[microsound] Re: on working methods for live performance

[Greg Headley <greg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On May 9, 2004, at 2:31 PM, Wrightmichaelmw@xxxxxxx wrote:

> For instance, do think it's important for the audience to know the 
> performers working process?

I do not think it's important.

> Who puts on a good show using electronics?

Your into an area that a lot of people discuss (or complain about) in 
the wake of so many one guy and his laptop shows. To my mind, at the 
heart of this is the question of whether you (and the audience) want to 
hear music or want to "see a performance". You say Kaffe Matthews makes 
her methods clear. I've seen her play live three times, and she never 
explained her methods before or after. I only came to know her process 
through buying her CDs and reading about her. The first two times I saw 
her play I had no idea what she was doing on that computer screen; she 
did have the violin but only used it briefly at the start (to get some 
source material as it turns out). I've seen Francisco Lopez and John 
Duncan each perform in total darkness; neither ever put in an 
appearance before the audience (to acknowledge applause for example). 
Still, the performances were totally engaging. Bernhard Gunter plays 
his recorded works and mixes them on the fly; almost a dj set if you 
will. Again, I found his performance totally engaging (if nothing else 
because he played louder than I would have expected). I've seen Merzbow 
live both pre-laptop and since he went laptop (he actually uses two 
computers when playing). Great stuff both times. In fact it's almost 
funny to watch him work one computer for a while then turn to the other 
one (perhaps this qualifies as a "performance"). I haven't seen Fennesz 
perform, but I'm wondering what you mean when you say he's the only 
powerbook guy "who can really pull it off". Do you mean his music or 
his "performance"? There was a quote in the press materials for his 
Live in Japan CD. It said this had been the greatest laptop show ever. 
I found this hilarious. Does that mean his computer was doing the most 
efficient signal processing ever? Did his trackpad never act weird 
making the cursor jump across the screen? (I enjoy the CD no less even 
though I wasn't at the show).

I'm interested in other opinions as there must be plenty of people here 
who have seen lots of computer-only shows.


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