High | Sasha and his team were developing the custom controller around Ableton Live. |
| 2005 | MAVEN Mark I | Very high | This is the original, heavy 18 kg unit. It debuted publicly at Fundacion/Avalon in February 2005. |
| 2006 early | MAVEN Mark I | Very high | Photos from February/July 2006 show the original design. Sasha described it as ~18 kg and said the new version was being built. |
| 2006 late | MAVEN II transition | High | Sasha said the new, lighter version should arrive around summer 2006, but the exact delivery date isn't documented cleanly. |
| 2007 | MAVEN II | High | The redesigned controller appears to have become his primary unit. |
| 2008 | MAVEN Mark II | Very high | The December 2008 EQ feature explicitly calls the photographed unit “Maven Mark II.” |
| 2008 Oct–Nov | MAVEN Mark II | Very high | His Invol2ver North American tour was explicitly described as using the special MAVEN MIDI controller. |
| 2009–2010 | MAVEN II likely | Medium | Contemporary material continues to associate Sasha with the Ableton/MAVEN setup. |
| 2011–2012 | MAVEN / Ableton | Medium | He appears to have continued the system, but documentation becomes considerably thinner. |
| 2013 | No longer primary setup | Very high | Sasha said he had moved from Live/MAVEN to Traktor/CDs. |
MAVEN Mark I — 2005/early 2006
The original is the big, extremely heavy-looking unit. Sasha himself said it weighed about 18 kg. Its layout is relatively simple: essentially a conventional DJ mixer layout surrounded by MIDI buttons for triggering Ableton material.
The 2005 photographs are particularly useful because we know unequivocally that they're the original. Music Thing published photographs of the newly unveiled controller in March 2005, while Ableton documented the same setup shortly afterward.
MAVEN Mark II — ~late 2006/2007 onward
This is the lighter, substantially more sophisticated redesign. Sasha had specifically complained about the original's weight and said the new version would drop from roughly 18 kg to 8–10 kg. He also wanted the redesign to incorporate features made possible by newer versions of Ableton Live.
By December 2008, there's no ambiguity: EQ Magazine calls the photographed unit “Sasha's Maven Mark II controller” and says it was built from the ground up with custom knobs, switches, LEDs and even custom-designed fader caps.
Sasha used the MAVEN roughly from 2005 until around 2008–09, with 2005–2007 being the clearest, best-documented period of regular use.
There were actually at least two generations: the original MAVEN Mark I and the subsequently developed MAVEN II. A contemporary 2006 profile explicitly says he was working on Maven II.
Introducing the Apollo 13. The only 100% true to life replica of Sasha's Maven controller for Ableton Live. This controller has been built entirely from scratch, by Adam Dzak. For more information read up on his blog!
Apollo 13: First Thing's First
https://adamdzak.blogspot.com/2012/07/apollo-13-first-things-first.html
Apollo 13: Faceplate Design and Acquiring Parts
https://adamdzak.blogspot.com/2012/07/apollo-13-faceplate-design-and.html
