IDM Mailing Archive

How do a lot of idm acts do their stuff live? I remember reading a Richard James article in which he said his setup was too difficult to move around so he didn't want to perform live anymore (and when he appears live he just DJs, right?); similarly, I believe Luke Vibert mentioned he thought it was silly to go to a performance where somebody's working a mouse to get the tunes out. How do Mike Paradinas and Orbital work live? I was thinking about all of this because I received in the mail a flyer from one of my local gear retailers and was reminded of that fairly new Roland hard disk recorder. Given the advantages of random access and portability, it would seem that it might be the ideal thing to use for performing live. You could just record the original tracks onto the hard drive unit, then use the remaining tracks for additional beats, sounds, whatever, and then punch in/out the shit as you see fit. This would be equivalent to remixing stuff live, I suppose. If you were to hook it up to 16 channel board you could plug in an additional drum machine or keyboard for live playing, but this way you wouldn't have to lug all of your gear around or play around with a mouse and monitor on stage. I believe I'm starting to see some possibilities here...

On Wed, 18 Oct 1995, GD wrote:

quoted 1 line How do a lot of idm acts do their stuff live?

> How do a lot of idm acts do their stuff live?

quoted 1 line Roland hard disk recorder. Given the advantages of random access and

> Roland hard disk recorder. Given the advantages of random access and

portability, it would seem that it might be the ideal thing to use for performing live. Powerful tool, yes, but hardly road-worthy. I'd be very leary about subjecting a hard-disk-based recording system to gut-shaking subsonic vibrations, questionable AC power and puddles of beer.

quoted 1 line You could just record the original tracks onto the hard

> You could just record the original tracks onto the hard

drive unit, then use the remaining tracks for additional beats, sounds, Remaining tracks? Where? For what you are describing, you would run out quickly...

quoted 1 line whatever, and then punch in/out the shit as you see fit. This would be

>whatever, and then punch in/out the shit as you see fit. This would be

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This is exactly it, using some of the following: - sequencer (software, hardware, CV/Gate, whatever) - synths - drum machines - samplers - prepared tapes (DAT/4-track) - effects units And of course a mixer. Unless you have your own roadies or something, the live setup will likely have to be rather scaled-down. Also something that is probably more of an issue for, say, Aphex Twin than for Orbital is needing certain things to be plugged into certain other things for one track, and plugged into completely different things for another. (This would require some kind of predetermined plan and overall coherent vision of what to do for 20 or 30-odd minutes or more. I don't see those as RDJ's strong points quite frankly...)

this might be a moot point (many are), but the unit you're discussing (the roland dm-800, no?) allows you to bounce tracks together as many times as you'd like without any loss whatsoever (it's digital), so having track space to work with is definitely not an issue. the points about the conditions under which you'd be playing are good ones, though, and that's probably something you should take into consider- ation before taking the little beast on the road. but, i've seen it and handled it; it's compact and sturdy, and i'm sure roland mounted the drive(s) with care and consideration - you may want to actually call and ask if you're that interested. peace, darshan