Re: backing solo performances

[Keenan Lawler <klaw@konstant.com>]

Speaking for myself-ive phased out  prerecorded backing tracks while using
a sequencer/sampler
instead ive used the processes of each  modifier(effect-sampler) on a set
of already"predetermined " sounds as a backing or  the  irregularities of
my instrument becoming  the actual macro sound picture --
this has far more elements of surprise/interaction than queing up a
sequence and hitting play -or simply hooking a dat or cd into a mixer &
pushing play 
I gravitate towards those people who use sampling -looping as a extension
of a physical gesture  ----a vital piece of the live experience puzzle 
it becomes the process whereby sound or music is made  in realtime 
this just feels honest---but 
everything is valid -like it or not Karaoke is an authentic performing art
-im sure some wannabe singers use this as a means of really expressing
themselves -to push their own set of self imposed boundaries -the same way
a guitarist solos against a complex midi sequence in a cofee shop somewhere
 in yr town 
if its all predetermined then there really is no difference to me.

I need to be challenged & surprised when seeing a performance -
the shows i did recently with David First are a perfect example -he used a
cd player as a way of  presenting a  complex  series of  drones -pitch
relationships along with a midi guitar controller& kurzweill in his piece
-yet it was impossible to tell what was going on behind the scene s
without having some prior knowledge 
the result was astonishing a balance between improvisation/process -the
space was undulating & spiralling time was frozen or became meaningless
-yet several people felt letdown after hearing of his use of  the sounds on
the disc---
would it have seemed more authentic if he had a mac right there  running
csound /max ?  absurd 


Im particulary fond of artists who make  use of the  room or enviroment as
an  improvisational element in their performance 

i would much rather prefer seeing this sort of risk taking which in my mind
is at the core of improvisation & live peformance 

its an interesting grey area weve entered in the last few years -the
boundaries between live& recorded music are so blurred 
there are no rules -there have never been rules --only  mind sets  we
choose to belong to..       K 












>Once I used a small looping/soundmaking device I called "the shoebox" due
>to its size and shape.  I was accustomed to working with my more eleborate
>machines and maybe was nervous that what was a pretty big gig for me (the
>Kitchen here in NYC) might come off as too sonically limited, so I fed a
>tape of prepared sounds into the box for "transformations" along with the
>realtime stuff.  Now this was very experimental/noise/soundscape
>material--not the obvious instrumentalist with invisible band thing--and
>the audience didn't really have a clue.  People raved about the
>performance, and I even got asked for my autograph (unheard of in this 
>sort
>of music!), but I felt crummy about it.  I did this twice but would not do
>it again.
>
>I think that in purely electronic music, it is enough to ask that an
>audience find enjoyment in watching someone produce sounds largely
>disconnected from physical gestures; for pre-existing sounds to play a
>large part in the performance seems like cheating.  Oddly perhaps, my
>audience did not feel that way--but I did feel as though I cheated;
>something was spoiled for me.  In this situation, the audience should get
>something special; I feel I should be able to say "no one will hear these
>sounds in this shape ever again".  But I suppose that applies only to my
>sort of "abstract electronics"?
>
>David Myers
>