Live Performance

[Joseph Siemion <jsiemion@xxxxxxxx>]

"the only way i could see using a computer for a live application is if
it
was being used essentially as a sound module/sampler to be triggered by
other gear. this is because i personally can compare playing on an
instrument like piano or guitar, wow, these are really musical! then i
can
look at playing on midi-gear and sequencing, well i have less control but
i
can still turn all these knobs and really make the gear sing. hands-on
stuff
_can_ be made musical. but then i look at a computer, and its like,
point-click-drag-boring.... its not musical. or rather, the computer is
musical, but _you_ aren't -- you can't play it as an instrument, you can
only tell it how to play itself.

-jonah"



jonah is a great counterpoint to much of the 'live' discourse.

i wonder if there are two paradigms of live performance here that
may be equally valid:  the paradigm jonah espouses, whcih is the one
we've been familiar with for the last 60 yrs
 and a new one that focuses more on sound and composition, rather than 
virtuosity of the instrument.  

(or maybe this is a bad structural setup for this discussion, and either
using a computer alone is adequate for performance, or it is a cop out,
as jonah seems to suggest.) 

im curious to see how laptopjockying will play out in the coming years.
will it be accepted as a performance 'norm' or will it fall by the
wayside
as a bad idea, becoming a relic of the past.  if it does indeed become a 
new paradgm of performance, it will probably need to be supplemented 
with some visual effects (film loops) (as it sometimes is) and/or some 
other live application
(dancing bears, flamethrowers,etc;).

and if laptopjockying becomes the norm, will using a desktop become
"punk"!?  it would be pretty funny!

take this post as a meditation on possibilities and an attempt at
reconcilliation between what jonah deems worthy of performing live
and what laptopers (or the desktop punkers!) maintain is acceptable
for live performance.

js


___________________
www.mp3.com/josephsiemion
www.tiln.org
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today!  For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.