Re: live performance

[sroden@xxxxxxxxxxxx (steve roden)]

regarding js:
"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. "


concerts regarding sound and composition have been around for years and
years and are not new. the music concrete folks in france were doing it in
the 50's and calling them tape concerts, and the futurists before that....
these folks were playing tapes in a room long before we were arguing about
laptops. there was one very special difference here, and that is that tape
concerts were the only outlet for this music. people who went to these
concerts for the most part had not already heard this music at home, they
were not able to buy it or download it or familiarize themselves with it
until they were at the event and listening. in many ways the experience for
the listeners was the same as live jazz or other improvised experiments
done at the time. it was for all intents and purposes a live experience. it
had something more to offer folks than staying at home with a record or the
radio.
the problems those of you arguing seem to keep going back to revolve around
the artist as opposed to the audience. you talk about performing as a
promotional necessity... huh? most of the cd's we press are a thousand
pieces max, you don't need to play live to promote that if you are capable
of writing some letters, sending them to magazines and other artists, and
counting on the fact that you have created something that is remotely
interesting. performing shouldn't be about spreading your face and your
sounds across the world. it is an experience, certainly for the artist, but
much more so for the audience who has paid money to listen. many
experiences that allow a listener to experience something other than what
they would hear when they buy your cd at home can be quite valid. when
bernhard plays his cd's in a concert, he mixes the sound to fit the sound
of the room, he uses very specific equipment, and the experience is much
more enhanced than listening to one of his cd's at home - yes, he is
playing a cd, but if you have ever been to one of his shows you can easilly
tell that the audience is having a serious listening experience beyond what
one hears at home. i've played with taylor deupree before, and he uses his
laptop, but he is constantly bringing sounds in and out of the piece, and
.... improvising. in three consecutive performances, his 'live' piece was
always different - sure the audience has no idea what he is doing if
anything; but i think that people can sense when someone on stage is
engaged or just fiddling about (as i have indeed seen shows where someone
is 'fake' mixing a premixed dat...yes this is boring). for my own
interests, i can't do what i do at home in a live situation. so i have
created a new situation for myself that is specifically about the creation
of a work live. the sound is different, the approach is different, but the
qualities that are inherent in all my work remain present. i don't think
any of these approaches is any more or less valid than the others, but i
think that any artist approaching performance must simply take stock of
what he is indeed trying to achieve when he steps up there expecting folks
to quietly listen. adding dancing bears (or beers :-) doesn't help the fact
that the music is already composed and unconsidered in terms of a live
experience. simply playing a laptop because it is easier or because you are
trying to make a name for yourself is lazy and uninteresting. playing a
laptop because it is your 'instrument' and you are sensitive to it and you
are interacting with it in a somewhat vulnerable way is no different than
playing a bowl or a guitar. and hey, i can honestly say that there have
been many live situations where i have made some incredible discoveries
regarding my own work and process that would have never come about in my
studio situations, so behold people, it can even be exciting for you as an
artist, beyond the autographs, free drinks, money and fans.....
steve

steve roden/in be tween noise
box 50261 pasadena california 91115-0261
usa
phone 626 403 9343
please note, we have no more fax.
e-mail:sroden@xxxxxxxxxxxx

"in the end, even this most prosperous and glamorous and complicated of
professions comes down to a thing that is very old and very simple; one
man's integrity against another's, one man's capacity as a working artist
against another's, the vision with which he establishes his standards and
the courage with which he sticks by them. the rest is trimming."
george nelson 1947
..