BT's Laptop crashed on Saturday

MarkH · Post by **MarkH** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 6:39 pm

BT played his Laptop Symphony set at ICE in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 31, and his set was cut short because his laptop froze. Not sure what the hell happened, but once it froze he grabbed a sample and did a pitchbend downward to end his set then left the DJ booth.

Sales Dude McBoob · Post by **Sales Dude McBoob** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 6:45 pm

Is BT PC?

robtronik · Post by **robtronik** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 6:58 pm

I'm pretty sure he uses a Mac.... but I can't be sure these days if he is using Live and wants better CPU performance. Maybe he went to a PC laptop...

rob.

Agent47 · Post by **Agent47** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:15 pm

BT uses mac but I dont think he uses Live. I know he uses Logic.

Sales Dude McBoob · Post by **Sales Dude McBoob** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:17 pm

Oh yeah, I recall seeing an Apple promo video at the Apple store in Manhattan that had an interview with BT on it. He was a total Mac user. But I can easily imagine him being lured into using a PC on stage for more power... perhaps to run Reaktor 5???????????????????????????????

But I can also imagine a Powerbook shitting the bed on stage. Part of the game of bringing any laptop on stage.

Agent47 · Post by **Agent47** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:23 pm

No he doesnt use PC's at all as far as I know, I would be shocked if he did.

By the way, I am a HUGE BT fan but he was pretty crap at Ultra this year, the sound was terrible.

drush · Post by **drush** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:29 pm

karma.

inis · Post by **inis** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:29 pm

Yes, BT uses Mac

Yes, Laptop Symphony is based completely around live.

Sales Dude McBoob · Post by **Sales Dude McBoob** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:42 pm

This is off topic, but in that other thread we are discussing titles...

His music aside... I gotta say that BT is a decent DJ name, even though it sounds like a sandwich.

Laptop Symphony on the other hand is a title I would avoid like the plauge.

Tuur · Post by **Tuur** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:53 pm

inis wrote:Yes, BT uses Mac

Yes, Laptop Symphony is based completely around live.

Yup.

Rahlo · Post by **Rahlo** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:54 pm

I just read an interview with him in either one of those computer music mags or some online rag--dunno which one off the top of my head--but he does use pc's AND macs now. Some company gave him a couple of incredibly powerful pc's, and he has now integrated it with his setup. Again, I ain't sure if he does that on stage or not, cause I'd always heard he was a mac dude.

wow. that sucks for him (the laptop crash thing, I mean).

Agent47 · Post by **Agent47** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:03 pm

I stand corrected! It makes sense that he would use Live, I just hadn't heard he started. BT is a musical genius regardless if you like his music or not, if you read his interviews he is bound to loose you at some point- the guy is a serious studio nerd.

from his site:

Dozens of people over the years have suggested there should be a BT Remix competition. Well Nick Wax has informed me that in the August 2003 issue of BPM magazine that often discussed suggestion and opportunity will now finally present itself. The following contains an update as of July 15, 2003.

Full vocals and samples for not one, but four of the tracks on BT's forthcoming Emotional Technology will be made publicly available for remixing in conjunction with Ableton's Live. This special version will have loops from Somanmbulist, Communicate, Force of Gravity, and The Great Escape.

This bonus CD included with the August release of BPM magazine will have a demo of Ableton's LIVE and the sounds necessary for remixing and entering the competition. Details on the prize(s) for the mixes selected and it it unknown whether or not selected mixes will get an official release, but that seems likely.

So keep your eyes out, you creative, producer, nerd types...you're about to get your LIVE remixes on.
------------
Cool. I will definately remix some BT.

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:41 pm

BT uses PCs but only in his studio as a "necessary evil" for some of the synthedit synths and other software gadgets. He produces completely in Logic sitting on top of (ugh) Pro Tools hardware (eww).

On stage, he performs with a band, and when not with a band, it's all midi-sequenced. He plays an old analog synth with one hand, mainly pinky finger, and with the other hand, it's usually the DJ hand-in-da-air motions to get the kids all worked up. His stuff with a live band is much better, mainly because of all the more interesting things to see on stage.

His laptop sym-phony sucks complete ass. I'm sure it has become much better in the year and half since I saw him in LA, but back then, he as not as adept with Live as say Kid Beyond. So the set was basically hands-in-da-air for about 20 seconds, then immediately focus madly on Live's Session view, work with mouse for about a minute, launch a few clips...suddenly realize that he has forgotten about the audience, go back to hands-in-da-air...then oh shit, gotto launch the next clip...damn, missed the beat, better launch that good ol' 16th snare roll and ride the filter up...you get my point.

He's awesome in the studio, and I have all his records. His performances have always left me wanting more. His laptop symphony has me feeling like most of you guys could skool him on Live.

Tails · Post by **Tails** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 2:51 am

Hey, just wanted to throw this in there:

I saw BT play two Laptop Symphony sets here in DC (Buzzlife's 10th Anniversary, and Destination), and he crashed both times. He was using an infra-red (infra-blue?) sensor tied to a stutter app that he apparently wrote.

I thought it strange that he crashed at both shows, and started to wonder if it was staged, or deliberate. Seems like a pretty silly thing to do, but hey, everyone was talking about the show afterwards because the crash was memorable.

Just wanted to say that this happens to BT all the time -- and yeah, I think he's using Logic.

FaX-01 · Post by **FaX-01** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 3:05 am

Why jump the assumption initially that he was on a PC.
I've seen Mac's go down in Live sets before <cough> Underworld <cough>.
I've even seen Voitek have a major hardware only malfunction during a live set.
That is the nature of technology.
The handling of the crash was pretty unprofessional though.
Seriously the guy earns enough spondulicks from production work.
I would have assumed he would have had a second laptop up and loaded just incase.
Which is exactly what Underworld had at the time so it was nothing more than a 4 second glitch and on they went.
I've seen Kraftwerk twice doing Vaio only sets and they where rock solid.
Ditto Square Pusher.
It's a risk you take when taking and using any form of technology on stage.
DepecheMode for example had an EII literally self combust in mid set on one tour they did.
I've seen the odd MPC chuck a wobbly also for no apparent reason.
BT has always been a major Mac head and he's been using Live atleast 2 years or since V3 as M-Audio have video's up of him demo-ing LIVE on a 17 and 15" powerbook quite a while back.
My point is irrespective of the platform or technology employed where there is hi-tech equipment used in gig's always be prepared for the possibility of some sort of equipment failure.