On 3/23/07, Thomas D. Cox, Jr. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: its not possible to make drastic shifts like you can
with records. you cant just go from having your music sound like a reggae band to having it sound like a disco band with a live performance unless youre using prerecorded stuff, which is obviously not live.
That's not true Tom ... you can have a key on your controller of choice set to change, say, the drum patterns, loop, synth, etc all at once. I don't know why you'd want to do that very often though, sharp transitions can be a little harsh for the dancers/listeners, but that's personal preference I suppose. Of course drum machines aren't "live" either... but if your definition of live means actually playing all the instruments, it's STILL possible - "everybody ready ... on my cue ... ANNNDDD " *the crowd is now totally confused as to why a COUNTRY band is suddenly playing WESTERN, seemingly out of nowhere!* Anyway, a mix of tracks and parts usually makes for a better sounding live performance than doing strictly live mixes from all the parts on the fly, to my ears - except for Stewart Walker who was very live and quite amazing when I saw him in Chicago. Anyway my rule is always that music should be governed first by what sounds best, not by what it's supposed to be. I feel that some things have to be prerecorded, or else the music gets too repetitive and loopy, and loses the intricacy of being through composed. At the same time nobody wants to see someone hitting play. I feel that live performers have to find their own niche and it's usually somewhere between DJing tracks and playing totally live. For myself, if I have a brand new track I made the day before, I usually don't want to mess with it a bunch, but everything else I like to get all crazy with... Every time I play now I'm becoming more "live" and less of a DJ I think, it's a process. On a side note, I don't really like disco (with a VERY few exceptions). Except as a joke for it's sort of camp value... There, I said it! ;-) ~David
