Laptops Vs Live musicians (1 Viewer)

[Divil A Bit]

I think a mix of both is acceptable.
But more & more, I see one-man acts turning up with laptops as if they were somehow 'live'. The point of a laptop live is that the sequencing program can be manipulated to playback a different mix of a particular song in a given situation.
What is the difference then in turning up with a mini-disc/cd player and playing along with it....and a laptop?

The trendiness of it bugs me. I should do it! Having a full band is always a moment in time. There's a commitment and likemindedness. It is this human element which unfortunately breaks up good bands. Changes the mix when someone leaves/gets the boot.

But getting these folk together in this country is the problem. Maybe we need weirder people. We're all a bit safe now and therefore cannot think outside the box. (Except you, Stan Bowles).

If Laptops are the way, which to get? Do I need an expensive soundcard? Or just a stereo out?

 

[aoboa]

Jesus, I've been hearing stuff like this for the last 10 years.
If someone creates all their music with a laptop or electronic equipment and then uses the same kit to play gigs, then yes, it is live.
I could level the same kind of criticism at an orchestra. They turn up with pre aranged music, writen as a score in front of their eyes and are instructed to play whats in front of them. What's so different between that scenario and a guy turning up with a sequencer????
Most bands are shit. Most electronic acts are shit. When you see an amazing band or electronic act at a gig - whether they play instruments or stand behind a laptop won't matter a f**k if the music blows you away.
It's the 21st century furchristsake!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Divil A Bit]

Jesus, I've been hearing stuff like this for the last 10 years.
If someone creates all their music with a laptop or electronic equipment and then uses the same kit to play gigs, then yes, it is live.
I could level the same kind of criticism at an orchestra. They turn up with pre aranged music, writen as a score in front of their eyes and are instructed to play whats in front of them. What's so different between that scenario and a guy turning up with a sequencer????
Most bands are shit. Most electronic acts are shit. When you see an amazing band or electronic act at a gig - whether they play instruments or stand behind a laptop won't matter a f**k if the music blows you away.
It's the 21st century furchristsake!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoa there. I'm not saying one is better or more valid than t'other.

But c'omon...you think that a guy playing a sequencer of an orchestral arrangement is no different to 32 people onstage in the moment making sound in the same air as you and reacting to the crowd you are a part of at various moments? Let alone the visual impact of seeing them play and how they look.

I'm also just looking for advice on which laptop suits people best is all.

 

[pete]

 

[SONYMEGADRIVE]

I think a mix of both is acceptable.
But more & more, I see one-man acts turning up with laptops as if they were somehow 'live'. The point of a laptop live is that the sequencing program can be manipulated to playback a different mix of a particular song in a given situation.
What is the difference then in turning up with a mini-disc/cd player and playing along with it....and a laptop?

The trendiness of it bugs me. I should do it! Having a full band is always a moment in time. There's a commitment and likemindedness. It is this human element which unfortunately breaks up good bands. Changes the mix when someone leaves/gets the boot.

But getting these folk together in this country is the problem. Maybe we need weirder people. We're all a bit safe now and therefore cannot think outside the box. (Except you, Stan Bowles).

If Laptops are the way, which to get? Do I need an expensive soundcard? Or just a stereo out?

you should start a band with napalm

ps - GRRRRRRRRRRROAAAAAAAAAAAAAN
pps - who cares
ppps - "dude you're getting a dell"

 

[Beak]

therefore cannot think outside the box

call your laptop project 'Middle Management', the album - "I Need This By The End Of Play".

 

[Thayl]

http://www.nativeinstruments.de/index.php?id=exilemovie_de&ftu=91e912c4be

 

[broken arm]

this is what i use

 

[herv]

yawn.

 

[aoboa]

Whoa there. I'm not saying one is better or more valid than t'other.

Why call the thread Laptops Vs Live Musicians then

But c'omon...you think that a guy playing a sequencer of an orchestral arrangement is no different to 32 people onstage in the moment making sound in the same air as you and reacting to the crowd you are a part of at various moments? Let alone the visual impact of seeing them play and how they look.

I'm also just looking for advice on which laptop suits people best is all.

Best laptop??? The most expensive one with the best spec you can afford. Same goes for soundcard.

As for orchestras and classical music and comparing the experience to a laptop/electronic musician - yeah I do happen to think that you can equate the two. Both experiences are pre-defined and orchestrated and only allow a certain amount of deviation from what's on the page/screen.
It's doesn't matter to me that one source is acoustic and one electronic.

BTW: The whole laptop thing did my head in for ages cos 99% of the time people are just playing .wav files of their tracks which is cheating imho. But - since Ableton Live appeared the whole thing has got a lot more interesting.

 

[Thayl]

BTW: The whole laptop thing did my head in for ages cos 99% of the time people are just playing .wav files of their tracks which is cheating imho. But - since Ableton Live appeared the whole thing has got a lot more interesting.

Yeah, with Ableton Live people can now play .wav files of their tracks with some dodgy out of time delay effects over them.

 

[clive]

i agree to a certain extent - for instance, i have used this type of laptop in the past

and agree, that it's much harder to "rock out" due to it being played in a seated position. Maybe if it could be used using a traditional guitar strap - it would seem more spontanious ? my two cents.

 

[aoboa]

i agree to a certain extent - for instance, i have used this type of laptop in the past

and agree, that it's much harder to "rock out" due to it being played in a seated position. Maybe if it could be used using a traditional guitar strap - it would seem more spontanious ? my two cents.

.|..|

 

[ms.b.haven]

i glanced at the thread title and thought it said lapdancers vs live musicians - who'd win do you think

 

[Zeelander]

i glanced at the thread title and thought it said lapdancers vs live musicians - who'd win do you think

I glanced at the thread title and thought it was one of those old threads from four years ago that had resurfaced for no reason.

 

[Osama Van Halen]

NNNNEEEERRRDSSS!!!!

 

[Divil A Bit]

I glanced at the thread title and thought it was one of those old threads from four years ago that had resurfaced for no reason.

I glanced at the thread titles on Kate Bush, Whipping Boy, Bob Mould, Black Sabbath and the Dead Milkmen and thought it was one of those threads from four years ago that had resurfaced for no reason.

 

[Sprite Boy]

Yeah, with Ableton Live people can now play .wav files of their tracks with some dodgy out of time delay effects over them.

The whole ableton thing has changed the way people play/sequence their music. I agree playing .wav files of their tracks in ableton is just DJing but Ableton allows you to do so much more than that and I don't mean just putting a some effect over it

Can I point out the fact the ableton isn't just wav files as it supports VST instruments so a lot sounds you hear are live and are modulated live.

What's the difference between sequencing a VST instrument or a hardware instrument? More cables!!!!

Hardware vs vst instruments = the same

that's my 2 cent

 

[snakybus]

I think laptop guys should have a screen up behind them like a presentation so we can see them doing all this VST stuff. That would be cool.

 

[hugh]

I think laptop guys should have a screen up behind them like a presentation so we can see them doing all this VST stuff. That would be cool.

Absolutely! That would sort out the real stuff from the ones that are just checking their email ....