Sure, the reasons not to play live are LAME, cuz I didnt GIVE any! ;) But,
OTOH, I gave reasons you should have a BACKUP PLAN!
I play live always until something goes wrong, then, I make sure I have a
backup plan to at least portray to the audience that things *are* going
right, at least until I can make them "right" again! .. Thats what makes the
difference between an artist that is seen as a solid, what you see is what
you get upright act, and an artist that is seen as someone who just mucks
around with sequences and hopes nothing goes wrong.
I have only had to use the backup plan a couple of times, and even then most
of them tend to happen when the dj thats on after me is mucking around
getting ready for his set.
Yes, Im pretty harsh on live P.A.s. I have heard too many crappy ones I
guess, and too many Live PAs (many of which arent even the slightest bit
live) are using ONLY a DAT or a laptop, which to me is the complete
antithesis of the word "live".
Hehe! Oh well. You are all free to do what you want, and thats good by me if
it works for ya!
Oh, btw, nowadays, I use ACID to backup all my music, so even if everything
goes to heck, I can still mess around in realtime a little bit!
Rob
----- Original Message -----
From: Michel Morin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, April 30, 2000 1:43 PM
Subject: Re: RM1x Pattern or Song mode?
> On Sun, 30 Apr 2000, Rob Zero wrote:
>
> > I realize that this has been discussed before, but there are MANY
reasons
> > NOT to risk your @ss and play live.
> >
> > Yes, us *musicians* and other musically-learned ppl might not appreciate
a
> > "press play and go" approach, but honestly, the average boob (and
promoter)
> > cares not a bit about how GOOD you are, but will care lots about how BAD
you
> > are.. IE ppl soon forget a good performance, but will almost never
forget a
> > bad one.
> >
>
>
> I'm sorry, but your reasons not to play live are lame. From your
> assertion, you could also argue that live musician's should bring DAT's as
> well as their instruments in case they fuck up on stage. The essence of
> playing live is to capture the live moment and work it in a way that no DJ
> can. If you want to play it safe, whatever; you may as well stick in a DAT
> and hit play.
>
> In fact, don't even bother showing up. God forbid that you may hit a
> wrong note, or mess up a sequence.
>
>
> ...you know what? Live PA'ing is rough around the edges and somewhat
> gritty - it's obvious that a live PA isn't spinning well-produced record
> after well-produced record. That's not the point.
>
>
> I've been playing live for over 2 years now and of course things go wrong.
> Guess what? Nobody cares that much unless there's a good 5 minutes of
> silence. And even then, excellent DJ's fuck up all the time - or worse,
> sounds systems go down, fuses blow, needles break. Whatever. Nobody is
> asking for perfection really.
>
> I think your conception of party crowds is overblown, especially
> considering that an average of 80% of party goers are under the influence
> of at least one substance *snicker*. I've been at too many parties where
> people have cheered when a dj was trainwrecking simply because they
> *couldn't* tell the difference.
>
> Furthermore, most promoters are running around like chickens with their
> heads cutoff during their events. They certainly don't have the time to
> scrutinize everyone's set. I've thrown many a party and have sadly missed
> many of the people I've brought in,
>
>
> All that being said, I strive for perfection and am always hyper-critical
> of my sets afterwards. Nevertheless, my friends and fellow producers
> usually look at me funny when I go through the list of things that I think
> have gone wrong.
>
>
>
> Playing it safe during a live PA is for people who don't have the skills
> or are paralyzed by their insecurities of making mistakes.
>
> If you fuck up, do it again intentionally. Incorporate it into your set.
>
> Embrace chaos.
>
>
> michel
>
>
