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Looper's Delight
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Goddess wrote:
> <smile> What about "up here?" lol! no ego here... lollollol!
Yeah, well, being a Goddess and all, you should know! lollollol!
When I added the hypothetical comments about "practicing" when one should
be
performing, I was pointing towards a different attitude than the positive
chaos that you obviously embrace (and isn't the positive chaos lucky for
that!). I'm sure you (and most poster/readers) knew what I was alluding to,
but I like your comments all the more because they shed a new light on the
process. Point by point:
> I've actually done exactly this on several occasions. -played
> instruments I'd never played before in a live performance setting.
And I'll bet, from what I've heard of your music, that there was
*something*
that made your choice appropriate. Sympathetic and supportive fellow
musicians, perhaps, and/or an audience willing to take a risk along with
you.
> additionally, I've been asked literally, two minutes before a show to
>play
> material I'd not rehearsed, and was not familiar with, with people I'd
> never met, upon simply one of them hearing what I've done
> improvisationally.
And again, knowing you, you brought a wealth of practice and rehearsal to
that moment.
Also, regarding the idea of rewiring one's gear or some
> such idea on stage, -don't we do something very similar to this in the
face
> of limitation or unexpected circumstance such as technical difficulties,
or
> strings breaking and such, which might not be the easiest to deal with at
a
> moment's notice. We adapt. We are creative in front of an audience,
and
> practicing new ways of performing as we perform. So in my examples
above,
> am I practicing or playing, or both? The whole idea of improv itself as
> it relates to these concepts is also very interesting. Is it practice
or
> play? <smile> -Is it live or is it Memorex?... lol!
Each aspect - practice, rehersal, performance - is a state of being, and we
can recognize several states at once. I sure do. Very often I'll be "up
there" and simultaneously thinking of things like, "Jeez. Got to work on
some new voicings of quartal chords tomorrow. The drummer just played a
cool
rhythm; can I answer that? Oh! The other guitarist is 'showing' me a
different lick to go along with this part of the song..." Or I may be doing
some routine practicing, and something I play might wake me up and I'll
realize I'm suddenly performing some previously unheard music - I become
the
receiver of the music, the performing musician, and the audience listening
all at once.
I began this thread as a commentary on Per's excellent description of a
performance as demonstration. I find it useful to frame my response to any
performance in the context of: Was it a demonstration? An invigoration? Or
(in the rarest of instances) do I feel moved? I often feel that performers
and audiences cheat each other out of a genuine opportunity to move higher
by reverting to "unconscious demonstrations;" the performer merely
demonstrates the appropriate sounds/motions, and the audience demonstrates
the appropriate response. Per obviously provided a clear and literal
demonstration, and made room for moving toward higher ground because of it.
But, y'know, I just love where this thread has spun off into. And I
have
to go to sleep. Love to all and every one.