[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[microsound] Re: on working methods for live performance



On May 11, 2004, at 5:23 PM, Matt Davignon wrote:

For me as an audience member, the turnoff behind laptop performance isn't the lack of showiness. It's the gradual loss of faith that what you're hearing is being created "live". Watching a laptop performer, you don't really know to what degree he's creating the music in real time.

This is an interesting take. Do you mean that you prefer improvisation over composition? (I'm not trying to be insulting) One could extend this line of thought and get to "I don't like going to the symphony because the players are just precisely replicating the notes on the pages in front of them". Now I understand the subtle distinction that you mean re: computers. Are people interested in hearing a performer present a composition or are they interested in hearing him process sounds? (warning, gross oversimplification ahead) The former could be seen as art while the latter is craft. There was a Fennesz piece in the Wire a year or so ago (why does it always come back to Fennesz?) where he compared people and their Max/MSP patches to the guitar shredders of the 1980s. Both seem more about the complex mechanics and less about the artistic creation. Someone mentioned the idea that more people should process sounds live from an open mic. This is clearly about hearing someone work their programs & patches. Obviously there's a lot of skill and aesthetic choice that happens in that process. But is it just about being able to make one thing sound like another thing? For me, as listener but especially as composer, the source material is crucial. Sometimes I want a guitar to sound like a guitar. Obviously a lot of people feel this way cause they surely went apeshit when Fennesz strummed some chords on Endless Summer.



--------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: microsound-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx For additional commands, e-mail: microsound-help@xxxxxxxxxxxxx website: http://www.microsound.org