The things that deter me from playing live mainly have to do with not
wanting to drag sensitive computer equipment around, have it shaken about
by giant speakers, beer spilled on it, questionable AC power, etc.
Additionally, most of my music is created in and of the studio, out of
many finely-tuned and interlocking parts. Such material would not
translate well into live performance. Certain things need to be plugged
into other things, and plugged into completely different things for the
next track. The best case would be a poor live mix, or playing a DAT and
ocassionally stepping up to the mic to vocalize. Not a show I would want
to see, and therefore not one I'd want to perform.
I also have a few compositions that are really methods for creating
closely-related pieces of music. One uses several dozen samples of
feedback, some with additional analog and/or digital processing. The
player (me) chooses how long to wait before triggering the next sound,
chosen from the next group of 2 or 3 sounds. I control the trajectory,
but by design cannot control the fine details. The method enforces a
structure. The composition makes very noisy and unusually atonal
ambience. If anyone has suggestions for the type of venue where this kind
of thing would work, please let me know. Performing this in a chill-out
room could wig someone out in a bad way...
I've still been rather indifferent to the idea of performing live. Even
Masami Akita of Merzbow, one of the most-respected noise acts in Japan,
will only attract an audience of about 30 people for a live show.
Here's something to look at:
http://www.ccs.nslsilus.org/~mkolmar/chaotic.html
You'll need a CD drive and have to get a helper app. There's a pointer to
the place where you can download the helper app. As the page says, you
supply the CD, this will trash it for you. Currently there are 3 methods
of CD deconstruction on the page, probably more to follow. Perhaps a
little sketchy, but as far as I know, they are the only musical
compositions (if the term doesn't bother you) in existence written for
solo, computer-controlled CD player. Novel if nothing else. An indicator
of the musical universe I inhabit...
--MK
On Sat, 17 Feb 1996, Brian Willoughby wrote:
quoted 15 lines | [...] I do not want to become a member of the "memorex club":
> | [...] I do not want to become a member of the "memorex club":
> | musicians who noodle on a keyboard against a pre-recorded or
> | sequenced background.
> |
> | I hate concerts like this, where the musician(s) don't actually
> | PLAY, [...]
>
> I believe that it depends a great deal on the composition.
>
> But the final choice is up to you as the composer. If you do not want to
> perform your music because you would be forced to use tape accompaniment, then
> I congratulate you for sticking with your personal quality ethic. Whenever
> you do finally work out a way to appear in public without sacrificing your
> standards, I am sure that the audience will appreciate the music much more
> than if you didn't hold out for your best.