Whole dj set on APC40 without computer ?

[citizenchris099]

Seems to me there's this thing going on where Laptop acts are either wanting to appear analogue, or by NOT exposing the laptops makes them feel better or more of a showman. I find this to be a strange phenomenon. It strikes me as being untrue to the art of Laptop music, as well as untrue to the art of analogue tech. Granted I want to move away from the "checking my email" look of Laptop music by using tools like an APC40 and not having to click the mouse so much during a perfomance, but I dont want to pose as if I am doing something I am not, in that process. I see no point.

On that note, I kinda have to agree with the camp that says if your laptop is out of sight, the Live set your using must be really simple to operate, lots of pre-planning and dumbing stuff down so generically labeled knobs and buttons make since. If your using an Analogue keyboard/drum machine you look at the labels on the surface or LCD screens to make since of changing parameters. So whats the resistance to looking at a Laptop screen to do the same thing? The resistance to me seems all about image, image backed by perceptions of what is, or is not cool during performance.

All and all, I say if you wanna look analogue, OWN IT, if you wanna use a Laptop, OWN IT, if you wanna do both OWN IT. Not sure why people are going on in this manner that is deceptive.

Nevertheless, I love that Com Truise. GREAT FUCKING MUSIC.

Couldn't agree w/you more. An associate in my office over herd me talking about music and wanted to know what instrument I play. I considered the question for a moment and then replied "laptop". Its the only answer that I find appropriate. I'm not a popper keyboardist and describing myself as such would be an insult to keyboardists everywhere. I'm not ashamed to say that the Laptop/Ableton/Midi Controllers are the tools I use to compose/perform my music.
To anyone who feels that analog gear is somehow more legitimate than a digital/laptop set up I would suggest watching http://www.zu33.com/moog/
Their is a great section where Robert Moog discusses the fervent opposition he received from the music establishment when his invention was first introduced.

My point being that the medium is not nearly as important as the art and or product created by said medium.

rant over

[JuanSOLO]

My point being that the medium is not nearly as important as the art and or product created by said medium.

agreed.

YET, my views on analogue vs digital have changed quite a bit over the last year. For example, FM synthesis such as FM8 are amazing and sound great especially when using it to make unconventional sounds. Razor is another synth that seems to showcase that digital synthesis is powerful and can be unique and amazing when it's not trying to emulate analogue so much. I find Operator to have, hands down, the best sub sine bass, it's loud and packs a big punch if you want it too. I have spent a lot of time trying to get rich warm sounds out of digital gear, especially kicks, and some synths. I finally said fuck it I am going back to some analogue gear. Obviously analogue gear has a sound/warmth that cannot be emulated as good as everyone wants, but it offers something else too. It offers a piece of gear that the user can learn over time and does not require updates, or does not become outdated by software updates. For example, I am waiting to buy Tempest. Once acquired I may have it for the rest of my life and master it and all it's limitations, along with a HUGE sound. Something I would only chase through various controllers and software updates for years, and feel unsatisfied. Maschine will become obsolete just as people are really pushing Tempest to it's full potential.

I think each medium has it's place, and people shouldn't feel shameful by the limitations they propose. Limitations and parameters make great art.

[Ryanmf]

Sorry JuanSOLO, you seem like a reasonable guy so I don't want you to think I'm intentionally antagonizing you, but I don't buy that argument one bit.

Are singers who use wireless, clip-on microphones being dishonest because they can't actually sing so loud that everyone in the venue can hear them, even though you can't see a microphone in front of their face?

I'm working actively to develop tools and practices to help get the computer off the stage. If an artist is comfortable enough with the tools they're using, and can get sufficient visual feedback from those tools to feel confident that they're doing the right thing at the right time, I don't see why the screen and its brain need to be on the stage. I would never attempt to do anything but own the fact that I make computer music. I love computer music. You know the line: shoot...or...die. Nevertheless, a computer is a fragile and awkward stage decoration, many audience members don't like seeing it and getting the impression that the performer is more focused on the screen than on them and their experience, and if it doesn't have a functional purpose for being there, I don't think it should be.

The argument you're making is a non-starter. "Wanting to appear analog"? Being "deceptive"? What piece of analog hardware does an APC40 even vaguely resemble, physically, or more importantly in terms of the sounds it allows a performer to produce? What fucking idiot would be deceived by the fact that he can't see a computer plugged into it? How would it even be conceivable for a guy like Com Truise to perform his set without a computer, tape loops? The lighting guys aren't on stage, does the audience think the lighting rig has become sentient, that they've stumbled upon the DMX singularity, and that's why the lights keep moving around and changing colors? And why do you think artists have some solemn responsibility to expose to the audience how the sausage is made? Should guitarists have to hold up diagrams of their pedalboards, and post the schematics of any homemade pedals at the door?

This whole digital/analog dividing line is something that you've obviously decided is very important to you, and you're entitled to your opinion, but you don't really have any right to impose your preconceptions on anyone else. Maybe Com Truise feels that when the laptop is on the stage he's more likely to "sync" himself to that, and launch the next clip/scene based on where his eyes tell him the playhead is, whereas without it he has to go by feel and sound and he thinks that improves his performance. Maybe he feels (like I do) that having a laptop on the stage can erect a sort of wall between him and the audience, and he recognizes that when there's nothing else to look at there's a benefit to looking into the crowd rather than at a screen. Maybe he just doesn't want to risk anyone spilling a beer on his $2500 laptop.

If the only reason you can imagine for you to remove a visible computer from your live rig is to look cool, then go ahead and make your decisions accordingly. But all this presupposing to know what someone else's motivations were when they made a particular decision, and superficial criticisms about how it makes them look, makes you look like the person who's hung up on what looks "cool", not anybody else.

[JuanSOLO]

Well put, and points taken. Sure you could dissect my ramblings with comparisons to wireless mics etc, and we could go on about how my opinions are a reflection of self and how I worry about looking "cool," all understandable and holds weight fer sure. Maybe my points come across a little firm, but they are merely observations on what I've seen and heard. I am just guessing at "some" of the motives behind Com Truise just as you are about my being cool reflections.

The digital/analogue thing IS important to me right now. Once upon a time before I had a computer I had nothing but analogue gear. I got swept up in computer convenience and really enjoyed it. Nowadays I am re-evaluating that. For example, I LOVE Ableton Live, and I have a hard time imagining my performance rig with out it. Yet computers can definitely be a wall between the user and the audience. Analogue gear has a sound that is incomparable with some hardware. So when it comes to what I enjoy, and where my money and devotion is well spent, yes it's very important. When it comes to trying to put on a show that I would be happy to see, YES it's important and I think about as many angles as possible. I try to make music I would enjoy myself, not music I think others would like, I just hope some do in the process. For me Com Truise is some of the most original shit I have heard, and for that, I could really care less where he puts his Laptop. Yet I will freely assume what I want.

I like to use both digital/analogue, AND I like to see others who do as well i.e. Com Truise. ALSO, I am the guy at the show who wants to see the gear and whats going on. However I know lots of times much of the audience is taking it in, in a different way. It seems to me once someone learns to make music they divide themselves from what it is to just be a fan of it. Before I knew how to make guitar feedback, Jimi Hendrix record were a lot more mysterious. So I am trying to connect with an audience of predominantly non musicians, by making a performance based upon what a musician/myself would like. Strange huh?

So I dig what your saying, but dont read too much into my ramblings, because if anything I hope they strike up good conversation of opposing views.

By the way, I dont not look cool, and at 37 I'm not getting any closer.

[Ryanmf]

I feel you man. Clearly I get a little too wound up when I'm writing myself. In retrospect, I definitely could have made the points I wanted to make without the snark and insinuations.

Anyway, for what it's worth, I'm 25, and I'm pretty sure "cool" is outside the realm of possibility for me as well.

[supergirl36]

I love Com Truise, saw the 1st Dallas show of the recent tour, LOVED IT. Laptop was on stage open.

However in regards to the OP question, I would guess Com Truise's Live set is really simple. I'm gonna go even further and say I think the set is built around scenes and the APC40. So basically he pushes 1 scene button to start a song, and if he wants he adjusts some volume levels or adds some FX. I noticed he would turn 2 knobs at once to get this really warped sound as kind of a breakdown. So basically I think it's simple for him to close the Laptop lid and just look at the way his clip matrix looks to tell where the next song is.

THAT being said, my friend saw the second show in Dallas when he began opening for Neon Indian, (a group who used to have an APC40 and a Laptop on stage and now is adamantly pro analogue.)
My friend said Com Truise had his laptop hidden at the following performances. My response was "thats a shame."

Seems to me there's this thing going on where Laptop acts are either wanting to appear analogue, or by NOT exposing the laptops makes them feel better or more of a showman. I find this to be a strange phenomenon. It strikes me as being untrue to the art of Laptop music, as well as untrue to the art of analogue tech. Granted I want to move away from the "checking my email" look of Laptop music by using tools like an APC40 and not having to click the mouse so much during a perfomance, but I dont want to pose as if I am doing something I am not, in that process. I see no point.

On that note, I kinda have to agree with the camp that says if your laptop is out of sight, the Live set your using must be really simple to operate, lots of pre-planning and dumbing stuff down so generically labeled knobs and buttons make since. If your using an Analogue keyboard/drum machine you look at the labels on the surface or LCD screens to make since of changing parameters. So whats the resistance to looking at a Laptop screen to do the same thing? The resistance to me seems all about image, image backed by perceptions of what is, or is not cool during performance.

All and all, I say if you wanna look analogue, OWN IT, if you wanna use a Laptop, OWN IT, if you wanna do both OWN IT. Not sure why people are going on in this manner that is deceptive.

Nevertheless, I love that Com Truise. GREAT FUCKING MUSIC.

Thanks for your generous answer. The most interesting in this thread yet in my opinion, and the closest to the truth. I also think that Com Truise has a basic set up where all is songs are on the same Live Set. (Apparently, technology does not permit to switch Set from the APC40 alone.) I'm just looking ahead, and i'd never do this collage and put everything on the same page. The fact of having everything on one column is ridiculous.) I think i saw the second tour, the one with Neon Indian (though i left before their set) and Chad Valley (who works with a SP-404). The lid of Com Truise's computer was closed, on a small stool close to the floor. He was also using a Mopho, triggering it like crazy for i don't know what. And what's the use of having a drummer : the electronic beats sound better. And so little of Cyanide Sisters, so much of Galactic Melt which lacks originality and is repetitive.

All in all, i now have a better idea of what i want do do.

Thanks.

[JuanSOLO]

MAN, I thought the live drummer was a great contribution, especially at the club I saw the show at. Some clubs just dont get the laptop set, the keep the volume WAY TOO LOW, so the live drummer was loud enough to get the sound guy to turn up the rest of the music. I thought it was GREAT.

[supergirl36]

Seems to me there's this thing going on where Laptop acts are either wanting to appear analogue, or by NOT exposing the laptops makes them feel better or more of a showman. I find this to be a strange phenomenon. It strikes me as being untrue to the art of Laptop music, as well as untrue to the art of analogue tech. Granted I want to move away from the "checking my email" look of Laptop music by using tools like an APC40 and not having to click the mouse so much during a perfomance, but I dont want to pose as if I am doing something I am not, in that process. I see no point.

On that note, I kinda have to agree with the camp that says if your laptop is out of sight, the Live set your using must be really simple to operate, lots of pre-planning and dumbing stuff down so generically labeled knobs and buttons make since. If your using an Analogue keyboard/drum machine you look at the labels on the surface or LCD screens to make since of changing parameters. So whats the resistance to looking at a Laptop screen to do the same thing? The resistance to me seems all about image, image backed by perceptions of what is, or is not cool during performance.

All and all, I say if you wanna look analogue, OWN IT, if you wanna use a Laptop, OWN IT, if you wanna do both OWN IT. Not sure why people are going on in this manner that is deceptive.

Nevertheless, I love that Com Truise. GREAT FUCKING MUSIC.

Couldn't agree w/you more. An associate in my office over herd me talking about music and wanted to know what instrument I play. I considered the question for a moment and then replied "laptop". Its the only answer that I find appropriate. I'm not a popper keyboardist and describing myself as such would be an insult to keyboardists everywhere. I'm not ashamed to say that the Laptop/Ableton/Midi Controllers are the tools I use to compose/perform my music.
To anyone who feels that analog gear is somehow more legitimate than a digital/laptop set up I would suggest watching http://www.zu33.com/moog/
Their is a great section where Robert Moog discusses the fervent opposition he received from the music establishment when his invention was first introduced.

My point being that the medium is not nearly as important as the art and or product created by said medium.

rant over

Well said. Couldn't agree more. ; )