Using pre-recorded material in performance

["loop.pool" <looppool@cruzio.com>]

In the past few years I have been militantly opposed to using pre-existing
tracks in
my live improvisations (although it has never bugged me when I've heard
others doing it).

The person who really changed my head around about this policy has been Amy
X who has
been, arguably, one of the best recieved live looping artists at the
festivals she has performed at.

Although recently, she has done improv shows, the first shows I saw of hers
where carefully scripted
and rehearsed without any improvisation (although she was performing the
show entirely live).

She was able to use pre recorded and triggerable samples in such a way that
it freed her to be more theatrical.
There also was none of the 'wandering looper' phenomenae that seems to
plague a lot of the live looping world
(me included -----<sheepish grin>).

I also saw George Demarest's fine performance at last years'  Y2K3 loopfest
where he was using either completely prerecorded drum tracks or at least
triggering Korg Wave Station drumming segments while he used key boards
and trumpet with his loopers.    His programming was imaginative and really
fresh sounding and I enjoyed it as much as
any performance I have seen.

Then there are the burgeoning number of people using Ableton's LIVE in
concert where you have to use at least one
pre-recorded loop to even begin to improvise.

I guess my feeling is that whatever makes a show compelling, works:  from 
an
Andre LaFosse who is playing completely improvisationally with only a 
guitar
and an EDP to an Amy X Neuburg who is playing completely rehearsed parts
with
pre-recorded samples.

One thing for sure, when people use drum machine tracks, I've always dug it
when they used some kind of time based processing that changes the sounds
slightly over time.         I love that random filtering patch that Steve
Lawson uses a
lot in his expensive Lexicon unit.     It just doesn't feel canned.