Re: [microsound] Performing "Live"

[jonah dempcy <jdempcy@xxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "david turgeon" <david.t@xxxxxxxx>


> hmm, i didn't see the argument as being "dat vs instrument", but rather
> "computer vs instrument"

right but i'm painting this in the extreme so you can see the shades of
difference.

the "moment of execution" as i put it (which i can expound upon if you still
don't understand what i'm talking about, which it appears you don't) is what
i believe differentiates live performance in the realm of music.

here i will use another, less extreme example--

in my live performances i use a pattern based sequencer. which means that i
can switch from one loop to the next by pushing a button. i can push this
button at any point during the measure and the pattern will wait to change
until the first beat of the next measure.

the moment i push the button to change the groove is the moment i have told
my sequencer "how to play itself" and have sequenced a change. this is a
completely spontaneous "improvisatory" thing, yet it is very different than
if i wasn't using a sequencer at all but was instead playing an instrument
and producing the music that way.

what is the difference? well, this moment of execution exists for the second
that it takes me to push the button.
in the case of a live band, this moment exists for the entirety of their
performance.

i'm not saying one is better or worse, i'm just saying that one is "live"
and the other isn't.

> i know what difference you're talking about, but to me it's trivial.  in
> fact, i could turn your argument on its head & argue that a dat tape is
> _the perfect musical instrument_ in that it absolutely faithfully
> reproduces the _exact_ sound the composer intends, much more accurately
> than any performer ever will.

you could turn my argument on its head? how so?

my argument is that the only difference between "live" & recorded music is
spontaneity, and that a DAT allows for much less spontaneity, hence it is
much less "live."

of course if you're tweaking the shit out of the playback device then that
is an exception, but for the sake of our argument, yes i mean a standard
playback device.

i used a very clear example which you have not refuted-- that of preperation
and execution. or do you see no difference in these two? why not?

> do you go to the
> movies expecting real people acting in real time?

no but if i went out for a play and they showed a film i would be pretty
bummed.

-jonah