OT: Integrity of Performance and the Sample

[lindsay@pavestone.com]

Ok, guys/gals, a dilemma:

My collaborator and I have been recording together for a while now and have
got some good material together, we think.  We're proud of it.  As we were
recording, it was easy to include two guitars, bass, keyboards and rhythm
despite the fact that it's just me and him.

However, we've been given the opportunity to play live at a fairly cool gig
(North by Northgate--for any of you Aggies) and are now faced with the
grueling task of adapting our recorded material for live performance.
Other than finding a drummer, bass player, keyboardist and DJ, how do we
best approach this?  There is a philosophical resistance to just playing to
tape.  My current solution is reducing each arrangement to its barest
necessity, sequencing the whole thing and then choreographing the
performance: "ok, for this song, I'll start out playing the guitar figure.
Then, right before the chorus, I'll pick up the bass and play this line
while the guitar is played by a sample triggered from the sequencer.  After
that, I'll switch back to guitar and play sustained chords, so that my
right hand is free to play the counter melody on the keyboard.  And
then...."  When someone asked why we were upset with the delay in the
Repeater's release, this is my justification: a four-track loop sampler
could do wonders for us.

I see myself sweating.

And falling over on stage on my way back to the bass.