re: live performance (long)

[andrewduke@xxxxxxxxxx]

Hi, Wesley.  I'm based out of Halifax Nova Scotia
Canada and have been regularly playing out live since
1987 (more info on my site at
http://techno.ca/cognition).  Here's my answers based
on my current setup:

>describe your hardware/software setup, 

--hardware:  Compaq Presario 700 PC laptop (1.3 Ghz
processor, 512 RAM, 20G HD; has a touchpad instead of a
mouse, which I find invaluable) with external Backpack
40G HD; software:  Ableton Live, Reaktor, Audiomulch,
Sound Forge, Cool Edit, and Acid (it's 4:10am as I type
this, so I may have forgotten something; the joy of
being Program Director at a campus/community radio
station is doing the occasional 2-7am slot); my
hardware decision was based solely on price: I have
little $, the Presario was at a good price, so I bought
it (so it wasn't a PC versus Mac decision or I didn't
go with Compaq for any particular reason; I did have to
rent a backup laptop for a gig over the summer because
my laptop had gone kablooey about a week before a gig
and it made me realize how much easier the touchpad
made things for me; the reason? the rental had a
touchpad, but it wasn't userfriendly at all and using
its mouse seem alien to me after having not used one to
play live in so long; luckily my laptop was fixed
literally hours before the gig, so I was able to use it)

>the process of producing and processing sounds in a
live performance context

--my performances are very spontaneous and the result
is dependent on my mood and what the crowd reacts to; I
may have a short sound or a loop set up in Ableton Live
that I will process and effect live and build from (or
as many as 10 hits and/or loops), and/or the same in
Audiomulch--perhaps running both at the same programs
at the same time or switching from one to another
(textures on Audiomulch and rhythms on Ableton, for
example); looking forward to Live version 2.0 

>the sonic content of the performance in relation to
your setup

--I like to use a lot of organic sources, but also
clicks, noise, and other "harsher" elements, so it
really varies; I try to challenge myself by forcing
myself to make music from a limited palette of source
material, but aiming to have results which are very
sonically varied (so see how much of a sonic panorama I
can create from just the sound of someone sneezing, for
example, and see if I can do a whole set from that; of
course, one of my objectives would be to have the fact
that I was doing a whole set from the sound of someone
sneezing not be noticeable; I haven't done this sneeze
thing, it is just something I thought of cos I just
sneezed a second, er microsecond, ago :))

>what percentage of the sounds were
performed/improvised on the spot?

--if you mean how much is pre-planned, none really; a
few minutes before I start, I will decide what tempo I
will start at and what sound I will start with, but
after that it can go pretty much anywhere sonically and
with regards to tempo, style, and result; I might jam
with soundbits from songs, collaborations, and remixes
I've done or am working on or use bits I've never used
before; I don't attempt to replicate things I've
previously recorded; usually I'll try to tie things
together throughout the set thematically by having some
sort of recurring motif (a list-related example would
be a set recently where I kept dropping in key bits
from the conversation i had with Kim Cascone in
December of 1999 about container anxiety: plug: result
is Andrew Duke + Kim Cascone--Container Anxiety on my
Highest Common Denominator album on Toronto's Piehead
label: http://pieheadrecords.com) 

>what percentage of the sounds were simply triggered,
or played on a minidisc/cd player?

--none

All the best with your project, Wesley. Take care.
Andrew
np: Whodini--Magic's Wand (produced by Thomas Dolby)

albums out now: Sprung (http://bip-hop.com) 
More Destructive Than Organized 
(http://staalplaat.com)
Highest Common Denominator (http://pieheadrecords.com)
Physical and Mental Health (http://dialrecords.com) 
74'02 (split with Hypo) (http://tsunami-addiction.com)
check Cognition (http://techno.ca/cognition)
for upcoming appearance and release updates
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