Re: [microsound] laptop ethics...

[Eddie Peel <ebp3@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I remember hearing about a show at Other Music that Pita and Fennesz
performed (I believe it was them, at least one of them and somebody else).
They performed their set huddled away in the corners.  The stated intent in
the OM newsletter was "to take away the spectacle from the act of
music-making."  I guess a good way to express my feelings on laptop
performance is to say that I was extremely excited to hear about this.  The
idea that they intentionally set out to make a self-referential point
combined with a comment on audience expectation was pleasing to say the
least.

I have huddled over laptoppers performing before, well, at least I did when
I saw Richard Devine a couple months back, and I felt rude.  I also wasn't
hearing the music.  I was sitting in on a makeshift tutorial in dsp.  Which
is fine, especially in that sit. because the crowd was talking so loudly you
couldn't hear the music.  I've seen Phoenecia and Jake Mandell, and both
were so enjoyable that I didn't need to watch.  I was also pumped to see
them perform, though.  Both were clearly making decisions that determined
what I heard next.  But this is a fellow music-maker talking.  I can
actually understand what they are doing.  In a set by Needle, Otto von
Shirach, and Jeswa(half of phoenecia), Jeswa actually brought a monitor for
video output so the crowd could see what he was doing, and nobody really
watched.  Granted, there was a movie playing for which the three were
scoring.  I liked the idea though.  It is another attempt at what the
previous OM show was aiming for.

There is no question that laptop performance is a self-validating form of
performing.  That is, if we are to assume that there is actually performing
going on; that the laptop is treated as a musical instrument and being
manipulated in realtime.  This is of course in oppositon to the idea of
someone playing back music with no interaction other than triggering the
playback.  If someone brings a powerbook G3 into a place for a show and only
plays a cd, well, they paid too much for their cd player to say the least.
Of course just playing a cd is a form of performance, i.e. exclusivity of
material, choice of audio playing.  But we are talking about LAPTOP
performance, right?  It can be just as valid, but an analogy that puts it in
a humorous light is the idea of a stage or table with a tape deck sitting on
it playing back recordings of a guitar, while the guitar used in the
recording sits in a stand behind it.

My girlfriend wants to play a game now and approves of what I have written
so bye.