I would rather go see someone play live (even if they stand behind a
mixer), than buy a cd any day of the week. You just don't know how to enjoy
yourself matey.
missyx
quoted 88 lines What do you expect them to do - put on clown suits and do some>> What do you expect them to do - put on clown suits and do some
>> juggling? It's not much different from most bands with guitars - they
>> stand there motionless, unsmiling - why is this any different?
>
>Well, I have to agree that most guitar bands suck too, just like almost
>everything sucks. But even a guitar allows for some unique expression of
>sound, and a live drum kit allows for improvisation and idiosyncratic
>performance. A sampler and an effects processor rarely allow for such a
>degree of real-time performance because they are simply not designed for
>live performance. And a turntable, unless abused by a tricknological
>wizard, is rarely used in a way that I myself can't use one.
>
>Let's imagine an empirical measure of this idea, let's call it "performance
>activity level", or PAL. Let's measure the PAL in terms of the number of
>actual sonic variations producable by the performer at any given time. A
>person who presses play on a dat machine is only capable of one variation,
>on or off, so they have low PAL. A person with a triangle is capable of a
>few more variations, but still not very many. Moving up the scale we get to
>the piano, drums, and the violin. Where does a sequencer or a 303 fall in
>this system? Somewhere slightly above a cowbell I'd say, because there are
>so few things you need to do with them to produce sounds. Most electronic
>instruments are designed to give the user an enormous amount of control over
>a single sonic element at a time, allowing the studio musician to fine tune
>every aspect of their product. They are not designed for producing a
>real-time performance for an attentive audience.
>
>To put it another way - if the artist you are watching were to suddenly pass
>out onstage, or if they were drunk or blindfolded or otherwise
>reflex-impaired, would you be able to immediately tell the difference int he
>sound?
>
>Let's just imagine what electronic live shows *could* be, beyond the
>traditional "let's build the home studio on the stage" model: A great deal
>of electronic music is composed using keyboards. A keyboard synth is a type
>of electronic instument that allows for a rich range of virtuosic control
>over the sound produced. I *never* see IDM artists using keyboards (probably
>because they can't play). What about making their own instuments that allow
>for more real-time control over the sound? What about vocalists? Or live
>drum kits? Or theatrical performance? Or dance? Or a collaboration between
>these elements, mixing samplers with live drums, etc.
>
>
>> You know the score before you go to see any electronic music artist -
>> it's music composed on machines and so will be played back to the
>> audience on those machines.
>
>As far as knowing the score, the score is this: Most electronic music is
>produced using a painstaking process taking hours, days, weeks, or even
>months. It involves editing, tweaking, multitracking, etc, etc. It is
>usually a process that does not produce great music in real time, it is more
>like painting or composition in that the final product takes a long time to
>make. In most cases it is a process not at all worth paying to watch. Which
>is why so many electronic shows (though not IDM shows usually) have lasers
>and drugs aplenty.
>
>I think that as long as IDM musicians continue to have boring shows that
>appeal only to their starfucker fans and to electronic musician gearheads,
>we shouldn't expect their audiences to have to keep their mouth shut.
>
>By the same token, if an IDM artist doesn't have a great live skill set
>worth watching (or if they don't have a bad skill set they're hoping to
>develop into a good one) they flat out should not perform live.
>
>> I know Aphex has addressed this problem by getting Rephlex staff
>> dressed up in giant Bear costumes and I admit this is
>> entertaining, but
>> most of us go to hear the music. If you want to talk to your mates, do
>> it at home. It's cheaper.
>
>It's also cheaper to pop the CD in at home too, and with the exception of
>the loud volume (which is admittedly a huge appeal for many music fas) it's
>the same thing.
>
>After having been ripped off by countless IDM artists over the years,
>staying home with friends is exactly what I do. Unless of course I'm on a
>guest list, in which case I go in and chew the fat with my friends about how
>much more the artist(s) might do on stage to make the show worthwhile for
>the poor suckers who paid.
>
>I will however pay to see Aphex Twin again. The dancing bears were
>brilliant, and I know that I can count on him to put on a show that will at
>least have *something* interesting going on.
>
>-cf
>
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